North Korea Satellites Pose Apocalyptic Nuclear Threat

[basquebromance]

that would be too bad.

North Korea Satellites Pose Apocalyptic Nuclear EMP Threat

 

[Moonglow]

Tea Party Nation

 

[Moonglow]

Let me quess, ,,,you think N. Korea knows how to counter-act the full time robotic US Air force unmanned ship that is used to destroy satellites with any type of nuclear war head..

 

[basquebromance]

i'm just bored so i want WW3!

 

[waltky]

Lil' Kim gonna keep doin' what he's doin' as long as the UN bails him out...

North Korea facing costly $80M failure with Musudan missile program
June 2, 2016 -- North Korea's intermediate-range ballistic program could be proving to be a costly mistake.

Pyongyang's attempts to successfully test the Musudan missile has led to at least three failures in April and May, according to South Korean military intelligence. That could mean the "end of the Musudan program," according to defense analyst John Schilling. "Repeating a failed test again and again with no more than a month for analysis and troubleshooting will almost guarantee repeated failure," Schilling writes on 38 North, a Johns Hopkins University website dedicated to North Korea issues.

The analyst noted the speed at which Pyongyang is carrying out the tests means North Korea is "learning nothing new," a departure from previous practice which has been to "stand down for several months to a year before another attempt." "The Musudan desperately needs a successful test and such a success would have made for good propaganda," Schilling writes. The need to impress could explain the reported Musudan launch attempts on April 15 and 28, ahead of Kim Jong Un's Seventh Party Congress, and then again on May 30.

http://cdnph.upi.com/sv/b/i/UPI-354...ailure-with-Musudan-missile-program.jpg[/img]​

The Musudan program could also be retired because North Korea's other missile programs – the "proven Scud, Nodong and Toksa designs" – are capable of reaching the goals of an intermediate-range rocket, including a potential delivery of nuclear or chemical weapons to the U.S. island of Guam. But if the Musudan is discontinued, the program could prove to be a costly failure for Pyongyang. The program could have cost $80 million for the four failed launches alone, according to South Korean news service Daily NK.

That money could have been used to feed the entire population of North Korea with 50 days worth of corn, or 290,000 tons, according to the report. The United Nations Security Council issued a statement on Wednesday condemning the North Korean ballistic missile tests, pointing out resources are being "diverted" away from humanitarian needs.

North Korea facing costly $80M failure with Musudan missile program

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North Korea to receive $8 million in U.N. humanitarian aid
June 2, 2016 - Food insecurity is responsible for chronic malnutrition and poor health.

The United Nations has assigned $8 million in aid to North Korea from its Central Emergency Response Fund. The U.N. decision to provide emergency relief to North Korea is part of a larger aid package that is pledging a total of $100 million to other countries, including Mali, Burundi and Libya, Radio Free Asia reported Thursday. North Korea is the only Asian state on the list of the nine countries singled out for humanitarian aid. CERF began its aid program in 2006 to meet the needs of countries in crisis.

North Korea is also under heavy U.N. sanctions because of its continued pursuit of nuclear weapons development. On Wednesday, the Security Council condemned Pyongyang for launching a series of mid-range ballistic missiles in April and May and for diverting resources away from humanitarian support. One South Korean estimate concluded Pyongyang could have used the $80 million that went toward ballistic missile tests to supplying people with 50 days of food.

http://cdnph.upi.com/sv/b/upi/UPI-4...-receive-8-million-in-UN-humanitarian-aid.jpg​

According to the Food and Agricultural Organization, North Koreans are seriously malnourished and 18 million people are still susceptible to food shortages. Food insecurity is responsible for chronic malnutrition and poor health, and North Korea's food shortage stems from long-running issues in the country's agriculture, which include insufficient arable land, soil degradation due to intensive cultivation and scarcity of quality seeds, fertilizers and pesticides. "Climate change-driven shocks" have also led to dry spells and seasonal floods, according to the U.N. agency.

Pyongyang's increased provocations, however, may be playing a role in the general decrease in U.N. aid over the years. North Korea was given $15 million in support in 2011, but that number dropped to $6 million by 2014. In mid-May, Russia sent North Korea 2,400 tons of food aid through the U.N.'s World Food Program.

