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In the secrecy of North Korea, it is now immune from attack

flag-N-KoreaNorth Korea now immune from attack BY:GREG SHERIDAN, FOREIGN EDITOR The Australian  February 16, 2013  “……..The truth is, Western intelligence knows very little about what goes on inside North Korea, especially inside the head of Pyongyang’s bombastic young dictator, Kim Jong-un.

No one watches North Korea more closely than Seoul. But in the 1980s and 90s Seoul was famous for producing faulty intelligence on the North.

I have interviewed the past four South Korean presidents. The only one I found convincing on North Korea was Lee Myung-bak, who leaves office on February 25. He said that on critical North Korea issues: “We don’t have accurate information.”……..

The North Koreans claim their new nuclear device is miniaturised, which implies they could put it on their missiles. This is probably untrue. US intelligence believes Pyongyang is still a few years away from this, but Washington is aware of the limitations of its intelligence…..  A decade ago I broke a story about the Pentagon’s contingency plans to strike North Korea militarily to prevent it acquiring nuclear weapons. The arguments against such a strike were always very strong and prudence governed Washington’s decision not to act.

That may have been the right decision. But now North Korea possesses at least several nuclear devices and is immune from attack. …. Kim is capricious, self-indulgent and probably suffers a serious personality disorder, but so far he is making three vastly more powerful nations dance to his tune. In a strategy paradoxically born of weakness, it is the power of the bomb, ruthlessly applied.

February 16, 2013 Posted by | North Korea, politics international | Leave a comment

More nuclear test plans by North Korea

North Korea tells China of preparations for fresh nuclear test – source By Benjamin Kang Lim BEIJING  Feb 15, (Reuters) – North Korea has told its key ally, China, that it is prepared to stage one or even two more nuclear tests this year in an effort to force the United States into diplomatic talks, said a source with direct knowledge of the message.

Further tests could also be accompanied this year by another rocket launch, said the source, who has direct access to the top levels of government in both Beijing and Pyongyang. Continue reading →

February 16, 2013 Posted by | North Korea, weapons and war | Leave a comment

North Korea: bellicose statements and actions to get foreign aid?

 Rising official dissent appears to be spreading across the country from those who have lost political and military power. Fabricating an external threat may be meant to suppress dissatisfaction among unhappy North Korean elite. The only product the North Korean economy now produces of any consequence are weapons, since it cannot feed itself or provide consumer products for its population (except through imports from China).
Kim promised—but has not delivered—more food, economic reform, improvements in public services, and a way out of the country’s slide into oblivion.
The North’s upcoming test and threats to bomb the United States are a crude attempt to intimidate the South Korean, Japanese, U.S., and Chinese governments into making economic concessions to resuscitate their sclerotic economy or provide food aid.

flag-N-KoreaWhy North Korea Is Testing Nuclear Weapons Now US News, By  February 8, 2013 The first test of the Obama highly-recommendedadministration’s second term foreign policy team is shaping up to be North Korea’s upcoming nuclear explosion. Korean President Kim Jong Un last week declared martial law in anticipation of the country’s third nuclear test that Un has reportedly ordered be conducted before the middle of February, which will coincidentally occur on his late father’s (and former leader of North Korea) birthday.

This week a bellicose and belligerent North Korean government put on its official website a bizarre and provocative video of the bombing of what appears to be New York City with the caption: “Somewhere in the United States, black clouds of smoke are billowing… It seems that the nest of wickedness is ablaze with the fire started by itself.” The video includes the launch of a North Korean missile, implying that if the United States puts too much pressure on them the consequence will be a nuclear response. The Chinese foreign minister on Wednesday issued a stern public warning to North Korea against the test, and the Chinese Communist Party official party newspaper published an unprecedented editorial saying, “If North Korea insists on a third nuclear test despite attempts to dissuade it, it must pay a heavy price.” North Korea is in no position to anger its only remaining patron and ally, and yet it may go ahead with the nuclear test anyway……

Why, then, is the 28-year-old ruler of North Korea, Kim Jong Un—himself in office for just over a year—exploding a nuclear weapon right now? Continue reading →

February 9, 2013 Posted by | North Korea, weapons and war | Leave a comment

North Korea- a new nuclear test creates new problems

Another nuclear test will make it impossible for the new South Korean government or the second Obama administration to look for resolution of long-standing enmities by focusing on issues beyond the nuclear dispute.

