North Korea thumbs its nose at Obama

N. Korea tells the U.S. to change policy

from The Korea Herald
May 17, 2009

North Korea will not come back to the negotiation table unless the United States and South Korea give up their "hostile policy" toward the communist nation, North Korean state media said Sunday, according to Yonhap News.

"No matter what nonsense the Lee group may say under the clutches of the U.S., the DPRK remains unchanged in its determination and declaration made to protect the dignity and sovereignty of the nation," North Korea's Cabinet newspaper, the Minju Joson, said in a commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency.

It also said the North will never attend the six-party talks aiming to end Pyongyang's nuclear program, and will strengthen its nuclear power no matter what other nations have agreed in the six-party talks that also include the U.S., China and South Korea.

Since its rocket launch last month, the North has pledged to carry out its second nuclear test despite U.N. sanctions. It has also threatened to shut down an industrial complex run jointly with the South, a symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation achieved by former liberal South Korean governments.
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Thailand declares emergency, cancels Asian summit

By MICHAEL CASEY
from the Associated Press
April 11, 2009

PATTAYA, Thailand – Thailand declared a state of emergency in the city hosting a summit of Asian leaders and canceled the event for security reasons Saturday after more than 1,000 anti-government protesters stormed the venue.

The leaders were being evacuated by helicopter from the seaside city of Pattaya to a nearby military airport, a security official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The red-shirted protesters, who are calling for the resignation of Thai Prime Abhisit Vejjajiva, smashed through the glass doors of the convention hall and ran through the building, overturning tables, blowing horns, waving Thai flags and screaming, "Abhisit get out!

All the leaders were safe, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat. Nine leaders from Southeast Asian nations were in a nearby hotel on the convention grounds at the time the protesters broke in.

"The meeting cannot go on. We have to consider the security of the leaders," government spokesman Supachai Jaisamuth said. "The situation is too violent and it is a security concern for the leaders."

The chaos dealt a major blow to Abhisit, who has been trying to project an image of calm and normality since taking power in a parliamentary vote four months ago after a court dissolved the previous government for election fraud.

It also scuttles a chance for the 16 regional leaders, including those from China, Japan and South Korea, to confer on ways to combat the global slump that has battered Asia's export-oriented economies. North Korea's recent rocket launch also was to be discussed at the weekend summit.

The protesters are supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in a 2006 military coup. They say Abhisit was not elected by the people and should step down so new elections can be held.

"We want to tell Abhisit himself that this meeting cannot go on," protest leader Arisman Pongreungrong said after leading the mob into the convention hall.

Abhisit, who has repeatedly refused to step down, went on national television and declared a state of emergency in the area surrounding the summit.

"I am using my power as the prime minister to declare a state of emergency in the area of Pattaya and Chonburi," he said.

The decree gives the military the right to restore order, allows authorities to suspend civil liberties, bans public gatherings of more than five people and bars the media from reporting news that "causes panic."

Earlier, organizers said all morning meetings at the summit had been delayed after protesters blocked traffic around the hotels where delegates were staying and amid clashes between anti- and pro-government groups. There were unconfirmed reports of protesters carrying guns.

Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said two or three people were injured in the clashes and that authorities were investigating reports of shots fired and an explosion.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was scheduled to meet with the leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Saturday morning. That was to be followed by meetings between ASEAN leaders and the president of South Korea, and later with Japan's prime minister.

A breakfast meeting of the foreign ministers from Japan, China and South Korea was also canceled.

After the protesters broke into the convention hall, a reporter saw at least three people with cuts from the glass and blood on the floor.

Panitan said protesters have been warned that "very tough standards will be applied to them very soon."
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North Korea Better Watch It or Obama Will, Well He'll, You know...

President Pantywaist - there is a new surrender monkey on the block…

from Don Surber
April 10, 2009

Gerald Warner of the Times of London: “Watch out, France and Co, there is a new surrender monkey on the block…”

Maybe it is just me, but I don’t think Warner is too impressed with President Obama’s performance in Europe.

In fact, Warner pointed out that the world leaders in public lavished praise on the young president — and then did nothing for him in private.

Help in Afghanistan?

Warner wrote: “The One retired triumphant, having secured a massive contribution of 5,000 extra troops — all of them non-combatant, of course — which must really have put the wind up the Taliban, at the prospect of 5,000 more infidel cooks and bottle-washers swarming into the less hazardous regions of Afghanistan.”

That does free our troops from having to pull KP duty, I suppose.

