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U.S. general says that North Korea has a ”small” number of nuclear weapons (over 70?)

September 19, 2020 Posted by | North Korea, weapons and war | Leave a comment

USA DID have a plan to drop 80 nuclear weapons on Nortrh Korea

Yes, The United States DidDraw Up A Plan To Drop 80 Nuclear Weapons On North Korea, In 2017, a war between North Korea and the United States was “much closer than anyone would know,” President Trump claims. The Drive BY THOMAS NEWDICK, SEPTEMBER 18, 2020. 
Current nuclear war plans are among any nuclear-armed military’s most closely guarded secrets. Details of one such attack plan recently became available, however, revealing that the United States envisaged using 80 nuclear weapons in case of war with North Korea. The way this particular detail emerged is also pretty unusual — the associated passage appeared in U.S. journalist Bob Woodward’s book Rage, detailing President Trump’s administration, which was published this week.

This can be read two ways: a potential attack from the North could involve the use of 80 nuclear weapons, or the same number of weapons can be envisaged as a possible U.S. response to a first strike ordered by Pyongyang.

In an interview with NPR, Woodward cleared up any confusion, noting that the 80 nuclear weapons were part of a U.S. attack plan — OPLAN 5027, which would include ‘decapitating’ the North Korean regime of dictator Kim Jong-un.

“I think given North Korea is a rogue nation, they have, as I report, probably a couple of dozen nuclear weapons well-hidden and concealed,” Woodward explained to NPR. The veteran journalist confirmed that the then U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis was worried he might have to issue orders for a nuclear strike on North Korea. “The potential we’d have to shoot to prevent a second launch was real,” Mattis admitted.
“You’re going to incinerate a couple million people,” Mattis told himself, according to Woodward. “No person has the right to kill a million people as far as I’m concerned, yet that’s what I have to confront.” 
According to Woodward, Trump was worried that shooting down a North Korean ballistic missile (nuclear-armed or otherwise) on a trajectory headed toward the United States could prompt a full-scale nuclear attack from the “Hermit Kingdom.” Woodward writes that Trump had delegated authority to Jim Mattis to launch a conventionally armed interceptor missile to shoot down any North Korean missile that might be headed for the United States.

Woodward said that Mattis confided in him that he was not worried that Trump might launch a preemptive strike against North Korea. Instead, the source of his angst was the North Korean leader in Pyongyang.

In fact, such was Mattis’s level of concern that he would sleep in his gym clothes, Woodward claims. “There was a light in his bathroom… if he was in the shower and they detected a North Korean launch.”

There were alarm bells set up in Mattis’s bedroom and kitchen too, and on more than one occasion during the summer of 2017 they sounded the alert, and he entered the communications room in his Washington DC residency. Woodward explains that Mattis’s car was also constantly followed by an SUV with a team equipped to plot the flight path of any incoming missile, whether it was threatening Japan, South Korea, or the United States. If Mattis considered the missile hostile, he had a mobile communications link to issue launch orders to shoot it down. …………

Clearly, the status of a nuclear-armed North Korea provided much pause for thought within the U.S. administration during Mattis’ tenure as Secretary of Defense. That a strike plan against North Korea involving 80 nuclear weapons was discussed between the president and his defense secretary isn’t all that hard to imagine………..

One of the options under consideration in Washington was OPLAN 5015, a nuclear strike to take out the North Korean leadership, which Woodward also refers to, drawing again from his extensive interviews with Trump. Specifically, Woodward mentions “updating” such a plan — after all, Kim Jong-un and his predecessors will have always been priority targets in the case of an all-out war. ……………… https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/36519/yes-the-united-states-did-draw-up-a-plan-to-drop-80-nuclear-weapons-on-north-korea

September 19, 2020 Posted by | North Korea, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

In 2017, USA considered plans to attack North Korea using nuclear weapons

September 15, 2020 Posted by | North Korea, politics international, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

The United States and its allies must learn how to live safely with a nuclear North Korea

On North Korea, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace,Toby Dalton, Co-director and Senior Fellow  Nuclear Policy Program, 9 Sep 20, 

The hard realities of North Korea’s nuclear program require a new approach by the United States.North Korea’s nuclear weapons are a fait accompli. Kim Jong Un is determined to hold on to them to guarantee his survival. Neither unilateral disarmament nor military confrontation is a viable U.S. policy approach, and maximum economic pressure will not change Kim’s calculus. The United States and its allies must learn how to live safely with a nuclear North Korea.

