Is North Korea Testing Iran's Nuclear Device?

[Vigilante]

I have no doubt that is what's happening, especially that small bomb just exploded!

American Thinker ^ | January 18, 2016 | Amil Imani and James Hyde
We believe, based on comments made by two remarkable experts on this subject, Dr. Peter Pry of emptaskforce.org and Ambassador Hank Cooper of highfrontier.com, the latter of whom worked in the Reagan Administration, that Iran already has the bomb and is working on figuring out how to get it into a vehicle and send it our way. It will not, however deliver annihilation to any single city or cities in the conventional sense. That would be pointless, futile and suicidal. Instead, working together with North Korea, they will seek to take out our electric infrastructure and anything electronic via satellites...

 

[waltky]

No. Korea's nuclear weapons testing is overshadowing its humanitarian crisis...

25,000 North Korean children starving amid drought
Jan. 26, 2016 - North Korea is need of aid, but the country's nuclear weapons testing is overshadowing its humanitarian crisis.

A drought that slashed food production by 20 percent has resulted in malnutrition for nearly 25,000 North Korean children. UNICEF, the United Nations' children's fund, said the children need emergency care and has asked donors for $18 million for North Korea, The Guardian reported Tuesday. While UNICEF's request for funds is rising, donations are falling, according to the organization. Sources say that whenever Pyongyang tests a nuclear weapon, international pledges fall precipitously.

Even before North Korea announced its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6, donations were down. UNICEF received just 38 percent of a $22 million fundraising target for 2015. North Korea is not the only troubled country where conflict is victimizing increasing numbers of children. Aid also is needed for children caught in the refugee crisis in Syria, and in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, UNICEF said.

North Koreans work in the fields near the North Korean city Sinuiju, across the Yalu River from Dandong, China's largest border city with North Korea. A drought that slashed food production by 20 percent has resulted in malnutrition for nearly 25,000 North Korean children, according to UNICEF.​

In North Korea alone, the drought not only cut food production but also children's access to safe drinking water, said Timothy Schaffter, UNICEF's North Korea representative. "If we are unable to secure additional funding, our supplies of essential medicines will start running out in March, nutrition supplies will be depleted by mid-year, and our highly successful immunization program will run out of basic vaccines before the year's end," Schaffter said.

In the most drought-affected areas, UNICEF said there has been a 72 percent increase in diarrhea among children. The humanitarian crisis in North Korea, however, is being overshadowed by recent events, including Pyongyang's announcement of a "successful" hydrogen bomb test. In Seoul, Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo said the North should be prevented from further "wrong behavior" by sanctions, South Korean television network SBS reported.

25,000 North Korean children starving amid drought

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Report: Arrest of UVA student in North Korea may be linked to hotel incident
Jan. 26, 2016 - Otto Warmbier, the University of Virginia student detained in North Korea, may not have had the faintest idea that he would be placed under arrest as he prepared to leave Sunan International Airport.

Warmbier, who traveled to North Korea on a five-day trip, was reaching the end of his tour on Jan. 2, when North Korean airport officials quietly took him to a room for questioning, The Washington Post reported Monday. The 21-year-old American, described as an "intellectual risk-taker," did not return, much to his group's surprise. They were later informed that he had been taken to a hospital. The group was forced to fly home without Warmbier and kept the arrest confidential. Weeks later, on Jan. 22, North Korea's state-controlled media outlet KCNA announced he had been arrested for "hostile acts."

Neither Warmbier's family nor the University of Virginia have made public comments, but Gareth Johnson, chief executive of Pioneer Tours, the tour operator, said he stayed behind to investigate. According to Pioneer Tours, "It was during this time that it was discovered that there had been an incident...Gareth remained in Pyongyang for a few days, and when it became apparent that nothing would be achieved in country, he returned to China." Johnson also confirmed to the Post that Warmbier could have caused an incident at Pyongyang's Yanggakdo International Hotel that the traveler did not tell others about.

While North Korea has been taking greater liberties to woo foreign tourists and is scheduled to host an annual marathon in Pyongyang, there is no guarantee of the safety of U.S. citizens traveling to Pyongyang, according to the State Department. Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, described the arrest as another example of North Korea's "political hostage-taking," TIME reported. "When North Korea gets into a diplomatic dispute with the U.S. government, they like to grab any American they can find and use them as bargaining chips," he said.

Report: Arrest of UVA student in North Korea may be linked to hotel incident

 

[waltky]

US warns over N Korea plutonium bomb...

North Korea 'expands plutonium production', says US
Tue, 09 Feb 2016 - North Korea could soon have enough plutonium to build nuclear weapons after restarting one of its reactors, a US spy chief says.

North Korea could soon have enough plutonium for nuclear weapons after restarting one of its reactors, US intelligence chief James Clapper says. He also said Pyongyang had taken steps towards making an intercontinental ballistic missile system. It comes days after the North launched a long-range rocket, which critics say is a test of banned missile technology. Last September Pyongyang said its main nuclear facility at Yongbyon had resumed normal operations. The reactor there has been the source of plutonium for its nuclear weapons programme. The North carried out its fourth nuclear test in January.

The Yongbyon nuclear facility is North Korea's main nuclear site​

"We assess that North Korea has followed through on its announcement by expanding its Yongbyon enrichment facility and restarting the plutonium production reactor," Mr Clapper wrote in his annual assessment of threats facing the US. "We further assess that North Korea has been operating the reactor long enough so that it could begin to recover plutonium from the reactor's spent fuel within a matter of weeks to months." Mr Clapper also told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Pyongyang was committed to developing a long-range, nuclear-armed missile "capable of posing a direct threat to the United States".

