North Korea making nuclear threats

[American Patriot]

North Korea's threat after UN nuclear slap

• by: Rick Wallace, Tokyo correspondent
• From: The Australian
• January 24, 2013 12:00AM

NORTH Korea has reacted angrily to a new resolution passed against it at the UN Security Council and threatened to bolster its nuclear "deterrent" in a possible warning of a new test.



The Security Council unanimously approved a resolution yesterday condemning North Korea for its rocket launch last month, widely viewed as a de facto ballistic missile test.


The rogue state's Foreign Ministry issued a statement after the resolution passed condemning the US, reaffirming its military-first policy and declaring denuclearisation off the table.


"The present situation clearly proves that the DPRK should counter the US hostile policy with strength, not with words, and that the road of independence and Songun (military-first) chosen by the DPRK is entirely just," the statement said. "There can be talks for peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the region in the future, but no talks for the denuclearisation of the peninsula.










"The DPRK will take steps for physical counteraction to bolster military capabilities for self-defence, including nuclear deterrence to cope with the evermore undisguised moves of the US to apply sanctions and pressure against the DPRK."


It took major powers more than a month to agree on a resolution, with the US and China at odds over how much to tighten sanctions against North Korea. The resolution expands trade and travel embargoes and asset freezes targeting North Korean agencies, companies and individuals and adds its space organisation to the entities covered.


North Korea shrugged off the move to list the Korean Committee for Space Technology, declaring it would "continuously" launch rockets carrying satellites to firm up its claims to being a global space power.


Last month, the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University said North Korea had repaired rain damage at its nuclear test site in the northeast of the country and could conduct a detonation with just two weeks' notice.


North Korea's previous subsurface atomic tests have been carried out within months of its long-range rocket launches.


Analysts believe that preparations at the test site may have spurred China to agree to pass the resolution.

[American Patriot]

Defiant North Korea ups nuclear rhetoric

Date

January 24, 2013

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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.
''Some may say these sanctions are 'low-hanging fruit' and don't really bite as tightly as they might, yet two factors make these sanctions meaningful,'' said George Lopez, a former UN sanctions investigator on North Korea.
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''It signals that consequences await a future violation of any type and acts on recommendations regarding smuggling networks and specific materials to be prohibited.'' Mr Lopez teaches at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame.
North Korea successfully launched a long-range rocket in December, boosting its ballistic capabilities after a failure in April. South Korean officials have warned that the North is prepared to conduct a nuclear weapons test ''soon'' in a follow-up to the missile launch.
Kim Jong-un, who succeeded his late father Kim Jong-il as North Korea's leader in December 2011, has sought to boost foreign investment while showing no willingness to return to nuclear disarmament negotiations.
His foreign ministry on Wednesday announced an ''end'' to the six-nation talks, which have not met since December 2008.
''While there will be dialogue in the future for peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and the region, there will not be dialogue on denuclearisation,'' the ministry said, quoting an unidentified spokesman.
Incoming South Korean president Park Geun-hye has said a nuclear North Korea is ''unacceptable under any situation'', and vowed to ''respond firmly'' to any future ''reckless provocations'' by the North, her spokesman said on January 13.
Ms Park, who takes office on February 25, promised during her campaign to revive inter-Korean dialogue to mend ties battered during her predecessor Lee Myung-bak's term.
South Korea, a new non-permanent member of the Security Council, welcomed Tuesday's actions, citing close co-operation with the US and Japan as well as discussions with China - North Korea's most powerful diplomatic backer. Ms Park's delegation of special envoys were to meet incoming Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday.
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.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/defiant-...#ixzz2Io9Fh6mv

[American Patriot]

North Korea to carry out third nuclear test 'aimed at US'

North Korea has announced plans to carry out a third nuclear test as part of "upcoming all-out action" against America.

The North's threat coincided with a visit to Seoul by the US special envoy on North Korea Photo: REUTERS








By Julian Ryall, Tokyo

9:24AM GMT 24 Jan 2013
236 Comments


Defying a resolution issued by the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday that condemned Pyongyang for test-firing a missile in December and tightened existing sanctions on the regime, North Korea's National Defence Commission said the new nuclear test would be part of its action against the "sworn enemy of the Korean people".

North Korea also vowed to push ahead with launches of more long-range rockets.



Describing the UN Security Council as "a marionette of the US," North Korean state media claimed the resolutions are "products of its blind pursuance of the hostile policy of the US.



"The UNSC should apologise for its crime of seriously encroaching upon the independence of a sovereign state ... and repeal all the unreasonable 'resolutions' at once," KCNA reported.



Pyongyang also declared that no further talks on removing nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula are now possible and that a "nuclear test of a higher level" would be carried out.