But Warner’s real point is our president’s reaction to the North Korean missile launch was decidedly wanting: “President Pantywaist is hopping mad and he has a strategy to cut Kim down to size: he is going to slice $1.4bn off America’s missile defence programme, presumably on the calculation that Kim would feel it unsporting to hit a sitting duck, so that will spoil his fun.”

I let Warner use the British newspaper stylebook.

I must agree that at a time when we are squandering trillions on stimulus packages that are spooking investors, cutting any spending in Washington is like emptying the ocean by the spoonful.

President Pantywaist.

Wrote Garner: “Watch out, France and Co, there is a new surrender monkey on the block and, over the next four years, he will spectacularly sell out the interests of the West with every kind of liberal-delusionist initiative on nuclear disarmament and sitting down to negotiate with any power freak who wants to buy time to get a good ICBM fix on San Francisco, or wherever. If you thought the world was a tad unsafe with Dubya around, just wait until President Pantywaist gets into his stride.”
His column is here.
Click to go to Don Surber article

Hey Obama! Laura Ling & Euna Lee are still being held in N. Korea

Obama, it's been 3 weeks!

Please don't forget about Laura Ling and Euna Lee. You know, the two American Journalists that were kidnapped by North Korea.

I know you don't want to deal with their situation because it might force you to make a decision and actually state your position regarding an issue.

Obama, just as you've demanded, you are the man! Hillary Clinton, Susan Rice, Stephen Bosworth and whoever else may be associated with foreign policy regarding North Korea, can only respond based on your direction. Well give them some!!!

And one more thing. Where is Al Gore? Ling and Lee work for former Vice President Al Gore's media venture 'Current TV'. I haven't heard one peep from him about this.
Rees

Lisa Ling's Sister Facing Trial in North Korea
from People.com
By Champ Clark
Originally posted Tuesday March 31, 2009

While the United States engages in delicate diplomatic moves, the situation in North Korea for Lisa Ling's sister and another journalist is becoming worse.

Preparations for an indictment are already underway, with Laura Ling and Euna Lee headed for a trial on the basis of "already confirmed suspicions," according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

"The illegal entry of U.S. reporters into the DPRK and their suspected hostile acts have been confirmed by evidence and their statements," the news agency said. Ling and Lee, who work for former Vice President Al Gore's media venture Current TV, were captured by a North Korean military patrol on March 17 near the North Korea/China border. The journalists were in China filming a documentary on North Korean defectors who reside there.
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N. Korea to indict detained 2 American reporters
BEIJING, March 31
KYODO

North Korea said Tuesday it is preparing to indict two American reporters it detained earlier this month on suspicion of illegally entering the country.

''The illegal entry of U.S. reporters into the DPRK and their suspected hostile acts have been confirmed by evidence and their statements,'' North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency reported, referring to the results of its investigations into the incident. The DPRK, or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is North Korea's official name.

2 U.S. journalists detained in N. Korea: reports
SEOUL, March 19
KYODO

Two U.S. journalists and their guide were detained by North Korean soldiers while on a reporting trip earlier in the week near the country's border with China, the Associated Press reported Thursday, quoting a missionary who spoke to them earlier in the week.

Rev. Chun Ki Won of the Seoul-based Doorihana Mission told the AP by telephone from Washington he was informed that Laura Ling and Euna Kim, reporters for the California-based online media outlet Current TV, were taken into North Korean custody on Tuesday with a guide hired in China to assist them.

Laura Ling's Father: 'I Worry Quite A Bit'
Carmichael Native, Sister Of Lisa Ling Detained In North Korea

Laura Ling, 32, was born and raised in Carmichael and is a graduate of Del Campo High School.
She currently works for San Francisco-based online media outlet Current TV and is the sister of TV journalist Lisa Ling, often seen on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." More On Ling: Ling At Current TV

Ling and her colleague Euna Lee were seized along the Chinese-North Korea border two days ago, according to news reports and an activist with ties to the reports said Thursday. They had reportedly ignored warnings to stop shooting footage of the reclusive country. A third colleague managed to elude capture.

57% Wanted a Military Response to North Korea Missile Launch

57% Wanted Military Response to North Korea Missile Launch - It's too bad 52% decided to elect a coward for Commander in Chief!

from Rasmussen Reports

Sunday, April 05, 2009

Fifty-seven percent (57%) of U.S. voters nationwide favor a military response to eliminate North Korea’s missile launching capability. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that just 15% of voters oppose a military response while 28% are not sure.

