Re: North And South Korea On The Brink Of War, Russian Diplomat Warns
After the chinese now the russians, but in the Sea of Japan, things are getting intersting...
Russian cargo vessel in distress in Sea of Japan after collision
14:07 19/12/2010
The Russian cargo ship Sunrise is in distress after colliding with an unidentified fishing vessel in the Sea of Japan, Russia's maritime journal Sovfrakht reported on Sunday.
The collision occurred 96 miles northeast of the South Korean port of Sokcho and 85 miles off North Korea, Sovfrakht said.
The collision punched the cargo vessel's hull and water started to rush inside the vessel. However, the situation is under control and the ship is sailing on its own to the port of Sokcho, Sovfrakht said.
The vessel has a crew of 17 Russian sailors. It was built in 1966 and shipped under Soviet and then Russian flags until recently. Now the ship, which has deadweight of 1,810 tons, sails under the Cambodian flag.
MOSCOW, December 19 (RIA Novosti)
Re: North And South Korea On The Brink Of War, Russian Diplomat Warns
N. Korea beefs up military preparedness on west coast before S.Korea's firing drill: source
The Korea Herald
2010-12-19 21:20
North Korea has beefed up its military forces on the west coast ahead of South Korea's planned live-fire drill in the area, a South Korean government source said Sunday.
"The North Korean artillery unit along the Yellow Sea has raised its preparedness level," the source said.
The source added he couldn't confirm whether some of North Korea's weapons had been moved closer to South Korea, but said, "Some fighter jets that had been inside the air force hangar have come out to the ground."
South Korea earlier Sunday reaffirmed its plan to go ahead with the live-fire drill off Yeonpyeong Island either Monday or Tuesday.
The island located near the tense maritime border on the Yellow Sea was shelled by North Korean artillery on Nov. 23, and two marines and two civilians were killed in the bombing.
North Korea operates a 76.2-millimeter coastal gun with a 12-kilometer range north of Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong, another South Korean border island. The communist state also has a 122-millimeter multiple launch rocket with a 20km range lined up among other weapons.
North Korea has threatened "unpredictable self-defensive blows" with "deadlier" firepower, prompting China and Russia to urge South Korea to cancel the one-day drill. But South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the drill is part of the military's routine exercises and North Korea's threats and diplomatic situations won't be taken into consideration.
(Yonhap News)
Re: North And South Korea On The Brink Of War, Russian Diplomat Warns
North Korea raises military alert level - emergency meeting at UN
CNN
Re: North And South Korea On The Brink Of War, Russian Diplomat Warns
U.N. Security Council to hold emergency meeting on Korean crisis
The Situation Room
By the CNN Wire Staff
December 19, 2010 -- Updated 1256 GMT (2056 HKT)
http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/WOR...ty.council.jpg
Pyongyang, North Korea (CNN) - At Russia's urging, the U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Sunday morning aimed at defusing simmering tensions in the Korean peninsula.
The meeting will take place at 11 a.m. ET on Sunday, a day after Russia had originally wanted to meet, its ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said in a statement. Churkin blamed the U.S. delegation - which this month heads up the security council - for the one-day delay, adding, "We assume that nothing will happen in the interim that would bring about further aggravation."
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a former prominent U.S. diplomat now in the middle of an unofficial four-day trip meeting with high-level Pyongyang officials, applauded the development as something that could help skirt further military escalation.
"It's a very, very tense situation, a crisis situation," Richardson told CNN's Wolf Blitzer from Pyongyang. "This is when the U.N. Security Council can be most effective."
The former U.S. energy secretary and ambassador to the United Nations met Sunday morning for one-and-a-half hours with Maj. Gen. Pak Rim Su, who leads North Korean forces in the demilitarized zone along the South Korean border. He called it a "very tough meeting" that included "some progress."
Richardson told CNN that Pak was receptive to his proposal that a military hotline be set up between North Korean and South Korean forces, in order to address issues should an incident occur.
Pak was also open to the governor's idea for a military commission -- with representatives from North Korea, South Korea and the United States -- to monitor disputed areas in and around the Yellow Sea. The goal, Richardson said, would be to address issues before they flared into larger confrontations.
The North Korean general, separately, told Richardson that the remains of several hundred U.S. servicemen killed about six decades ago during the Korean War had recently been recovered, showing the governor pictures of some of them and a dog tag from one soldier. Pak then offered to resume joint recovery efforts with the United States.
"It was a positive gesture," Richardson said.
Still, the governor said that the U.N. Security Council's meeting on Sunday might be an even more significant development when it comes to the regional crisis. He called China's recent statements on and Russia's leadership on the issue a positive -- saying he hoped that the council might issue a statement "urging all sides to exercise maximum restraint (and to) cool things down."
