North Korea attacks South Korea with garbage balloons.......

[ABikerSailor]

There has been a propaganda war going on between the two countries for a while now, they send balloons full of propaganda leaflets over the border to each other, but now N. Korea's attacks have gotten decidedly dirty. They are now filing the balloons with garbage and used toilet paper.

North Korea sending balloons full of trash over the border

I wonder if this is going to be their new biological weapon of "mess destruction"?

 

[ABikerSailor]

Doesn't ANYONE think this is a shitty move by the N. Koreans?

 

[waltky]

Congress steps in where Obama drops the ball...

US Congress Hits North Korean Leadership with Tough Sanctions
February 12, 2016 — Something very rare happened in the U.S. Congress this week: Republicans and Democrats agreed to support tough action on North Korea after a series of provocations by Pyongyang.

The House of Representatives passed broad new sanctions Friday against North Korea by a vote of 408 to 2. The Senate passed the sanctions bill earlier this week by a vote of 96-0, meaning that the measure now goes to President Barack Obama’s desk for signing. The legislation directly targets money launderers, human rights abusers, weapons and luxury goods traders, and anyone involved with the nuclear weapons program or anyone who carries out cyber-attacks. It also would impose secondary sanctions against any outlets that support and finance North Korea’s aggression.

In addition, the bill would authorize $10 million annually for five years to expand North Korean citizens’ access to media and to provide humanitarian aid to refugees. The legislation passed through both chambers of Congress at lightning speed, less than one week after North Korea launched a long-range rocket. A number of lawmakers expressed concern that the international community is not moving fast enough to counter Pyongyang’s dangerous nuclear program, which has the potential to threaten the United States and its allies. White House officials indicate the president isn't likely to veto the bill due to its overwhelming Congressional support.

Punishing blow

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce sponsored the bill. The California Republican said its broad bipartisan support shows that many lawmakers are frustrated with the Obama administration’s policy of “strategic patience” with North Korea and are demanding a new approach. Royce said the tough legislation is meant to deal such a punishing blow that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is forced to make a choice between returning to the negotiating table and ending his country’s nuclear program or having funds for his regime cut off.

Some analysts draw parallels to the tough U.S. sanctions imposed on Iran, which many credit with forcing Tehran to the negotiating table and paving the way for the nuclear deal. Experts, however, are divided over the question of how much impact the sanctions will have on such an extremely closed, isolated country with an underdeveloped economy.

'Human rights house of horrors'

See also:

South Korean Companies Appeal to Save Kaesong Complex
February 12, 2016 — South Korean companies hit hard by Seoul's decision to suspend operations at an inter-Korean industrial complex are trying to save the joint venture from being permanently abandoned.

Until recently, the Kaesong Industrial Complex was a rare example of substantive economic engagement between the two Koreas, raising hope for serious economic exchanges and better ties between the two nations. The industrial park, situated in the North Korean border city of Kaesong, was home to 124 South Korean companies that employed about 54,000 North Korean workers. Last year, the output of the companies at the complex exceeded $500 million for the first time since its opening in 2004, according to the South Korean government.

Nuclear tensions

A monthlong standoff over Pyongyang's provocative nuclear posture, however, turned it into a military zone. South Korea suspended all operations at the complex Wednesday in response to North Korea's nuclear test and long-range missile launch. North Korea responded by expelling all South Korean employees from the facility, forcing them to leave on short notice. The communist country also froze assets in the complex and ordered its military to take over the zone. "We are appealing to both governments to revive the Kaesong Industrial Complex, which is a symbol of inter-Korean economic cooperation and peaceful coexistence," said an association of the South Korean companies in a statement.

Heavy financial toll

Park Yong-man, who ran a garment factory in the complex, told VOA the two governments should allow company representatives to visit the site and bring back equipment, goods and raw materials to South Korea. "We are sincerely hoping that the South Korean authority will ask the North Korean authority for talks and the North Korean authority will cooperate on the request," Park said.

South Korean owners who run factories in the suspended inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex, attend an emergency meeting held by the council of South Korean companies operating in the industrial park, in Seoul, South Korea​

The shutdown is expected to impose a heavy financial toll on the companies, mostly small- and medium-size firms. Some experts estimated the move could cost them more than $1.6 billion. Seoul announced a plan Friday to provide financial assistance to the companies and vowed to minimize the damage as much as possible. The plan includes a measure to provide them with $230 million immediately through insurance.

Reopening unlikely

 

[pwjohn]

Nobody cares.

 

[aaronleland]

Kim disposing of his gay porn and cum rags.

