If the North Koreans move forward their rocket test this would give Seoul additional political cover to move forward with the deployment of THAAD to Korea which the Chinese have been against.  If seems that if the Chinese are so concerned about the deployment of THAAD they should do more to control their North Korean allies:

Deployment of the United States’ advanced missile defense system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, in South Korea will be helpful in defending the country from North Korean threats, but the country has no plans to announce any decision on the matter in the near future, a defense official said Friday.

“Our government will consider every measure to prepare against North Korea’s missile threats,” the Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said.

“If U.S. Forces Korea deploys THAAD, it will help our national security and defense,” Kim said.

The official government stance signals the U.S. move to deploy the THAAD system inside the USFK is gaining momentum in South Korea.

It also marks a step forward from the country’s more cautious stance in the past that South Korea will weigh the THAAD issue in accordance with national security interests.

Earlier in the day, the U.S.-based Wall Street Journal reported the U.S. could announce next week or so that the two countries are in negotiations over the THAAD system.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

It appears that the North Koreans are preparing for a response to any United Nations sanctions the US may be trying to get implemented in response to their recent nuclear test.  In fact US Secretary of State John Kerry is in China trying to get the Chinese government to agree to a sanctions deal.  A rocket test would be a fitting way to thumb their noses at any UN sanctions that may be passed:

Speculation mounted Friday that North Korea is preparing a rocket or long-range missile launch to follow its recent nuclear test, with Japan reportedly ordering its military to shoot down any projectile that threatened its territory.

With existing UN Security Council resolutions banning North Korea from the use of ballistic missile technology, any launch would be a further slap in the face of the international community which is struggling to find a united response to the January 6 nuclear test.

Following a Japanese report that cited government sources as saying a rocket launch could come as early as next week, two US defence officials confirmed ongoing activity at the North’s Sohae satellite complex.

“The indications are that they are preparing for some kind of launch,” one US official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Could be for a satellite or a space vehicle — there are a lot of guesses. North Korea does this periodically — they move things back and forth,” the official said.

The United States regularly monitors North Korea from space, while Japan began satellite monitoring of the country in 2003.

North Korea successfully put a satellite into orbit with its Unha-3 carrier in December 2012.  [AFP]

You can read more at the link, but the best report I have read about any possible launch is over at 38 North which has a lot of good commercial imagery of the test site and have settled on this conclusion of what the North Koreans are doing:

The level of activity throughout the Sohae facility at the launch pad, covered rail station, VIP housing area, launch control bunker and NADA facilities (particularly the helipad) raise justifiable concerns that North Korea may be preparing for the launch of a space launch vehicle. Moreover, the level of activity throughout the site is unlikely to be justified by what appears to be an imminent rocket engine test. If Pyongyang is preparing for a rocket launch, available imagery indicates that a launch is not imminent and that the North may be at an early stage of preparation.

However, there is a high level of uncertainty about this judgment for a number of reasons. First, the gantry tower work platforms are covered by an environmental cover and are folded forward, obscuring any view of whether a rocket is inside or not. Second, the movable transfer structure could easily allow for stages to be assembled and transferred to the gantry tower during periods of darkness or heavy cloud cover. In the earlier image the structure did not appear to have moved since the snowfall observed in a December 4 image as its tracks remained snow covered. Since the entire launch pad area is now clear of snow, any movement by the structure cannot be determined. Third, commercial satellite imagery coverage of the test site is not continuous and therefore observers only have snapshots of activity at the launch pad.

If North Korea follows previous pre-launch preparation practices, we would expect to see in the coming days increased site-wide activity, traffic at the fuel/oxidizer storage bunkers, activity at the launch pad and the presence of tracking equipment.  [38 North]

I recommend reading the rest at the link.

With Japan developing its own domestic stealth fighter, it makes me wonder how long it will be before the ROK feels they need to develop their own as well:

Japan on Thursday unveiled its first stealth fighter jet, officials said, with the maiden test flight planned for next month.

The defence ministry’s acquisition agency showed off the domestically developed, radar-dodging X-2 fighter at a regional airport near the central city of Komaki.

Its first flight is scheduled in mid-February before delivery to the defence ministry by the end of March next year, the acquisition agency said.

The X-2, developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, measures 14.2 metres (47 feet) long and 9.1 metres wide and was built as a successor to the F-2 fighter jets developed jointly with the United States.

Presently, only the United States, Russia and China have been internationally recognised as having successfully developed and flown manned stealth jets, the agency said.