What to Expect from a North Korean Nuclear Test, Foreign Policy, Pyongyang is about to make some more trouble. Here’s what to look for when Kim Jong Un debuts his new bomb. BY SIEGFRIED S. HECKER | FEBRUARY 4, 2013 Pyongyang lashed out harshly at the United States following the most recent U.N. Security Council resolution condemning its December missile test. The Kim Jong Un regime threatened to increase its nuclear deterrent both quantitatively and qualitatively and vowed to conduct a third nuclear test at a “higher level.” So what might we expect from another test? Why, what, how will we know, when, and what difference will it make?Kim-Jong-un-NK

 First, why test? Without additional nuclear tests, North Korea is greatly limited in its ability to miniaturize a nuclear device to fit on one of its missiles. Continue reading →

February 4, 2013 Posted by | North Korea, weapons and war | 1 Comment

North Korea ups the nuclear ante

Defiant North Korea ups nuclear rhetoric,SMH, January 24, 2013 Flavia Krause-jackson and Sangwon Yoon    NORTH Korea vowed to boost its nuclear capability after the United Nations Security Council, including its ally China, imposed new sanctions against the totalitarian state for last month’s rocket launch

Denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula is impossible,” North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. ”We will take physical response measures to expand and bolster the quality of our sovereign military power – including our nuclear deterrence.”

The Security Council on Tuesday unanimously agreed to measures that build on a series of travel bans and asset freezes. The US-drafted resolution imposes sanctions on North Korea’s space agency, targets the illicit smuggling of sensitive items and updates a list of nuclear and ballistic missile technology prohibited for transfer in or out of the country……. The most significant aspect of the UN vote may be political, with China siding against its ally and neighbouring communist regime in the world body for the first time in four years.

North Korea has ignored repeated calls to abandon its nuclear weapons program and to also stop test launches to develop long-range ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear warheads.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/defiant-north-korea-ups-nuclear-rhetoric-20130123-2d7as.html#ixzz2IutipoMw

January 24, 2013 Posted by | North Korea, politics international | Leave a comment

Nuclear non Proliferation not working, as North Korea launches missile

N. Korean rocket success a failure of nuclear non-proliferation regime PAUL KORING WASHINGTON — The Globe and Mail , Dec. 12 2012, With a fiery – and finally successful – launch of a satellite into orbit, North Korea’s new leader has boldly defied the international community even as he erased the shame of previous failures and solidified his hold on the
impoverished neo-Stalinist state.

In the face of stark warnings and a UN ban outlawing both nuclear and long-distance missile testing, Pyongyang has done both –underscoring the failure of the international community to make good on vague threats against rogue states or enforce United Nations resolutions…..
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/north-korean-rocket-success-shows-failure-of-nuclear-non-proliferation-regime/article6228596/

December 13, 2012 Posted by | North Korea, weapons and war | Leave a comment

North Korea claims it can strike USA with nuclear missiles

North Korea says missiles can strike US Radio Australia 9 October 2012,   North Korea says it possesses “strategic rocket forces” capable of striking the US mainland. The statement comes in response to a new US-South Korean deal to extend the range of the South’s missile systems. Continue reading →

October 10, 2012 Posted by | North Korea, politics international | Leave a comment

North Korea’s former leader wanted mass production of nuclear bombs

Kim Jong-il ordered mass production of uranium bombs: papers http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/northkorea/2012/07/02/16/0401000000AEN20120702003200315F.HTML TOKYO, July 2 (Yonhap) — North Korea’s late leader Kim Jong-il had ordered his officials to mass-produce nuclear bombs by using highly enriched uranium, Japanese news reports said Monday, citing an internal document obtained from Pyongyang. Continue reading →

July 2, 2012 Posted by | North Korea, weapons and war | Leave a comment

China against North Korea having nuclear weapons

Chinese paper urges Beijing to oppose N. Korea’s nuclear power claim, SEOUL, June 3 (Yonhap) –– A leading Chinese newspaper has urged Beijing to oppose North Korea’s nuclear power status proclaimed in its revised constitution.