North Korea to receive $8 million in U.N. humanitarian aid

Related:

North Korea mortality rates are declining, U.N. group says
June 1, 2016 -- Infant mortality rate has decreased significantly in North Korea since 2008, according to a new United Nations report.

The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child stated that North Korea's infant mortality rate for children under the age of 5 stood at 20 children per 1,000, Voice of America reported. The mortality rate for the group has been steadily declining. The number went from 26.7 in 2008, dropping to 25.6 in 2010 then to 22.7 in 2012, according to the report. For North Korean children age 1 and under the mortality rate also began a downward trend from 2008, when the number stood at 19.3 per 1,000, dropping to 18.8 in 2010, then to 16.7 in 2012 and 14.2 in 2014.

http://cdnph.upi.com/sv/b/upi/UPI-6591464832413/2016/1/1bc1226436317ead2bd1cd8eac6d7197/North-Korea-mortality-rates-are-declining-UN-group-says.jpg[/CENTER]

The U.N. agency attributed the improvements to the launch of telemedicine services in North Korea in 2011. According to the report, Pyongyang's Okryu Children's Hospital has used long-distance connections to link to regional hospitals, and the technology has played an important role in reducing child mortality rates. Maternal mortality rates have dropped precipitously as well.

The rate, which was reported at 85.1 for 2008, dropped to 76 in 2010, 68.1 in 2012, then to 62.7 in 2014, the U.N. organization stated. But U.N. estimates on the mortality rates differ slightly from World Bank data, which paint a less rosy picture. According to the 2016 edition of the World Development Indicators issued in April, 25 North Korean children under the age of 5 died per 1,000 in 2015, and 82 expectant mothers per 100,000 died in 2015 during childbirth.

[URL='http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2016/06/01/North-Korea-mortality-rates-are-declining-UN-group-says/6591464832413/?spt=sec&or=tn']North Korea mortality rates are declining, U.N. group says[/URL][/quote]​

 

[waltky]

Lil' fatboy Kim perfectin' his ICBM technology...

North Korea test-fires submarine-launched ballistic missile
July 9, 2016 — North Korea fired what appeared to be a submarine-launched ballistic missile off its east coast on Saturday, the U.S. and South Korea said, the latest in a string of tests that are part of efforts by the North to advance technology capable of delivering nuclear warheads.

The missile was fired from a location near the North Korean coastal town of Sinpo, where analysts have previously detected efforts by the North to develop submarine-launched ballistic missile systems, said an official from Seoul's Defense Ministry. The official, who didn't want to be named because of office rules, couldn't immediately confirm how far the missile traveled or where it landed. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that it presumed the missile successfully ejected from the submarine's launch tube, but failed in its early stage of flight. South Korea's Yonhap news agency said that the missile likely flew only a few kilometers (miles) before exploding in midair, but the Defense Ministry official couldn't confirm the report.

The U.S. Strategic Command also said that the missile was tracked over the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, where it apparently fell. "We strongly condemn this and North Korea's other recent missile tests, which violate U.N. Security Council resolutions explicitly prohibiting North Korea's launches using ballistic missile technology," said Cmdr. Gary Ross, a Pentagon spokesman. North Korea acquiring the ability to launch missiles from submarines would be an alarming development for rivals and neighbors because missiles from submerged vessels are harder to detect in advance. While security experts say it's unlikely that North Korea possesses an operational submarine capable of firing missiles, they acknowledge that the North is making progress on such technology.

North Korea already has a considerable arsenal of land-based ballistic missiles and is believed to be advancing its efforts to miniaturize nuclear warheads mounted on missiles through nuclear and rocket tests. U.S. Army Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, NATO's top military commander, told reporters Saturday that North Korea's latest missile test represents a serious threat, both to the region and the U.S. "With every launch, they're getting better and they're working out their problems," said Scaparrotti, who until recently commanded U.S. forces in South Korea.