North Korean TV broadcast the recent launch of the rocket​

He said it had publicly displayed a mobile intercontinental ballistic missile system and had taken "initial steps toward fielding this system, although the system has not been flight-tested". Experts have said that, when fully operational, the Yongbyon reactor could make one nuclear bomb's worth of plutonium per year. About 4kg of plutonium is needed in order to make a bomb that would explode with a force of 20 kilotons.

Sunday's rocket launch was watched by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un​

Pyongyang has pledged several times to stop operations at Yongbyon and even destroyed the cooling tower in 2008 as part of a disarmament-for-aid deal. However, in March 2013, following a row with the US and after new UN sanctions over a third nuclear test, it vowed to restart all facilities at Yongbyon. Six-nation talks involving South Korea, the US, China, Japan and Russia aimed at ending the North's nuclear programme have been stalled since 2009. Pyongyang says it has made a device small enough to fit a nuclear warhead on to a missile, which it could launch at its enemies. However, US officials have cast doubt on the claim.

Yongbyon nuclear complex

 

[waltky]

China helpin' put lil' Kim in his place...

North Korea threatens to turn U.S., South Korea into 'powder'
Feb. 25, 2016 - Pyongyang is strongly opposed to the joint drills to be held in March.

North Korea said it would "create a planet without the United States," as the United Nations Security Council prepared to pass a tough resolution against Pyongyang this week and the United States and South Korea are preparing a joint military exercise. Pyongyang made the statement Thursday in state-controlled newspaper Rodong Sinmun. In its editorial, North Korea also warned that South Korea and the United States could be turned into a "sea of fire," Yonhap reported.

North Korea is strongly opposed to the military exercises that take place annually on the peninsula. Key Resolve, expected to be one of the biggest military drills to be held in March, is being carried out with the goal of "decapitating" the Kim Jong Un regime, according to Pyongyang. "How dare they try to hide the dazzling sun [Workers' Party Secretary Kim Jong Un], our destiny, humanity's destiny," Pyongyang said in statement, according to South Korean news service News 1. "Let us make 10 million missiles that would turn South Korea's presidential Blue House and the United States into powder."

But the threats could be coming from a sense that North Korea's security is being threatened. The joint drills are equivalent to a "declaration of war," Pyongyang said, and repercussions could follow. U.S. military bases in the Asia-Pacific region would be turned into "ashes," North Korea stated in its warning.

The Rodong also ran photos of the 1950-53 Korean War and the U.S. Navy ship Pueblo, captured by the North in 1968. North Korea warned its adversaries against attack, saying "millions of youth can turn themselves into human bombs" if it meant protecting Kim Jong Un. Pyongyang also denounced South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who marks her third year in office.

North Korea threatens to turn U.S., South Korea into 'powder'

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China blocking North Korea ships ahead of U.N. resolution
Feb. 25, 2016 - China has shown commitment to sanctions since the North launched an "earth observation satellite" into space in early February.

The United States and China are expected to pass the most stringent set of North Korea sanctions at the United Nations Security Council, but Beijing could be taking its own measures against reclusive Pyongyang. After weeks of negotiations, the two sides have reached an agreement on a draft resolution that could penalize North Korea, a Security Council diplomat told CNN. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power is expected to present the draft sanctions Thursday, according to Kurtis Kooper of the U.S. mission to the U.N. China has shown commitment to sanctions since the North launched an "earth observation satellite" into space in early February but has said dialogue with the North and regional stability is a priority.

But after a recent meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Beijing turned a corner on the sanctions issue, and the two sides agreed a tougher resolution is necessary. "We hope and believe this resolution will curb the further development of nuclear missiles" in North Korea, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said. "China is willing to work with relevant parties to promote denuclearization of the peninsula." Beijing may be working independently toward stricter regulations against the North.

Pyongyang depends heavily on China's hubs for trade, but on Thursday South Korean television network SBS reported North Korean ships have been banned from docking at ports in Dandong, China's border city that faces the North. Dandong is a major gateway for North Korean iron ore and anthracite coal, but Pyongyang's vessels are no longer allowed to dock and transfer goods to China. An unidentified Dandong port worker told SBS ships typically brought in 3,000 tons of raw materials, but a new state ordinance forbids North Korea shipments for the next two years. Local sources said the ban is a response to North Korea's nuclear test and missile launch.

China blocking North Korea ships ahead of U.N. resolution

 

[waltky]

U.N. passes sanctions on North Korea...

U.N. Security Council passes sanctions on North Korea
March 2, 2016 - The resolution calls for comprehensive inspections of all cargo leaving and heading for North Korea.

The United Nations Security Council adopted sweeping sanctions against North Korea on Wednesday, introducing the toughest measures against Pyongyang in a bid to bring an end to its controversial nuclear weapons development. The vote was unanimous, adopted by the council 15-0. The sanctions resolution has taken two months to pass. Disagreement over the details of the embargo, as well as an initial lack of willingness to take stern measures against North Korea by China and Russia had delayed the bill.

But the resolution has been under development for quite some time. U.S. officials began a draft resolution about three years ago after the North's third nuclear test. The resolution calls for comprehensive inspections of all cargo leaving and heading for North Korea. It bans all weapons trade with Pyongyang and has increased the number of blacklisted individuals and entities facing restrictions on trade.

In a telephone interview with The Washington Post, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power said, "Irrespective of whether [the North Koreans] change their calculus tomorrow, it's going to be a lot harder for them to access the technology, the know-how and the money they've used to fuel their nuclear program." The resolution would also target non-weapons trade, and includes a ban on North Korean imports of luxury watches, Jet Skis and snowmobiles valued at more than $2,000, The New York Times reported.

