Here is another article that shows that more people are considering the surgical strike option against North Korea’s nuclear program:
This satellite imagery taken in November 2015 and provided by the U.S. shows the Yeongbyeon nuclear facilities in North Korea. (Yonhap)
Calls for “surgical strikes” against North Korean nuclear facilities have gained ground recently along with calls for more stringent sanctions, despite many observers expressing skepticism that neither South Korea and the United States have the political will to pursue such a military option.
The close allies have both recently floated the idea of a pre-emptive surgical strike on the North’s nuclear facilities after the communist regime conducted its fifth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 9.
Seoul’s defense ministry said Thursday the two allies will “have a consultation over a possible pre-emptive strike against North Korea depending on situations in case of an imminent nuclear attack by the North.”
In Washington, officials have revisited the surgical strike option which was considered against North Korea’s Yeongbyeon nuclear facilities under the Bill Clinton administration in 1994. That’s because the North has continued to improve its nuclear and missile capabilities despite international sanctions and condemnation.
Democratic U.S. vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine said Tuesday (U.S. time) he will support pre-emptive strikes against North Korea if it shows signs of launching a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but the real question is what does the US and ROK do when North Korea responds to such a strike by launching ballistic missiles and artillery against South Korean population centers?
This photo from the North’s Korean Central News Agency on Oct. 6, 2016, shows the completed first phase of Honggondo tideland. The section is part of a giant project to connect islands along the west coast with levees and create 35 square kilometers of tideland. (Yonhap)
I guess we will see if there will be an upcoming rocket test by the North Koreans:
Increased activity has been detected at North Korea’s rocket launch site with a concerted effort under way to conceal what is taking place, a U.S. website monitoring the North said, amid concerns the regime could undertake renewed provocations to mark a key anniversary this week.
Commercial satellite imagery taken on Oct. 1 of Sohae Satellite Launching Station in North Pyongan Province showed increased movement around the engine test facility, 38 North said Saturday.
It said photos showed crates next to the gantry tower on the launch pad and several large vehicles in front of the newly built fuel-oxidizer bunker. It said covers placed over many sites made it impossible to observe if a space launch vehicle or related components are located at the gantry tower or have been moved into the assembly structures.
The website then said images showed shelters erected next to the rocket test stand, indicating some sort of work may be underway.
“It may indicate preparations for a new engine test or continued work at the test stand in the aftermath of the September 20 engine test,” it said. [Yonhap]
It looks like North Korea could be preparing for yet another nuclear test next week:
Signs of increased activity at North Korea’s Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site could indicate it is preparing a sixth nuclear test, according to recent satellite imagery.
The South Korean government and military have warned that Pyongyang may conduct another nuclear test or ballistic missile launch to coincide with its ruling Workers’ Party’s founding anniversary on Oct. 10. South Korea is maintaining a state of emergency preparedness. Another possible timing for an additional provocation from Pyongyang, according to observers, could be the U.S. presidential election scheduled for Nov. 8.
Satellite images of the Punggye-ri site in North Hamgyong Province from Oct. 1 indicated continuing activity at all three tunnel complexes that could be used to conduct another nuclear test, according to 38 North, a website run by the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies Thursday.
Imagery showed a large vehicle, possibly a truck, near the entrance of the North Portal, where the Sept. 9 nuclear test occurred, along with boxes or other materials around the side of the main building. This could be for collecting data following the fifth test, sealing the portal or preparing for another detonation, according to the analysis. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
The North Koreans continue to send propaganda across the DMZ likely in response to the activists who continue to send propaganda leaflets north of the DMZ:
What appears to be a North Korean flyer was found in the front yard of the National Assembly on Tuesday morning. It contains messages criticizing the South Korean government and its policies on the North. / Yonhap
A large number of North Korean leaflets were found in southwestern Seoul on Tuesday morning.
Yeongdeungpo police station said police collected more than 1,300 flyers as of 7 a.m. after they were bombarded with reports that North Korean posters were scattered in the streets of Yeouido as early as Monday night.
The flyers contained messages criticizing South Korean President Park Geun-hye and her policies on the North. One flyer said: “Park Geun-hye is the maid of the U.S. and a war maniac.