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See also:

North Korea Reacts to US Sanctions Against Kim: Like ‘a New-Born Puppy Knowing no Fear of a Tiger’
July 7, 2016 – Stung by the first-ever imposition of U.S. sanctions against its top leadership including Kim Jong-un, the Stalinist regime in Pyongyang called the move an act of war, threatening “the toughest countermeasures” and warning that the U.S. will rue its “foolish and reckless” deed.
[qauote]
In a statement characterized by its trademark rhetorical flourishes, the North Korean foreign ministry denounced Washington’s “unheard-of hideous hostility,” and charged that a newly-released State Department report on human rights abuses was “peppered with lies and fabrications.” The ministry statement, released through the official KCNA news agency, said the U.S. daring to challenge North Korea’s 32-year-old leader was “an act reminiscent of a new-born puppy knowing no fear of a tiger.” “What the U.S. did this time, not content with malignantly slandering the DPRK, is the worst crime that can never be pardoned,” it said, using the acronym for the country’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends a meeting of North Korea’s ruling party at a stadium in Pyongyang​

The ministry demanded that the sanctions decision be retracted, failing which it would close “every lever and channel” of diplomatic contact, and “take the toughest countermeasures to resolutely shatter the hostility of the U.S.” The State Department on Wednesday released a report – required under the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016 – that identifies individuals and entities responsible for serious human rights abuses. Simultaneously, the Treasury Department, citing cruelty, extrajudicial killings, forced labor and torture, announced sanctions on Kim Jong-un, ten other senior officials, and five government entities.

State Department spokesman John Kirby on Thursday responded dispassionately to the threats. “The only thing that we would respond with would be to once again call on North Korea to refrain from actions and rhetoric that only further raise tensions in the region,” he said. “And I can’t see how this rhetoric does anything but that.” Kirby played down the threat to cut all diplomatic ties, saying that the only link currently in existence – the so-called “New York channel,” or U.S. and North Korean diplomats at the U.N. – did not constitute “direct diplomatic relations.”

‘Identify and name’[/quote]

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - lil' fatboy gettin' ready to do sumpin' sneaky...

North Korea retains 1,000 ballistic missiles, report says
July 19, 2016 -- North Korea is believed to retain 1,000 ballistic missiles in its arsenal and the U.S. anti-missile defense system THAAD may not guarantee the interception of incoming missiles targeting Seoul, according to critics.

That's where the Patriot Advanced Capability interceptor or PAC-3 comes in, a recent South Korean report stated. Defense measures in South Korea do not stop at THAAD, because the country and its allies need a combination of anti-missile defense systems in order to target incoming missiles, according to Yonhap's findings. North Korea's missiles cover a variety of distances, as evidenced by the recent launch of three short-range missiles early Tuesday that places all of South Korea within striking distance, according to Seoul's joint chiefs of staff.

About 400 of all North Korean missiles are believed to be short-range Scuds that can travel between 200 and 600 miles. Another 300 can be classified as the intermediate-range Rodong missiles capable of traveling about 2,000 miles and the rest are believed to be intercontinental ballistic missiles, including the KN-08, Yonhap reported.

Some of the Scuds are reportedly located about 60 miles north of the demilitarized zone, and the Rodong is capable of striking Japan, or if launched from a higher angle, able to target South Korean territory. The missiles launched early Tuesday flew for about 310-370 miles, according to Seoul.

North Korea retains 1,000 ballistic missiles, report says

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North Korea missile practice aiming for South's ports, Pyongyang says
July 19, 2016 -- The three ballistic missiles North Korea fired early Tuesday were target practice for potential strikes against South Korean ports and airfields.

According to a KCTV segment that aired Wednesday, local time, the Korean People's Army's strategic military unit launched the ballistic missiles in training for future attacks on "U.S. imperialist nuclear equipment" that could move into South Korean ports and airfields at the time of a preemptive strike. North Korea's Workers' Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun also ran eight photographs of Kim Jong Un allegedly providing field guidance to the KPA.

In Seoul two of the projectiles were Scud-C missiles, also known as the Hwasong-6, and the third missile was identified as the Hwasong-7, also known as the Rodong missile. The missiles were being tested for possible strikes against ports in the South Korean cities of Pohang, Busan and Gimhae, if preemptive U.S. military reinforcements were to arrive in those areas. Both the United States and South Korea military have clarified if war were to break out on the peninsula U.S. reinforcements would arrive from the U.S. mainland as well as from neighboring Japan.

The Scud-C has a maximum range of 430 miles and the Rodong can travel up to 800 miles, but North Korea tested the projectiles within a limited range by launching the missiles at an angle over 85 degrees, according to South Korea press. North Korea had not launched a short-range Scud missile since March, and the provocation is believed to be a reaction to a July 8 decision to deploy a U.S. anti-missile defense system in South Korea.

