North Korea's Kim Jong-un named marshal

[xomputer]

I was following the news all day because North Korea made all the fuss today noon by stating that its state media would issue and "important report." Well... It turns out that it wasn't as important as I previously expected it to be... Kim Jong-Un just became the marshal of North Korea.
Kim is a stub fat man around 28 years old who became marshal just because he was the heir and son of Kim Il Sung, which I really don't understand. And I really don't think highly of North Korea for publicizing this petty news as important.
By publicizing this as important, they are making a laughing stock out of itself to the international community and the world.
Anyways I wonder if the North Korean people actually acknowledge Kim Jong-Un as the marshal of North Korea.
Marshal or not, I am predicting that their main interest isn't in who their leader is or what position he holds, but simply living, and not starving to death.

 

[waltky]

Granny wants to know what dey doin', why dey so sneaky, what's goin' on?...

North Korea's leader still a mystery
October 24th, 2012 - The United States and South Korea still have no clear insight on the new leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, nearly a year after he replaced his father.

"We still don't know whether or not he will follow in the footsteps of his father, or whether he represents a different kind of leadership for the future," U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta admitted Wednesday. Panetta made the comment at a news conference on Wednesday after security talks with his South Korean counterpart. The meetings included discussion of North Korea's young leader, who succeeded his father, Kim Jong Il, after his death in 2011.

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin said the actual regime "seems to be quite stable," and there is hope Kim Jong Un would "try to introduce new economic reform measures to make a better life for the people" of North Korea. But the defense minister admitted he was also unsure what path North Korea's leader would take, and he warned that given Kim Jong Un's young age, it could mean bolder actions by the North Korean government. He described Kim as "young, meaning he may be a lot more aggressive compared to old people." Kim is believed to be 29.

Panetta once again called North Korea "defiant and provocative," as he has before, and said he was concerned over its plans to conduct a third nuclear weapons test. Kim Kwan-jin added that North Korea has been making preparations for this third test "for quite a long time." Although he did not say Pyongyang had decided to proceed, he added "it may in fact resort to this third nuclear test."

Speaking with Kim Kwan-jin by his side, Panetta said, "North Korea remains a threat to both of our nations, and a serious threat to regional and global stability." He accused the Pyongyang of defying international rules by continuing to enrich uranium. North Korea conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009 but has not conducted a test this year despite its threats.

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What is going on inside North Korea?
October 25th, 2012 - In the famously opaque world of North Korean politics, the ongoing leadership transition is in some ways proving more dagger than cloak with reports of executions and purges of top military officials in recent days.

South Korean newspapers this week reported on the execution of Kim Chol, North Korea's vice minister of the North Korean military, and other senior military officials earlier this year for drinking liquor during the mourning period for former leader Kim Jong Il. Kim's son, Kim Jong Un, who is the new leader of North Korea, has overseen purges of other former leaders from the military ranks for being involved in sex scandals the reports also said. "Contrary to what might be the popular perception that there is a smooth transition going on from the father to the son, these reports show there is still a lot of churn going on inside the system," Victor Cha, a former Korea specialist on the National Security Council during the George W. Bush administration, told CNN.

For Cha, now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the moves under way in North Korea may signal a shift in leadership styles for the new young leader. "All these actions being taken against the military by (Kim Jong Un) clearly show that they are trying to take some power away from the military, and give it back to (the ruling) party," Cha said.

Under Kim Jong Il, North Korea followed a "military first" policy in which the military was given a lot of business concessions, and had a financial stake in many sectors of the North Korean economy such as mining, and its relations with China. In a country suffering chronic food shortages and famine, the military has also benefited from the government's diversion of food aid to the military ranks.

North Korea watchers were taken somewhat by surprise earlier this year when Ri Yong Ho, a senior general in the North Korean military, was purged from his high position. Ri, the key military figure visibly near Kim Jong Un in the days following his father's death in December, was seen by many to have been one of the generals Kim Jong Il designated to guide his son through the leadership transition. Analysts who follow the situation closely see a possible situation in the works where the new leader is attempting to bring the ruling Workers Party back to a position of economic prominence in the country – much like his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, the country's founder. But pulling that off successfully may pose a challenge for the younger Kim.

More What is going on inside North Korea? – CNN Security Clearance - CNN.com Blogs

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - dat apple don't fall too far from the tree...

Is Kim Jong Un more dangerous than his father?
March 7th, 2013 - North Korea's threat to launch a preemptive nuclear strike against the United States has puzzled American officials, who see the regime ramping up its threats and rhetoric.

