US boosts Hawaii defense to counter NKorea t

from KSL.com
June 18th, 2009
By JAE-SOON CHANG
Associated Press Writer

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - The United States has deployed anti-missile defenses around Hawaii amid reports that North Korea may fire its most advanced ballistic missile toward the U.S. islands early next month, adding to already high tensions in the region.

A report in a Japanese newspaper said Pyongyang might test-fire its Taepodong-2 toward Hawaii around the U.S. holiday of Independence Day. North Korea test-fired a similar long-range missile on July 4 three years ago, but it failed seconds after liftoff.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the additional defenses around Hawaii consist of a ground-based mobile missile system and a radar system nearby. Together they could shoot an incoming missile in mid air.

"Without telegraphing what we will do, I would just say ... we are in a good position, should it become necessary, to protect Americans and American territory," Gates told reporters in Washington on Thursday.

A new missile launch _ though not expected to reach U.S. territory _ would be a brazen slap in the face of the international community, which punished North Korea with new U.N. sanctions for conducting a second nuclear test on May 25 in defiance of a U.N. ban.

North Korea spurned the U.N. Security Council resolution with threats of war and pledges to expand its nuclear bomb-making program.

The Security Council resolution calls on all 192 U.N. member states to inspect vessels on the high seas _ with the owner country's approval _ if they believe the cargo contains banned weapons.

In what would be the first test case for the sanctions, the U.S. military has begun tracking a North Korean-flagged ship, Kang Nam, which left a port in North Korea on Wednesday, two U.S. officials said.

The ship, which may be carrying illicit weapons, was in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of China on Thursday, the officials said on condition of anonymity because they were discussing intelligence.

It was uncertain what the Kang Nam was carrying, but it has been involved in weapons proliferation before, one of the officials said.

The missile now being readied in the North is believed to be a Taepodong-2 with a range of up to 4,000 miles (6,500 kilometers), and would be launched from North Korea's Dongchang-ni site on the northwestern coast sometime around July 4, the Yomiuri newspaper said.

It cited an analysis by Japan's Defense Ministry and intelligence gathered by U.S. reconnaissance satellites.

It speculated the missile could fly over Japan and toward Hawaii, but would not be able to hit Hawaii's main islands, which are about 4,500 miles (7,200 kilometers) from the Korean peninsula.

A spokesman for the Japanese Defense Ministry declined to comment on the report. South Korea's Defense Ministry and the National Intelligence Service _ the country's main spy agency _ said they could not confirm it.

Pyongyang's missile and nuclear programs are centerpieces of the regime's catalog of weapons of mass destruction.

But the impoverished nation, which has put most of its scarce resources into boosting its military capabilities under its "army-first" policy, also has a large chemical arsenal, as well as capabilities to produce biological weapons.

On Thursday, an international security think tank warned that North Korea's chemical weapons are no less serious a threat to the region than its nuclear arsenal.

The independent International Crisis Group said the North is believed to have between 2,500 and 5,000 tons of chemical weapons, including mustard gas, phosgene, blood agents and sarin. These weapons can be delivered with ballistic missiles and long-range artillery and are "sufficient to inflict massive civilian casualties on South Korea."

"If progress is made on rolling back Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, there could be opportunities to construct a cooperative diplomatic solution for chemical weapons and the suspected biological weapons program," the think tank said in a report.

It also called on the U.S. to engage the North in dialogue to defuse the nuclear crisis, saying "diplomacy is the least bad option." It said Washington should be prepared to send a high-level special envoy to Pyongyang to resolve the tension.

Associated Press writers Shino Yuasa in Tokyo, Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, and Anne Gearan, Pauline Jelinek and Jeannine Aversa in Washington contributed to this report.
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NKorea warns of nuclear war - Obama says nothing to worry about!

from Yahoo News
by Hyung-jin Kim
Associated Press Writer

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea's communist regime has warned of a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula while vowing to step up its atomic bomb-making program in defiance of new U.N. sanctions.

The North's defiance presents a growing diplomatic headache for President Barack Obama as he prepares for talks Tuesday with his South Korean counterpart on the North's missile and nuclear programs.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak told security-related ministers during an unscheduled meeting Sunday to "resolutely and squarely" cope with the North's latest threat, his office said. Lee is to leave for the U.S. on Monday morning.

A commentary Sunday in the North's main state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, claimed the U.S. has 1,000 nuclear weapons in South Korea. Another commentary published Saturday in the state-run Tongil Sinbo weekly claimed the U.S. has been deploying a vast amount of nuclear weapons in South Korea and Japan.

North Korea "is completely within the range of U.S. nuclear attack and the Korean peninsula is becoming an area where the chances of a nuclear war are the highest in the world," the Tongil Sinbo commentary said.

Kim Yong-kyu, a spokesman at the U.S. military command in Seoul, called the latest accusation "baseless," saying Washington has no nuclear bombs in South Korea. U.S. tactical nuclear weapons were removed from South Korea in 1991 as part of arms reductions following the Cold War. [If we don't have any tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea, we better hurry and get some there, otherwise the North Koreans could literally overun South Korea just by the amount of troops they have stationed at the DMZ. - my comment]

South Korea's Unification Ministry issued a statement Sunday demanding the North stop stoking tension, abandon its nuclear weapons and return to dialogue with the South.