That's not a bad idea.

 

[waltky]

Lil' Kim up to his dirty tricks...

North Korea launched cyberattack of spam emails to South, Seoul says
Feb. 15, 2016 - The messages instructed the user to download a document that included malicious codes.

Email messages sent from North Korea that were made to appear as if they were sent from the South Korean president's office have been flooding accounts, police said Monday. Pyongyang has been targeting mostly South Korean employees specializing in North Korea affairs with spam messages, said Kang Sin-myeong, commissioner-general of the National Police Agency. South Korean police were able to trace the Internet Protocol address to a location in the northeastern Chinese province of Liaoning, Yonhap reported.

North Korea sent hundreds of emails to South Korean users in order to gain access to documents on personal computers.​

Local newspaper Hankyoreh reported it was the same IP address that was identified in a previous cyberattack – when North Korea hacked into a South Korean nuclear operator in December 2014. The attacks began in June 2015 and used 18 accounts that were created from a South Korean portal service. The messages instructed users to change their ID or password, or included a poll regarding the account holder's opinion on the North Korean nuclear issue. Many emails, 759 in total, instructed the user to download a document that included malicious codes. Once downloaded, the code, nicknamed "Kimsuky" by hackers, could extract the ID and password of the user and gain access to documents on the user's computer, according to police.

The emails were targeting specific people, Kang said, as more than 87 percent of the recipients were working at think tanks or in education while specializing in North Korea affairs. "Looking at the probe results, there is a trace of an intentional and deliberate targeting process that cannot be deemed as a coincidence," Kang said. Police said the emails were found to be suspicious, when some words used in the message were expressions from the North Korean vernacular unfamiliar to the South Korean recipients. South and North Koreans speak the same language, but more than 60 years of separation have led to differences in dialect.

North Korea launched cyberattack of spam emails to South, Seoul says

See also:

South Korean official backtracks on claim Kaesong funded nukes
Feb. 15, 2016 - Hong Yong-pyo had previously said 70 percent of North Korean wages were being used to develop nuclear weapons.

A senior South Korean official is taking criticism after backtracking on an earlier statement regarding the reapportionment of Kaesong factory wages toward the North's nuclear weapons program. Seoul's Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo had said Friday the government has classified documents showing factory revenue was being allocated in North Korea to financing its universally condemned nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program and that the papers could not be made public. On Sunday during a television appearance Hong said the documents contained proof 70 percent of wages paid to North Korean workers were being rechanneled to two offices of Pyongyang's Workers' Party for use in weapons development, The Korea Herald reported.

South Korean military watch towers and a cordon of double-barbed wire fences line the Imjingang River that flows from North Korea through the Demilitarized Zone and down into Seoul. A South Korean official said there is no decisive evidence Kaesong funds were being used in the North to finance nuclear weapons.​

On Monday Hong said at a parliamentary meeting that, "Some parts involving numbers were misrepresented. It was partly my fault, I wasn't talking about evidence but meant to explain in detail about our concerns." Hong also said that there is no decisive evidence Kaesong funds were used in the North to finance nuclear weapons, Yonhap reported. The South Korean minister's contradictory statements come in the wake of accusations from opposition party lawmakers that the administration could be found in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions if Seoul had continued Kaesong operations while knowing how the funds were being misused.

Prior to its shutdown last week, the Kaesong Industrial Complex employed more than 50,000 workers and paid them $100 million in annual wages. Most of that money, however, went to the Kim Jong Un regime, a North Korean defector said Monday. Kim Tae-san, a former light industry manager in North Korea, said during a Seoul parliamentary seminar that the lion's share of the $80 monthly wage the average Kaesong worker received in compensation went to the regime, and that a worker's take-home pay was less than $5 per month, Yonhap reported. That money is hardly enough to buy daily necessities and is just enough to buy 2 pounds of rice in the gray markets, Kim said.

South Korean official backtracks on claim Kaesong funded nukes

 

[Blackrook]

If the two Koreas restarted a war there would be mass destruction and casualties in the millions. So let's just be thankful that hasn't happened yet.

 

[ABikerSailor]

No, it hasn't happened yet, but I think that Kim Jong Un is much less stable than his father was, and he might end up pushing the button.

I think it's childish the way these two countries bait and tease each other though.

 

[Blackrook]

If Kim Jung Un ordered a nuclear strike, I believe he would be immediately deposed, given a Communist show trial, and shot.

North Korea's soldiers have never fought a war in their lives. Many of the American troops stationed in South Korea have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.