The United States and its allies must learn how to live safely with a nuclear North

Three practical goals should inform a new U.S. policy toward North Korea:

  1. Prevent crises that could lead to war
  2. Cap North Korea’s arsenal of nuclear and long-range missiles and prevent their export
  3. Buffer the alliances with Japan and South Korea against likely North Korean provocations

Additional objectives—for instance, preventing illicit trafficking and improving human rights—are important but ultimately secondary. Though desirable, regime change is too risky and uncertain to pursue, as recent experiences in Iraq and Libya suggest.

Accomplishing these three goals will require new negotiations just to establish rules of the road. North Korean demands are bound to be distasteful, but the costs of a negotiated agreement would be far less than those incurred through war or through increased military deployments in East Asia and the construction of a more extensive missile defense shield.

The costs of a negotiated agreement would be far less than those incurred through war.

Reaching a deal will involve helping North Korea overcome its suspicious, hard-nosed attitude. But an even greater challenge will be changing how Washington thinks about detecting and addressing the Kim regime’s possible cheating on a deal……… https://carnegieendowment.org/2020/09/09/on-north-korea-pub-82524

September 10, 2020 Posted by | North Korea, politics international, USA | Leave a comment

South Korea adviser calls for ‘six-party security summit’ to discuss North Korea nuclear issue

Moon’s adviser calls for ‘six-party security summit’ to discuss N.K. nuclear issue, Korea Herald, By Yonhap, 4 Sept 20, SEOUL (Yonhap) —A special security adviser to President Moon Jae-in on Friday suggested reviving the six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear program in the form of a six-way summit, saying the issue is not a matter only between Washington and Pyongyang.

Moon Chung-in, special adviser for diplomatic and security affairs, made the remark during a security forum hosted by the Korea Institute for National Unification, stressing the importance of a “top-down approach” in efforts to resolve the issue.

“We need to revise the six-party talks that we failed in the past and we need to hold a ‘six-party security summit’ so that the leaders can discuss the issue of security and come up with an agreement on common security,” he said.

   “This way, we can solve the North Korean nuclear issue and materialize cooperative security,” he added……….  Nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang remain stalled after the early 2019 summit in Hanoi between the two leaders ended without a deal. The two sides were far apart over how far Pyongyang should denuclearize in order for Washington to offer concessions.
The six-party dialogue — involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan — began in 2003, but has not been held since 2008.(Yonhap)  http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200904000802

September 5, 2020 Posted by | North Korea, politics international, South Korea | Leave a comment

North Korea’s nuclear activity still a ‘serious concern’: UN watchdog 

North Korea’s nuclear activity still a ‘serious concern’: UN watchdog  https://nypost.com/2020/09/02/north-koreas-nuclear-activity-still-a-serious-concern-un/-By Ben Feuerherd, September 2, 2020 

Nuclear activities in North Korea remain a cause for “serious concern,” and the rogue totalitarian state continues to enrich uranium, which could be used in an atomic weapon, the UN’s watchdog said in a recent report.

The activities by the country are in “clear violation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions,” the International Atomic Energy Agency wrote in the report that was released Tuesday.

The report also notes that what was once the heart of the country’s nuclear program, the Yongbyon site, has likely been shut down since 2018 — and that no plutonium has been produced there in the past year.

Nuclear activities in North Korea remain a cause for “serious concern,” and the rogue totalitarian state continues to enrich uranium, which could be used in an atomic weapon, the UN’s watchdog said in a recent report.

The activities by the country are in “clear violation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions,” the International Atomic Energy Agency wrote in the report that was released Tuesday.

The report also notes that what was once the heart of the country’s nuclear program, the Yongbyon site, has likely been shut down since 2018 — and that no plutonium has been produced there in the past year.