It's leading to the belief that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is more unpredictable, more dangerous and harder to read than his late father, Kim Jong Il. "The new leader is acting in ways a bit more extreme than his father, who was colder and more calculated," a senior administration official said. "Kim Jong Il was more aware of the off-ramps to end these escalations. "I don't recall he ever went this far in terms of the pace and scope of the rhetoric. Threatening to launch nukes directly against the United States and South Korea confirms what a lot of people have been saying, which is we are dealing with someone new," the official added.

Comparing Kim Jong Il, who died last December, to a chess player, the official said the son is more like a boxer. "Nobody knows what he has planned, what he is thinking or contemplating doing or why the North Koreans are tripling down on their rhetoric," the official said. Another senior administration official said Kim's youth and education abroad offered promise for many North Korea watchers that he would be more willing to engage with the West. "Unfortunately, he is following the example of his father and grandfather pretty closely," the official said. "It's hard to be optimistic." His grandfather, Kim Il Sung, was the founding leader of North Korea.

Officials said the latest threats, coupled with North Korea's nuclear test last month and its launch of a long-range rocket into space in December, have the United States and South Korea bracing for the possibility of a violent response by Pyongyang to tougher U.N. sanctions approved on Thursday. They pointed to the 2010 sinking of a South Korean submarine and shelling of a South Korean island. "It's dangerous to dismiss these threats as just rhetoric and propaganda, the second official said. "It's hard to predict." Leading up to the U.N. vote, North Korea upped its bellicose rhetoric. A spokesman for the foreign ministry suggested the United States "is set to light a fuse for a nuclear war."

As a result, North Korea "will exercise the right to a preemptive nuclear attack to destroy the strongholds of the aggressors and to defend the supreme interests of the country," the country said in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. Despite the strong language, analysts say North Korea is years away from having the technology necessary to mount a nuclear warhead on a missile and aim it accurately at a target. And, analysts say, North Korea is unlikely to seek a direct military conflict with the United States. North Korea's behavior is even more curious because it comes as South Korea's new president, Park Geun-hye, took office last week calling for new dialogue with the North. Although she pledged a strong defense posture and retaliation against North Korean provocations, she called for easing tensions that grew under her predecessor.

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China warns against Korea escalation
8 March 2013 - China has appealed for calm on the Korean peninsula, hours after North Korea said it had scrapped all peace pacts with the South and threatened pre-emptive nuclear strikes.

China, the North's only major ally, said all sides should continue to talk and avoid "further escalation". Pyongyang has reacted angrily to another round of sanctions imposed by the UN over its recent nuclear test. The sanctions restrict luxury goods imports and banking activities. Beijing provides fuel, food and diplomatic cover to Pyongyang. It has repeatedly voted in favour of UN sanctions imposed over the nuclear programme, but enforcement of the measures in China is patchy.

Hua Chunying of China's foreign ministry told a news conference on Friday: "China and North Korea have normal country relations. At the same time, we also oppose North Korea's conducting of nuclear tests. "China calls on the relevant parties to be calm and exercise restraint and avoid taking any further action that would cause any further escalations." Chinese and US officials drafted the UN resolution passed on Thursday. It contains similar measures to earlier resolutions, but the US said it had significantly strengthened the enforcement mechanisms.

In response, the North Korean regime published a message on the official KCNA news agency saying it had cancelled all non-aggression pacts with the South. The two Koreas have signed a range of agreements over the years, including a 1991 pact on resolving disputes and avoiding military clashes. However, analysts say the deals have had little practical effect. The KCNA report detailed other measures including:

More http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21713340

 

[waltky]

Lil' Kim best put a sock in it...

North Korea Threatens Japan with Attack
March 17, 2013 - North Korea has lashed out at Japan for calling for "independent additional sanctions" against Pyongyang.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency carried a statement from the Foreign Ministry Sunday saying that it would be a fatal mistake for Japan if it thinks it will be safe when a war breaks out on the Korean Peninsula.

The statement warned that the Japanese would face a horrible strike if they collude with the United States. The article appeared days after U.S. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon said Washington is willing to hold "authentic negotiations" with the North if it changes its behavior.

North Korea is furious about new U.N. sanctions imposed after it conducted its third nuclear test last month. The new round of sanctions and an ongoing U.S. - South Korea military exercise sparked an angry response from Pyongyang, which said it is abandoning the armistice that ended the Korean War and is ending non-aggression pacts with South Korea.

North Korea Threatens Japan with Attack

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US Defense Official Sees North Korean Threats Backfiring
March 18, 2013 — A top U.S. defense official is visiting South Korea, where he says North Korea's recent provocations are only further isolating Pyongyang from the rest of the world.

Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Pyongyang's missile and nuclear tests, as well as recent threats to launch a nuclear strike and attack frontier islands in the South, are not going to soften attitudes abroad towards the reclusive and impoverished country. "If the North Koreans think this kind of thing is going to get them anywhere, they're mistaken. The only effect it's having is to bring upon North Korea the opprobrium [reproach] of the entire world," Carter said. In response, he added, the United States military is continuing to integrate operations with South Korean forces and adding ground-based interceptors to U.S. missile defenses in Alaska.

China on Monday cautioned the United States to act prudently on boosting its anti-missile system. A spokesman for the foreign ministry in Beijing, Hong Lei, told reporters such plans, in response to North Korea's provocation, “will intensify antagonism and will not be beneficial to finding a solution for the problem.” The spokesman said the situation is best addressed through diplomatic means. VOA asked Carter if South Korean government and defense officials he met Monday are alarmed by the recent North Korean rhetoric or do they view it as similar to Pyongyang’s more typical bellicose rhetoric? "I found that my colleagues in the South Korean government shared our assessment," Carter said. "After all we have a common foundation of intelligence about North Korea and so we see things the same way."

Joint military drills are underway on the peninsula (Foal Eagle and Key Resolve) involving thousands of members of forces from both the United States and South Korea. Carter also underscored that all resources under America's nuclear umbrella will continue to be available to South Korea. He says an example of this will be a Tuesday “training flight” of a B-52 bomber near the peninsula. It is unusual for such flights to be announced in advance or specifically referenced by a high-ranking official. Carter did not say whether the bomber would be armed. After the deputy defense secretary's announcement, a U.S. military spokesman said the flight will likely originate at Anderson Air Force Base on the Pacific island of Guam.

Pentagon officials earlier confirmed that a B-52 Stratofortress also performed a "routine continuous bomber presence mission" on March 8th near the Korean peninsula. Carter is reassuring allies in the region that the automatic U.S. government budget cuts which kicked in March 1 (known as sequestration) will not affect operations of the U.S. military in the Asia-Pacific region. The defense official's visit to South Korea was the second stop on a trip to Asia that includes Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia.

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[waltky]

Granny says if lil' Kim keeps it up, he gonna have his head handed to him onna platter...

North Korea readies rockets after U.S. show of force
28 Mar.`13 - North Korea put its missile units on standby on Friday to attack U.S. military bases in South Korea and the Pacific, after the United States flew two nuclear-capable stealth bombers over the Korean peninsula in a rare show of force.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed off on the order at a midnight meeting of top generals and "judged the time has come to settle accounts with the U.S. imperialists in view of the prevailing situation", the official KCNA news agency said. The North has an arsenal of Soviet-era short-range Scud missiles that can hit South Korea and have been proven, but its longer-range Nodong and Musudan missiles that could in theory hit U.S. Pacific bases are untested.

On Thursday, the United States flew two radar-evading B-2 Spirit bombers on practice runs over South Korea, responding to a series of North Korean threats. They flew from the United States and back in what appeared to be the first exercise of its kind, designed to show America's ability to conduct long-range, precision strikes "quickly and at will", the U.S. military said. The news of Kim's response was unusually swift. "He finally signed the plan on technical preparations of strategic rockets of the KPA (Korean People's Army), ordering them to be on standby for fire so that they may strike any time the U.S. mainland, its military bases in the operational theaters in the Pacific, including Hawaii and Guam, and those in South Korea," KCNA said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (2nd R) looks at the latest combat and technical equipments, made by unit 1501 of the Korean People's Army, during his visit to the unit March 24, 2013 in this picture released by the North's official KCNA news agency in Pyongyang

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported there had been additional troop and vehicle movements at the North's mid- and long-range missile sites, indicating they may be ready to fire. "Sharply increased movements of vehicles and soldiers have been detected recently at North Korea's mid and long-range missile sites," Yonhap quoted a South Korean military source as saying. It was impossible to verify the report which did not specify a time frame, although South Korea's Defense Ministry said on Friday that it was watching shorter-range Scud missile sites closes as well as Nodong and Musudan missile batteries. The North has launched a daily barrage of threats since early this month when the United States and the South, allies in the 1950-53 Korean War, began routine military drills.

The South and the United States have said the drills are purely defensive in nature and that no incident has taken place in the decades they have been conducted in various forms. The United States also flew B-52 bombers over South Korea earlier this week. The North has put its military on highest readiness to fight what it says are hostile forces conducting war drills. Its young leader has previously given "final orders" for its military to wage revolutionary war with the South.

ECONOMIC ZONE

 

[Katzndogz]

North Korea has the security of obama in office. They don't have a thing to worry about.