Intelligence reports have suggested that the North has been preparing to carry out a new underground nuclear test after global condemnation of the successful launch of a missile on December 12. Pyongyang has claimed that the launch was of a rocket to put a satellite into orbit.


Disagreement within the UN Security Council - primarily a result of China, which holds a veto, insisting that retaliatory measures be watered down - meant that North Korea has had plenty of time to prepare for the inevitable responses.


Reaction to Pyongyang's declaration was swift, with Glyn Davies, the special representative for North Korean policy in the US government, urging North Korea not to go ahead with the test, saying it would be "a mistake and a missed opportunity."


The transition team for the incoming South Korean government, due to be sworn in on Friday, has also appealed to Pyongyang not to take any steps that would aggravate tensions in the region, while Japan is to launch a new spy satellite on Sunday with the express task of monitoring missile and nuclear tests in North Korea.


China, North Korea's sole significant ally, even come down against Pyongyang's intransigence, with Xi Jinping, the next president, telling a visiting delegation of politicians from South Korea that he opposes the regime developing nuclear arms or any weapons of mass destruction.


Hong Lei, a foreign ministry spokesman added: "All relevant parties should refrain from action that might escalate the situation in the region."


Beijing's influence on the new government of Kim Jong-un however appears to be waning.


North Korea separately expressed outrage at reports in the Chinese media that Mr Kim has undergone plastic surgery to make him more closely resemble his much-revered grandfather, the late Kim Il-sung.


Pyongyang's anger was aroused after the report was aired on a Chinese TV station, with state media describing the claims as a "smear campaign" orchestrated by South Korea "to tarnish the ever-more growing dignity and authority of the supreme headquarters of the DPRK."

[American Patriot]

N. Korea warns that nuke test may be imminent
January 24, 2013 |


North Korea's Unha-3 rocket lifts off from the Sohae launch pad in Tongchang-ri, North Korea last December. / AP
USA Today
by USA TODAY


SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea's top governing body warned Thursday that the regime will conduct its third nuclear test in defiance of U.N. punishment, and made clear that its long-range rockets are designed to carry not only satellites but also warheads aimed at striking the United States.

The National Defense Commission, headed by the country's young leader, Kim Jong Un, rejected Tuesday's U.N. Security Council resolution condemning North Korea's long-range rocket launch in December as a banned missile activity and expanding sanctions against the regime. The commission reaffirmed in its declaration that the launch was a peaceful bid to send a satellite into space, but also said the country's rocket launches have a military purpose: to strike and attack the United States.

The commission pledged to keep launching satellites and rockets and to conduct a nuclear test as part of a "new phase" of combat with the United States, which it blames for leading the U.N. bid to punish Pyongyang. It said a nuclear test was part of "upcoming" action but did not say exactly when or where it would take place.

"We do not hide that a variety of satellites and long-range rockets which will be launched by the DPRK one after another and a nuclear test of higher level which will be carried out by it in the upcoming all-out action, a new phase of the anti-U.S. struggle that has lasted century after century, will target against the U.S., the sworn enemy of the Korean people," the commission said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"Settling accounts with the U.S. needs to be done with force, not with words, as it regards jungle law as the rule of its survival," the commission said.

It was a rare declaration by the powerful military commission once led by late leader Kim Jong Il and now commanded by his son, Kim Jong Un. The statement made clear Kim's commitment to continue developing the country's nuclear and missile programs in defiance of the Security Council, even at risk of further international isolation.

North Korea's allusion to a "higher level" nuclear test most likely refers to a device made from highly enriched uranium, which is easier to miniaturize than the plutonium bombs it tested in 2006 and 2009, said Cheong Seong-chang, an analyst at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea. Experts say the North Koreans must conduct further tests of its atomic devices and master the technique for making them smaller before they can be mounted as nuclear warheads onto long-range missiles.

The U.S. State Department had no immediate response to Thursday's statement. On Wednesday, after Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry issued its own angry response to the Security Council decision and said the North would bolster its "nuclear deterrence," U.S. envoy to North Korea Glyn Davies urged restraint.

"It is important that they heed the voice of the international community," Davies said in South Korea. He was meeting with South Korean officials on a trip that also will take him to China and Japan to discuss how to move forward on North Korea relations.

Davies said that if North Korea begins "to take concrete steps to indicate their interest in returning to diplomacy, they may find in their negotiating partners willing partners in that process."

North Korea claims the right to build nuclear weapons as a defense against the United States, its Korean War foe.

The bitter three-year war ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953, and left the Korean Peninsula divided by the world's most heavily fortified demilitarized zone. The U.S. leads the U.N. Command that governs the truce and stations more than 28,000 troops in ally South Korea, a presence that North Korea cites as a key reason for its drive to build nuclear weapons.

North Korea is estimated to have stored up enough weaponized plutonium for four to eight bombs, according to scientist Siegfried Hecker, who visited the North's Nyongbyon nuclear complex in 2010.