Mineral exports, a substantial source of revenue for Pyongyang, are to be banned, as well. North Korean natural resources, including gold, iron ore and titanium, have raised foreign currency for the regime, but the sanctions are to ban any trade that has been ongoing with economic partners China and Russia. Other provisions, however, appear to be unconnected to Pyongyang's arms development but were in the bill, including a ban on Pyongyang from sending taekwondo instructors to train foreign police forces.

U.N. Security Council passes sanctions on North Korea

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Russian economic interests won't be hit by North Korea sanctions
March 2, 2016 - A three-way logistics project involving Russia, North and South Korea will be allowed to continue, an envoy said.

A three-way logistics project that transports Russian coal to South Korea through a North Korean transfer point will not be the target of the new U.N. sanctions. Russia's Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said the sanctions do not include any provisions that would affect Russian economic interests, South Korean television network KBS reported. That includes the "Rajin-Hasan" project, which refers to the Russian and North Korean border cities where shipments of Russian coal have been transferred, en route to South Korea and the southern coast of China.

There have been three trial shipments of Russian bituminous coal since November 2014, and each trial has gone smoothly. Major South Korean companies have been involved in the logistics project, including the steelmaker POSCO, Hyundai Merchant Marine and national railroad operator KORAIL. In November, two 45,000-ton bulk carriers were used to make the trip three times from Rajin to Busan, South Korea. Amb. Churkin said Wednesday Russian coal bound for South Korea and transported on the Rajin-Hasan railway does not need permission from the U.N. Security Council sanctions committee, aside from placing a notification regarding cargo movements.

Churkin also said there are no alternatives to a diplomatic solution to North Korea denuclearization, and called for a resumption of the six-party talks. The chances of dialogue, however, remain dim in the wake of fresh sanctions that were passed unanimously on Wednesday. A source who spoke to Radio Free Asia on the condition of anonymity said North Korean diplomats are already concerned about the impact of restrictions on their illicit activities. In Mexico and Brazil, North Korean diplomats are expected to face difficulties in transferring money they have raised from drug trafficking, the source said.

Russian economic interests won't be hit by North Korea sanctions

Related:

Russian official says U.N. resolution on North Korea 'necessary'
March 1, 2016 - Vitaly Churkin said the Security Council must adopt the resolution because of the “specific challenges of North Korea.”

The Russian ambassador to the United Nations said the U.N. Security Council resolution on North Korea should be adopted soon, a sign that new sanctions should pass unanimously on Wednesday. Amb. Vitaly Churkin said Tuesday that the draft sanctions resolution is "not 100 percent perfect" but is necessary, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported. After the vote was postponed to Wednesday upon Russia's request, Churkin met with reporters and explained the draft was a "very complex document," Russian news agency TASS reported. Churkin said the Security Council must adopt the resolution because of the "specific challenges of North Korea." The Council is expected to vote on the resolution at 10 a.m., and the bill is expected to pass unanimously with Russia's support.

China and the United States already agreed on the details of the draft resolution last week, and after Russia disagreed with the draft's details on Feb. 25, U.S. and Russian delegates had worked overtime to fix some of the terms and conditions. Churkin said the United States did not accommodate all of Russia's requests but that the two sides are trying to achieve consensus. A clause on banning aviation fuel exports to North Korea has been eased, according to TASS, after the Russian side requested a revision. The revision would allow for North Korean commercial airliners refueling at Russian airports to receive jet fuel so that its planes can return to their point of origin, Pyongyang.

The Russian delegate also requested the removal of Jang Song Chol from the blacklist of individuals. Jang is believed to be the Russia-based representative of Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation, but Churkin said Jang is "not even in Russia." According to the U.S. Treasury, KOMID is North Korea's primary arms dealer and exporter of goods related to ballistic missiles and conventional weapons. North Korea most recently violated existing U.N. resolutions with a nuclear test in January, followed by the launch of a satellite in February.

Russian official says U.N. resolution on North Korea 'necessary'

 

[waltky]

Fatboy Kim rattlin' his sabre...

North Korea: US Has Crossed Red Line, Relations on War Footing
Jul 28, 2016 — North Korea's top diplomat for U.S. affairs told The Associated Press on Thursday that Washington "crossed the red line" and effectively declared war by putting leader Kim Jong Un on its list of sanctioned individuals, and said a vicious showdown could erupt if the U.S. and South Korea hold annual war games as planned next month.

Han Song Ryol, director-general of the U.S. affairs department at the North's Foreign Ministry, said in an interview that recent U.S. actions have put the situation on the Korean Peninsula on a war footing. The United States and South Korea regularly conduct joint military exercises south of the Demilitarized Zone, and Pyongyang typically responds to them with tough talk and threats of retaliation. Han said North Korea believes the nature of the maneuvers has become openly aggressive because they reportedly now include training designed to prepare troops for the invasion of the North's capital and "decapitation strikes" aimed at killing its top leadership.

Han says designating Kim himself for sanctions was the final straw. "The Obama administration went so far to have the impudence to challenge the supreme dignity of the DPRK in order to get rid of its unfavorable position during the political and military showdown with the DPRK," Han said, using the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "The United States has crossed the red line in our showdown," he said. "We regard this thrice-cursed crime as a declaration of war." Although North Korea had already been heavily sanctioned internationally for its nuclear weapons and long-range missile development programs, Washington's announcement on July 6 was the first time Kim Jong Un has been personally sanctioned.