The Security Council has five permanent members in China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. There are also 10 rotating members, which are currently Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovinia, Brazil, Gabon, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Turkey and Uganda.
The United States, as well as Russia and Japan, have been key international players in the crisis, and Chinese officials have also conducted a series of high-level talks with North Korean and South Korean officials.
On Saturday, Chinese Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun reiterated his nation's strong desire to avert war, which he said would be devastating for both Korean nations and the region as a whole, according to state-run news agency Xinhua.
Richardson came to North Korea at the invitation of its top nuclear negotiator as a private citizen -- with the knowledge of but not as a representative of the U.S. government -- amidst one of the region's most serious crises since the 1953 Korean War armistice.
North Korea says that its South Korean counterparts are instigating tensions with planned live military exercises on and around the disputed Yeonpyeong Island. Seoul cited bad weather as its reason for pushing back the drills a day or two, which were originally scheduled between December 18 and 21, South Korea's official Yonhap News Agency reported.
Saying the exercises would be in "the inviolable territorial waters" of North Korea, the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency warned Saturday that its forces "will deal the second and third unpredictable self-defensive blow" if the drills proceed.
Such strikes, according to the agency, would be "deadlier ... in terms of the powerfulness and sphere" than its November 23 shelling of Yeonpyeong Island that left four South Koreans dead.
Noting that North Korea is "very, very provoked by this potential incident," Richardson said he hoped that a strong statement from the United Nations council might spur Seoul to cancel the drills and "give both sides cover" to tamp down their rhetoric and actions.
Pak was the first non-political official to talk to Richardson, who earlier said he had a "good meeting" with the North's chief nuclear negotiator Kim Gye Gwan and also met with the vice minister of North Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday.
Both Koreas have traded tough talk and conducted aggressive military drills in the weeks after the Yeonpyeong Island incident.
The U.S. military has said it is concerned that South Korea's scheduled exercises could spark an uncontrollable clash with the North, but the State Department said the exercises are not meant to be threatening or provocative.
CNN's Jiyeon Lee contributed to this report.
Re: North And South Korea On The Brink Of War, Russian Diplomat Warns
The Guns of Christmas
Blog Information Dissemination
Sunday, December 19, 2010
The weather is improving over South Korea, and the live fire drills are likely to take place today. A few random thoughts before the day unfolds.
South Korea will conduct the live fire drills, cancellation isn't an option. This is a cultural issue as much as anything, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak cannot back down to North Korean threats or intimidation or he will be forced to resign in disgrace.
North Korea will return fire. The North has made every single warning that is consistent with the warnings made prior to the last outbreak of combat, including phone calls with personal warnings (very rare). Expect return fire to Yeonpyeong island and at least one other location along the DMZ as well. If I was to guess, I would suggest the second attack vector will probably be in Gyeonggi Province. If you recall, that is where intelligence suggested the next attack would come from, and if I was in Vegas I would bet that is where KPA Unit 2670 is located.
North Korean artillery fired a number of duds during the first Yeonpyeong island attack. Folks will be watching to see if the second attack also includes a high number of duds. The North Korean guns are still good, but the artillery shells may not be. If serious shooting starts, it will be interesting to see if the South Koreans decide to take out all the guns while they are ineffective due to bad ammo, as opposed to stopping short of that step and letting North Korea rebuild stocks of new artillery shells.
I suspect the response to an attack will be measured and not an all out offensive. It is very unlikely North Korea would use a nuclear weapon unless the South Koreans actually invaded North Korea, but it is also unclear how the North Koreans will respond to bomb raids against Pyongyang.
Bill Richardson does not appear to have made any progress on either defusing tensions or the nuclear issue. As long as he stays in North Korea though, there is still hope for a diplomatic breakthrough.
Posted by Galrahn at 9:00 AM
Re: North And South Korea On The Brink Of War, Russian Diplomat Warns
Sam Kim (egalite_twitted):
- I expect a very busy day tomorrow. Likely to see a new level of blustery rhetoric if not action. Bill Richardson holds the key for now. 1 minute ago via Twitter for iPhone
- There are about 430 SKorean workers in #NKorea, the lion's share of them at joint factory park near western border. 31 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone
- SKorea gov't tells me no one will enter NKorea tomorrow. No exceptions. Adds it will keep it that way until situation improves. 36 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone
Re: North And South Korea On The Brink Of War, Russian Diplomat Warns
South Korea resists pressure, threat to cancel live-fire drill
The Manilla Times
Monday, 20 December 2010 00:00
YEONPYEONG ISLAND: South Korea on Sunday resisted pressure from Russia and China to cancel a live-fire exercise on a frontier island bombarded by North Korea last month.