In 2009, Pyongyang also declared that it would begin enriching uranium, which would give North Korea a second way to make atomic weapons.

North Korea carried out underground nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, both times just weeks after being punished with U.N. sanctions for launching long-range rockets it claimed were peaceful bids to send satellites into space.

In October, an unidentified spokesman at the National Defense Commission warned in statement carried by state media that the U.S. mainland was within range of its missiles. And at a military parade last April, North Korea showed off what appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Satellite photos taken last month at North Korea's underground nuclear test site in Punggye-ri in the far northeast showed continued activity that suggested a state of readiness even in winter, according to analysis by 38 North, a North Korea website affiliated with the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies.

Another nuclear test would bring North Korea a step closer to being ability to launch a long-range missile tipped with a nuclear warhead, said Daniel Pinkston, an analyst with the International Crisis Group.

"Their behavior indicates they want to acquire those capabilities," he said. "The ultimate goal is to have a robust nuclear deterrent."

[American Patriot]

North Korea raises tensions with plan to carry out new nuclear test aimed at 'sworn enemy' United States

The move, which comes in defiance of a resolution issued by the UN on Tuesday, is likely to once again raise tensions in the region over the North Korean missile program


Rob Williams



Thursday 24 January 2013















The secretive North Korean regime has said it is planning a nuclear test and more long-range rocket launches, aimed at what it calls its "sworn enemy", the United States.


The move, which comes in defiance of a resolution issued by the UN on Tuesday, is likely to once again raise tensions in the region over the North Korean missile program.


On Tuesday the UN Security Council condemned North Korea for test-firing a missile in December and tightened existing sanctions on the regime.


The National Defence Commission of Korea responded by saying the new nuclear test would be part of its action against the "sworn enemy of the Korean people".


The regime has also said it plans to press ahead with the ongoing testing of long-range missiles.


The declaration by the National Defence Commission, said: "We do not hide that the various satellites and long-range rockets we will continue to launch, as well as the high-level nuclear test we will proceed with, are aimed at our arch-enemy the United States."


"Settling accounts with the US needs to be done with force, not with words, as it regards jungle law as the rule of its survival," the statement continued.


In the statement the National Defence Commission describes the UN Security Council as "a marionette of the US".


The response shows a marked escalation in tensions between Kim Jong-un's regime and the West.


The new UN resolution and sanctions follow the launch last month of a long-range rocket. The North Korean's insists the launch was part of its peaceful space programme, but the US and its allies believe the purpose was to test its ballistic missile technology.


Today's statement did not clarify when the new nuclear test will take place, though analysts are suggesting it could happen in mid-February.


The commission statement, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency did not give any explanation of the meaning of "high level".


Washington urged North Korea not to proceed with a third test just as the North's statement was published.


"Whether North Korea tests or not is up to North Korea," Glyn Davies, the top U.S. envoy for North Korean diplomacy, said in the South Korean capital of Seoul.


"We hope they don't do it. We call on them not to do it," Davies said after a meeting with South Korean officials. "This is not a moment to increase tensions on the Korean peninsula."


The North was banned from developing missile and nuclear technology under sanctions dating from its 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests.


A South Korean military official said the concern now is that Pyongyang could undertake a third nuclear test using highly enriched uranium for the first time, opening a second path to a bomb.


North Korea's 2006 nuclear test using plutonium produced a puny yield equivalent to one kiloton of TNT - compared with 13-18 kilotons for the Hiroshima bomb - and US intelligence estimates put the 2009 test's yield at roughly two kilotons


North Korea is estimated to have enough fissile material for about a dozen plutonium warheads, although estimates vary, and intelligence reports suggest that it has been enriching uranium to supplement that stock and give it a second path to the bomb.


According to estimates from the Institute for Science and International Security from late 2012, North Korea could have enough weapons grade uranium for 21-32 nuclear weapons by 2016 if it used one centrifuge at its Yongbyon nuclear plant to enrich uranium to weapons grade.

[MinutemanCO]

And, of course, there are no coincidences. The timing of NK and their nuclear rattlings also figures into the mix. They are not doing this in a vacuum.

[American Patriot]

North Korea threatens war with South over U.N. sanctions





By Jack Kim
SEOUL | Fri Jan 25, 2013 8:26am EST




(Reuters) - North Korea threatened to attack rival South Korea if Seoul joined a new round of tightened U.N. sanctions, as Washington unveiled more of its own economic restrictions following Pyongyang's rocket launch last month.


In a third straight day of fiery rhetoric, the North directed its verbal onslaught at its neighbor on Friday, saying: "'Sanctions' mean a war and a declaration of war against us."


The reclusive North has this week declared a boycott of all dialogue aimed at ending its nuclear program and vowed to conduct more rocket and nuclear tests after the U.N. Security Council censured it for a December long-range missile launch.