At this time, our military is more prepared for war then any other time in American history, except maybe the soldiers who fought the Indian wars.

 

[Steven_R]

I realize that the SK doesn't want the war to end right now, simply because they don't want the effort of having to take on a bankrupt and starving state like NK. China wants a buffer state against Japan and the US (and a threat to simply unleash the NK) and the US likes having the Norks as yet another threat to justify forces in the region. But I really feel bad for the citizens of NK simply because they are pawns in an international game and nobody gives a damn about them.

 

[Blackrook]

I believe that it won't be long before the Koreas are reunified, and it will be on South Korea's terms. Right now, the only thing keeping the Communists in power is the food aid Western nations are sending to North Korea.

North Korea Food Aid

If that aid were to stop, the Communists would have to surrender, or the military would depose them.

What it takes, unfortunately, is that the West has to accept that millions of North Koreans might starve to death before the government capitulates. I doubt Westen leaders want that on their conscience, so they will continue to give food aid.

It's like Stockholm syndrome. North Korea aims big guns at the West, and the West responds by giving them food aid.

 

[waltky]

Keepin' it in the family no matter how many have to starve...

North Korea plans gilded mausoleum renovation despite food shortage
May 9, 2016 - North Korean farmers are being left with the burden of adapting to difficult realities.

North Korea continues to struggle with a decline in food production, but that hasn't stopped Pyongyang from planning a lavish renovation of the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun. North Korea's food shortage – owing to an early drought in 2015 – led to a reduction in rations, but Randall Ireson, who coordinated the American Friends Service Committee agricultural program in North Korea between 1998 and 2007, said there has been "substantial resilience" among North Korean farmers.

In an analysis on 38 North, a Johns Hopkins University website dedicated to North Korea issues, Ireson explained the drought that hit the North was later followed by a recovery in July and August. Rainfall was actually lower in early 2014 than 2015, Ireson wrote. Rice production, however, has not recovered. Using Food and Agriculture Organization statistics, Ireson said an underestimated 32,000 hectares of rice paddy had not been transplanted, but in response farmers planted corn and soybeans instead.

Both crops require much less water than rice, according to Ireson. The decline in rice production poses challenges to the vast majority of North Koreans who live at a basic subsistence level. The FAO's Global Information and Early Warning System officer in charge of East Asia, Cristina Coslet, has said Pyongyang reduced official rations to 370 grams daily per person, well below the U.N. recommended amount of 600 grams daily per person.

While livelihoods are at stake, the Kim Jong Un regime is prioritizing a less pressing task: the renovation of the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun with gold leaf. Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported Monday the plan is to add a layer of gold leaf to the roof and decorate the building with crystal beads. The structure serves as the mausoleum for the late Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, a pro-Pyongyang group, has been asked to raise $230,000 for the project, a source told the Asahi.

North Korea plans gilded mausoleum renovation despite food shortage

Related:

Kim Jong Un promotes younger sister after congress
May 10, 2016 - Kim Yo Jong is taking on more responsibilities.

Kim Jong Un's younger sister has been appointed to the central committee of the Korean Workers' Party. Kim Yo Jong, who is believed to be 28, already holds positions of power in the North Korean government, and is frequently seen by her brother's side during state trips around the country. She is reportedly the deputy director of the Workers' Party and handles top priorities on behalf of North Korea's propaganda department. Kim Yo Jong made her political debut in March 2014, when her name was mentioned following the election results of the Supreme People's Assembly, Yonhap reported.

Her rise to power is drawing comparisons to the rise then demise of her aunt Kim Kyong Hui, who went missing after her husband, Jang Sung Taek, was executed on charges of treason and corruption in late 2013. As Kim Jong Il's sister, Kim Kyong Hui was a trusted confidante who was appointed a member of the party when she was in her early 40s, at a later stage in life than Kim Yo Jong. Kim Kyong Hui's name has been missing from a list of North Korean Cabinet members since December.

Kim Yo Jong was seen Tuesday in Kim Il Sung Square, on stage with her brother to observe a military rally, according to South Korea press. The younger Kim was seen collecting bouquets of flowers on behalf of her brother – a sign that could mean her role in the regime is changing. In previous appearances, Kim was seen walking a few steps behind her brother, or even at a farther distance.

Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University in Seoul, said Kim Yo Jong is likely to play a more important role in the years ahead. Political changes are sweeping across the North Korean landscape after the Seventh Party Congress. Another development that affects senior officials is a change in official titles, South Korean news service News 1 reported. Pyongyang's state newspaper Rodong Sinmun announced that the title of "secretary" is to be abolished and to be replaced with a new title – vice chairman.