On Saturday, North Korea's Foreign Ministry threatened war on any country that dared to stop its ships on the high seas under the new sanctions approved by the U.N. Security Council on Friday as punishment for the North's latest nuclear test.

It is not clear if the statements are simply rhetorical. Still, they are a huge setback for international attempts to rein in North Korea's nuclear ambitions following its second nuclear test on May 25. It first tested a nuclear device in 2006.

In Saturday's statement, North Korea said it has been enriching uranium to provide fuel for its light-water reactor. It was the first public acknowledgment the North is running a uranium enrichment program in addition to its known plutonium-based program. The two radioactive materials are key ingredients in making atomic bombs.

On Sunday, Yonhap news agency reported South Korea and the U.S. have mobilized spy satellites, reconnaissance aircraft and human intelligence networks to obtain evidence that the North has been running a uranium enrichment program.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said it could not confirm the report. The National Intelligence Service — South Korea's main spy agency — was not available for comment.

North Korea said more than one-third of 8,000 spent fuel rods in its possession has been reprocessed and all the plutonium extracted would be used to make atomic bombs. The country could harvest 13-18 pounds (6-8 kilograms) of plutonium — enough to make at least one nuclear bomb — if all the rods are reprocessed.

In addition, North Korea is believed to have enough plutonium for at least half a dozen atomic bombs.

North Korea says its nuclear program is a deterrent against the U.S., which it routinely accuses of plotting to topple its regime. Washington, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, has repeatedly said it has no such intention.

The new U.N. sanctions are aimed at depriving the North of the financing used to build its rogue nuclear program. The resolution also authorized searches of North Korean ships suspected of transporting illicit ballistic missile and nuclear materials.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the new U.N. penalties provide the necessary tools to help check North Korea's continued pursuit of nuclear weapons. [Barry and Hillary are living in a dream world - my comments]

The sanctions show that "North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons and the capacity to deliver those weapons through missiles is not going to be accepted by the neighbors as well as the greater international community," Clinton said Saturday at a news conference in Canada.
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Kim Jong iL responds to new sanctions

image by rees

from The Wall Street Journal
Asia News
June 13, 2009

North Korea to Restart Uranium Enrichment

Associated Press SEOUL -- North Korea vowed on Saturday to embark on a uranium enrichment program and "weaponize" all the plutonium in its possession as it rejected the new U.N. sanctions meant to punish the communist nation for its recent nuclear test.

North Korea also said it would not abandon its nuclear programs, saying it was an inevitable decision to defend itself from what it says is a hostile U.S. policy and its nuclear threat against the North.

The North will take "resolute military action" if the United States or its allies try to impose any "blockade" on it, the ministry said in a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

The ministry did not elaborate if the blockade refers to an attempt to stop its ships or impose sanctions.

North Korea describes its nuclear program as a deterrent against possible U.S. attacks. Washington says it has no intention of attacking and has expressed fear that North Korea is trying to sell its nuclear technology to other nations.

The statement came hours after the U.N. Security Council approved tough new sanctions on North Korea to punish it for its latest nuclear test on May 25.

The U.N. resolution imposes new sanctions on the reclusive communist nation's weapons exports and financial dealings, and allows inspections of suspect cargo in ports and on the high seas.

The South Korean government said it "welcomes and supports the unanimous adoption of the resolution." A Foreign Ministry statement said it showed the council's unequivocal intention to stop the North's nuclear program and its proliferation.

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New Sanctions on North Korea are a JOKE!

image by rees

The new U.N. sanctions approve inspecting North Korean Cargo. However, it has to be a "consensual" inspection. That means that if the Captain of the ship or the aircraft does not agree to the inspection, it won't happen. We'll just end up saying to the Captain, "Thanks, sorry to have bothered you, we hope you and your crew will have a great rest of the day" and then we'll have to leave!. Yep, that's it.

Even this article even mentions that North Korea will probably ignore this. I don't think it's probably, I think it's "they will" ignore it. The United Nations provided no means to enforce the inspection of cargo. I would be shocked if we even try to inspect any cargo. If we do, how many times of be told "NO" will it take before we're back at the U.N. trying to fix this pathetic excuse for a sanction. It won't be fixed. The only reason Russia and China supported it was because it was purposely written to be unenforceable. I wouldn't be surprised if China didn't call Kim Jong Il ahead of time and say, "look we're going to vote to approve these new sanctions against you, but don't worry, because no one is going to enforce them."

Susan Rice probably already sprained her arms patting herself on the back, because I'm sure she's got to be real proud of herself.

Hey Susan: The sanctions aren't worth the paper their printed on. Kim Jong Il is laughing at you, Obama and the rest of the United Nations.
Rees

United Nations approves new sanctions against North Korea and China Warns Against Force in Carrying Out the new Sanctions

from Bloomberg
By Peter S. Green and Bill Varner

June 13 (Bloomberg) -- China warned about the dangers involved in inspecting North Korean cargo under United Nations Security Council sanctions approved yesterday, saying countries intercepting vessels should avoid armed action.

“Under no circumstance should there be the use of force or the threat of use of force” in implementing the sanctions in Resolution 1874, Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yesui said in New York. Inspecting vessels carrying North Korean cargo is “complicated” and “sensitive,” he said.