North Korea missile practice aiming for South's ports, Pyongyang says

 

[waltky]

Granny says Obama needs to whomp lil' fatboy upside the head...

North Korea Says Missile Launch Was Mock Nuclear Attack on U.S. Defense System
July 20, 2016 - Test-firing is Pyongyang's latest protest over plan to deploy advanced Thaad system in South Korea

North Korea said on Wednesday that the three ballistic missiles it tested a day earlier were mock nuclear-missile attacks on a planned U.S. missile-defense system in South Korea, in its latest protest over the facility. The three missiles were launched from Hwangju, south of Pyongyang, between 5:45 a.m. and 6:40 a.m. Seoul time Tuesday. One flew 500 kilometers (311 miles) and another 600 kilometers (373 miles) before crashing into the sea off the country’s east coast, according to a South Korean military statement, which said the third missile’s trajectory was still being examined. The U.S. Strategic Command also confirmed the North’s “launch of two presumed Scud tactical ballistic missiles, followed by the presumed launch of a Nodong intermediate-range ballistic missile approximately an hour later.” The Scuds have all of South Korea within range, and the more powerful Nodong—also called Rodong—is capable of reaching Japan. Patriot missile defenses already stationed in South Korea are able to counter the relatively low-tech Scuds.

A man walks by a TV screen in Seoul showing the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un after North Korea test-fired ballistic missiles on Tuesday.​

Pyongyang’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said early Wednesday North Korea’s ballistic-rocket units had simulated their “pre-emptive strikes at ports and airfields in the operational theater in South Korea, where the U.S. imperialists nuclear war hardware is to be hurled” in the drill a day earlier under the guidance of leader Kim Jong Un himself. “Kim Jong Un expressed great satisfaction over the successful drill” that KCNA said had “examined the operational features of the detonating devices of nuclear warheads mounted on the ballistic rockets at the designated altitude over the target area.” Photos published online Wednesday by the North’s ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun show him beaming, looking up at soaring missiles and sitting at a desk with a large map showing the possible missile trajectories from the North to the South’s southern coast.

Pyongyang has avidly sought to master technology to miniaturize a nuclear warhead to mount on its rockets. But it is difficult to verify the North’s alleged success in the latest nuclear missile test independently because the country is one of the world’s most closed societies. Most experts believe that Pyongyang is not yet capable of mounting nuclear warheads on its rockets. U.S. aircraft carriers and submarines often visit South Korean southern ports, including Busan, Ulsan and Jinhae, for missions. About 28,500 American troops are stationed in the southern part of the Korean peninsula--a legacy of the 1950-1953 Korean War. The Joint Chiefs of Staff office in Seoul condemned the launch and said the Scud missiles’ flight distances were “long enough to hit any targets in South Korea.” The Nodong missile is said to have a range of over 1,300 kilometers, putting most of Japan within range. United Nations Security Council resolutions bar ballistic-missile activities by North Korea.

A photo released by North Korea's state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper on Wednesday showing a ballistic missile being fired during a drill at the Hwasong artillery units of the North Korean Army's Strategic Force.​

The test came six days after South Korea picked Seongju, about 180 kilometers south of Seoul, as the site for an advanced U.S. missile-defense system. Seoul and Washington have agreed to deploy the system, known as Thaad—for Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense—before the end of 2017 to better protect the South from North Korean missiles. Pyongyang responded by threatening “physical counteraction.” “North Korea’s ballistic-missile launches today have something to do with its warning” last week to take action against the planned Thaad deployment in the South, a Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman told a press briefing Tuesday. He said the South is closely watching the North’s moves. The missile-defense battery is designed to detect and destroy incoming North Korean missiles, but Beijing strongly opposes its deployment in South Korea because the system’s powerful radar can scan not only North Korean but also Chinese territory.

North Korea Says Missile Launch Was Mock Nuclear Attack on U.S. Defense System

See also:

From Pyongyang with love: North Korea restarts coded spy broadcasts
Wed Jul 20, 2016 - "Now we'll begin a mathematics review assignment for members of the 27th expeditionary unit of the distance learning university," the woman's voice crackled over the radio. "Turn to page 459, question 35; 913, question 55; 135, question 86."