Kim Jong Un promotes younger sister after congress

See also:

Missing North Korea military chief not executed, source says
May 10, 2016 - Ri Yong Gil’s name reappeared on a list issued by North Korea.

Ri Yong Gil, the North Korean military chief believed to have been executed by Kim Jong Un, is alive and in office. Ri, who was the army's No. 3 man, appeared to have been demoted. He was mentioned in a report published in North Korea's state newspaper Rodong Sinmun. In the message issued Tuesday that included results from the Seventh Party Congress, a list of Politburo members included Ri's name – 10th in a roster of senior North Korean officials.

Ri was the North Korea equivalent of chairman of the joint chiefs of staff prior to the demotion, South Korean newspaper Donga Ilbo reported. Since fully assuming power in 2012, Kim has ordered the execution of his uncle-in-law Jang Sung Taek in 2013, and likely executed his defense minister, Hyon Yong Chol, in 2015. Ri was appointed army chief in 2013, but was missing from state events celebrating the Lunar New Year and the Feb. 6 satellite launch, although Korean People's Army Vice Marshal Hwang Pyong So and top politician Pak Yong Sik had been present at the events.

The demotion and return to office could mean Ri had been purged then rehabilitated, according to a source at Seoul's unification ministry. Ri could still be out of favor with Kim, however. "The fact that Ri's name was 10th on the list issued by the Central Committee of the army is a sign that he has fallen in the ranks," the unidentified source said. It's likely Ri had spent some time at a prison camp, the source added. Since Kim assumed power, the North Korean leader has purged three out of four chiefs of staff.

Missing North Korea military chief not executed, source says

 

[waltky]

North Korea cyber attack thwarted after hacking South Korea...

Massive North Korea cyber attack thwarted after hacking South Korea: report
June 12, 2016 - North Korea has hacked into more than 140,000 computers at large South Korean conglomerates and government agencies and planted malicious codes that may have been intended for a massive cyber attack that has been thwarted, a news report said on Monday.

The hacking originated from an internet address traced to the North Korean capital and targeted a software used by about 160 companies and government agencies to manage their computer networks, Yonhap news agency reported, citing the police. The internet address was identical to the one used in a 2013 cyber attack against South Korean banks and broadcasters that froze their computer systems for more than a week. South Korea blamed the North for that attack.

The South Korean police agency's cyber investigation unit uncovered the hacking and worked with the companies and agencies affected to neutralize the malicious codes and prevent them from being used in a large-scale cyber attack, Yonhap said. The police's cyber investigation unit could not immediately confirm the report. South Korea has been on heightened alert against the threat of cyberattacks by North Korea after it conducted a nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch last month that led to new U.N. sanctions.

In March, the South's spy agency said it had intercepted an attempt to hack into the South's computer networks to attack the transport system's control network, blaming the North for the attempt. North Korea has worked for years to develop the ability to disrupt or destroy computer systems that control public services such as telecommunications and other utilities, according to a North Korean defector familiar with the effort. The United States accused North Korea of a cyberattack against Sony Pictures in 2014 that led to the studio cancelling the release of a comedy based on the fictional assassination of the country's leader, Kim Jong Un. North Korea denied the accusation.

Massive North Korea cyber attack thwarted after hacking South Korea: report

See also:

Paul Ryan: North Korea nuclear threat top U.S. priority in Asia
June 10, 2016 - A recent report highlights a Republican policy approach that differs with Donald Trump’s.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said the North Korea nuclear threat is the top priority in U.S. East Asia policy. Ryan also said more economic sanctions should be passed to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions if necessary, Voice of America reported. The statement was part of a larger announcement on Republican national security priorities that Ryan made on Thursday.

Restraining North Korea means, among other things, strengthening cooperation with regional security allies South Korea and Japan, Ryan stated in the 25-page GOP national security plan. "In East Asia, our allies are desperate for a greater American role. Our top priority must be to counter the threat of a nuclear North Korea. And we must respond strategically to expansionist China's rise, including checking its territorial ambitions," the report read. "These challenges create opportunities to bring together Japan and South Korea while strengthening our ties with Taiwan and the Philippines."

The Ryan report's approach to regional alliances showed significant differences from presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump's approach to alliances with South Korea and Japan – even though so far the House speaker has not backed away from supporting Trump as the Republican presidential nominee. Trump had said he is not opposed to the two countries building its own nuclear arsenal for defense purposes, nor is he against the removal of U.S. troops from South Korea.