North Korea defied international pressure and launched a missile last night. Officials from that country claim a satellite was placed in orbit. U.S. defense officials confirm that a missile was launched but that no object was placed in orbit.

"With this provocative act, North Korea has ignored its international obligations, rejected unequivocal calls for restraint, and further isolated itself from the community of nations,” President Obama said. (But he did NOTHING!)

The telephone survey was conducted Friday and Saturday, April 3-4, the two days immediately prior to North Korea’s launch. The question asked about a military response if North Korea actually did launch a long-range missile.

Support for a military response comes from 66% of Republicans, 52% of Democrats and 54% of those not affiliated with either major political party. There is no gender gap on the issue as a military response is favored by 57% of men and 57% of women.

Overall, 75% of voters say they’ve been closely following news stories about the possible launch. That figure includes 40% who’ve followed the news Very Closely.

Seventy-three percent (73%) are at least somewhat concerned that North Korea will use nuclear weapons against the United States. That’s up just a few points from 69% who held that view in October 2006. Prior to that survey, North Korea had successfully conducted an underground nuclear test.

Currently, 39% are Very Concerned about a possible nuclear attack from North Korea.
Just three percent (3%) of voters view North Korea as an ally while 46% say it’s an enemy.

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Satellite launch sparks conflicting claims

By Wang Linyan (China Daily)

2009-04-06

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said on Sunday it launched a satellite into orbit which was circling the Earth transmitting songs - but the United States and the Republic of Korea (ROK) said it had failed to enter orbit.

The "Taepodong-2" rocket was launched at 11:20 am local time (0220 GMT) from the East Sea Launch Ground in the east coast of the country, the DPRK's Korean Central News Agency said.

The "Kwangmyongsong-2" satellite was sent into orbit at 11:29 am local time (0229 GMT), the agency said.

But North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and US Northern Command officials issued a statement disputing any success.

"Stage one of the missile fell into the Sea of Japan," the statement said. "The remaining stages along with the payload itself landed in the Pacific Ocean. No object entered orbit and no debris fell on Japan."

ROK Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee said that Seoul had judged that the DPRK had failed to put its satellite launched into orbit, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported.

"Based on our judgment made so far, all first, second and third (stage) rockets fell into the ocean, and thus nothing has been put into orbit," Kyodo quoted Lee as telling a parliamentary session in Seoul.

US, ROK and Japanese officials - who monitored the launch from nearby warships and high-resolution spy satellite cameras - have said they suspect the DPRK was testing long-range ballistic missile technology that could be used to carry a nuclear warhead to Alaska or beyond.

The US insisted it was a missile launch, but the ROK, in a U-turn, said it was a satellite. Japan used "flying object" to describe it.

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U.S.: North Korean 'satellite' did not make orbit

SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- No object entered orbit, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said Sunday, after North Korea claimed it had launched a satellite.

North Korea launched a long-range rocket Sunday, and called it a successful, peaceful launch of a satellite. But U.S. and South Korean officials called it a provocative act, amid international fears that the launch could be a missile with a warhead attached.

International reaction to reports of the launch -- which took place at about 11:30 a.m. local time -- ranged from calls for an immediate U.N. Security Council meeting to calls for measured diplomacy.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command, the U.S. and a Canadian organization that monitors space activity released a statement about the launch. What do you think about North Korean rocket launch?

"Officials acknowledged today that North Korea launched a Taepo Dong 2 missile at 10:30 p.m. EDT Saturday, which passed over the Sea of Japan and the nation of Japan," the statement said. "Stage one of the missile fell into the Sea of Japan. The remaining stages along with the payload itself landed in the Pacific Ocean. No object entered orbit and no debris fell on Japan."

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Would you clone your beloved departed pet?

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Couple spends $155,000 to clone dead dog

Their beloved Lab had died of cancer; ‘we have gotten negative feedback’

By Michael Inbar
from the TODAYShow.com

The miracle of life made an encore for Edgar and Nina Otto. A year after their beloved yellow Labrador retriever, Lancelot, died of cancer, the Florida couple welcomed a cloned copy into their home Tuesday. They’ve dubbed their doggie double “Lancelot Encore.”

Speaking live with Al Roker via satellite on TODAY Wednesday, Edgar Otto said that it only took the 10-week-old puppy a few hours to assume his forebear’s place of preeminence in the family’s large menagerie, which includes nine other dogs.

“This morning, when the pack runs from the bedroom into the kitchen, he led the pack, which the old Lancelot did,” Edgar told Roker. “This is a puppy, 10 weeks old, and he led the pack!”