"If the puppet group of traitors takes a direct part in the U.N. 'sanctions,' the DPRK will take strong physical counter-measures against it," the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said, referring to the South.


The committee is the North's front for dealings with the South. DPRK is short for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The U.N. Security Council unanimously condemned North Korea's December rocket launch on Tuesday and expanded existing U.N. sanctions.


On Thursday, the United States slapped economic sanctions on two North Korean bank officials and a Hong Kong trading company that it accused of supporting Pyongyang's proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.


The company, Leader (Hong Kong) International Trading Ltd, was separately blacklisted by the United Nations on Wednesday.
Seoul has said it will look at whether there are any further sanctions that it can implement alongside the United States, but said the focus for now is to follow Security Council resolutions.


The resolution said the council "deplores the violations" by North Korea of its previous resolutions, which banned Pyongyang from conducting further ballistic missile and nuclear tests and from importing materials and technology for those programs. It does not impose new sanctions on Pyongyang.


The United States had wanted to punish North Korea for the rocket launch with a Security Council resolution that imposed entirely new sanctions against Pyongyang, but Beijing rejected that option. China agreed to U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang after North Korea's 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests.
NUCLEAR TEST WORRY


North Korea's rhetoric this week amounted to some of the angriest outbursts against the outside world coming under the leadership of Kim Jong-un, who took over after the death of his father Kim Jong-il in late 2011.


On Thursday, the North said it would carry out further rocket launches and a nuclear test, directing its ire at the United States, a country it called its "sworn enemy".
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the comments were worrying.


"We are very concerned with North Korea's continuing provocative behavior," he said at a Pentagon news conference.


"We are fully prepared ... to deal with any kind of provocation from the North Koreans. But I hope in the end that they determine that it is better to make a choice to become part of the international family."


North Korea is not believed to have the technology to deliver a nuclear warhead capable of hitting the continental United States, although its December launch showed it had the capacity to deliver a rocket that could travel 10,000 km (6,200 miles), potentially putting San Francisco in range, according to an intelligence assessment by South Korea.


South Korea and others who have been closely observing activities at the North's known nuclear test grounds believe Pyongyang is technically ready to go ahead with its third atomic test and awaiting the political decision of its leader.


The North's committee also declared on Friday that a landmark agreement it signed with the South in 1992 on eliminating nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula was invalid, repeating its long-standing accusation that Seoul was colluding with Washington.


The foreign ministry of China, the North's sole remaining major diplomatic and economic benefactor, repeated its call for calm on the Korean peninsula at its daily briefing on Friday.


"The current situation on the Korea peninsula is complicated and sensitive," spokesman Hong Lei said.


"We hope all relevant parties can see the big picture, maintain calm and restraint, further maintain contact and dialogue, and improve relations, while not taking actions to further complicate and escalate the situation," Hong said.


But unusually prickly comments in Chinese state media on Friday hinted at Beijing's exasperation.


"It seems that North Korea does not appreciate China's efforts," said the Global Times in an editorial, a sister publication of the official People's Daily.
"Just let North Korea be 'angry' ... China hopes for a stable peninsula, but it's not the end of the world if there's trouble there. This should be the baseline of China's position."

[American Patriot]

South Korea envoy says North Korea nuke test seems imminent

Published February 04, 2013

Associated Press

North Korea Nuclear feb4.JPG

Dec. 21, 2012 - FILE video image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a banquet for rocket scientists in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP)

UNITED NATIONS – South Korea's U.N. ambassador says a North Korean nuclear test "seems to be imminent."

Ambassador Kim Sook said at a press conference Monday that in the event of a nuclear test, he expects the U.N. Security Council to respond with "very firm and resolute measures."

South Korea holds the Security Council presidency this month but the ambassador said he was speaking as South Korea's envoy.

He said there are "very busy activities" taking place at North Korea's nuclear test site "and everybody's watching."

Kim accused Pyongyang of violating Security Council resolutions banning nuclear and missile tests and threatening peace and security on the Korean peninsula and in northeast Asia.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/02...#ixzz2JxiclSPC

[American Patriot]

North Korea Could Launch Nuclear Missile Test 'Anytime', South Korea Says

By Cole Hill | First Posted: Feb 04, 2013 02:45 PM EST

Amidst constantly rising tensions, North Korea is apparently ready to launch a nuclear missile test at "anytime", South Korean officials announced Monday.

"We assess that North Korea has almost finished preparations for conducting a nuclear test anytime and all that's left is North Korea making a political decision" to do so, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters Monday.

The spokesman explained he couldn't reveal any further details because they would involve confidential intelligence affairs, Yahoo! News reported.