The Security Council voted 15 to O to punish North Korea for its May nuclear-bomb test and missile launches. The resolution authorizes stepped-up inspection of air or sea cargoes suspected of being destined for the development of nuclear arms or ballistic missiles. The measure also calls for new restrictions on loans and money transfers to North Korea.

China’s support for the penalties may be significant given its close political and trade ties with the reclusive North Korean regime of Kim Jong Il. The U.S. is especially concerned about preventing North Korea from selling its nuclear technology to other countries.

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said at a White House briefing that the sanctions have “teeth that will bite.” She pointed out that the resolution doesn’t authorize the use of military force.

The U.S. is prepared to “confront” a vessel suspected of carrying an illegal shipment and attempt to board it “consensually,” Rice told reporters. If the crew refuses a boarding or to go to a nearby port for an inspection, the U.S. would make clear “whose vessel it is” and the likely cargo, “to shine a spotlight on it, to make it very difficult for that contraband to continue to be carried forward,” Rice added.

China, Russia Support

The UN vote followed almost three weeks of negotiations on tighter sanctions that began when North Korea detonated a suspected nuclear device on May 25, voided the 1953 armistice ending the Korean War and tested several missiles. Accord on the text by China and Russia, which have resisted sanctions, led to the Security Council consensus.

“The additional measures are substantive and targeted in nature and clearly tied to ending the DPRK program to create nuclear missiles,” Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said after the vote. “The attempt by the DPRK to create nuclear missiles not only doesn’t strengthen security but on the contrary ratchets up tension on the Korean peninsula.”

Churkin said his country was satisfied by the unanimous adoption of the resolution against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK. He said the Russians made sure that the provisions for checking ships on the high seas wouldn’t set a precedent, and that he hoped the resolution would steer North Korea back to six-party nuclear disarmament talks.

Resolution’s ‘Bite’

“It is significant that China and Russia are willing to increase the language on interdiction and financial sanctions, but the resolution will not have that much bite if there is no implementation,” Nicholas Szechenyi of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said.

Szechenyi said that while enforcement by China is critical to the resolution’s effectiveness, the government in Beijing likely will be reluctant to further provoke North Korea in the midst of a tenuous political situation involving the possible succession to Kim’s dictatorship.

“Though North Korea’s recent behavior has angered the Chinese, causing them to lose face, you might suspect they would opt against enforcing the strongest measures,” Szechenyi said. “I would not expect them to take the lead and, without that, this is something that North Korea could well ignore.”

‘Acutely Concerned’

Ambassador Stephen Bosworth, the American special envoy on North Korea, said this week that China is “acutely concerned about what North Korea is doing,” and that the U.S. is satisfied that China is working to rein in North Korea’s behavior.

The measure “cuts off a significant source of funding for the North Korean nuclear and missile programs,” said Philip Parham, U.K. deputy envoy to the UN. “This is not directed against trade and should have no effect on the already hard- pressed people of North Korea.”

The UN’s previously adopted embargo on tanks, artillery and other heavy weapons would be expanded, and the measure asks for vigilance in the sale of light arms to the regime.

On the money front, member nations are urged “not to enter into new commitments for grants, financial assistance, or concessional loans,” or to “provide public financial support for trade” with North Korea.

If North Korea reacts to the strengthened sanctions by testing a third nuclear device or launching another long-range missile, “we’d take it badly,” Parham said.
Nonproliferation Treaty

The resolution “condemns” the May 25 detonation, and demands that North Korea halt its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The government in Pyongyang also should remain a part to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and rejoin talks with China, Russia, Japan, South Korea and the U.S.

Bosworth said this week that the U.S. is considering targeting North Korean financial deposits held in other countries as part of the effort to compel the regime to change its behavior.

To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Varner at the United Nations at wvarner@bloomberg.net; Peter S. Green in New York at psgreen@bloomberg.net.

Gates & Russia Both Need Better Intel On Iranian Missile Threat

This is an excellent update on missile defense regarding Iranian capabilities and also Russian concern about deployment of the missile defense system in Poland.
Rees

from Closing Velocity
by John McKittrick
June 10, 2009

A couple of months ago, the Russian ambassador to the United States asserted:

Iran poses no threat to the United States, Russia said Tuesday, rebuffing a key argument of President Barack Obama on whether to go ahead with a European missile shield bitterly opposed by Moscow.

"I don't see any threat to the United States coming from Iran anytime soon," Kislyak told a conference of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Weeks after this confident proclamation, Iran test fired a new ballistic missile that can reach the majority of European capital cities. Including Moscow, Comrade Ambassador.

Rightly on the congressional hot seat for his Obama-directed gutting of the missile defense budget, Secretary of Defense Gates says the Russians are full of it:

Gates recounted a meeting he had with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin during which the then-president "basically dismissed the idea that the Iranians would have a missile that would have the range to reach much of western Europe and much of Russia before 2020 or so."

"And he showed me a map that his intelligence guys had prepared," Gates told a Senate Appropriations panel. "I told him he needed a new intelligence service."

As I've stated many times, there is only one reason the Russians fear US missile defense bases in Eastern Europe .... and it has nothing to do with "missile defense" and everything to do with "US bases in Eastern Europe":



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Hey Obama, Match This Rhetoric - Kim Jong-il isn't afraid of you

image by rees

North Korea would use nuclear weapons in a 'merciless offensive'

from The Independent
via the Associated Press
9 June 2009

North Korea today said it would use nuclear weapons in a "merciless offensive" if provoked — its latest bellicose rhetoric apparently aimed at deterring any international punishment for its recent atomic test blast.