Less than a week later, Pyongyang cut off its final official means of communications with Washington — known as the New York channel. Han said Pyongyang has made it clear that everything between the two must now be dealt with under "war law." Kim and 10 others were put on the list of sanctioned individuals in connection with alleged human rights abuses, documented by the United Nations Human Rights Commission, that include a network of political prisons and harsh treatment of any kind of political dissent in the authoritarian state. U.S. State Department officials said the sanctions were intended in part to highlight those responsible for the abuses and to pressure lower-ranking officials to think twice before carrying them out. Pyongyang denies abuse claims and says the U.N. report was based on fabrications gleaned from disgruntled defectors. Pointing to such things as police shootings of black Americans and poverty in even the richest democracies, it says the West has no moral high ground from which to criticize the North's domestic political situation. It also says U.S. allies with questionable human-rights records receive less criticism.

Han took strong issue with the claim that it not the U.S. but Pyongyang's continued development of nuclear weapons and missiles that is provoking tensions. "Day by day, the U.S. military blackmail against the DPRK and the isolation and pressure is becoming more open," Han said. "It is not us, it is the United States that first developed nuclear weapons, who first deployed them and who first used them against humankind. And on the issue of missiles and rockets, which are to deliver nuclear warheads and conventional weapons warheads, it is none other than the United States who first developed it and who first used it." He noted that U.S.-South Korea military exercises conducted this spring were unprecedented in scale, and that the U.S. has deployed the USS Mississippi and USS Ohio nuclear-powered submarines to South Korean ports, deployed the B-52 strategic bomber around South Korea and is planning to set up the world's most advanced missile defense system, known by its acronym THAAD, in the South, a move that has also angered China.

MORE

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North Korea Warns US of 'Terrifying Price' over Nuke Tensions
Jul 26, 2016 — North Korea warned the United States on Tuesday that it will pay a "terrifying price" if the Korean Peninsula sinks into deeper tensions, stepping up its rhetoric hours after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry blasted Pyongyang for its nuclear program.

Kerry told a regional security conference being hosted by Laos that North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons — when the world is trying to rid itself of them — is "very provocative and deeply concerning." He urged the country to follow the lead of Iran, which hammered out a deal to end its nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions. However, North Korea was slapped with new U.N. sanctions in March, and Kerry urged the international community to fully enforce those and previous sanctions. In North Korea's typical fashion of unleashing rhetorical threats, its foreign minister, Ri Yong-ho, told the same conference, known as the ASEAN Regional Forum, that the country is ready to face any sanctions. It was mindful of all possible sanctions when it took the "inevitable strategic decision" to develop nuclear weapons to counter the "never-ending nuclear blackmails of the U.S.," he said.

North Korea says it needs nuclear weapons to cope with what it sees as U.S. military threats. The United States stations about 28,500 troops in South Korea and regularly holds joint military drills with South Korea. Pyongyang has long demanded Washington withdraw its troops from South Korea and stop the joint drills, which it calls an invasion rehearsal. "We are ready to show that even a (powerful) country will surely not be safe if it tries to torment and harm a small country," Ri said, according to the text of his speech released to the media. "The United States will have to pay dearly a terrifying price." But in later comments to reporters, published by South Korea's Yonhap news agency, Ri struck a slightly conciliatory tone. "As a responsible nuclear state, we will not carelessly use our nuclear weapons unless we come to face an actual threat, (or) a threat of invasion from another nuclear state," Ri was quoted as saying by Yonhap.

Whether or not North Korea conducts another nuclear test will "entirely hinge on the United States's attitude," he was quoted as saying. Some analysts say North Korea has developed a handful of crude nuclear devices and is working toward building a warhead small enough to mount on a long-range missile capable of reaching the continental U.S. However, South Korean defense officials say the North has neither such a miniaturized warhead nor a functioning intercontinental ballistic missile.

Kerry said if Iran can give up nuclear weapons so can North Korea. "But North Korea alone ... the only country in the world defying the international movement towards responsibility, continues to develop its own weapon, continues to develop its missiles, continues the provocative actions," he said. "North Korea in January did another nuclear test. In February, March, April, May, continually they have done missile tests," he said. "So together we are determined, all of us assembled here — perhaps with one exception assembled here — to make absolutely certain the DPRK understands that there are real consequences for these actions." Ri also questioned the legitimacy of the U.N. sanctions, saying there is no article in the U.N. charter that says nuclear or missile tests are threats to international peace. Had there been such an article, the Security Council should have taken action for every nuclear and ballistic missile test conducted by other countries, he said.

North Korea Warns US of 'Terrifying Price' over Nuke Tensions | Military.com

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Sumbody reach over an' whomp dat fatboy upside the head...

North Korea launched ballistic missile, Seoul's joint chiefs say
Aug. 2, 2016 -- North Korea launched a ballistic missile early Wednesday, according to South Korea's joint chiefs of staff.

The firing took place at 7:50 a.m. and the rocket was launched from Unyul, an area in South Hwanghae Province, Yonhap reported. The missile was launched 15 days after North Korea launched two Rodong missiles and one Scud missile on July 19. Those rockets were fired from an area near the North Korean city of Hwangju and aimed for the Sea of Japan, or the East Sea.

The rocket fired early Wednesday was also headed in the same direction. The provocation is believed to be a North Korea response to the South's decision to deploy the U.S. anti-missile defense system THAAD in the region of Seongju in North Gyeongsang Province, according to South Korea press. Opinion in South Korea on THAAD deployment is creating new divisions, and the missile provocation could be a North Korea attempt to deepen those rifts, Yonhap reported.

Kim Jong Un may have spent up to $99 million on launching ballistic missiles since fully assuming power, according to South Korean estimates. North Korea has fired 16 Scud missiles, six Rodong missiles, six Musudan missiles, and three submarine-launched ballistic missiles. Pyongyang had vowed to "physically" respond to the deployment of THAAD in South Korea.

North Korea launched ballistic missile, Seoul's joint chiefs say

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Tokyo: North Korea can miniaturize nuclear weapons
Aug. 2, 2016 -- Japan is raising concerns about North Korea's nuclear warhead miniaturization capabilities.