Isolated North Korea has restarted coded radio broadcasts, presumed to be targeted at its spies, for the first time in 16 years this month, South Korea said on Wednesday. The messages, a recording of which was broadcast by South Korean TV channel KBS, were disguised as a mathematics lesson for distance learners and reappeared on North Korean radio station Voice of Korea in the early hours of Friday. North and South Korea are still technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, and tensions are running high.

North Korea, which has carried out a string of rocket and nuclear weapons tests in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions, said on Wednesday it had conducted a ballistic missile test that simulates strikes against South Korean ports and airfields used by the U.S. military, apparently referring to three missile launches on Tuesday. Those missile launches were seen as a show of force a week after South Korea and the United States chose a site in the South to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system to counter threats from the North.

FOR YOUR SPIES ONLY

The radio messages, also known as numbers stations, work by broadcasting strings of seemingly random numbers over shortwave signals to an agent in the field. The technique, a method of sending one-way secret messages, dates to the French Resistance in World War Two and is still in use by some governments today. South Korea jams most North Korean radio frequencies but Pyongyang-based Voice of Korea broadcasts on shortwave signals which can be picked up far beyond the Korean peninsula, and are difficult to jam.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends the 3rd Meeting of Activists in Fisheries under the Korean People's Army (KPA) in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang​

The receiving agent, armed with a radio and a pen, uses an easily concealed pad with corresponding letters on it to listen to and decrypt the secret message. "(North Korean) numbers broadcasts have been on hold for quite some time but have recently resumed, something we think is very regrettable," Jeong Joon-hee, a spokesman for South Korea's unification ministry, told a media briefing on Wednesday.

It was not clear whether the signals were meant to deceive or deliver genuine instructions. "I can't speak to their intentions, but we hope that the North will refrain from an old practice like this and behave in a manner that's conducive to improving South-North ties," Jeong said.

Seoul has also operated a numbers station, former agents told Reuters in 2013. Officials at the National Intelligence Service were not immediately able to confirm their use. South Korea's station is known as "V-24" to amateur radio enthusiasts who have tracked the source of the signal to a location somewhere south of the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, and has been known to begin with a scratchy rendition of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No 8.

From Pyongyang with love: North Korea restarts coded spy broadcasts

 

[waltky]

Fatboy laughin' at Obama...

Obama Warns of ‘Serious Consequences’ After N. Korea, Again, Tests a Nuclear Weapon
September 9, 2016 – President Obama warned that North Korea would face “serious consequences” after conducting a nuclear test early Friday – the latest in a series of provocative actions this year including a previous nuclear test eight months ago and multiple ballistic missile launches since.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Obama had spoken to South Korean and Japanese leaders by phone, and “reiterated the unbreakable U.S. commitment to the security of our allies in Asia and around the world.” “The president indicated he would continue to consult our allies and partners in the days ahead to ensure provocative actions from North Korea are met with serious consequences,” he added. Obama has just returned from a trip to Asia, where he was attending a G20 summit in China when North Korea fired three ballistic missiles into the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan.

Friday’s test is the fifth carried out by the regime in Pyongyang in defiance of the international community. It said in an announcement on state television that North Korea has now developed nuclear warheads boasting “higher strike power,” while improving its ability to mount them onto ballistic missiles. “This is our response to hostile powers, including the U.S.,” it said. “We sent out a message that if the enemies attack us, we can counterattack." The previous four nuclear tests was conducted in 2006, 2009, 2013 and January 6 this year. Last January’s test brought a response in the form of a U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution adopted two months later. The Kim Jong-un regime has showed no sign of changing direction or tamping down its belligerent rhetoric since then, however.

On the contrary, it has carried out a number of ballistic missile launches over the ensuing months, prompting a series of condemnatory Security Council press statements, often merely replicating much of the language of earlier ones. The Security Council was to hold an emergency session Friday to discuss the latest test, at the request of the U.S., Japan and South Korea. Earlier, the South Korean and Japanese governments called crisis national security meetings to discuss the situation, after a magnitude 5.3 seismic event was detected at the location of the Pyunggye-ri nuclear test site in north eastern North Korea. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director-general Yukiya Amano expressed frustration at Pyongyang’s repeated provocations.

