Korean Peninsula On The Brink Of War

[BRVoice]

http://twitter.com/Galrahn

Interesting to note Korean tensions have captured the Asian Markets, all are down half a minute ago via web

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Steve Herman from Twitter:

CNN: #DPRK tells NM Gov. Richardson in Pyongyang it would allow return of IAEA inspectors to ease tensions. 2 minutes ago via TweetDeck

[BRVoice]

http://opinion.globaltimes.cn/editor...12/602749.html

US destructive role in Northeast Asia
Source: Global Times
09:09 December 20 2010

The protracted US backing of a vindictive South Korea has pushed the peninsula to the brink of war.

The reaction from the North, when faced with a live-fire artillery drill by South Korean forces on Yeonpyeong island, is predictable. Should the South proceed, a major military conflict cannot be ruled out.

This would spell out the worst scenario resulting from poor political judgment and lack of restraint from both sides. Apart from aimless bravado that may win plaudits from domestic supporters, there is nothing to gain for either side from a confrontation in which millions would suffer.

The US is thus not playing a responsible role. Despite its special envoy being sent to Pyongyang for dialogue, its support of these drills are only pushing North Korea to the edge.

While claiming to be standing guard for the South Korea, the US in fact will do the greatest harm to the South.

The escalation of the Korean crisis is bad news for China or Russia. However, tensions on the peninsula will provide the US, which is to blame for worsening intra-Korean relations, with a perfect excuse to "return to Asia."

It is time to take a closer look at the damaging power of the US role in Northeast Asia. At this critical moment of war and peace, Asian countries need to escape a Cold War mentality and maintain regional interests at heart.

US President Barack Obama has won a Nobel Peace Prize. If a second Korean war should break out during his second term in office, a war he did nothing to prevent, would his aura of peace be shattered?

No matter what China and the US do, the most important objective of all is for South Korea to keep a clear head. Should war break out, the biggest losses would be borne on the South. Despite support from the US and Japan, and sympathy from China and Russia, nobody would take those losses for South Korea. No matter what happens, it is impossible for South Korea to reunite the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea should also be mindful that a war will never fix the country's difficult straits. No matter how objectionable it may view negotiating and building a rapport with other countries, the North has to take this path.

As for China, it does not want to see any major crisis on the Korean Peninsula. But China is never going to bend to any challenge from outside. Should the troubled waters of the peninsula wet China's feet, somebody else may already be drowning.

[BRVoice]

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CNN: #DPRK tells Richardson it agrees to ship fuel rods out of the country. #Koreas 3 minutes ago via TweetDeck

[BRVoice]

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201012190107.html


China to establish permanent Senkaku patrols
BY KENJI MINEMURA CORRESPONDENT
December 20, 2010

SHANGHAI - China will permanently deploy large fisheries patrol vessels in waters near the disputed Senkaku Islands, a senior Chinese official told The Asahi Shimbun.

The official with the Ministry of Agriculture's Bureau of Fisheries took the unusual step of granting an interview concerning the Senkaku issue to a foreign media outlet on Saturday, saying that China was planning measures to challenge Japan's control of the islands off Okinawa Prefecture.

The official said fisheries patrol vessels of more than 1,000 tons would maintain continuous patrols near the islands, which are known as the Diaoyu Islands in China.

"It is a legitimate right to safeguard China's maritime interests, and the country is unlikely to relax the arrangement in the future," the official, who granted the interview on condition of anonymity, said.

In late November, China deployed the new 2,580-ton Yuzheng 310, one of the few large fisheries patrol vessels in its fleet, to the islands.

The official called the decision to deploy the ship, which was only completed in September, in waters also patrolled by the Japan Coast Guard an "unprecedented and epoch-making step."

The Yuzheng 310 is equipped with two helicopters and is the fastest in China's fisheries patrol fleet, with a top speed of 22 knots.

The Japan Coast Guard has deployed several patrol vessels of more than 1,000 tons to the islands, after the arrest by Japan of a captain of a Chinese fishing trawler who rammed two Coast Guard vessels off the Senkaku Islands led to a major diplomatic row between the two countries in September.

It designated the area a special zone and put its headquarters in charge, rather than offices on Ishigaki island or the 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters in Naha under whose jurisdiction the islands fall. Vessels from across Japan have been dispatched to the area.

But a senior Japan Coast Guard official said current arrangement would not be sufficient to respond to constant patrols by China near the islands.

China's 1,300-vessel fisheries surveillance fleet's activities include protecting and managing Chinese fishing boats and monitoring foreign ships in waters over which China claims jurisdiction.