In its annual Defense White Paper published Tuesday, Tokyo stated there is a possibility North Korea has mastered long-range ballistic missile technology and has developed nuclear warheads that weigh under a ton. The long-range missiles in question are probably capable of reaching more than 6,200 miles, the white paper read.

That distance is sufficient to place U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and even Denver, within striking distance of North Korea missiles, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported. The Japanese analysis also stated the ballistic missile North Korea fired on Feb. 7 in the course of a "peaceful" satellite launch was an improved model with similar specifications as the Taepodong-2, a three-stage ballistic missile.

The white paper pointed out it is possible North Korea already has the capacity to miniaturize nuclear weapons, based on the past experience of other countries. The United States, the former Soviet Union, Britain, France and China had each conducted four nuclear tests before mastering the capability to develop nuclear warheads small enough to fit on ballistic missiles, the report stated.

But Yonhap reported it is not likely North Korea has mastered the re-entry technology of its intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs. There is also evidence Pyongyang is not yet capable of miniaturizing a nuclear warhead that weighs less than a ton, according to South Korea press. The Japanese report stated North Korea's weapons development "absolutely cannot be tolerated." North Korea is believed to retain 1,000 ballistic missiles in its arsenal.

Tokyo: North Korea can miniaturize nuclear weapons

 

[waltky]

North Korea test-fires submarine-launched ballistic missile...

North Korea submarine fires ballistic missile
Wed, 24 Aug 2016 - North Korea has fired a ballistic missile from a submarine, which flew for 500km (300 miles) before falling in the sea, say the US and South Korea.

The KN-11 missile was launched from waters near Sinpo and flew about 500km (300 miles) before falling into the Sea of Japan, a US official said. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile fell inside Japan's Air Defence Identification Zone. It comes as South Korea and the US begin annual military drills, which routinely anger Pyongyang. Ulchi Freedom involves about 80,000 US and South Korean troops in a largely computer-simulated defence of South Korea from a fictional North Korean invasion. North Korea, which sees these drills as a rehearsal for invasion, recently warned they were pushing the Korean peninsula towards the brink of a war and threatened a "pre-emptive nuclear strike" in retaliation. The launch also coincided with a meeting of foreign ministers from Japan, China and South Korea in Tokyo.

North Korea is banned by the UN from any use of ballistic or nuclear technology. But in recent months it has carried out repeated missile launches, and is believed to be close to conducting its fifth test of a nuclear device. Wednesday's early morning launch appears to have been its most successful test yet of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). SLBMs are of particular concern because of the mobility of submarines and the ease with which launch preparation can remain undetected. The South's military said it "seemed to be aimed at raising military tension in response to the Seoul-Washington military drill", the Yonhap news agency reports.

North Korea test-fires submarine-launched ballistic missile​

It said it would "sternly and strongly respond to any provocation by North Korea". Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the missile "poses a grave threat to Japan's security, and is an unforgivable act that damages regional peace and stability markedly". He said Japan had lodged a protest, though did not comment on South Korean reports that the missile fell into Japan's ADIZ, an area of airspace over which a country exercises security controls. The US State Department said it "strongly condemned" this and previous missile tests and would raise concerns at the UN.

Last month, the US and South Korea agreed to deploy a missile defence system to counter threats from the North. North Korea has conducted four nuclear tests to date - its most recent claimed to have used a hydrogen bomb - but despite its claims, it is not yet believed to have the ability to mount a nuclear device onto a warhead. Pyongyang has also been angered recently by several high profile defections, including its deputy ambassador to the UK, Thae Yong-ho. Mr Thae, thought to be the highest-ranking North Korean official ever to defect, was branded "human scum" by Pyongyang.

North Korea submarine fires ballistic missile - BBC News

 

[waltky]

Why is North Korea testing nuclear weapons?...

North Korea's Nuclear Threat Growing after Largest Test
Sep 10, 2016 | North Korea's nuclear threat has grown significantly, following its latest and largest nuclear test and a series of missile launches, analysts say, with some South Korean newspapers even speculating about an atomic attack on Seoul.

The South Korean capital stayed calm Saturday, with residents immune to near-daily threats from their neighbor, but newspapers and analysts saw Friday's test as a game-changer. With a force of 10 kilotons, the blast was two-thirds the size of the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in August 1945. It took place just eight months after the previous detonation. More importantly, the North claimed it had successfully tested a nuclear warhead that could be mounted on a missile. The nuclear program has been accompanied by a series of ballistic missile launches, including from a submarine.

North Korea's dictator, Kim Jong-Un with a few of his military advisers.​

Given that Friday's test was the most powerful in terms of yield and that the time lapse from the previous test was shortened, "the North's nuclear capability is believed to have been sophisticated to a considerable degree and being developed at an increasingly faster pace," South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se told senior ministry officials. The world must now "cautiously accept the reality" that the North could launch a nuclear attack by missile, said analyst Jeung Young-Tae of the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU), although the range of such a nuclear-tipped missile remained unclear.

The North's announcement of its test indicated they had tested the bomb that would arm their missile units, said Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterrey. "And that's a big deal," he wrote in an article entitled "North Korea's nuke program is way more sophisticated than you think", for the website of Foreign Policy magazine. "In the past, we've treated North Korean nuclear tests as temper tantrums or political demonstrations."

- 'Not completely insane' -

See also:

North Korea's Largest Nuclear Test Draws Global Condemnation
9/09/2016 - The blast, on the 68th anniversary of North Korea’s founding, was more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, according to some estimates.

