Family members of an American soldier stationed in South Korea show off Korean ginseng, known locally as “insam,” that they harvested at a field in Geumsan, a town in South Korea’s central province of South Chungcheong, on June 20, 2017, in this photo released by the Geumsan municipal office on July 3. They took part in a familiarization tour that the municipality organized to promote a 32-day exposition on insam starting Sept. 22. (Yonhap)
Talking smack to someone like President Trump may not be wisest thing for Kim Jong-un to be doing:
The show of force came as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confirmed that North Korea had launched an ICBM on Tuesday, reversing an initial U.S. assessment that it was an intermediate-range missile.
He also said the U.S. would push for tougher sanctions by the U.N. Security Council, which planned an emergency meeting later Wednesday to discuss the latest provocation.
“Testing an ICBM represents a new escalation of the threat to the United States, our allies and partners, the region and the world,” Tillerson said in a statement. “Global action is required to stop a global threat.”
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, meanwhile, reportedly called the ICBM test an Independence Day “gift” for the Americans and promised to send more “big and small gift packages often in the future so they don’t get bored.” [Stars & Stripes]
Kim Jong-un better hope that President Trump doesn’t send him some big and small gift packages in return.
Even though the US is calling this an ICBM test its maximum range of possibly 5,500 kilometers barely makes it an ICBM and analysis has not determined if the reentry technology worked or not:
South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense followed up on Tillerson’s statement hours later, announcing Wednesday that the missile was a “new type” of ICBM, apparently a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), also known as a KN-17, modified into a two-stage projectile.
An IRBM class missile has the capacity to fly between 3,000 and 5,500 kilometers (1,864 to 3,418 miles), shorter than an ICBM’s capacity of more than 5,500 kilometers.
But the ministry fell short of saying whether North Korea’s ICBM launch was successful, saying it was hard to confirm yet. Analysis of whether Pyongyang has perfected re-entry technology, a core part of a long-range missile that’s been considered the last hurdle for North Korea’s ICBM development, was still ongoing, according to Defense Minister Han Min-koo, who briefed lawmakers on the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee Wednesday. Han said the Hwasong-14, North Korea’s name for its ICBM, qualified to be an ICBM when considering its travel distance, but that the maximum speed was way below the threshold of Mach 20. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
At its maximum range the KN-17 puts Guam and parts of Alaska at risk. This is clearly significant progress, but the Kim regime has not perfected ICBM technology that can reliably strike the US mainland, yet. At this point it seems like it is only a matter of time if the US and the ROK allow the Kim regime to have that time.
Here is the US and ROK’s response to the recent ICBM test conducted by North Korea:
South Korea’s Hyunmoo-2A ballistic missile, left, and the U.S. Army’s MGM-140 Tactical Missile are fired into the East Sea from an undisclosed location on South Korea’s east coast during a joint missile drill, Wednesday, aimed to counter North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile test conducted Tuesday. / Yonhap
South Korea and the United States fired ballistic missiles in a joint drill aimed at striking the North Korean leadership, Wednesday.
The live-fire exercise was an armed reaction to the North’s purported successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) conducted Tuesday.
President Moon Jae-in issued the missile firing order after getting consent from U.S. President Donald Trump, Cheong Wa Dae said.
This marked the first time for the allies to conduct a ballistic missile drill in response to the North’s missile threats, Defense Minister Han Min-koo said in a National Assembly session.
Issuing the order, Moon said the allies needed to demonstrate their joint defense posture “with action not just words,” according to chief press secretary, Yoon Young-chan.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Seoul and Washington fired their Hyunmoo-2A and the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) ballistic missiles, respectively, into the East Sea at 7 a.m.
Both the Hyunmoo-2A and ATACMS are surface-to-surface missiles with a range of 300 kilometers.
Trump backed Moon’s order, saying he respects Moon’s willingness to deter the North’s provocation with action, Yoon said. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link as well as view video footage of the fire power demonstration below:
Foreign students pose during an entrance ceremony for a summer school program provided by Hanyang University in eastern Seoul on July 3, 2017. About 2,000 foreign students are participating in the four-week program that also includes chances to experience Korean culture. (Yonhap)
According to the article since 2013 the police have closed a total of 187 brothels in Gangnam to include the 27 they just closed:
Gangnam-gu removed 27 illegal brothels from near schools and residential areas during the first half of this year, according to the Gangnam-gu Office on Monday.
Twenty-three were in residential areas, while four were near schools.
“We will continue to cooperate closely with the Gangnam and Suseo Police Station to get rid of illegal brothels,” Lee Hee-yeon, who heads the urban advancement office. [Korea Times]
I predicted that the North Koreans would commit a provocation in response to the Trump-Moon summit in Washington, DC and the Kim regime of course delivered:
A North Korean Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile is launched in this photo released by the North’s state-run Korean Central TV, Tuesday. The launch took place near Banghyon, North Pyongan Province, at 9:40 a.m. / Yonhap
South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday warned North Korea not to cross a “red line” after it claimed a successful test of its first intercontinental ballistic missile.