The tensions emanating from Pyongyang are beginning to hit nascent business ties with the South: a Seoul-based fur manufacturer became the first South Korean company to announce Monday it was pulling out of an industrial complex in the North's border town of Kaesong.

The complex, which opened in 2004, is a key symbol of rapprochement between the two Koreas but the goodwill is evaporating quickly in the wake of North Korea's nuclear test on May 25 and subsequent missile tests.

Pyongyang raised tensions a notch by reviving its rhetoric in a commentary in the state-run Minju Joson newspaper today.

"Our nuclear deterrent will be a strong defensive means...as well as a merciless offensive means to deal a just retaliatory strike to those who touch the country's dignity and sovereignty even a bit," said the commentary, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

It appeared to be the first time that North Korea referred to its nuclear arsenal as "offensive" in nature. Pyongyang has long claimed that its nuclear weapons program is a deterrent and only for self-defense against what it calls US attempts to invade it.

The tough talk came as South Korea and the US lead an effort at the UN Security Council to have the North punished for its nuclear test with tough sanctions.

Seoul's Yonhap news agency reported today that South Korea had doubled the number of naval ships around the disputed sea border with the North amid concern the communist neighbor could provoke an armed clash there — the scene of skirmishes in 1999 and 2002.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff declined to confirm the report, but said the North has not shown any unusual military moves.

Relations between the two Koreas have significantly worsened since a pro-US, conservative government took office in Seoul last year, advocating a tougher policy on the North. Since then, reconciliation talks have been cut off and all key joint projects except the factory park in Kaesong have been suspended.

Some 40,000 North Koreans are employed at the zone, making everything from electronics and watches to shoes and utensils, providing a major source of revenue for the cash-strapped North. The park combines South Korean technology and management expertise with cheap North Korean labor.

A total of 106 South Korean companies operate in the park. That number will go down by the end of the month when Skinnet, the fur-maker, completes its pullout.

A Skinnet company official said the decision was primarily over "security concerns" for its employees, and also because of a decline in orders from clients concerned over possible disruptions to operations amid the soaring tensions.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with reporters.

The industrial park's fate has been in doubt since last month when North Korea threatened to scrap all contracts on running the joint complex and said it would write new rules of its own and the South must accept them or pull out of the zone.

The companies have also been concerned by the detention of a South Korean man working at the complex by North Korean authorities since late March for allegedly denouncing the regime's political system.

The two sides are to hold talks on the fate of the park Thursday.

Intensifying its confrontation with the US, North Korea handed down 12-year prison terms to two detained American journalists on Monday.

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Obama bluffing about interdicting N.Korean shipments - He doesn't dare to

from The Mercury News
By David E. Sanger
of the New York Times
June 8, 2009

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration signaled Sunday that it was seeking a way to interdict, possibly with China's help, North Korean sea and air shipments suspected of carrying weapons or nuclear technology.

The administration also said it was examining whether there was a legal basis to reverse former President George W. Bush's decision last year to remove the North from a list of states that sponsor terrorism.

The reference to interdictions — either at ports or airfields in countries like China or riskier confrontations on the high seas — was made by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. She was the administration's highest-ranking official to talk publicly about such a potentially provocative step as a response to North Korea's second nuclear test, conducted two weeks ago.

While she did not specifically mention assistance from China, other administration officials have been pressing Beijing to take such action under China's own laws.

Speaking on ABC's "This Week," Clinton said that the United States feared that if the test and other recent actions by North Korea did not lead to "strong action," there was a risk of "an arms race in Northeast Asia," an oblique reference to the concern that Japan would reverse its long-held ban against developing nuclear weapons.

So far it is not clear how far the Chinese are willing to go in aiding the United States in stopping North Korea's profitable trade in arms, the isolated country's most profitable export. But the American focus on interdiction demonstrates a new and potentially far tougher approach to North Korea than both President Bill Clinton and Bush, in his second term, took as they tried unsuccessfully to reach deals that would ultimately lead North Korea to dismantle its nuclear arsenal.

President Barack Obama, aides say, has decided that he will not offer North Korea new incentives to dismantle the nuclear complex at Yongbyon that the North previously promised to abandon. "I'm tired of buying the same horse twice," Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates said last week, while touring an anti-missile site in Alaska that the Bush administration built to demonstrate its preparedness to destroy North Korean missiles headed toward the United States.

While Obama was in the Middle East and Europe, several senior officials said the president's national security team had all but set aside the central assumption that guided American policy toward North Korea over the past 16 years and two presidencies: that the Communist country is willing to ultimately abandon its small arsenal of nuclear weapons in return for some combination of oil, nuclear power plants, money, food and guarantees that the United States would not topple its government.

Now, after examining the still-inconclusive evidence about the results of North Korea's second nuclear test, the administration has come to different conclusions — that Pyongyang's top priority is to be recognized as a nuclear state, that it is unwilling to bargain away its weapons, and that it sees tests as a way to help sell its nuclear technology.

"This entirely changes the dynamic of how you deal with them," a senior national security aide said. While Obama is willing to reopen the six-party talks that Bush began — the other participants are Japan, South Korea, Russia and China — he has no intention, aides say, of offering new incentives to get the North to fulfill agreements from 1994, 2005 and 2008, all of which were recently renounced.