North Korea conducted its fifth and biggest nuclear test on Friday and said it had mastered the ability to mount a warhead on a ballistic missile, ratcheting up a threat that its rivals and the United Nations have been powerless to contain. The blast, on the 68th anniversary of North Korea’s founding, was more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, according to some estimates, and drew condemnation from the United States as well as China, Pyongyang’s main ally. Diplomats said the United Nations Security Council would discuss the test at a closed-door meeting on Friday, at the request of the United States, Japan and South Korea. Under 32-year-old dictator Kim Jong Un, North Korea has accelerated the development of its nuclear and missile programs, despite U.N. sanctions that were tightened in March and have further isolated the impoverished country.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye, in Laos after a summit of Asian leaders, said Kim was showing “maniacal recklessness” in completely ignoring the world’s call to abandon his pursuit of nuclear weapons. U.S. President Barack Obama, aboard Air Force One on his way home from Laos, said the test would be met with “serious consequences,” and held talks with Park and with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the White House said. China said it was resolutely opposed to the test and urged Pyongyang to stop taking any actions that would worsen the situation. It said it would lodge a protest with the North Korean embassy in Beijing. There were further robust condemnations from Russia, the European Union, NATO, Germany and Britain.

North Korea, which labels the South and the United States as its main enemies, said its “scientists and technicians carried out a nuclear explosion test for the judgment of the power of a nuclear warhead,” according to its official KCNA news agency. It said the test proved North Korea was capable of mounting a nuclear warhead on a medium-range ballistic missile, which it last tested on Monday when Obama and other world leaders were gathered in China for a G20 summit. Pyongyang’s claims of being able to miniaturize a nuclear warhead have never been independently verified.

Its continued testing in defiance of sanctions presents a challenge to Obama in the final months of his presidency and could become a factor in the U.S. presidential election in November, and a headache to be inherited by whoever wins. “Sanctions have already been imposed on almost everything possible, so the policy is at an impasse,” said Tadashi Kimiya, a University of Tokyo professor specializing in Korean issues. “In reality, the means by which the United States, South Korea and Japan can put pressure on North Korea have reached their limits,” he said.

UNPRECEDENTED RATE

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North Korea nuclear test: Is it important?
Fri, 09 Sep 2016 - North Korea has carried out another nuclear test. It is the country's fifth and sparked global indignation. Why is it important?

North Korea has carried out what appears to be its largest ever nuclear test, sparking global indignation. This is the country's fifth test. Why are the North Koreans doing it, and why is it important?

Why now?

Well, there have been some reasons given by the North Koreans themselves - and then there are some that need to be read between the lines:

* Officially, it was a demonstration of the "toughest will" of the Korean people to show they can retaliate to an attack by enemies. It was also a show against the "racket of threat and sanctions" that the nation has suffered at the hands of the global community via the UN

* Then came the technical reasons - to hone the ability to put nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles (although many experts still doubt this has been effectively achieved)

* And finally it was a show of national "dignity", an important concept in North Korea backed up by the fact it came on National Day, a traditional time to show off military muscle

Unstated, but clearly obvious, was anger at US and South Korean plans to install an anti-missile defence system in the South, along with the traditional lambasting of the annual US-South Korea joint military exercises.

Why does it matter?

North Korea is an isolated communist nation run by an unpredictable 32-year-old "supreme leader" with his hands on an unspecified nuclear arsenal and seemingly immune to any global pressure to give it up. Kim Jong-un's aggression and invective show no sign of abating. If anything they are getting worse. The North's southern neighbour- still technically at war with the North because the 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a treaty - and Japan are particularly nervous.

The North has also often stated its aim of targeting the US.
What next?

The US and Russia have already indicated that there will be more discussions at the UN. A resolution of condemnation is one course of action, given that no nation on the Security Council is likely to block it. There have already been five sets of UN sanctions and more may well be on the agenda, such as blocking the export of fuel oil to North Korea, but how effective they would be is unclear. China's response will be the most important. It has to balance opposition to the North's nuclear actions with a desire not to destabilise its volatile neighbour.

North Korea nuclear test: Is it important? - BBC News

 

[waltky]

Fatboy mockin' Obama...

North Korea’s LOL moment: Calls Obama ‘foolish’, laughs off sanctions after terrifying the world with its biggest nuclear test
Monday 12th September, 2016 - Mocking America’s reaction to its fifth and biggest nuclear test so far - North Korea has said that the push for sanctions by U.S. is “highly laughable.”

North Korea's foreign ministry was quoted as saying on the state news agency, KCNA, “The group of Obama’s running around and talking about meaningless sanctions until today is highly laughable, when their ‘strategic patience’ policy is completely worn out and they are close to packing up to move out.” The statement further added, “As we’ve made clear, measures to strengthen the national nuclear power in quality and quantity will continue to protect our dignity and right to live from augmented threats of nuclear war from the United States.” It added, “The nuclear warhead explosion was a demonstration of our toughest will, showing that we are ready to counter-attack enemies if they make a provocation. It was a part of substantial counter-measures to the threat of a nuclear war and a sanctions racket led by hostile forces, including the U.S.”

North Korea further defended its potent nuclear program with the elusive nation’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson saying in a televised statement that the U.S. had compelled the country to develop nuclear arms. He reportedly said, “Its nuclear threat and blackmail constantly imposed on our country...were the engine that pushed us to reach this point.” Further mocking U.S. President Barack Obama for his condemnation of the country's recent nuclear test, the ministry labelled Obama “foolish” for ignoring North Korea's "strategic position as a legitimate nuclear power state.” The spokesperson added, “Obama is trying hard to deny the DPRK's (North Korea's) strategic position as a legitimate nuclear weapons state but it is as foolish an act as trying to eclipse the sun with a palm.”