Nina added, “We noticed that he bonded immediately, within an hour, with every other pet in the house.”

Springing into auction

To be sure, the Ottos love their animals. On their 12-acre spread in West Boca, Fla., the couple tend to four birds, 10 cats and six sheep along with their kennel’s worth of pooches.

But Lancelot always occupied a special place in their hearts: Edgar called Lancelot “an unbelievable, humanlike dog, a true companion.” Thus the Ottos had the foresight to have DNA frozen from Lancelot six years ago.

Then, last June — six months after Lance’s death — they learned the Northern California biotech firm BioArts International was holding a dog-cloning auction. They threw their hat in the ring, and won.

The cloning didn’t come cheap — the Ottos shelled out $155,000 for the opportunity. But it worked. BioArts partnered with Dr. Hwang S Woo-Suk, of the South Korea biotech research firm Sooam, to bring a second Lancelot into the Otto household.

An egg containing the late Lancelot’s DNA was placed in a Korean dog to create Lancelot Encore. Once the pup was able to leave his birth mother and go out on his own, he was flown from South Korea to San Francisco before finally making his way to Miami International Airport, where the Ottos were pacing with anticipation.

Spitting image

“He came out of the chute and he actually ran to us, so it was amazing,” Nina Otto told Roker. “He looked just like my original Lancelot, so I was thrilled. I had been getting updates and pictures over the past 10 weeks, but the real thing is what I wanted to see.”

While Lancelot Encore acted positively puppylike on TODAY, squirming and licking the faces of his new owners as they talked, Roker asked the Ottos whether it seemed “a little kooky” to spend six figures to create a new dog in their old dog’s image.

Edgar explained that the family is hardly hurting: His father, Edward, cofounded NASCAR, “so I won that lottery.” On top of that, Edgar himself started a successful medical company.But even with their family’s good financial fortune, Nina Otto sold some of her jewelry to pay the big ticket to create Lancelot Encore.

“I can always have jewelry,” she told Roker. She added the couple entered the dog cloning lottery last summer, when “the country was not in the shape it is right now.” But when Roker asked if they would do it today, they admitted, “we would still do it.”

Still, the couple have their critics. Dr. Sara Pizano, of Miami-Dade County’s animal services department, told the Miami Herald that for the price the Ottos paid for having Lancelot cloned, “we could do spays and neuters for six months.”

Edgar Otto told the paper he donates considerable sums to his local Humane Society — and promised that if the Ottos bring an 11th dog into their home, it will come from a shelter.
He admitted, “We have gotten some negative feedback from people on the price.” Yet, as Lancelot Encore squirmed in his arms, he added, "But we feel it is worth it.”

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Gates: U.S. Not Prepared to Respond to North Korea Missile Launch

Photo of U.S. THAAD Missile Defense System

Why would the Secretary of Defense even say something like that?

Is it that 'we're not prepared to respond' or that 'Obama lacks the will to do so?' Which is it?

GATES SHOULD SUMBIT HIS RESIGNATION IMMEDIATELY

The defense secretary told "FOX News Sunday" that the United States can do nothing to stop North Korea from thumbing its nose at the international community by test-firing a long-range missile.

The United States can do nothing to stop North Korea from breaking international law in the next 10 days by firing a missile that is unlikely to be shot down by the U.S. or its allies, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday.

Appearing on "FOX News Sunday," Gates said North Korea "probably will" fire the missile, prompting host Chris Wallace to ask: "And there's nothing we can do about it?"

"No," Gates answered, adding, "I would say we're not prepared to do anything about it."

Last week, Admiral Timothy Keating, commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, said the U.S. is "fully prepared" to shoot down the missile. But Gates said such a response is unlikely.

The Obama administration has signaled it wants to scale back the deployment of a missile defense system that was initiated by former President George W. Bush. The White House is also talking about dropping plans for missile defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Gates lamented the futility of diplomatic efforts toward North Korea and Iran, another nation with nuclear ambitions. Despite the Obama administration's talk of ramping up diplomatic overtures toward Tehran, Gates was pessimistic about that strategy.

"Frankly, from my perspective, the opportunity for success is probably more in economic sanctions in both places than it is in diplomacy," Gates said. "What gets them to the table is economic sanctions."

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Mr. Obama: Shoot That Missile Down!

North Korea launch threatens to undo disarmament talks (as if they weren't already dead in the water)


from Yahoo News
By JEAN H. LEE, Associated Press Writer

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea's plans to launch a rocket as early as this week in defiance of warnings threatens to undo years of fitful negotiations toward dismantling the regime's nuclear program.