Most of these vessels are relatively small. China only possesses nine patrol ships of more than 1,000 tons. Some are converted naval ships and many are old.

China is planning to build about five new patrol vessels of more than 3,000 tons within five years, but the official said the fleet is not currently equipped to maintain constant surveillance near the Senkaku Islands alone. To deal with the shortage, China will commission private fishing boats to operate as patrol boats in the area in a joint effort by "the government and the private sector."

The official said Beijing intends to press its claims over the islands and disclose details of its surveillance activities to other countries.

The Senkaku Islands are in the East China Sea, to the north of Taiwan, but China is also taking a hard-line on its interests in the South China Sea south of Taiwan. Convoys of Chinese patrol vessels and fishing boats began surveillance there this spring.

The official said China's territorial claims in the South China Sea were a "core national interest" on a par with the issues of Taiwan and Tibet, which China sees as vital to its territorial integrity.

"(The South China Sea) has consistently been one of China's core national interests," said the official. "China had merely not insisted on this to other countries."

This stance had given the international community the mistaken impression that "China is not very keen on its maritime interests," the official said.

China is trying to assert its control in waters within what it calls the "First Island Chain," a series of islands stretching from the main island of Kyushu to Vietnam, and has its eye on underground mineral resources, fisheries and other maritime interests within this "inland sea."

It is building up its navy in line with its increasingly assertive maritime stance, with aircraft carriers and a base for nuclear-powered submarines already under construction.

[BRVoice]

http://twitter.com/Galrahn

markmackinnon Damn I wish I could read Korean. KBS just cut from drama to breaking news. Only thing I can read is F-15s and KF-16s. 6 minutes ago via web Retweeted by Galrahn and 4 others

[BRVoice]

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#ROK defense ministry tells VOA just now artillery drill still on for some time today. #Koreas 1 minute ago via TweetDeck

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Reuters staffer on Yeonpyeong says artillery firing heard on the island. #Koreas less than 20 seconds ago via TweetDeck

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http://twitter.com/Galrahn

CONFIRMED: @REUTERSFLASH: Artillery firing heard on South Korea's Yeonpyeong island - Reuters witness 2 minutes ago via web

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ROK Defense Ministry, speaking to VOA just now, says it'll not confirm exercise until it concludes. #Koreas 8 minutes ago via TweetDeck

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AP: Farmers living near western edge of DMZ moved out of their homes until after artillery drill. #Koreas 14 minutes ago via TweetDeck

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1. @clarissaward The drill is supposed to last 2 hrs. #Koreas 2 minutes ago via TweetDeck in reply to clarissaward
2. No confirmation that Yeonpyeong live-firing drill has begun, but no denial either from Defense Ministry. #Koreas 4 minutes ago via TweetDeck

[BRVoice]

http://twitter.com/Galrahn

1. markmackinnon Dow Jones: South Korea Joint Chiefs Of Staff Say Artillery Drill Hasn't Started Yet 2 minutes ago via web Retweeted by Galrahn and 3 others
2. markmackinnon Reuters report of artillery fire from Yeonpyeong Island repeated by China's Xinhua, but nothing yet on AP, AFP, or South Korea's Yonhap. 6 minutes ago via web Retweeted by Galrahn and 13 others

[BRVoice]

http://twitter.com/W7VOA

Reuters says its reporter inside an air raid bunker on the island heard artillery fire but no confirm from #ROK military. #Koreas 2 minutes ago via TweetDeck

[Ryan Ruck]

Well, one good thing is that there so far has not been any word about NK pre-deploying any chemical weapons/warheads. I would imagine if they were really serious about escalating, this would be the case.

[BRVoice]

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/nati...01700315F.HTML


(URGENT) S. Korea begins live-fire artillery drills from island near N. Korea


(END)

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#ROK media confirm live fire drill underway on Yeonpyeong. #Koreas 3 minutes ago via TweetDeck

[BRVoice]

http://twitter.com/egalite_twitted

I just met ex-unification minister Lee Jae-joung angrily protesting over drill in front of gov't building. http://twitpic.com/3ho01n 1 minute ago via twtkr

[BRVoice]

http://twitter.com/Galrahn

Unconfirmed reports of #ROK shelling into Yellow Sea to south of Yeonpyeong island, not east/west like previous drills. less than 10 seconds ago via Twitter for Android

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http://twitter.com/W7VOA

#ROK military now confirming artillery drill underway. Expected to last up to 2 hrs. #Koreas 2 minutes ago via TweetDeck