The North has threatened “disaster” if the South stages the drill on Yeonpyeong island near the disputed Yellow Sea border, where four people were killed in November.
“We have no plan to cancel our exercise,” a South Korean defense ministry spokesman told Agence France-Presse, adding that the one-day drill may take place on Monday or Tuesday.
The flare-up, coming in the wake of nuclear-armed North Korea revealing a uranium enrichment program, has sparked alarm around the world.
On Sunday, a South Korean military aircraft was flying over Yeonpyeong, with marines on patrol near their seaside barracks.
The foreign ministers of China and Russia held telephone talks on Saturday and called for restraint on the Korean peninsula as the United Nations (UN) Security Council prepared to hold talks on the situation.
“China firmly opposes any action to cause tension and worsen the situation, and demands both sides on the peninsula show calmness and restraint,” Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said.
The Koreas must “carry out dialogue and contact, and completely avoid any action that would fuel the tension,” Yang said.
China, North Korea’s sole major ally, has refrained from condemning Pyongyang over the bombardment despite calls for it to use its influence to intervene in the crisis.
The UN Security Council called a meeting for Sunday, with Russia expressing anger that it was not organized earlier.
“We regret that. We believe that such a step by the president is a departure from the practice existing in the council,” Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said.
The United States, however, rejected criticism of the arrange-ments for the meeting.
“This meets other Security Council members’ requests to have time to consult with their capitals and meets the Russian request for a timely meeting,” said US mission spokesman Mark Kornblau.
The UN Security Council has yet to make any statement over North Korea’s artillery attack last month, which left two marines and two civilians dead and damaged dozens of homes.
China has blocked demands for a strongly worded statement against Pyongyang and talks over a text are now in deadlock.
The first shelling of civilian areas since the 1950 to 1953 war sparked outrage in the South, which rushed more troops and guns to its frontline islands.
North Korea on Saturday predicted “disaster” if South Korea goes ahead with the artillery exercise.
A foreign ministry statement accused US troops—about 20 of them are set to take part in the drill—of providing a “human shield” for the event.
The North said the exercise “would make it impossible to prevent the situation on the Korean peninsula from exploding and escape its ensuing disaster.”
It said that its military has already threatened “decisive and merciless punishment” for such an action and “does not make an empty talk.”
AFP
Re: North And South Korea On The Brink Of War, Russian Diplomat Warns
Sam Kim (egalite_twitted):
Parents of marines on Yeonpyeong and nearby islands will probably miss sleep tonite. If I had even a brother there, I would. about 1 hour ago via Twitter for iPhone
Re: North And South Korea On The Brink Of War, Russian Diplomat Warns
Kate Prengel (she is an UN reporter) from twitter:
- #NorthKorea is here in full force. Three delegates in the waiting room. #UN 13 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®
- #UN security council consultations on #Korean tensions have officially begun. Doors shut. Japanese press visibly relaxes. 15 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®
- Big media scrum at #UNSC for #Korea meeting. Air full of stress. Guards try to refuse entry to a Ugandan diplomat. 21 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®
Re: North And South Korea On The Brink Of War, Russian Diplomat Warns
South Korea detains Chinese fisherman
By Leslie Hook in Beijing and Song Jung-a in Seoul
Published: December 19 2010 14:18 | Last updated: December 19 2010 14:18
Financial Times
South Korea has detained eight Chinese fishermen after their boat collided with a patrol ship, in an incident that left at least one dead and will complicate relations with China at a time when the US and others are pushing Beijing to help broker a detente on the Korean peninsula.
Tensions on the peninsula remained high over the weekend as South Korea cited bad weather in postponing artillery drills on Yeonpyeong island, the site of a recent North Korean attack that killed four South Koreans. Those drills are now expected to go ahead this week.
Re: North And South Korea On The Brink Of War, Russian Diplomat Warns
U.N. council holds emergency meeting on Korea crisis
Sun Dec 19, 2010 11:32am EST
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council began an emergency meeting on Sunday in hopes of preventing the escalating crisis on the Korean peninsula from spiraling out of control.
Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who called a news conference on Saturday about the spat between North and South Korea, said he hoped the 15 council members could agree on a unanimous statement that would send a "restraining signal" to both Seoul and Pyongyang.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted a government source as saying that North Korea's military had raised an alert for artillery units based along its west coast ahead of a planned live-fire drill by the South.
Both the North and South have said they will use military means to defend what they say is their territory off the west coast. Recent Western attempts to get the Security Council to rebuke Pyongyang over a deadly artillery shelling incident last month and its nuclear program have been blocked by China.