Those statements were met with approval from North Korea last week, but Pyongyang has been less approving of an agreement that was reached during the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, an annual regional security forum in Asia, among the United States, Japan and South Korea. Senior North Korean military officer Pak Yong Sik said Friday a deal among the three countries to share information on North Korea's provocations was "unacceptable" and a threat to sovereignty. Pak also said the deployment of anti-missile defense system THAAD poses a threat to peace on the peninsula.

Paul Ryan: North Korea nuclear threat top U.S. priority in Asia

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - purt soon ever'body gonna be kung-fu fighting...

North Korea 'hacks South's military cyber command'
Tue, 06 Dec 2016 - A South Korean military unit set up to prevent hacking appears to have been breached by the North.

A spokesman told the BBC that classified information was thought to have been stolen, although it is not clear exactly what data was accessed. The North has previously been accused of hacking into banks and media outlets but never the South's military. Pyongyang has in the past rejected allegations of cyber crime involvement. "It seems the intranet server of the cyber command has been contaminated with malware. We found that some military documents, including confidential information, have been hacked," a military spokesman told South Korea's Yonhap news agency. It is not clear whether low-grade documents or more important details like war plans were accessed.

The military said that the compromised section of its network was isolated once the attack was detected. North Korea is believed to have thousands of personnel involved in cyberwarfare. Since 2010 they have been focusing on application programming interfaces (APIs), which can be designed to attack national infrastructures, North Korean defector and computer science professor Kim Heung-Kwang told the BBC. The North has a track record of alleged cyber attacks in recent years against South Korean government agencies, banks and media companies.

An apparent concerted campaign involving the planting of malicious code began in 2014, Reuters news agency quoted police as saying. It was aimed at laying the groundwork for an attack on a massive scale, the agency said. The campaign was discovered in February this year after defence-related material including blueprints for the wings of F-15 fighter jets was stolen. Some 140,000 computers at 160 companies were attacked up until this June, according to police.

North Korea 'hacks South's military cyber command' - BBC News

See also:

North Korea cyberattack traced to city in China, report says
Dec. 5, 2016 - South Korea's defense intranet was the target of North Korea cyberattacks that originated from Shenyang, China, according to a military source who spoke to Yonhap.

A South Korean military source says it has identified the source of North Korea cyberattacks that targeted the internal networks of the military. The Internet Protocol address linked to the attacks was traced to a location in Shenyang, China, and a malicious code associated with the address was similar to the one used in North Korean cyberattacks against the South, Yonhap reported.

Seoul's military believes the evidence points to North Korean involvement in a hacking incident aimed at the army's intranet. "It is our understanding the internal network of the military was hacked from an IP address in Shenyang," a military source told Yonhap. "The malicious code used in the hacking is similar to the code used in several computer breaches." A separate 2014 cyberattack that infiltrated multiple servers at Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power was also linked to an IP address in Shenyang, according to the report.

South Korea's military has previously stated the internal defense network is safe from breaches because it is separated from the rest of the Internet. But the hacking could have occurred when users of the internal network accessed it through the Internet, giving hackers an opportunity to exploit a weak point, the military source said. The source added more information could not be provided to the press without posing risks to cybersecurity. In August North Korea hackers were linked to the targeting of numerous South Korean government agencies.

North Korea cyberattack traced to city in China, report says

 

[dannyboys]

I realize that the SK doesn't want the war to end right now, simply because they don't want the effort of having to take on a bankrupt and starving state like NK. China wants a buffer state against Japan and the US (and a threat to simply unleash the NK) and the US likes having the Norks as yet another threat to justify forces in the region. But I really feel bad for the citizens of NK simply because they are pawns in an international game and nobody gives a damn about them.

Literally every resident of NK is living in a 'Bob Jones' reality.
They are literally mentally ill zombies, especially the military.
As one US General once said if some country dropped a few MOABs on 'Lill KIM' and his CC centers his entire army would die within a few days from lack of water.
NO NK soldier is EVER allowed to take a drink of water unless he is ordered to.
The entire army wouldn't dare even move a foot without a direct order.
No Generals? No orders. No survivors.
There's no way SK wants to deal with millions of starving zombies flooding into SK. NO WAY!
Not ever going to happen.
SK is ticking along just fine.
Allowing millions of zombies into their country would be like having an institute for the criminally insane next door and opening up your home to them. "There's the kitchen. Go ahead and help yourselves. The den is downstairs where I keep a fridge full of beer. Help yourselves.
These are my three young daughters and the one hiding behind the door is my wife. I have to go out of town for a week. See you all later".