“(What we want is) Conversation, not battle. (What we want is) Trust, not distrust. (What we want is) Holding talks between the military authorities of North and South Korea.” [Korea Times]
Two high-ranking officials from the North Korean embassy in Beijing – including a man who had overseen leader Kim Jong-un’s health care – defected with their families last month, a source well-informed on North Korea revealed.
“On Sept. 28, a heavyweight representative in North Korea’s mission in Beijing – who came from the Health Ministry – escaped with his wife and daughter,” the source exclusively told the JoongAng Ilbo on Tuesday. “This family made contact with the Japanese Embassy in China to begin the procedure to head to Japan.”
The official has relatives in Japan, which was why he chose to defect to Tokyo rather than Seoul.
As a high-ranking Health Ministry official, he would have overseen the Bonghwa Medical Center, which treats North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his family, as well as the Namsan Hospital and the Red Cross Hospital. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but I wonder if the health official is fleeing because he is getting blamed for the poor health of Kim Jong-un? It must be a stressful job trying to keep that guy healthy.
Here is yet another example of China allowing North Korea to evade sanctions to purchase aircraft with military utility:
One of the planes displayed during North Korea’s first air show last month was made in New Zealand with American parts, underscoring the difficulties of implementing sanctions when North Korea’s long border with China remains so porous.
North Korea put on quite the display at the Wonsan International Friendship Air Festival, held at the recently upgraded Kalma airport on the country’s east coast. Planes featured included a one-sixth size version of an American F-16 fighter jet and Soviet-era MiGs flown by female pilots known as “flowers of the sky.” There also was a two-hour-long aerobatic display by North Korea’s air force.
The air show is thought to have been inspired by Kim Jong Un’s fascination with all things aviation. The North Korean leader has been featured in state media piloting light aircraft and has a summer residence in Wonsan, where the renovation of the airport is thought to be linked to his love of flying.
Aviation enthusiasts have now traced one of the planes on display – a white, 10-seater P-750 XSTOL with a North Korean flag on its tail — to Pacific Aerospace, an aviation company based in Hamilton, New Zealand.
New Zealand’s Foreign Ministry is investigating how the plane ended up in North Korea, the New Zealand Herald reported.
Pacific Aerospace sold the plane last December through its Chinese agent, Beijing General Aviation Company, to a Chinese company called Free Sky Aviation, Damian Camp, the company’s chief executive, said in a phone interview. It remains registered with the Chinese civil aviation authority, he said.
Camp said he was “completely mystified” to learn that the plane had shown up in North Korea with a North Korean flag on it. [Washington Post via a reader tip]
You can read more at the link as well as view video of the aircraft at this link.
It is great to finally see a South Korean leader openly advocate for North Korean citizens to stand up to the Kim Jong-un regime by voting with their feet:
President Park Geun-hye issued a blunt message to urge North Korean soldiers and citizens to defect to the South, inviting criticisms from liberal politicians over her provocativeness while fueling speculations about conditions in the reclusive communist regime.
Park made the comment in a speech at a ceremony to mark Armed Forces Day on Saturday. In the speech, she addressed the latest security crisis caused by the Kim Jong-un regime’s nuclear and missile development and the South’s determination to counter it.
Park made perhaps the most provocative proposal by far to North Koreans. “Today, I want to clearly tell the reality that the North Korean regime is facing to the North Korean authorities, military and people,” she said, stressing that it is a misunderstanding and miscalculation of the young North Korean ruler to expect to achieve security and internal unity by demonstrating its nuclear and missile capabilities and escalating military tensions.
She noted that the international community is reacting differently from the past to the North’s provocations and the North is facing strengthened pressures and sanctions, while the negotiation stage has ended.
She, then, directly addressed the North Korean people. “We know the brutal reality that you are facing now. The international community is also seriously concerned about the North Korean regime’s human rights abuses.”
Promising that the South will do its best to end the North’s provocations and inhumane rule, Park said, “We will leave the path open for the North Korean people to find hope and life. Come to the free land of the Republic of Korea at any time.” [Joong Ang Ilbo]