North Korea's state-run media announced Sunday that at a "high-level" Workers' Party meeting, leader Kim Jong Un delivered "important" guidelines in an attempt to embolden the army and protect national sovereignty. North Korea didn't elaborate, the guidelines likely refer to a nuclear test launch and indicate that Pyongyang has finished the formal procedural steps and is planning to test the missile soon, according to South Korean analyst Hong Hyun-ik.

Partly as a show of force against North Korea, U.S. and South Korean troops began three days of naval drills Monday directed at North Korea off the Korean Peninsula's east coast that involve live-fire exercises, naval maneuvers and submarine detection drills. The maneuvers are part of regular joint military training that the allies scheduled before the latest nuclear tensions began, sout Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

North Korea's state-run media denounced the drills Monday as symbolic foreshadowing of impending battle.

"The dark cloud of war is approaching to the Korean Peninsula," North Korea's official Uriminzokkiri website said in a commentary. "Our patience has the limit."

North Korea has made brisk progress in preparing its main underground nuclear test site recently, but has put a cover over the entrance to the tunnel to thwart attempts to discern whether a detonation might be imminent, South Korean officials and media reported on Friday.

North Korea denounced the U.S. as its "sworn enemy" and announced more nuclear tests earlier in January in retaliation for the United Nations Security Council's unanimous decision to tighten sanctions in the insular nation. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was said to have ordered his military and government to take "high-profile" measures last week, according to the country's media, the New York Times reported, that indicated a third nuclear test could happen soon.

With the nuclear test sites underground, satellites cannot fully observe the reality of the situation, drawing the attention of American and South Korean officials to the entrance of the newest of the three tunnels in particular, where a test is most likely. A sealed entrance to the tunnel would be the most obvious sign of an impending test, according to the New York Times.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to talk to the media on the record, a South Korean military official said Friday that North Korea recently had put a large cover over the entrance of the tunnel, apparently in an effort to block American spy satellites from monitoring activity at the site. According to the New York Times, South Korean news media also cited military sources that claimed such a cover had been placed over the tunnel's entrance.

South Korean officials say they are watching closely to determine if the cover is camouflage or a sign of an imminent nuclear test.

North Korea experts are keeping a constantly watchful eye on the country, speculating on possible dates for a nuclear test. Some think a test could happen before Feb. 16 - the birthday of Kim Jong-il, the late North Korean leader, and father of current leader Kim Jong-un.

North Korea's largest major ally, China has remained noncommittal on diffusing the situation. The country has refused to say whether it was sending an envoy to the country or if Pyongyang has informed them about its plans for a nuclear test launch. China's Foreign Ministry reiterated the nation's opposition to the missile test Monday, but didn't mention North Korea by name.

"We call on all sides, under the current circumstances, to avoid taking measures which will heighten regional tensions. We hope all parties concerned can focus their efforts more on helping to ease tensions on the peninsula and throughout the region and jointly maintain peace and stability on the peninsula," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a daily media briefing in Beijing.

[American Patriot]

North Korea may conduct double nuke test
By North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy, wires

Posted 6 minutes ago


Military sources have told a South Korean media outlet satellite images suggest the communist North could be preparing two nuclear tests, rather than a single detonation.

The report in the Chosun Ilbo newspaper in Seoul suggests the two nuclear tests could be conducted either simultaneously or in quick succession.

That assessment is based on satellite images showing brisk activity at two tunnels at the nuclear test site in the closed communist state.

But the source admits one of the tunnels could be a decoy.

Intelligence agencies believe Pyongyang is ready to go ahead with a test.

South Korea, Japan and the United States fear the test could help Pyongyang develop a nuclear warhead small enough to fit on a long-range missile.

The UN Security Council says it will take "very firm and strong" action against any nuclear test by North Korea.

Kim Sook, South Korea's UN envoy, said the test appeared "imminent" and any blast would be "a dangerous attempt to undermine the authority and credibility of the Security Council".

The 15-member council is "unified and they are very firm and resolute. I would expect very firm and strong measures to be taken," Mr Kim told reporters at the UN headquarters as his country assumed the council's presidency for February.

"We cannot sit idly by and do nothing vis-a-vis some devastating provocative action done by North Korea," the envoy added.

Experts predict the test will come before the Lunar New Year on February 10 or be timed to coincide with the February 16 birthday of leader Kim Jong-un's late father, Kim Jong-Il.

Yesterday, North Korea hinted that a test was imminent, saying Kim Jong-un had made an important speech to the country's military commanders about "defending the security and sovereignty of the country".

State media confirmed Mr Kim chaired a meeting of North Korea's Central Military Commission in which he spoke about "bringing about a great turn in bolstering military capability".

The Security Council widened sanctions against the unpredictable North in January after it staged a rocket test, which is banned under UN Security Council resolutions.

South Korea took up a two-year place on the Security Council in January.

North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests in the past, in 2006 and 2009.