If confirmed, he said, the fifth test would be “in clear violation of numerous U.N. Security Council resolutions and in complete disregard of the repeated demands of the international community. It is a deeply troubling and regrettable act.” The Security Council resolution adopted last month demanded that North Korea comply immediately with the council's earlier decisions that it “shall not conduct any further launches that use ballistic missile technology, nuclear tests, or any other provocation, and shall suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program.”

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North Korea says sanctions push after nuclear test 'laughable'
11 Sep 2016: North Korea said on Sunday a push for further sanctions following its fifth and biggest nuclear test was "laughable", and vowed to continue to strengthen its nuclear power.

The isolated state on Friday set off its most powerful nuclear explosion to date, saying 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. A U.S. special envoy met with Japanese officials on Sunday and said later the United States may launch unilateral sanctions against North Korea, echoing comments by U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday in the wake of the test. "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," state-run KCNA news agency cited a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman as saying in a statement later on Sunday. "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," KCNA added.

Earlier, the South's Yonhap news agency reported South Korea's military had a plan to use its missiles to "decimate" areas of Pyongyang if there were signs the North was about to launch a nuclear attack, quoting a source in the military. The South's Defence Ministry could not immediately confirm the report, but the military has vowed to take strong actions to retaliate in the event of an attack by the North. The North has yet to demonstrate that it had deployed nuclear-capable missiles, despite claims to have mastered the technology to miniaturise a nuclear warhead to mount it on ballistic missiles.

NORTH KOREANS "DELIGHTED"

The U.N. Security Council denounced North Korea's decision to carry out the test and said it would begin work immediately on a resolution. The United States, Britain and France pushed for the 15-member body to impose new sanctions. Obama said after speaking by telephone with South Korean President Park Geun-hye and with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday that they had agreed to work with the Security Council and other powers to vigorously enforce existing measures and to take "additional significant steps, including new sanctions". "We will be working very closely in the Security Council and beyond to come up with the strongest possible measure against North Korea's latest actions," said U.S. envoy Sung Kim on Sunday. "In addition to action in the Security Council, both the U.S. and Japan, together with the Republic of Korea, will be looking at unilateral measures, as well as bilateral measures, as well as possible trilateral cooperation," he said, referring to South Korea by its official name.

South Korea's top nuclear envoy also spoke to his Chinese counterpart late on Saturday by telephone and emphasized the need for fresh countermeasures including a new U.N. security council resolution during their call, the South Korean foreign ministry said in a statement. South Korea said on Saturday that the latest test showed North Korea's nuclear capability was expanding fast and that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was unwilling to alter course. Another KCNA report on Sunday said North Koreans were "delighted" by the nuclear test. "The enemies can no longer deny the strategic position of our country as a nuclear weapons state," Jong Won Sop, a teacher at the University of National Economy, was quoted as saying.

North Korea says sanctions push after nuclear test 'laughable'

Related:

Few Expect China to Punish North Korea for Latest Nuclear Test
SEPT. 11, 2016 — North Korea’s biggest nuclear test, conducted last week less than 50 miles from the Chinese border, sent tremors through homes and schools in China’s northeast. But hours later, there was no mention of the test on China’s state-run evening television news, watched by hundreds of millions of viewers.

The decision on Friday to publicly ignore stark evidence of Pyongyang’s expanding nuclear capabilities illustrated the embarrassment that North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, poses for his patrons in Beijing. But although North Korea remains nearly 100 percent dependent on China for oil and food, Chinese analysts say Beijing will not modify its allegiance to North Korea or pressure the country to curtail its drive for a full-fledged nuclear arsenal, as the United States keeps requesting. “The United States cannot rely on China for North Korea,” said Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing. “China is closer to North Korea than the United States.”