Moon urged the North to immediately halt its provocations, saying he is not sure what kind of consequence the communist state will have to face if it crosses the “red line.”
“I hope North Korea will not cross the point of no return,” the South Korean leader said in a meeting with former British Prime Minister David Cameron, according to his chief press secretary Yoon Young-chan.
His remarks came shortly after he ordered his top security officials to seek “UN Security Council measures” in close cooperation with the country’s allies, including the United States in an emergency meeting of the National Security Council.
North Korea launched what initially appeared to be an intermediate range missile at 9:40 a.m.
Later, the North’s official media said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed an order to test launch a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) the day before, also claiming the success of its launch.
Moon earlier noted the North may develop an ICBM in the “not too distant future.”
The North Korean reports said the new ICBM, Hwasong-14, reached an altitude of 2,802 kilometers, and flew 933 kilometers.
When launched at the right angle, the missile could reach up to 8,000 km, experts have noted.
Moon, even prior to the North Korean reports, told his security officials to handle the latest provocation as if it were an ICBM. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but the Korea Times is reporting the missile could have up to a 10,000 kilometer range. However, USFK reported in the same article that the missile was an intermediate range ballistic missile with a range of 5,000 kilometers. US Pacific Command is reporting a range from 3,000 to 5,500 kilometers.
North Korea’s state-run Korean Central TV released photos of launching a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile on Tuesday. From left; North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watches the missile test through binoculars; a transporter erector launcher (TEL) sets up the missile to launch; the missile blasts off. [YONHAP]These ranges are important because if it is an 8,000 kilometer range than Hawaii and Alaska are within range. If it is a 10,000 kilometer range than the US mainland is within range. Not that Hawaii and Alaska are less important than the US mainland, but I think being able to credibly strike the US mainland does make a difference in regards to US response options. If the range is 5,000 kilometers then strategically nothing has really changed. It just means that Guam remains within range of North Korea’s missile threat which is why a THAAD battery is deployed to protect the island.
Google Earth image showing estimated distances from North Korea to US targets
In response to this latest test China and Russia are calling for North Korea to freeze their weapons program in exchange for the US and the ROK scaling down their bilateral military exercises:
Russia and China have proposed that North Korea declare a moratorium on nuclear and missile tests while the United States and South Korea refrain from large-scale military exercises.
The call was issued in a joint statement by the Russian and Chinese Foreign Ministries on Tuesday following talks between President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. [Daily Mail]
This is something the Trump administration is going to hear more and more to do. I hope President Trump does not get suckered into this without severe measures for non-compliance. Like I have said before, a freeze deal may be something for the Trump administration to pursue if non-compliance by the Kim regime authorizes a pre-emptive strike against North Korea. Language in the deal would also make it quite clear the pre-emptive strike is not for regime removal, but to target the Kim regime’s weapons programs. The Kim regime cheated on all the past deals and will assuredly cheat on a freeze deal without the credible threat of force.
A young couple who allegedly robbed and killed a 47-year-old woman at a golf driving range in Changwon, South Gyeongsang, on June 24 was arrested Monday from a motel hideout in Seoul. The victim drove an Audi, so the suspects thought she was rich, police said.
The apprehension of 31-year-old Shim Cheon-woo and his girlfriend, 36-year-old Kang Jeong-im, came nine days after the alleged murder and six days after a third suspect, Shim’s 29-year-old second cousin, was arrested while on the run.
The older Shim and Kang met in 2013 working as caddies at a golf course in South Gyeongsang and started dating. The younger Shim told police that his older cousin promised him riches if he helped in a murder plot.
The case goes back to June 24 at around 5 p.m., when the three suspects were casing a basement parking lot of a Changwon driving range in search of rich people to rob. The victim arrived in an Audi A8 sedan. The three suspects parked their Kia Sportage beside the Audi and awaited the driver’s return.
The victim returned to her car at 8:30 p.m. and the two Shims shoved her into the Sportage. Kang allegedly followed in the Audi, according to police. The victim was forced to tell them the pin code for her credit card. Kang and the younger Shim went to check whether the pin code was correct, while the older Shim drove the victim to an isolated, abandoned gas station in Goseong County, about 40 kilometers away. He killed her, according to testimony from the younger Shim, police said. An autopsy of the victim revealed she died of suffocation at around 10:30 p.m. that day.
The suspects abandoned the corpse under a bridge in Jinju, South Gyeongsang, and fled to Suncheon, South Jeolla. They withdrew 4.1 million won ($3,575) using the victim’s credit card on June 25, and went back to Suncheon to get haircuts at a salon to alter their appearances. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
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