In conducting any interdictions, the United States could risk open confrontation with North Korea. That prospect — and the likelihood of escalating conflict if the North resists an inspection — is why China has balked at American proposals for a U.N. Security Council Resolution that would explicitly allow interceptions at sea.

A previous Security Council resolution, passed after the North's first nuclear test in 2006, allowed interdictions "consistent with international law." But that term was never defined, and few of the provisions were enforced by the Bush administration, its Asian allies or the Chinese.

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N.Korea sentences 2 U.S. Journalists to 12 years in a labor camp

Photoshop credit: Red Hot Phones

from Michelle Malkin.com
By Michelle Malkin
June 8, 2009

Please pick up the red courtesy phone

I blogged back in March about the plight of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, two American journalists working for Al Gore’s Current TV who were seized by NoKo soldiers after crossing the border illegally into the country from China while on assignment.

The Yonhap news agency just published an urgent bulletin tonight that the two reporters have been sentenced to 12 years in labor camp. AP says Ling and Lee were sentenced for committing an unspecified “grave crime” in addition to the illegal border-crossing. They are pawns in a much bigger chess game, of course.

How’s that “Smart Power” working out, Hillary?

North Korea threatened on Monday to retaliate with “extreme” measures if the United Nations punished it for last month’s nuclear test, with Washington saying it may put Pyongyang back on its list of states that sponsor terrorism.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Sunday North Korea’s recent activities were being scrutinized for evidence of “support for international terrorism,” a designation that could subject the impoverished state to more financial sanctions.

The U.N. Security Council may adopt a new resolution as early as this week, but there is clear division among some members over how tough the measures against the reclusive state should be.

“Our response would be to consider sanctions against us as a declaration of war and answer it with extreme hardline measures,” the North Korea’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary.

An increasingly aggressive North indicated it was gearing up for fresh moves, issuing a no-sail warning off its east coast up to 260 km (160 miles) off the Wonsan area from where it launched a missile in May and a barrage of short-range missiles in 2006.

All together now: Gird your loins.

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Laura Ling and Euna Lee stood trial today

Just like I mentioned in the previous post about the stand off between the North and South Korean navies, isn't it also a coincidence that Kim Jong Il would have the trial on the two journalists the exact same day that Obama gives his big speech in Cairo? Kim Jong Il is doing everything he can to push Obama's button, and in this case to try and divert attention from his speech to this trial and the naval confrontation. It's only the beginning.
Rees

from The Korea Times
06-04-2009

2 US Journalists Stand Trial in NK

Two American journalists stood trial Thursday in North Korea on charges of illegal entry and
``hostile acts'' in a case that could send them to a labor camp for 10 years, The Associated Press reported Thursday.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee, reporters for former Vice President Al Gore's California-based Current TV media venture, were arrested March 17 near the North Korean border while on a reporting trip to China.

North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said in a brief dispatch earlier Thursday that the trial would begin at 3 p.m. (Korean time), AP said.

The trial was taking place at a time of mounting tensions on the Korean Peninsula following the regime's provocative nuclear test last week.

As discussions continued at the United Nations and in Washington on how to punish the regime for its defiance, there were fears the women could become political pawns in any negotiations North Korea undertakes.

AP quoted analyst Choi Eun-suk, a professor of North Korean law at Kyungnam University, as saying the court could convict and sentence the women to labor, and then use them as bargaining chips in negotiations with the U.S.

``The North is likely to release and deport them to the U.S. ― if negotiations with the U.S. go well,'' Choi was quoted as saying.

``One explanation of North Korea's behavior is that Pyongyang is trying to catch Washington's attention. It believes the Obama administration has not made North Korea a priority,'' David Straub of Stanford University's Korean studies program was quoted as saying.

Back home, the reporters' families pleaded for clemency.

``All we can do is hope the North Korean government will show leniency,'' Ling's sister, TV journalist Lisa Ling, was quoted as saying in an emotional plea at a California vigil Wednesday night. ``If at any point they committed a transgression, then our families are deeply, deeply sorry. We know the girls are sorry as well.''

N.Korean Patrol Boat in standoff with S.Korean Navy

Wow, what a coincidence that something like this would happen on the exact same day that Obama gives his big speech in Cairo.
Rees

from The Korea Times
06-04-2009 18:12

NK Boat Returns After Standoff in West Sea

A North Korean patrol boat intruded over the South Korean side of their western sea border Thursday, but retreated after a standoff that lasted nearly an hour, an official here said.

The intrusion took place at 2:47 p.m. about 12 km off the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, near which deadly naval battles erupted between the divided states in 1999 and 2002, a Joint Chiefs of Staff official said.

The boat returned at 3:38 p.m. after repeated warnings by South Korean naval forces guarding the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the official said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity.

The standoff came amid high tension in the Yellow Sea after North Korea warned last week against the safety of U.S. and South Korean vessels operating near the maritime border.

North Korea says the NLL ― drawn by a U.S. commander at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in a truce ― should be drawn farther south.

"The North Korean boat reached 1.6 kilometers into the South Korean side," the official said. "It appears the boat trespassed over the border while chasing Chinese fishing boats that were illegally operating."