Still, the information it’s able to get about the program is “declining” because the agency’s been locked out of the hermit nation.

“Knowledge of the DPRK’s nuclear program is limited and, as further nuclear activities take place in the country, this knowledge is declining,” the report states.

 

September 3, 2020 Posted by | North Korea, politics international | Leave a comment

Vulnerability of nuclear reactors to extreme weather events. Flooding all too close to North Korea’s main nuclear reactor

North Korea floods kill 22, approach nuclear reactor — but Kim doesn’t want help, WP, By Simon Denyer  August 14, 2020 ,  TOKYO — Flooding caused by weeks of unusually heavy monsoon rains has killed at least 22 people in North Korea, with four others missing, and even approached the country’s main nuclear reactor, but leader Kim Jong Un says he is too worried about coronavirus to accept outside help.

The International Federation of the Red Cross said the floods have left at least 22 people dead and four missing, citing the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Red Cross and the country’s State Committee for Emergency and Disaster Management.

The floodwaters approached the Yongbyon nuclear complex last week, reaching the bases of two pump houses designed to cool the country’s main nuclear reactor, according to the 38 North website, citing satellite imagery.

The floodwaters have receded somewhat and pose “no imminent danger,” as the main reactor apparently has not been operating for some time and a nearby experimental light water reactor has yet to come online, said Jenny Town, deputy director of 38 North, part of the Stimson Center.

“In the long run, though, it exposes a vulnerability of the reactors to extreme weather events such as floods,” she wrote in an email, noting that North Korea has been working on building an embankment and dam along the Kuryong River to offer better protection.

“But this year, the river level is usually high,” Town added. “If this were to happen when a reactor was running, it could cause problems in the cooling systems that would necessitate the reactors to be shut down.” ……….  https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/north-korea-floods-kill-22-approach-nuclear-reactor–but-kim-doesnt-want-help/2020/08/13/f53992a8-ddda-11ea-b4f1-25b762cdbbf4_story.html

August 15, 2020 Posted by | climate change, North Korea | Leave a comment

Flooding might have damaged Bort Korea’s nuclear reactor site

August 13, 2020 Posted by | climate change, North Korea, safety | Leave a comment

Kim Jong Un says that North Korea’s nuclear weapons guarantee its freedom from attack, and war

North Korea’s Kim Says No More War Thanks to Nuclear Weapons, VOA, By Reuters   July 27, 2020 SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said there will be no more war as the country’s nuclear weapons guarantee its safety and future despite unabated outside pressure and military threats, state media said Tuesday.

Kim made the remarks as he celebrated the 67th anniversary of the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, which fell on July 27, with a reception for veterans, the official KCNA news agency said.

The country developed nuclear weapons to win “absolute strength” to stave off another armed conflict, Kim said in a speech carried by KCNA, emphasizing the defensive nature of the programs. ………

The speech came amid stalled talks aimed at dismantling Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs in exchange for sanctions relief from Washington.  ……https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/north-koreas-kim-says-no-more-war-thanks-nuclear-weapon

July 28, 2020 Posted by | North Korea, politics international, weapons and war | Leave a comment

North Korea continues policy -no denuclearization talks until the US withdraws its “hostile policy.

North Korea Proceeds Down a Nuclear Path, BY: 38 NORTH, JULY 20, 2020

Reports about the unusual “closed-door meeting” of the Workers’ Party of Korea Central Military Commission (CMC)[1] on July 18 suggested that North Korea remains committed to its strategic weapons development and production plan, including its nuclear weapons. This meeting builds on recent statements by North Korean officials implying that Pyongyang will proceed with its strategic weapons plans and that the moratorium on nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missile testing is off the table. ……
North Korea may have omitted “nuclear” to dial down the tone of recent messaging, but it does not necessarily translate into actual policy implications …….
In the Context of Recent Statements

This nuanced treatment of nuclear weapons in CMC meeting coverage is consistent with recent statements by North Korean officials, which indicated denuclearization is off the table for now and North Korea will proceed with its weapons development to cope with US “long-term threats.”…….