The Global Times, an English-language Chinese newspaper under the People’s Daily, said in its June 2 editorial that any legalization of North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons can stimulate South Korea and Japan, and prod Taiwan to demand its right to nuclear arms,
triggering a chain reaction of nuclear armament in Northeast Asia……
The Global Times editorial is the first unofficial response from China, as the Beijing government has kept mum on the issue so far. Continue reading →

June 4, 2012 Posted by | China, North Korea, politics international | Leave a comment

North Korea’s complicated manouverings on nuclear testing

 it is possible that from before its inception, the HEU program was made to be sold. The North is likely to freeze and even dismantle it, on the condition of a big pay off and if they are allowed to maintain their existing stock piles of weapons-grade plutonium

Uranium or plutonium?   The Korea Times, By Andrei Lankov 7 May 12, It seems likely that the third North Korean nuclear test will take place soon ― perhaps, in a matter of days or weeks. There are signs of preparation at the test site, and it would fit into a well-established pattern: a test of a long-range rocket is usually followed by a nuclear test. …. Continue reading →

May 7, 2012 Posted by | North Korea, politics international | Leave a comment

North Korea preparing for 3rd nuclear test

NK nuclear test seen ‘imminent’  The Korea Times, By Kang Hyun-kyung, 1 May 12 North Korea appears to be preparing for a third nuclear test amid high tensions on the Korean Peninsula after the reclusive nation’s failed launch of a satellite when it fell into the West Sea on April 13. Continue reading →

May 2, 2012 Posted by | North Korea, weapons and war | Leave a comment

China opposing North Korea’s nuclear testng

Chinese Official: China Opposes Nuclear Test by N. Korea, Arirang,  29 April 12 Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Cheng Guoping has said that Beijing opposes a nuclear test by North Korea. Cheng who’s accompanying Chinese Vice-Premier Li Keqiang on an official visit to Russia told reporters Saturday that China and Russia agreed to maintain their previous stance on North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

Saying that the international community must do something to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Cheng called for an immediate resumption of the stalled six-party talks.
He reiterated that China will continue to work with the two Koreas to ensure peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia…. http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=128895&code=Ne8&category=1

April 30, 2012 Posted by | China, North Korea, politics international | Leave a comment

A window into the very controlled State of North Korea

(includes video)  http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/24/11365838-north-korea-nuclear-test-ready-soon   North Korea nuclear test ready ‘soon’ NBC’s Richard Engel spent two weeks in North Korea and got a rare and revealing look inside this very closed country. World News msnbc, By Reuters 27 April 12 BEIJING – North Korea has almost completed preparations for a third nuclear test, a senior source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing told Reuters, which will draw further international condemnation following a failed rocket launch if it goes ahead. Continue reading →

April 28, 2012 Posted by | North Korea, Resources -audiovicual, social effects, weapons and war | Leave a comment

The military madness of North Korea

there it is: a nation that starves its people to feed its military spouting a philosophy of friendship and cooperation.

The despairing result of all this is that it is the people who suffer, not the leaders. It’s not enough that famines devastate the population, as North Korea endured in the nineties and from which it has not recovered, but that military madness should overwhelm all other considerations.

Paranoid state fuels military madness SMH, April 27, 2012 ‘The Government of the Republic promotes friendship and cooperation with the various countries of the world. It makes every effort in unity with all the peace-loving peoples of the world to … reduce armaments, nuclear armaments in particular, thereby meeting the desire of human beings to live in a world, free from nuclear weapons.’ –  The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea website
‘Once the above-said special actions kick off, they will reduce all the rat-like groups and the bases for provocations to ashes in three or four minutes, in much shorter time, by unprecedented peculiar means and methods of our own style’.  –  The Korean People’s Army Command
It would be lunacy, rib-chuckling idiocy, if it were not so serious.
Both statements are the creation of North Korea. Continue reading →

April 28, 2012 Posted by | North Korea, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Satellite photography indicates North Korea’s nuclear activity

New photo shows work at NKorea nuclear test site Google News, By MATTHEW PENNINGTON, Associated Press 28 April 12, WASHINGTON  — New satellite imagery appears to show a train of mining carts and other preparations under way at North Korea’s nuclear test site but no indication of when a detonation might take place. Continue reading →

April 28, 2012 Posted by | North Korea, weapons and war | Leave a comment

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