(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
Re: North And South Korea On The Brink Of War, Russian Diplomat Warns
Don't underestimate North Korea
Published: Sunday, December 19, 2010, 10:37 AM
BY COL. KEVIN RICHARDS
PennLive.com
A war on the Korean Peninsula is in no one’s interest; not South Korea, China, Japan nor the United States. Not even North Korea, although with a standing army of more than a million and 18,000 artillery tubes pointed south, it continues to be provocative and belligerent when not receiving enough attention.
That is why the actions taken by the United States, utilizing diplomatic, informational and military instruments of power are proving effective in easing tensions following last month’s unprovoked artillery barrage by Kim Jong Il.
North Korea’s despotic leader, ordered the artillery strike onto the South Korean fishing community of Yeonpyeong Island on Nov. 23, killing four, including two civilians. Some say the shots were ordered by Kim Jong Il to demonstrate to his recently named heir and youngest son how to be a forceful leader. More likely they were fired to bring about a fresh round of Six-Party Talks, which the Obama administration with its new, tougher stance on North Korea has refused to take part in.
Poking a stick into the eye of South Korea from time to time has worked well for Kim in the past. Using these tactics brings him legitimacy at home and relevancy in the region while usually gaining humanitarian concessions or easing of economic sanctions for his efforts.
But the U.S. did not play along this time. Instead it honored its longtime military commitment to South Korea by sending an aircraft carrier into Korean waters, conducting war games with the ROK military and for good measure holding its largest joint military exercise with Japan.
Couple those actions with the more than 28,000 U.S. troops stationed in the Republic of Korea and the message for the North is another aggressive act toward South Korea could bring the wrath of the U.S.
Yet Kim Jong Il should not be underestimated. He is shrewd and calculating, playing the brinksmanship game well. Firing a few artillery rounds to get attention is one thing; starting a war he cannot win with the U.S is another.
You can bet he got the message. America’s actions sent a message to the South: We stand behind our military agreement. We also let China know we are still a player in the region and will continue to maintain our presence there.
And at a time when some nations question our resolve and believe we are too focused on Iraq and Afghanistan, we sent our friends and allies around the globe the message they too can depend on the United States.
Since Kim’s state-owned press provided the North Korean people their only news on the Yeonpyeong incident, we cannot ensure the North Korean people really know what is going on or how recklessly their leader is behaving; however, we can and effectively did ensure the rest of the world saw this action for what it was.
Film footage of the North Korean rounds impacting and the ensuing panic on Yeonpyeong was splashed on major news shows and, of course, on YouTube guaranteeing public outrage in capitals worldwide while U.S. government spokesmen used harsh terms in describing North Korea’s despicable actions. If it’s attention Kim Jong Il wanted, it’s attention he received as the U.S. pulled out all diplomatic stops concerning this issue.
Secretary Clinton met with her ROK and Japanese counterparts in Washington, building a united diplomatic front with our allies. The message to South Korea: Act with restraint and the three nations will stand together against North Korea’s aggression. The message to the North and indirect message to China: The U.S. will not be forced to conduct negotiations on the North’s terms.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen met with his ROK counterparts last week, demonstrating additional U.S. resolve concerning this issue and making it clear that we stand behind our military commitments on the peninsula.
Following up on a phone call from President Obama to Chinese President Hu Jintao, Deputy Secretary of State Steinberg is in Beijing. He will urge China to pressure North Korea into ratcheting back its aggressive posture and to cease work on its nuclear program. China is North Korea’s closest ally and as the United States has no diplomatic ties with North Korea, engagement with China affords the best opportunity to get clear messages to Kim Jong Il.
While the effective use of U.S. instruments of power and restraint by the South Korean leadership have helped prevent a deteriorating security situation on the peninsula, the U.S. must now contemplate Kim Jong Il’s next move and be more pro-active in its future response.
This game is not over and Kim Jong Il is a smart and effective player at brinkmanship. The U.S. and its allies and partners must be ready for his next act.
COL. KEVIN RICHARDS is director of Asian studies at the U.S. Army War College. He has been to Korea on many occasions, including training exercises with the ROK Army. He just finished a four-year tour as the defense attache in Indonesia.
Re: North And South Korea On The Brink Of War, Russian Diplomat Warns
I couldn't get to any of the cameras.
Thanks for the updates.
Looks like they've put off the live fire drills for a couple more days.
The UNSC is meeting, impotently as usual.
DPRK is still pissing in everyone's corn flakes.
Russia is screwed up.
China has lost some of their "Fishermen" to the South Koreans.....
This is escalation on a Cold War Scale my friends.