But the official did not rule out the possibility that North Korea had deliberately sent the vessel to further raise tension in the Yellow Sea.

South Korea radioed a warning message to the boat once before and twice after it trespassed, he said, adding the incident marks the third time North Korea has breached the maritime border this year.

N.Korea's ICBM is on the launch Pad

from Closing Velocity

North Korea set to fire long-range missile, news report says
from The Los Angeles Times
By John M. Glionna
June 2, 2009

Reporting from Seoul -- North Korea has positioned its most sophisticated long-range ballistic missile at a launch site for a test that could come within weeks, a newspaper here reported Monday.

The regime, which conducted a nuclear test in May, raising tensions worldwide, could fire its missile June 16, when South Korean President Lee Myung-bak is to meet with President Obama in Washington, according to the report.

In recent days, North Korea has ordered all shipping traffic out of waters off its west coast, a ban it said would be in effect through July.

The moves come as the U.N. Security Council contemplates new sanctions against North Korea for conducting an underground nuclear test and launching five short-range missiles last month.

The Dong-a Ilbo newspaper in Seoul reported that the new missile was set for launch from the Dongchang-ni launch site on North Korea's west coast and could be a version of the Taepodong-2 fired in April. The report, citing unnamed sources, said the missile had a range of up to 4,000 miles and could reach Alaska.

Both South Korea and Japan said Monday that a new test could come within weeks.

"Given that North Korea has carried out a nuclear test, we can't deny the possibility that they will further test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile," Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said at a news conference in Tokyo.

Without mentioning the new missile, South Korea's President Lee said in a radio address that Seoul would not tolerate further provocations.

The North's "second nuclear test last week brought great disappointment and shock not only to our people, but the entire world," Lee said. He echoed Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates' assertion that the world would not accept a nuclear-armed North Korea.

During a news conference Monday in Manila, where he was meeting with Filipino military officials, Gates confirmed that Pyongyang appeared to be readying a long-range missile. But "at this point, it's not clear what they're going to do."

Gates later left for Alaska, where he viewed a key part of the U.S. missile defense system, the ground-based interceptor silos.

Speaking after his tour of the silos, Gates said the North's test had solidified support for missile defense and that the program should be a "source of comfort" for the U.S. public.

"If there were a launch from a rogue state such as North Korea, I have good confidence that we would be able to deal with it," Gates said.

In the 2010 budget, he proposed cutting more than $1 billion from missile defense, halting the planned expansion of the interceptors from 30 to 44.

After the North Korean test, some experts have suggested rethinking those cuts. But Gates told reporters, "The 30 interceptors we have are adequate for years to come to deal with the North Korean threat as we see it developing."

He said North Korea would not be able to deploy a significant number of long-range missiles in a short period. If it decides to expand its capabilities, the U.S. will have "ample time" to add interceptors, he said.

South Korean newspapers have reported that a train carrying a long-range missile arrived at the base, 120 miles northwest of Pyongyang, where a launch pad has been set up. The reports speculated that leader Kim Jong Il might visit the site soon.

On Friday, Pyongyang's state-run news agency said the nation had "a right to conduct as many nuclear tests or missile launches as it wants in the event that the supreme interests of the state are infringed upon."

Analysts say Pyongyang may be looking to disrupt the summit between Lee and Obama, who will discuss the ongoing crisis on the peninsula. Pyongyang's last rocket launch, in April, was timed to coincide with an international summit in Europe.

Choi Choon-heum, senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, said an ICBM launch is the next step in the North's goal to become a formidable power. "North Korea gained confidence from mid-range missiles," he said. "Now it is moving on to the long one."

Other analysts agreed that a missile launch appeared certain if the United Nations lays out new sanctions.

"North Korea has said that if the U.N. Security Council agrees on sanctions, it would stage a nuclear test or missile test," said Paik Hak-soon, director of the Center for North Korean Studies at Sejong Institute near Seoul.

"They think this is their chance to test-fire an ICBM. They're thinking: Let's get a status of a nuclear state. And besides that, we can achieve a capability for the ICBM."

http://www.blogger.com/john.glionna@latimes.com

Times staff writer Julian E. Barnes in Manila and Alaska and Ju-min Park of The Times' Seoul Bureau contributed to this report.
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CONFIRMED: N.Korea Prepares ICBM for Mid-June Launch

from Fox News.com
Monday, June 01, 2009

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea is preparing to launch its most advanced missile, believed to be capable of reaching Alaska, from its west coast near China, news reports said Monday.

With the launch, the reclusive communist country could thumb its nose at U.N. Security Council attempts to rein it in after last week's nuclear test and a series of short-range missile launches.

One South Korean report said the launch could be ready by the time South Korean President Lee Myung-bak meets with President Barack Obama on June 16.

South Korean news reports said the North has transported a long-range missile to a newly completed launch pad. And Yonhap news agency said South Korea is studying an intelligence report that the North has ordered troops along the west coast to double their stocks of ammunition.

Yonhap cited an unnamed government official as saying vehicle activity to and from military bases along the coast has increased. South Korea's Defense Ministry declined to confirm the report.

U.S Defense Secretary Robert Gates, speaking at a news conference in the Philippines, said North Korea appears to be working on a long-range missile but it's not clear yet what they plan to do with it. [STUPID STATEMENT OF THE YEAR! HEY GATES - THEY PROBABLY PLAN TO LAUNCH IT, YOU IDIOT! - my comments]

Lee, hosting a conference of Southeast Asian leaders on the southern island of Jeju, warned North Korea against any provocation.