Japan has reportedly spent about 39.4 billion yen ($332 million) to develop the aircraft.  [AFP]

You can read the rest at the link.

China firm against sanctions-only approach toward North Koreahttps://t.co/hWZ52sJACS

— NorthKoreaRealTime (@BuckTurgidson79) January 27, 2016

Via a reader tip comes this unsurprising CBS News report on wasteful spending from the Wounded Warrior Project.  This is why I have always advocated that people would be better off donating money to the Fisher House Foundation where far more money goes to their programs.  Plus you can visit your local military base and see where your money is going to unlike the Wounded Warrior Project:

A CBS News investigation into a charity for wounded veterans, the Wounded Warrior Project, looks into how the charity spends its donation money.

What caught our attention is how the Wounded Warrior Project spends donations compared to other long-respected charities.

For example, Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust spends 96 percent of its budget on vets. Fisher House devotes 91 percent. But according to public records reported by “Charity Navigator,” the Wounded Warrior Project spends 60 percent on vets.

Where is the money is going? (………)

According to the charity’s tax forms, spending on conferences and meetings went from $1.7 million in 2010, to $26 million in 2014. That’s about the same amount the group spends on combat stress recovery — its top program.  ]

Former employees say spending has skyrocketed since Steven Nardizzi took over as CEO in 2009. Many point to the 2014 annual meeting at a luxury resort in Colorado Springs as typical of his style.

“He rappelled down the side of a building at one of the all hands events. He’s come in on a Segway, he’s come in on a horse.”

About 500 staff members attended the four-day conference in Colorado. The price tag? About $3 million.

“Donors don’t want you to have a $2,500 bar tab. Donors don’t want you to fly every staff member once a year to some five-star resort and whoop it up and call it team building,” said Millette.  [CBS News]

You can read the rest at the link.

Considering the political fall out every time an American is arrested it is amazing that a travel ban has not been instituted on North Korea a long time ago.  If a travel ban is not instituted then the US government should at least make it very clear that it will not negotiate to get detainees released:

Without banning it outright, the U.S. State Department has long warned against travel to North Korea. But, post nuclear test, the U.S. is now reportedly seeking a ban on tourism and restrictions to keep the North’s flagship airline, Air Koryo, from flying into and out of airports abroad. Most tourists board their flights to Pyongyang from Beijing.

As yet, none of the major North Korea travel agencies are canceling upcoming trips. One of the year’s biggest tourist draws, the Pyongyang marathon, is just months away.

They are, however, concerned about the fallout from Warmbier’s arrest.

China-based Young Pioneer stressed in a news release that Warmbier was the first of the 7,000 people it has taken to North Korea over the past eight years to face arrest. Uri Tours, based in New Jersey, told AP that it has also had only one such case — American Matthew Miller, who ripped up his tourist visa on arrival in what he has said was a deliberate attempt to get arrested.  (……….)

“Critics claim that tourism is an avenue for the DPRK government to arrest Americans as political hostages. However, this has not been our experience,” she said. “We’ve taken many American tourists and with the exception of Matthew Miller, they’ve all returned safely with positive feedback.”  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more the link.

This is some pretty harsh punishment for not helping make a lunchbox.  Unsurprisingly the assault involved alcohol:

A father, identified only as Jeong, 40, has been arrested for stabbing his teenage son for not listening to him, Yonhap reported Sunday.

Police in Ulsan said Jeong stabbed his son, 14, twice – once in the chest and once in the leg on Jan. 13. He told them he stabbed the teenager because the boy did not help him prepare a lunchbox for the daughter, 10. The father was drunk, having consumed half a bottle of soju, police said.

Jeong then carried his son to an emergency room. The boy is in a hospital receiving treatment.

The man recently separated from his wife and was raising the two children, police said. Jeong did not have a criminal record but was arrested to protect the boy, they said  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

What Davos missed by excluding North Korea https://t.co/R0Bulg0K2w pic.twitter.com/UdtXXQDT11

— National Interest (@TheNatlInterest) January 23, 2016

A pleasure boat sails through the frozen surface of the Han River bisecting Seoul on Jan. 24, 2016, as South Korea experienced the coldest weather this winter the same day with temperatures dropping to record lows. The temperature in Seoul fell to 18 C below zero, the lowest since Jan. 15, 2001, when the mercury dropped to 18.6 C below zero, the Korea Meteorological Administration said. (Yonhap)