[American Patriot]

South Korea, U.S. begin drills amid signs of impending North Korean nuclear test

HYUNG-JIN KIM SEOUL
SOUTH KOREA — The Associated Press
Published Monday, Feb. 04 2013, 3:16 PM EST
Last updated Monday, Feb. 04 2013, 3:38 PM EST




South Korean and U.S. troops began naval drills Monday in a show of force partly directed at North Korea amid signs that Pyongyang will soon follow through on a threat to conduct its third atomic test.

The region has also seen a boost in diplomatic activity since last month, when North Korea announced it would conduct a nuclear test to protest U.N. Security Council sanctions toughened after a satellite launch in December that the U.S. and others say was a disguised test of banned missile technology.


Pyongyang’s two previous nuclear tests, in 2006 and 2009, both occurred after it was slapped with increased sanctions for similar rocket launches. As it issued its most recent punishment, the Security Council ordered North Korea to refrain from a nuclear test or face “significant action.”


North Korea’s state media said Sunday that at a high-level Workers’ Party meeting, leader Kim Jong Un issued “important” guidelines meant to bolster the army and protect national sovereignty. North Korea didn’t elaborate, but Kim’s guidelines likely refer to a nuclear test and suggest that Pyongyang appears to have completed formal procedural steps and is preparing to conduct a nuclear test soon, according to South Korean analyst Hong Hyun-ik.


“We assess that North Korea has almost finished preparations for conducting a nuclear test anytime and all that’s left is North Korea making a political decision” to do so, South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters Monday.


The spokesman said he couldn’t disclose further details because they would involve confidential intelligence affairs. Recent satellite photos showed North Korea may have been sealing the tunnel into a mountainside where a nuclear device could be exploded.


A North Korean nuclear test “seems to be imminent,” South Korea’s U.N. Ambassador Kim Sook said Monday at a news conference at U.N. headquarters in New York.


He said there are “very busy activities” taking place at North Korea’s nuclear test site “and everybody’s watching.” The ambassador said he expects the Security Council to respond with “firm and strong measures” in the event of a nuclear test.


On Monday, the South Korean and U.S. militaries kicked off three days of exercises off the Korean Peninsula’s east coast that involve live-fire exercises, naval manoeuvrs and submarine detection drills.


South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the manoeuvrs are part of regular joint military training that the allies had scheduled before the latest nuclear tensions began. But the training, which involves a nuclear-powered American submarine, could still send a warning against possible North Korean provocation, a South Korean military official said, requesting anonymity because of department rules.


Later Monday, Pyongyang’s state media said the drills showed that the U.S. and South Korea have been plotting to attack North Korea and increased the danger of a war on the divided peninsula.


“The dark cloud of war is approaching to the Korean Peninsula,” North Korea’s official Uriminzokkiri website said in a commentary. “Our patience has the limit.”


North Korea said similar things when South Korea and the U.S. conducted previous drills; the allies have repeatedly said they have no intention of attacking the North.


North Korea says U.S. hostility and the threat of American troops in South Korea are important reasons behind its nuclear drive. The U.S. stations about 28,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.


North Korea also has denounced sanctions over its rocket launches, saying it has the sovereign right to launch rockets to send satellites into orbit under a space development program.


North Korea’s two previous nuclear tests are believed to have been explosions of plutonium devices, but experts say the North may use highly enriched uranium for its upcoming test. That is a worry to Washington and others because North Korea has plenty of uranium ore, and because uranium enrichment facilities are easier to hide than plutonium facilities are.


Diplomats are meeting to find ways to persuade North Korea to scrap its nuclear test plans. New U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his South Korean counterpart Kim Sung-hwan held a telephone conversation Sunday night and agreed to sternly deal with any possible nuclear provocation by North Korea, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.


The chief nuclear envoys of South Korea and China met in Beijing on Monday and agreed that they would closely co-ordinate on ways to stop North Korea from conducting a nuclear test, according to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry. China is North Korea’s main ally and aid benefactor.


China has refused to say whether it was sending an envoy to North Korea or whether Pyongyang has informed Beijing about its plans for a nuclear test. China’s Foreign Ministry on Monday reiterated Beijing’s opposition to a test, though it did not mention North Korea by name.


“We call on all sides, under the current circumstances, to avoid taking measures which will heighten regional tensions. We hope all parties concerned can focus their efforts more on helping to ease tensions on the peninsula and throughout the region and jointly maintain peace and stability on the peninsula,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a daily media briefing in Beijing.

[American Patriot]

North Korea video shows New York in ruins after missile attack

By Joshua Rhett Miller

Published February 05, 2013

FoxNews.com

North Korea, already gearing up for yet another nuclear test, has posted a bizarre online video depicting New York under an apparent missile attack with "We Are the World" serving as a soundtrack.