"If North Korea turns its back on dialogue and peace and dares to carry out military threats and provocations, the Republic of Korea will never tolerate that," Lee said in his regular radio address. "I want to make clear that there won't be any compromise on things that threaten our nation's security."

The new missile could be ready to launch as soon as mid-June, in time for a summit between Lee and President Barack Obama in Washington on June 16, according to the Dong-a Ilbo newspaper.

Adding to tensions this week, the trial starts Thursday in Pyongyang of two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, accused of entering the country illegally and engaging in "hostile acts."

North Korea faced strong international criticism after its last long-range missile launch, on April 5. The North said the launch was of a rocket intended to put a satellite in orbit. That Taepodong-2 rocket flew about 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers), crossing over Japan before crashing into the Pacific Ocean.

In late April, the North threatened to conduct nuclear and long-range missile tests unless the Security Council apologized for criticizing the launch. On Friday, it threatened to take a further "self-defense" measure if the Security Council provokes it. That threat was seen as referring to an ICBM test.

In another sign that a new launch is in the works, the North has designated a large area off its west coast as a "no-sail" zone through the end of next month, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper said, citing unidentified intelligence officials.

Experts said the preparations were especially significant because the North has never launched a long-range missile from the northwestern base.

Kim Tae-woo, vice president of Seoul's state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, said he thinks the North chose the site because of its proximity to China, making it more risky for the U.S. to strike.

The site is about 40 miles from the Chinese border city of Dandong.

The missile being prepared for launch is believed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of up to 4,000 miles, the JoongAng Ilbo reported, citing an unnamed South Korean official.
That would put Alaska within striking range.

On Monday, the North said again that it is being provoked by South Korea and the United States, saying that the number of spy planes operating in its airspace has risen dramatically.

"The U.S. imperialists and the South Korean puppets perpetrated at least 200 cases of aerial espionage against the DPRK in May, or 30 cases more than those in the same month of last year," it said in a report in its official Korean Central News Agency.

The DPRK is an abbreviation of North Korea's official name.

The North's missile and nuclear programs have been considered a top regional security concern, though the regime is not yet believed to have mastered the technology to make a nuclear warhead small enough to mount on a missile.
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Gates Refused To Use Best Radar For N. Korea Missile Test

Gates refused area commander's request

from The Washington Times
By Bill Gertz
Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates denied permission for the U.S. Northern Command to use the Pentagon's most powerful sea-based radar to monitor North Korea's recent missile launch, precluding officials from collecting finely detailed launch data or testing the radar in a real-time crisis, current and former defense officials said.

Jamie Graybeal, Northcom public affairs director, confirmed to The Washington Times that Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, the Northcom commander, requested the radar's use but referred all other questions to the Pentagon.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Mr. Gates' decision not to use the $900 million radar, known as SBX, was "based on the fact that there were numerous ground- and sea-based radars and sensors in the region to support the operational requirements for this launch." [That is a BS reason - my comment]

SBX, deployed in 2005, can track and identify warheads, decoys and debris in space with very high precision. Officials said the radar is so powerful it could detect a baseball hit out of a ballpark from more than 3,000 miles away, and that other radars used by the U.S. would not be able to provide the same level of detail about North Korea's missile capabilities.

Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, who until recently headed the Missile Defense Agency, said the SBX would have gathered data other U.S. systems could not.

"The sea-based X-band radar is clearly without a doubt the most powerful and capable sensor in all of our missile defense inventory," he said. "It is three or four more times powerful than other radars" in Asia, including Aegis-equipped ships, a Cobra Dane early warning radar in Alaska and a small X-band radar in northern Japan, he said.

Gen. Obering noted that the SBX was used by the U.S. Strategic Command to track a falling satellite and guide U.S. sea-based missile interceptors that destroyed it in February 2008.

One current and two former specialists in strategic defenses said the administration rejected the request because it feared that moving the huge floating radar system would be viewed by North Korea as provocative and upset diplomatic efforts aimed at restarting six-nation nuclear talks. [Oh! We surely wouldn't want to do that - my comment]

Those talks do not appear likely to resume any time soon

Reacting to U.N. condemnation of the April 4 launch, North Korea said Tuesday that it would "never participate in the [nuclear] talks" and would restart its plutonium-yielding nuclear reactor. The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said North Korea had ordered U.N. inspectors to leave the reclusive communist country.

According to a senior military official involved in continental missile defense, Gen. Renuart initially sought to use the SBX out of concern that the anticipated launch was aimed at the United States or allied territory.

However, Obama administration civilian policymakers accepted North Korea's claim that the rocket spotted by intelligence satellites being fueled at North Korea's Musudan launch complex was a space launcher with a satellite, and not a missile, the official said. He spoke only on the condition of anonymity because he was discussing internal deliberations.

In the end, the missile failed to put a satellite into orbit, although the missile traveled farther than in previous North Korean tests.

Former defense officials said the failure to use the SBX precluded the U.S. from gathering finely detailed intelligence and electronic signatures on the North Korean missile - information that could be useful in guarding against a future rocket launch aimed at the United States or one its allies.