While Kim Yo Jong’s July 10 press statement seemed more conciliatory in tone than the previous Foreign Ministry statements, the bottom line was consistent with North Korea’s position since the Stockholm talks in October 2019: there will be no denuclearization talks until the US withdraws its “hostile policy.”[9] Kim added that North Korea must plan for “long-term threats” from the US and “strengthen and steadily increase our practical capabilities,” which implied going ahead with North Korea’s weapons development and production plan.   https://www.38north.org/2020/07/cmc072020/

July 21, 2020 Posted by | North Korea, politics international, weapons and war | Leave a comment

North Korea to ‘counter nuclear with nuclear’ against US

June 27, 2020 Posted by | North Korea, politics international | Leave a comment

Kim Jong Un’s cyberwar preparations

Kim Jong Un has quietly built a 7,000-man cyber army that gives North Korea an edge nuclear weapons don’t, Business Insider, ELLEN IOANES, JUN 17, 2020, 

  • North Korea has a cyber army of about 7,000, trained to find secrets, disrupt critical infrastructure, and steal money to circumvent sanctions.
  • These cyberattacks are often difficult to pin on North Korea because they originate in countries like China and Russia, and a counterattack is almost impossible because of North Korea’s rudimentary internet.
  • North Korea’s likely next targets are critical US infrastructure like power plants, dams, and electrical grids.
North Korea’s state-sponsored hack of Sony Pictures in 2014 over the movie “The Interview” was highly embarrassing for Sony. But it was just the tip of the iceberg, according to Daniel Russel, vice president for international security and diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute. …………

The WannaCry virus, on the one hand, was ransomware; you could argue that it’s aimed at getting money, but it caused a huge disruption of hospitals in the UK and, potentially, in something like 100-plus other countries where they had disseminated the ransomware. This was software that brought the operation of critical facilities to a standstill.

This is not hacking; this is cyber warfare.

Cyber weapons kind of level the playing field for North Korea in a way that nukes can’t. Not only do the United States, China, Russia, have vastly more nuclear weapons than North Korea, but a nuclear weapon is an all-or-nothing proposition.
Cyber warfare has a very different risk-return calculation. it’s a low-cost, asymmetric, relatively speaking, low-risk weapon system. And the US is the most vulnerable country on planet Earth to disruptive cyberattacks………

Because North Korea depends so heavily on China, not just for cyber, but in the case of cyber, for access to servers, its pipelines, and so on, it would be critical for the United States to develop some degree of cooperation with China to limit North Korea’s offensive cyber threat.

Obviously, there’s much more on the diplomatic side that we would have to do to present North Korea with an international unified front that would make it difficult for it to find these cyber platforms to use against us………… https://www.businessinsider.com.au/north-korea-kim-jong-un-cyber-army-cyberattacks-nuclear-weapons-2020-6?r=US&IR=T

June 18, 2020 Posted by | North Korea, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

U.S. – China talks may cover North Korea nuclear issue

North Korea nuclear issue may be on the agenda at US-China   SCMP, 17 June 20
Stephen Biegun, the US special representative for North Korea, will join the talks in Hawaii on Wednesday.

US special envoy for North Korea Stephen Biegun will be part of the American delegation at

, suggesting the stalemate in nuclear disarmament negotiations with Pyongyang could be on the agenda.

But Chinese observers said it was unlikely that Beijing and Washington – at odds on a range of issues – would act together to break the deadlock. Tensions are mounting on the Korean peninsula after

and threatened military action against the South……….

The Hawaii meeting comes as relations between the world’s two largest economies are at their lowest point in decades and facing off on many fronts – from trade and technology to Hong Kong and the South China Sea. US officials, including President Donald Trump and Pompeo, have blamed Beijing for the coronavirus pandemic, while Beijing has accused Washington of trying to pass the buck to hide its own failings in dealing with Covid-19 in the US.

t also comes as tensions on the Korean peninsula are again escalating after Pyongyang demolished a four-storey liaison office set up near the border with South Korea in 2018 after the first summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. A major setback for the detente in the region, observers said the move reflected Pyongyang’s growing frustration over its stalled nuclear talks with Washington.

But Chinese analysts said the North Korea issue was unlikely to be a priority for Beijing or Washington as the two powers engaged in long-term and all-out strategic competition…….