In reaction to the nuclear test - which reports pointed out packed 80 percent of the explosive power compared to the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima - Obama has said that the test was “a grave threat to regional security and to international peace and stability.” The UN too had immediately jumped into action, initiating work on new measures, even though North Korea already has five sets of UN sanction imposed since its first nuclear test in 2006. Alongside U.S., even Britain and France have pushed the body to impose new sanctions against North Korea. The sanctions have however failed to turn North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

Obama was reported to have held a telephonic conversation with South Korean president Park Geun-hye and Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe post the launch and had said, that the nations would work with the Security Council and other nations to vigorously enforce existing measures and to take “additional significant steps, including new sanctions.” On Saturday, South Korea’s top nuclear envoy was reported to have spoken to his Chinese counterpart emphasising the need for fresh countermeasures. Further, on Sunday, a U.S. special envoy is said to have met Japanese officials and later stated that the U.S. might launch unilateral sanctions against North Korea. Meanwhile, South Korean military is said to have issued a stern statement warning Pyongyang claiming that it would ‘decimate’ the nation if North launches an attack against South Korea.

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More North Korea sanctions not the solution, China says
Sept. 12, 2016 - Beijing’s foreign ministry defended its Korea policy on Monday.

Heavier sanctions against North Korea are not the solution to reducing tensions after Pyongyang's fifth nuclear test, China said Monday. Beijing foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters sanctions against North Korea are a unilateral measure that could drive an already difficult situation to a dead end, South Korean news service Newsis reported. Hua also said the core of the North Korea nuclear issue is United States policy. China has dedicated a great deal of effort toward maintaining peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, the spokeswoman said.

Hua's comments come as the United Nations Security Council is planning to pass additional embargoes against Pyongyang after what appears to be its fifth nuclear test on Friday. China and Russia, traditional North Korea allies, are permanent members of the Security Council. While both countries condemned the test, neither Beijing nor Moscow approve of the call for heightened military deterrence in South Korea.

The Russian foreign ministry stated on Monday Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi agreed during a phone conversation that all countries should refrain from the further escalation of tensions, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported. "While the two ministers condemned North Korean actions, all countries concerned should abstain from measures that could lead to further heightened tensions, and instead solve the Korean peninsula nuclear issue through diplomacy," the Russian statement read.

China continues to be opposed to the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in South Korea and the July decision to place THAAD on the peninsula has provided Beijing less incentive to work with Washington on a North Korea strategy, according to analysts who spoke to The New York Times. As new actions are expected at the U.N., North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho left Pyongyang to attend the United Nations General Assembly, Yonhap reported Monday. Ri was seen at the main airport in Beijing quickly stepping into a vehicle that belonged to the North Korean Embassy, according to the report. But Ri is not expected to meet with senor Chinese officials, sources tell Yonhap.

More North Korea sanctions not the solution, China says

 

[waltky]

Chinese patience wearin' thin with Fatboy Kim...

Analyst: North Korea has enough material to make 20 nuclear bombs
Sept. 13, 2016 -- North Korea may be adding seven nuclear bombs to its arsenal annually and could have about 20 bombs by the end of 2016, according to a U.S. analyst.

Siegfried S. Hecker, a nuclear weapons expert at Stanford University who has visited North Korea's nuclear facilities as recently as 2010, states on 38 North, a Johns Hopkins University website dedicated to North Korea, that Pyongyang could add 330 pounds of highly enriched uranium to an existing stockpile of about 660 to 880 pounds. That amount, 330 pounds, is sufficient to produce six nuclear bombs, according to Hecker. While North Korea's highly enriched uranium program is growing, the country's capacity to produce plutonium "remains limited" to 13 pounds per year.

North Korea has about 70 to 120 pounds of plutonium that is worth six to eight bombs, the analyst writes, adding plutonium production is easier to track because of "telltale signals." Hecker also states that while North Korea has claimed it can produce lighter smaller warheads, its "ability to field an [intercontinental ballistic missile] is still a long way off – perhaps 5 to 10 years." North Korea's universally condemned fifth nuclear test is raising concerns the country could conduct at least another test before the end of 2016.

Jin Xiangdong, a Chinese researcher at Xiamen University, told Sputnik News North Korea could soon launch a sixth nuclear test. Pyongyang could test another nuclear weapon after the United Nations Security Council passes additional sanctions or during joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises that are to be held in mid-October, Jin said. A more powerful nuclear test, however, could have unintended consequences, according to earth sciences experts in South Korea.

Data from South Korean scientists submitted to a parliamentary committee on safety administration indicated another man-made earthquake near the Punggye-ri test site could trigger a dormant volcanic mountain, Mount Paektu, local newspaper Maeil Business reported. Paektu, the official birthplace of former leader Kim Jong Il, is about 75 miles from the nuclear test site. Another earthquake with a 3.0-7.0 magnitude could trigger a volcanic eruption, according to the analysis.

Analyst: North Korea has enough material to make 20 nuclear bombs

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Chinese foreign minister: U.N. North Korea measures 'necessary'
Sept. 14, 2016 -- The Chinese foreign minister said he welcomes additional United Nations Security Council measures against North Korea as "necessary."

But Wang Yi also called for calm and restraint on the Korean peninsula, Beijing's foreign ministry said on Wednesday. The statement comes after Wang exchanged views by phone with his South Korean counterpart Yun Byung-se, Yonhap news agency reported. "With regards to North Korea's nuclear test, I am in favor of the necessary response from the United Nations but at the same time request the countries concerned exercise calm and restraint so as to not further heighten tensions," Wang said in his statement.

The foreign minister did not explicitly mention sanctions, which Beijing has been implementing since March while making some allowances for North Korean iron ore imports. Wang also reiterated Chinese opposition to THAAD deployment to the South Korean foreign minister, according to Beijing. China has raised concerns about the U.S. missile defense system and has blamed the United States for pressuring China to take responsibility for North Korean belligerence.