Defense officials said that in addition to monitoring the Taepodong-2 launch, Gen. Renuart wanted the SBX radar in place to provide a real-world test of the new missile defense system.

Missile defense critics have criticized the Bush administration, which began deploying the current system earlier this decade, for not conducting realistic testing of the system.

President Obama has said he wants to make sure that U.S. missile defenses work properly before continuing support for the program.

Philip Coyle, a former Pentagon weapons testing specialist who has been critical of missile defense testing, said the SBX is technically a better radar than any system in Japan.

The administration's restrictions on missile defenses were disclosed as Mr. Gates announced last week that he is planning a $1.4 billion cut in missile defense funding.

Sen. Jon Kyl, Arizona Republican, and Sen. Joe Lieberman, Connecticut independent, wrote to Mr. Obama on April 6, urging him to reject the missile defense cuts.

The senators warned that the planned missile defense funding cut would undermine international cooperation with Japan, Israel and other states at a time when missile threats are growing.
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Iran keeps pace with North Korea, plans a second, bigger satellite launch

DEBKAfile Special Report
April 14, 2009

As North Korea reactivated its nuclear weapons facilities in defiance of UN resolutions, Tuesday, April 14, Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinjad announced plans to send a second satellite into space, this one on a rocket with a range of 1,500 km.

The launch of its first home-made satellite Omid in February, ostensibly for "peaceful telecommunications," demonstrated Tehran's acquisition of long-range ballistic technology usable for delivering nuclear warheads. Addressing students, Ahmadinejad said that the next satellite would be bigger than Omid and have a longer range.

Tuesday, the International Atomic Energy Agency said North Korea was expelling its inspectors and reactivating all its nuclear facilities in retaliation for the unanimous UN Security Council's unanimous condemnation Monday of its long-range Taepodong 2 missile launch last week. Pyongyang also announced its withdrawal from the six-power talks on its nuclear program. The White House again called on North Korea to cease "its provocative threats."

Adopting a more lenient stance, the Obama administration and European powers were disclosed by DEBKAfile last week as considering dropping their longstanding demand for Tehran to shut down uranium enrichment as a pre-condition for negotiations on its nuclear program.

Clearly, both North Korea and Iran are moving ahead on parallel courses with their military nuclear programs, impervious to Western condemnation (of North Korea) or concessions (to Tehran) for the sake of diplomatic engagement.

Their courses undoubtedly intersect. Of late, several Western intelligence organizations are investigating whether a ship that travelled from North Korea to Iran last December had several dozen tons of enriched uranium hidden in its cargo. Some intelligence officials suspect an effort to hide traces of the highly enriched uranium (HEU) program to develop nuclear weapons, which the US believes North Korea is secretly pursuing.

If confirmed, North Korea's transfer of the materials to Iran would only add to rising proliferation concerns stirred by the country's long-range missile launch last week.

Iran is conducting low-level enrichment for use in nuclear power plants under the surveillance of the International Atomic Energy Agency. "The bulk of the (transferred) materials appears to be medium-level enriched uranium," the source said. "It could be further enriched to weapons grade in Iranian facilities."
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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

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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N. Korea Threatens to Retaliate With 'Thunderbolt of Fire'

from Fox News.com
Thursday, April 02, 2009

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea's military on Thursday threatened immediate retaliation if "even the slightest effort" is made to intercept a long-range rocket it has begun fueling and that it plans to launch in the next few days.

President Barack Obama warned the liftoff would be a "provocative act" that would generate a U.N. Security Council response, but North Korea's military threatened those who opposed the launch with a "thunderbolt of fire" if they interfered.

A Korean Central News Agency report made a veiled threat against the U.S. In an apparent reference to American warships that have reportedly set sail to monitor the launch, the Korean-language version of the report said: "The United States should immediately withdraw armed forces deployed if it does not want to receive damage."

An unidentified senior U.S. military official said Pyongyang has started to fuel the rocket, a move that indicates final preparations for the launch. Experts say the missile can be fired about three to four days after fueling begins.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted unidentified officials as saying the North had moved a squadron of MiG-23 fighter jets to a base near the launch site in what appeared to be a response to Japan's deployment. Seoul's Defense Ministry declined to confirm the reports.

An English version said the U.S. forces could be hit in a retaliatory strike against Japan.

North Korea says it will send a communications satellite into orbit on a multistage rocket sometime from Saturday to Wednesday. The U.S., South Korea and Japan think the reclusive country is using the launch to test long-range missile technology; they've warned the move would violate a Security Council resolution banning the North from ballistic activity.

Regional powers have also begun to deploy ships to monitor the launch, and Japan is preparing to intercept any debris that might fall if the launch goes awry — moves that have prompted several threats of retaliation from Pyongyang, including one Thursday.

The North countered with its own warnings against any efforts to intercept the rocket, take the issue to the Security Council or even monitor the launch. It says its armed forces are at a high level of combat-readiness.

The North has said debris from the rocket could fall off Japan's northern coast, so Tokyo has deployed battleships with anti-missile systems to the area and set up Patriot missile interceptors. It says it has no intention of trying to shoot down the rocket itself.

"If Japan imprudently carries out an act of intercepting our peaceful satellite, our people's army will hand a thunderbolt of fire to not only interceptor means already deployed, but also key targets," said a report Thursday by the North's official Korean Central News Agency that quoted the general staff of its military.

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