The three-minute video posted on YouTube on Saturday was released by Uriminzokkiri, which distributes news and propaganda from North Korea’s state-run media. It features a young man in a dream sequence in which he sees himself aboard a North Korean space shuttle launched into orbit by the same type of rocket Pyongyang successfully launched in December. A densely populated city, which is shrouded in a U.S. flag, is then depicted to the tune of “We are the World,” the charity single recorded in 1985.

“Somewhere in the United States, black clouds of smoke are billowing,” reads a caption translated from Korean. “It seems that the nest of wickedness is ablaze with the fire started by itself.”

The video concludes with the young man saying his dream will “surely” come true. As of early Tuesday, it had been viewed nearly 40,000 times.

“Despite all kinds of attempts by imperialists to isolate and crush us … never will anyone be able to stop the people marching toward a final victory,” a final caption reads.

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, in a statement to FoxNews.com, said the video is another "disturbing reminder" of what a nuclear-capable North Korea would mean to the world.

"The film is yet another disturbing reminder that a nuclear-capable North Korea is a threat in its region and worldwide."

- John Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations

"The film is yet another disturbing reminder that a nuclear-capable North Korea is a threat in its region and worldwide," Bolton said. "We should not delude ourselves by thinking that Pyongyang will ever be negotiated out of that capability."

Doug Bandow, a senior fellow for Cato Institute specializing in foreign policy, said the “weird” video is proof that Pyongyang has entered the digital age.

“My first reaction is they are getting with the Internet age,” Bandow told FoxNews.com. “For years, they have used vivid imagery in their rhetoric — they once threatened to turn Seoul into a lake of fire — so they’ve figured out a way to put pictures to the rhetoric. But it doesn’t look to me to be more than an amplification of what they’ve said for years.”

The video is little more than “bluster,” Bandow said, and should not be seen as a threat to the United States.

“I think this is bluster,” he said. “The good news here is that while they’re evil, they’re not stupid. They know they would lose.”

Meanwhile, South Korea's U.N. ambassador said on Monday that a North Korean nuclear test is believed to be imminent. Ambassador Kim Sook said there are "very busy activities" taking place at North Korea's nuclear test site "and everybody's watching."

North Korea announced last month that it would conduct a nuclear test to protest Security Council sanctions toughened after a satellite launch in December that the U.S. and other critics said was a disguised test of banned missile technology. The council ordered North Korea in the sanctions resolution to refrain from a nuclear test or face "significant action."

Pyongyang's two previous nuclear tests, in 2006 and 2009, both occurred after it was condemned by the United Nations for rocket launches.

The sanctions — designed to derail the country's rogue nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs — bar North Korea from testing or using nuclear or ballistic missile technology, as well as from importing or exporting material for those programs.

The latest sanctions resolution again demanded that North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons program and cease launches. It slapped sanctions on North Korean companies and government agencies, including its space agency and several individuals.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/02...#ixzz2K2S05Iqz

[Ryan Ruck]

Seismic Activity Reported In Area Of Previous North Korea Nuclear Tests

February 11, 2013

North Korea appeared to have conducted its third underground nuclear bomb test Tuesday, as the U.S. Geological Survey reported a seismic disturbance centered near the site of the secretive regime's two previous nuclear tests.

The area around the reported epicenter of the magnitude 4.9 disturbance has little or no history of earthquakes or natural seismic hazards, according to U.S. Geological Survey maps. The disturbance took place at a depth of about 1 kilometer, the USGS said.

There were no initial reports concerning the activity on the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday.

"It's a nuclear test," said Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. "That magnitude and that location -- it's awfully unlikely it's anything else."

In Washington, a senior administration official said the United States was working to confirm a nuclear test.

The reclusive, Stalinist state announced last month that it planned a new nuclear test and more long-range rocket launches, all of which it said were part of a new phase of confrontation with the United States.

U.S. analysts say North Korea's first bomb test, in October 2006, produced an explosive yield at less than 1 kiloton (1,000 tons) of TNT. A second test in May 2009 is believed to have been about two kilotons, National Intelligence Director James Clapper told a Senate committee in 2012.

By comparison, the bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 was a 15-kiloton device.

In May 2012, North Korea said it had amended its constitution to formally proclaim itself a "nuclear state."

The seismic disturbance took place at a time when several East Asian countries, including China, North Korea's major ally, are observing public holidays for the Lunar New Year. It also took place less than 24 hours before President Barack Obama was due to make his State of the Union address.

[American Patriot]

Reports this morning are saying this was a "compact nuclear device" and it was detonated, and that this is a step toward placing them on the rockets.

[Malsua]

These Norks are itching for a fight they can't win.

[Luke]

Doesn't make sense that we allow the RNK to continue while we fart around with Iran? Are we not technicaly still at war with North Korea? Maybe we are just too deep in debt to China to remove an actual threat to our safety.