The Communist Party's newspaper People's Daily criticized the United States on Wednesday, stating Washington is neither a third party nor a judge in the North Korea nuclear issue. The United States must take responsibility for the developments on the Korean peninsula, the newspaper stated.

The United States, South Korea and Japan support heavier sanctions against North Korea, and U.S. State Secretary John Kerry is to meet with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts to discuss responses in the wake of North Korea's fifth nuclear test. The meeting, to be held on Sunday in New York, is to focus on pressures against North Korea, stronger sanctions and unilateral sanctions, according to Seoul's foreign ministry.

Chinese foreign minister: U.N. North Korea measures 'necessary'

 

[waltky]

China investigating No. Korea bank linked to Fatboy's nuclear program...

N Korean bank probed over nuclear links
Tue, Sep 27, 2016 - China is investigating executives of a North Korean bank believed to finance the illicit procurement of arms and materials related to the isolated country’s banned nuclear program, South Korea’s JoongAng Daily reported yesterday.

China and the US have agreed to step up cooperation in the UN Security Council and in law-enforcement channels after North Korea’s fifth nuclear test on Sept. 9, the White House said last week. The Chinese-US cooperation includes targeting the finances of Liaoning Hongxiang Industrial, a Chinese conglomerate headed by a Chinese Communist Party cadre that US President Barack Obama administration’s thinks has had a role in helping North Korea’s nuclear program, the Wall Street Journal reported at the time. The JoongAng said Chinese authorities were investigating a top official of the Kwangson Banking Corp at its branch in the Chinese border city of Dandong.

The US Department of the Treasury designated the bank in 2009 under an order that targets entities supporting North Korea’s arms trafficking because of its suspected involvement in procuring “dual-use” technology with both civilian and military application. “The head of the branch, Ri Il-ho, temporarily returned to North Korea, so the deputy executive is being investigated,” an unidentified source told the JoongAng. In March this year, after the latest round of UN sanctions, the UN extended an asset freeze to all funds held abroad by the bank. The bank branch in Dandong then moved to an office on the 13th floor of a building also used by Hongxiang and continued to operate, though without a sign outside its office, the JoongAng Daily said.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A report by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul and the C4ADS think tank in Washington last week identified more than US$500 million in trade from January 2011 to September last year between the North and the Liaoning Hongxiang Group, which states on its Web site that it trades heavily with the North.

More than 20 customs and city officials in Dandong are being investigated for granting favors to Ma Xiaohong, Hongxiang’s founder and top executive, the JoongAng reported, citing a source “knowledgeable about relations between Beijing and Pyongyang.” Certain assets related to Ma and some of her relatives and associates had been frozen by Chinese authorities in recent weeks, according to government and corporate filings cited by the Wall Street Journal.

N Korean bank probed over nuclear links - Taipei Times

See also:

U.S. sanctions Chinese firm tied to North Korea's nuclear program
Sep 26 2016 | WASHINGTON - The United States said on Monday it had sanctioned a Chinese industrial machinery and equipment wholesaler, a new step in tightening the financial noose around North Korea's nuclear program after its fifth nuclear test this month.

The U.S. Treasury said it was sanctioning Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co (DHID) and four of its executives, including the firm's founder, Ma Xiaohong, under U.S. regulations targeting proliferators of weapons of mass destruction. It accused the firm of acting on behalf of North Korea's Korea Kwangson Banking Corp (KKBC), which has been under U.S. and U.N. sanctions for supporting proliferation of such weapons. The U.S. Department of Justice said it had filed criminal charges against the Chinese firm and the executives for using front companies to evade sanctions on North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. The charges accuse the firm and the individuals of conspiring to violate sanctions rules and engaging in international money laundering.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets scientists and technicians in the field of research into nuclear weapons in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang​

The Justice Department said bank accounts associated with the firm and front companies received hundreds of millions of dollars that transited through the United States. "Today's action exposes a key illicit network supporting North Korea's weapons proliferation," Adam Szubin, the Treasury Department's acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement. "DHID and its employees sought to evade U.S. and U.N. sanctions, facilitating access to the U.S. financial system by a designated entity." The announcement came after the White House said last week that President Barack Obama and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang agreed in New York on Sept. 20 to step up cooperation in the U.N. Security Council and in law-enforcement channels after North Korea's latest and largest nuclear test on Sept. 9.

CHINESE INVESTIGATION

China's Foreign Ministry said last week Hongxiang was under investigation following the provisions of U.N. resolution 2270, which imposed tighter sanctions on North Korea in March. Chinese embassy spokeswoman Fang Hong said Hongxiang Industrial Development Co was being investigated for "illegal behavior" and "economic crimes." She said China had a "clear and consistent" position of opposing North Korea's development of nuclear weapons. "We have been earnestly and faithfully implementing Security Council resolutions related to (North Korea) in their entirety and fulfilling our international obligations in non-proliferation export controls," she said.

On Monday, South Korea's JoongAng Daily newspaper reported that China was investigating a top official of the KKBC at its branch in the Chinese border city of Dandong. South Korea said on Tuesday it "highly valued" Washington's action against the Chinese firm. "By exposing the risks of trade with North Korea, we expect this measure to raise the alarm for individuals and entities in third countries as well as China that are trading with North Korea," South Korea's foreign ministry said in a statement. While China is North Korea's sole major ally, it disapproves of its nuclear and missile programs and was angered by its latest nuclear test.

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[WheelieAddict]

Yeah they are secretly in cahoots no other country knows about it, MericanTinker knows the real facts though, Alex Jones verified!