The U.S., South Korea and Japan have told the North that any rocket launch — whether it's a satellite or a long-range missile — would violate a 2006 U.N. Security Council Resolution prohibiting Pyongyang from any ballistic activity, and could draw sanctions.

North Korea said sanctions would violate the spirit of disarmament agreements, and said it would treat the pacts as null and void if punished for exercising its sovereign right to send a satellite into space.

"Even a single word critical of the launch" from the Security Council will be regarded as a "blatant hostile act," a spokesman with North Korea's foreign ministry said Thursday, according the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency. "All the processes for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, which have been pushed forward so far, will be brought back to what used to be before their start and necessary strong measures will be taken."

That would be a sharp reversal from June 2008 when the North made a promising move toward disarmament, dramatically blowing up a cooling reactor at its main Yongbyon nuclear complex.
But the regime routinely backtracks on agreements, refuses to abide by international rules and wields its nuclear program like a weapon when it needs to win concessions from Washington or Seoul, analysts say.

"History has shown them that the more provocative they are, the more attention they get. The more attention they get, the more they're offered," Peter M. Beck, a Korean affairs expert who teaches at American University in Washington and Yonsei University in Seoul, said Sunday.

Despite years of negotiations and impoverished North Korea's growing need for outside help, it's clear the talks have done little to curb the regime's drive to build — and sell — its atomic arsenal, experts say.

"If this is Kim Jong Il's welcoming present to a new president, launching a missile like this and threatening to have a nuclear test, I think it says a lot about the imperviousness of this regime in North Korea to any kind of diplomatic overtures," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in an interview broadcast on "Fox News Sunday."

North Korea, a notoriously secretive country, has been challenging the international community with its atomic ambitions since 1993, when the regime briefly quit the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty amid suspicions it was secretly developing atomic weapons.

In 1994, North Korea and the U.S. worked out an agreement that promised Pyongyang oil and two light water nuclear reactors if the country would give up its nuclear ambitions. The power-generating reactors cannot be easily used to make bombs.

Four years later, North Korea fired a multistage Taepodong-1 missile over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean. The North pledged in 1999 to freeze long-range missile tests, but later threatened to restart its nuclear program and resume testing missiles amid delays in construction of the reactors.

In 2002, Pyongyang admitted to a secret nuclear weapons program in violation of the 1994 agreement, prompting the U.S., Japan and South Korea to halt oil supplies promised as part of the pact. The North withdrew again from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 2003, and announced it had reactivated its nuclear power facilities.

That August, six nations — the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the U.S. — began negotiations on disarmament now known as the "six-party talks," eventually resulting in a landmark accord on Sept. 19, 2005. The agreement called for North Korea to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for economic aid, diplomatic recognition and a security guarantee from Washington.

As the talks continued in fits and starts, the North in 2006 carried out a surprise 5 a.m. test-fire of six missiles, including its Taepodong-2 long-range missile, which U.S. and South Korean officials believe has the potential to strike Alaska.

The rocket fizzled just 42 seconds after takeoff but the launch, denounced as "provocative" by Washington, angered even North Korea's longtime ally and main donor, China, which agreed to a U.S.-sponsored U.N. Resolution 1695 condemning the move.

Later that year, an underground nuclear test prompted U.N. Resolution 1718, which bans the North from any ballistic activity. The U.S., South Korea and Japan say that sending satellites into space since the technology for launching a satellite and a missile are virtually the same.
By February, Pyongyang agreed to concrete steps toward disarmament: disabling its main nuclear facilities in exchange for the equivalent of 1 million tons of energy aid and other concessions. Disablement began that November.

But the North halted the process in 2008 amid a dispute with Washington over how to verify its 18,000-page account of past atomic activities. The last round of talks — in December 2008, weeks before President Barack Obama moved into the White House — made little apparent progress.

Analysts speculated that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was holding out for talks with Obama. But in forming its North Korea policy, the fledgling Obama administration has made it clear it will work through the six-party process.

The rocket launch scheduled for April 4-8, at a time when Pyongyang has custody of two American reporters detained March 17 at North Korea's border with China, could provide the opening North Korea needs to force direct talks with Washington, analysts said.

"The timing couldn't be better for North Korea. It strengthens the North's bargaining position with the U.S. in dealing with the nuclear issue. They can try to link these two issues in some way," said Daniel Pinkston of the International Crisis Group.

Associated Press writers Hyung-jin Kim and Kwang-tae Kim contributed to this report.
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