China sees living with a Communist-ruled nuclear-armed state on its border as preferable to the chaos of its collapse, Mr. Shi said. The Chinese leadership is confident that North Korea will not turn its weapons on China, and that China can control its neighbor by providing enough oil to keep its economy afloat. The alternative is a strategic nightmare for Beijing: a collapsed North Korean regime, millions of refugees piling into China and a unified Korean Peninsula under an American defense treaty. The Obama administration’s decision to deploy an advanced missile defense system in South Korea also gives President Xi Jinping of China less incentive to cooperate with Washington on a North Korea strategy that could aim, for example, to freeze the North’s nuclear capacity, the analysts said.
Continue reading the main story

The American-supplied missile defenses in South Korea, known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or Thaad, have effectively killed any chance of China’s cooperating with the United States, they said. “China is strongly opposed to North Korea’s nuclear weapons but at the same time opposes the defense system in South Korea,” said Cheng Xiaohe, an assistant professor of international relations at Renmin University. It is not clear which situation the Chinese leadership is more agitated about, he said. Beijing interprets the Thaad deployment as another American effort to contain China. The system reinforces China’s view that its alliance with North Korea is an integral part of China’s strategic interests in Asia, with America’s treaty allies Japan and South Korea and tens of thousands of American troops close by, Mr. Shi said.

Washington insists that the Thaad system, due to be installed in 2017, is intended to defend South Korea against North Korean missiles, and is not aimed at China. The system “does not change the strategic balance between the United States and China,” President Obama said after meeting with Mr. Xi in Hangzhou, China, a week ago. But China is not persuaded. Chinese officials argue that the Thaad radar can detect Chinese missiles on the mainland, undermining its nuclear deterrent. So despite what Chinese analysts describe as the government’s distaste for Mr. Kim and his unpredictable behavior, China’s basic calculus on North Korea remains firm.

MORE

 

[Pilate]

Why do we not just annihilate these stooges? I can't think of a single country that would disagree with this.

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - dey need to do sumpin' `bout Fatboy a-fore he blows uppa world...

North Korean Threat Changes Timelines for US Moves
Sep 24, 2016 | The increasing threat from North Korea means that decisions about moving U.S. forces away from the front lines, and transferring operational control to the South, must be driven by conditions -- not timelines -- the U.S. Eighth Army commander said.

Lt. Gen. Thomas Vandal said the much-delayed relocation of the bulk of U.S. forces in Korea to regional hubs south of Seoul is finally on track, with most major units expected to be in place by early 2018. But the 210th Field Artillery Brigade will remain near the heavily militarized border with North Korea for the foreseeable future. The Combined Forces Command and USFK headquarters also will maintain a residual force at the Yongsan U.S. Army Garrison in Seoul. "Right now, it's conditions-based moves," Vandal said in an interview Thursday with Stars and Stripes at his office at the military's headquarters in Yongsan. "That is because of the criticality of having the counter-fire capabilities to the north."

Vandal, who is also the chief of staff for USFK and the Combined Forces Command, said the artillery brigade and supporting forces will remain at Camp Casey at least until 2020, according to an agreement with the South Korean government. But the trigger for the move will rely on the ability of the South Korean military to fully take over the positions. That would include having and being able to operate a comparable multiple-launch rocket system capable of defending against the North's massive arsenal. Pyongyang has raised the stakes this year by conducting two nuclear tests and stepping up the pace of its missile launches as the Communist country marches toward its stated goal of developing an nuclear weapon that could reach the U.S. mainland.

A North Korean defector in the border town of Paju, South Korea, prepares to release a banner into the air on Sept. 15 that denounces North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.​

The advances prompted South Korea to agree to allow the U.S. to deploy a high-altitude missile defense system known as THAAD. The military has missed many deadlines and been forced to scale back efforts to relocate most U.S. troops to regional hubs south of Seoul. It also has put on hold plans to transfer wartime operational control to South Korea, originally scheduled for 2012, then 2015. Under the current arrangement, the South is in charge of its own troops during peacetime, but U.S. commanders would take charge of all combined forces if war breaks out with North Korea.

Vandal said USFK has been working with South Korea's military to develop its core capabilities so it could be fully responsible for its own security. "I would anticipate sometime in 2025 time frame, but again we're not tied to a specific time; we're tied to the conditions," he said. He said the $10.7 billion program to expand Camp Humphreys to accommodate an eventual population of 42,000 is finally shifting from the construction phase to the move phase, pointing out that the Republic of Korea is covering 92 percent of the cost. He said the Eighth Army headquarters will be in place by next July and the 2nd Infantry Division by January 2018. The 6th Medical Brigade also will move next summer, he said.

MORE

 

[jknowgood]

But, but, Obama, Kerry, and Clinton says global warming is our biggest threat.