June 18, 2020 Posted by | China, North Korea, politics international, USA | Leave a comment

Kim Jong Un unlikely to use nuclear weapons – an alternative leader of N Korea might be worse

Kim Jong-un: Terrifying reason behind North Korean leader’s nuclear obsession exposed, Express UK By JOSH SAUNDERS, Jun 5, 2020

KIM JONG-UN is considered one of North Korea’s most feared leaders because he has successfully produced a stockpile of nuclear missiles – but one expert claims the hermit state head would not use them and instead there is a more chilling reason behind his obsession with world-ending weapons……….

although having the world-ending weapons at his disposal, North Korea expert Chris Mikul told Express.co.uk that he believes Kim Jong-un has no intention of firing them. He suspects there may lie an even more sinister motive for pursuing a nuclear stockpile. …….

Mr Mikul told Express.co.uk: “He essentially became westernised, so you can see why there is a big difference between him and the other leaders of North Korea.

“To me there are a lot of signs that he is a more benevolent character and the reason is because he is different at heart… that said, he is still a brutal dictator.”……

“while no one likes to see the continued success of a brutal dictator” things could be a lot worse if he had died – as was believed in April and May.

Mr Mikul told Express.co.uk: “We know he has got nuclear weapons now, which makes him the most successful Kim because he has managed to attain a goal they were trying to achieve since the Sixties.   “The reason they want nuclear weapons is because they know that it’s an insurance policy that will keep the regime in power forever – and he’s done it.
“But in my opinion, he won’t pull the trigger because it would end up in the destruction of North Korea, so maybe it’s good for him to stay there now.”……

Despite the threat perceived by the US Department of the Defence, Mr Mikul believes the weapons may be more symbolic and a way to secure their regime.

If Kim Jong-un was to die, he fears there would more risk from the hermit state due to “no clear successor” being named.

He believes – if it happened – that there could be a “fight at the top” among the inner circle, which in turn could collapse the regime.

Mr Mikul told Express.co.uk: “What could happen is that you would get hundreds of thousands of North Koreans fleeing the country, causing chaos in China, South Korea and Russia.  “So it’s probably better to have Kim Jong-un as leader, even though it is horrible to say – the economy is better under him than it has ever been or as good as it has ever been under the Kims.”
Chris Mikul’s book ‘My Favourite Dictators’ was published by Headpress in 2019, it is available here. https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1291963/kim-jong-un-news-north-korea-nuclear-missiles-attack-south-korea-world-dead-alive-spt

June 6, 2020 Posted by | North Korea, politics international, weapons and war | Leave a comment

South Korea’s government dismissed rumours about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un being gravely ill

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un health rumours dismissed by South Korean intelligence,   ABC News, 27 Apr 20, South Korea’s Government has dismissed rumours that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is in a fragile condition, as speculation about his health intensifies amid the North’s silence on his whereabouts.

Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul told a closed-door forum in Seoul that South Korea had “enough intelligence to confidently say that there are no unusual developments” in rival North Korea that would back up speculation about Mr Kim’s health, his ministry said.

The minister did not reveal what specific intelligence led to that conclusion, but stressed that it was reached after a thorough analysis.

His comments are a reiteration of earlier South Korean statements that Mr Kim appeared to be handling state affairs normally and that no unusual activities had been detected in North Korea.

Those comments, however, failed to dispel the rumours about Mr Kim, partly because past outside intelligence reports on developments in North Korea have sometimes turned out to be wrong. …..

As the absolute leader of a country with a nuclear weapons program, Mr Kim’s health is a matter of intense interest both regionally and globally.

If something were to happen to him, it could lead to instability in North Korea. Mr Kim hasn’t publicly anointed a successor, and that has prompted questions about who would take control of North Korea if he is gravely ill or dies…..

serious unrest could occur if a power struggle erupts between those supporting the Kim dynasty and those who want non-Kim rule……..   https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-28/kim-jong-un-health-rumours-south-korea-intelligence/12191504

April 28, 2020 Posted by | North Korea, politics, politics international, South Korea | Leave a comment

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