[American Patriot]

Obama promised "swift action".

I am not sure if he was talking about Disarming DPRK or the US citizens though....

[vector7]

The latter is where his focus is.

May need to start a Dear Leader State of Union thread if anyone has the stomach to watch it tonight as he maps out more tyranny ahead.



"South Korea's Defense Ministry says six to seven kilotons of TNT, which is more likely to be a politically motivated understatement. The Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources in Hannover (BGR) has calculated contrast, an explosive yield of 40 kilotons. By comparison, the atomic bomb, which the Americans cremated in August 1945 Hiroshima came to about 13 kilotons."

Richter Magnitude Equivalent Energy in TNT

1.5 397 lbs.
3.0 32 tons
4.0 500 tons
5.0 31,550 tons
6.0 1,000,000 tons (1 million tons
7.0 31,550,000 tons (31 million Tons)
8.0 6,270,000,000 tons (6,270 million Tons)
9.0 315,500,000,000 tons (315,500 million Tons)

http://www.unr.edu/mathcenter/mac/di.../geogquak.html

[American Patriot]

I heard the news quoting something around 7-10 kt.

That's interesting news.

Lies again?

[vector7]

UN Meets After North Korea Nuclear Test

The UN Security Council is holding urgent talks after the latest nuclear test as Pyongyang calls on troops to prepare for combat.




The UN Security Council has opened emergency talks on North Korea's nuclear test, as world powers made calls for swift action against Pyongyang.


The 15-nation council passed a resolution last month threatening "significant action" against North Korea in the event of a new nuclear test or missile launch.


The meeting comes after North Korea confirmed on Tuesday that it carried out a third nuclear test. Monitoring agencies had earlier reported an "unusual seismic event".


"A third nuclear test has been successfully staged," the North's state-run Korean Central News agency said.


"The nuclear test was conducted as part of measures to protect our national security and sovereignty against the reckless hostility of the United States that violated our republic's right for a peaceful satellite launch."

North Korea's ambassador to China was summoned to explain the nuclear test

At just before midday local time, an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.9 was detected just north of a site where Pyongyang conducted earlier nuclear tests.
The two previous tests, in 2006 and 2009, prompted quakes of 3.6 and 4.5 respectively.
The South Korean defence ministry, which raised its military alert level after the quake, said the blast had an explosive yield of between six and seven kilotons (kt) and was of "enormous destructive power".
In comparison, the nuclear weapons detonated above Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 carried estimated yields of 15kt and 22kt respectively.

An activist defaces a poster of Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju

Prior to the Security Council meeting a spokesperson for the UN boss Ban Ki-moon said: "The Secretary-General condemns the underground nuclear weapon test conducted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea today.
"It is a clear and grave violation of the relevant Security Council resolutions."
Tibor Toth, the executive secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO), said the event's location was "roughly congruent with" nuclear tests carried out by North Korea in 2006 and 2009.
"This act would constitute a clear threat to international peace and security, and challenge efforts made to strengthen global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, in particular by ending nuclear testing," he added.

A Japanese seismic official shows where the blast occurred

China expressed its "firm opposition" to North Korea's nuclear test, saying its wayward ally had gone ahead with the blast "despite widespread opposition from the international community".
"We strongly urge the DPRK to honour its commitment to denuclearisation, and not to take any actions which might worsen the situation," the foreign ministry said in a statement posted on its website.
US President Barack Obama said the test posed a threat to international peace and security.

A North Korean soldier stands guard after the test

On Tuesday morning the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: "The UK will begin urgent consultations with Security Council partners calling for a robust response to this latest development."
Mr Obama said the US will "continue to take steps necessary to defend ourselves and our allies" and it will work with other nations "to pursue firm action".
He added that North Korea's action "warrants further swift and credible action by the international community".
Foreign Secretary William Hague said: "North Korea's development of its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities poses a threat to international and regional security.

Protesters in Seoul shout anti-North slogans

"Its repeated provocations only serve to increase regional tension, and hinder the prospects for lasting peace on the Korean peninsula."
The Russian foreign ministry said: "By implementing a new nuclear test, Pyongyang once again ignored the rules of international law and has shown disregard UN Security Council resolutions.
"There is an urgent need to create an effective system of regional peace, which would be based on the principle of undiminished security for all participants in accordance with multilateral commitments on denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula."

South Korean troops march along the demilitarised zone at the 38th parallel

Japan said the test was a "grave threat" that "cannot be tolerated".
After the blast took place a North Korean newsreader urged the Korean People's Army (KPA) to prepare for combat against its foes.
She stressed that if an order was given "the KPA should blow up the stronghold of aggression at a strike".
"And wipe out the brigandish US imperialists and South Korea puppet army to the last man and thus accomplish the historic cause of national reunification."