 

[waltky]

Granny says tell Fatboy Kim to give up his nuclear bombs an' missles first...

U.N. fund to provide North Korea with $4.3MM for flood relief
Sept. 30, 2016 -- The United Nations' humanitarian fund is planning to supply North Korea with $4.35 million for flood relief.

A day after the U.N. Central Emergency Relief Fund agreed to deploy $4.1 million to flood recovery assistance the agency agreed to add another $250,000 in funds for maternal health services on Thursday, Voice of America reported. Individual governments are also supporting the relief efforts, according to VOA. On Friday the government of Thailand stated its mission representative in Pyongyang sent $300,000 for flood relief to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Beijing.

The International Red Cross had recently stated it has worked together with the North Korean Red Cross to deliver blankets, cooking utensils and toiletries to over 30,000 North Koreans who are being housed in temporary shelters after floods forced out hundreds of thousands of people from their homes. The organization has said more support is needed, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.

The U.N. decision to send international aid to North Korea despite recent provocations, including a fifth nuclear test on Sept. 5, comes after meetings between Pyongyang's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho and heads of various U.N. agencies during the 71st United Nations General Assembly. The floods that affected the northeastern region of the country in late August have been described as "catastrophic" and the worst since the end of World War II by North Korean state media.

U.N. fund to provide North Korea with $4.3MM for flood relief

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North Korea's foreign minister made appeals for flood aid, report says
Sept. 30, 2016 -- North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho confidentially petitioned for international flood assistance during the 71st United Nations General Assembly.

Ri, who had told the U.N. Pyongyang has no plans to suspend its nuclear weapons program, also met with U.N. agency representatives with a request for humanitarian assistance, Radio Free Asia reported Thursday. The floods that affected the northeastern region of the country in late August have been described as "catastrophic" and the worst since the end of World War II by North Korean state media.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs also confirmed emergency relief coordinator Stephen O'Brien had met with Ri and the U.N. Development Program stated Ri had met with UNDP Administrator Helen Clark. A U.N. source who spoke to RFA on the condition of anonymity said Ri met with the U.N. officials specifically to request for help with flood recovery.

Aid has already been extended from the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and though China has not confirmed the report, North Korea has stated Beijing reached out with plans for flood assistance. Ri had also met with officials at UNICEF to express gratitude to the U.N. children's agency for apportioning some of its 2017-2021 budget of $71.4 million to North Korea.

North Korea's foreign minister made appeals for flood aid, report says

Related:

North Korea says China offered flood assistance
Sept. 29, 2016 - Chinese organizations did not confirm the report on Thursday.

North Korea said Thursday China reached out with plans for flood assistance after a "catastrophic" deluge forced hundreds of thousands of North Koreans out of their homes in late August. Pyongyang's state-controlled news agency KCNA reported Beijing plans to donate "material resources" to assist with flood recovery. "The government of the People's Republic of China agreed to donate material resources for flood damage in the North Hamgyong Province" of North Korea, the statement read.

Pyongyang also said the Red Cross Society of China and the Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang carried out flood aid projects. KCNA did not specify the number of articles or the scale of the donation. The floods, described as "catastrophic" have left hundreds dead and missing, according to Pyongyang state media. Aid has been extended from the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

China did not issue a public statement on Thursday confirming North Korea's report. But China may have allowed North Korean officials to cross the border after the United States decided to pursue sanctions against Hongxiang Industrial, Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported on Thursday. The officials traveled to Dandong, the Chinese border city where the firm, suspected of exporting dual-use goods to North Korea, is located.

A source who spoke to the Asahi on the condition of anonymity said the officials might have been dispatched as concerns grew in Pyongyang regarding the negative effects U.S. sanctions would have on China-North Korea trade. Hongxiang Industrial is suspected of sending aluminum oxide to North Korea, which can be used in developing the centrifuges used in uranium enrichment.

North Korea says China offered flood assistance

 

[ABikerSailor]

Well, considering that N. Korea has technology that is at least 20 years behind what we have, I don't see them as being a threat.

If they launched an ICBM, we'd blow it out of the sky before it came back into atmo.

 

[owebo]

Why do we not just annihilate these stooges? I can't think of a single country that would disagree with this.

Then who will build and test Irans nuclear weapons?