Tag: North Korea

More of the typical North Korean rhetoric in response to the US deployment of B-1 bombers to Guam which I have assume is in preparation for the upcoming UFG exercise in Korea where North Korea always seems to act up:

North Korea has accused Washington of planning a pre-emptive nuclear strike, after the US announced it would deploy its B-1 bomber in the Pacific for the first time in a decade.

The strategic aircraft were to be deployed on Saturday on the US island of Guam, the US military said last month, describing the operation as a routine rotation with the B-52 bomber.

Tensions have been running high since North Korea carried out its fourth nuclear test in January, followed by a barrage of missile launches that this month reached Japanese waters directly for the first time.

Pyongyang accused Washington of “becoming all the more pronounced in their moves to topple down the DPRK by mobilizing all nuclear war hardware,” using North Korea’s official title.

“The enemies are bluffing that they can mount a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the DPRK by letting fly B-1B over the Korean peninsula within two-three hours in contingency,” said an English-language statement on state media.

“Such moves for bolstering nuclear force exposes again that the US imperialists are making a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the DPRK a fait accompli.”  [AFP]

You can read more at the link.

The real question though is why the UNICEF giving a country that can afford its own self proclaimed space program, nuclear weapons and ICBMs any money at all?  Clearly the Kim regime has the resources to care for these children, but instead diverts these resources to their weapons programs and lets UNICEF pick up the bill:

A United Nations agency almost halved its budget for medical assistance and childcare projects in North Korea, a U.S. based media outlet reported Saturday.

According to the Voice of America (VOA), the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has earmarked a total of US$71 million for such projects during the 2017-2021 period, sharply cut from the $120 million set up for the 2011-2015 period.

The sharp reduction in the budget for North Korea-related humanitarian projects came as a result of international sanctions against the communist state.  [Yonhap]

https://twitter.com/pearswick/status/761045898121977856

It seems to me that if the South Africans were banned from the Olympics because of their Apartheid policies than why is North Korea with its far worse human rights violations allowed in the Olympics?:

North Korea made a restrained, orderly entrance at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Friday.

The North Korean delegation, with male weightlifter Choe Jon-wi as its flagbearer, marched into Maracana Stadium as the 156th country in the “Parade of Nations” as per the Portuguese alphabet.

Choe was followed by Yun Song-bom, the chef de mission, and several other members trailed them, waving their national flag.

They weren’t carrying mobile phones or camcorders to capture the moment, as most other athletes or officials did.

Choe Ryong-hae, the powerful vice chairman of Pyongyang’s State Affairs Commission, rose from his seat to greet the delegation.

North Korea has 31 athletes competing in nine sports here, including weightlifting and judo. It won four golds at the 2012 London Olympics, three from weightlifting, and finished 20th place overall in the medal standing.  [Yonhap]

NYT: South Korea Denounces Missile Launch https://t.co/J0YlF4nPfn #KoreaNews

— Korea News Summary (@ROKreport) August 5, 2016

Remember all the talk about how China was really serious this time with enforcing sanctions against North Korea?  Well the data shows that to not be true:

The latest U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea are having little impact on the country’s economy, a U.S. expert said, citing trade data between the North and its biggest economic partner, China.

William Brown, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and non-resident fellow at the Korea Economic Institute in Washington, also said in a recent report that the sanctions do not appear to be affecting the North’s domestic economy.

The latest sanctions, which were adopted on March 2 in response to the North’s fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch the following month, have been billed as the harshest-ever sanctions imposed on the communist regime.

The sanctions require mandatory inspection of all cargo going in and out of the North, regardless of whether by land, sea or air, while banning its exports of coal, iron and other mineral resources, a key source of hard currency that accounts for nearly half of the country’s total exports.

“The March 2 U.N. sanctions are having little impact so far on North Korea’s economy although they may be making Pyongyang even more dependent on China. Trade with countries except China seems to be slipping but, because it was so low to begin with, the significance pales in comparison to the large and generally flat pace of China-North Korean trade,” Brown said in the report.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Negotiation with North Korea inevitable, writes policy expert Clemens https://t.co/kVfTX0UXpr

— Dr. Mark P. Barry (@DrMarkPBarry) August 3, 2016

Will North Korea bring the first kimchi to the Moon?:

North Korean space officials are hard at work on a five-year plan to put more advanced satellites into orbit by 2020, and don’t intend to stop there: They’re also aiming for the moon, and beyond.

In an interview with The Associated Press, a senior official at North Korea’s version of NASA said international sanctions won’t stop the country from launching more satellites by 2020, and that he hopes to see the North Korean flag on the moon within the next 10 years.

“Even though the U.S. and its allies try to block our space development, our aerospace scientists will conquer space and definitely plant the flag of the DPRK on the moon,” said Hyon Kwang Il, director of the scientific research department of North Korea’s National Aerospace Development Administration.  [ABC News]

You can read more at the link, but a country with money for a space program that wants to go to the Moon shouldn’t need international aid money to care for and feed their people.

https://twitter.com/dprkwatch/status/760703935669739521

Considering where North Korea fired from and where the missiles landed it appears the North Koreans were trying to test as much of the range as possible.  They are additionally continuing their signaling to the ROK and Japan that their missiles work and have the range to hit anywhere in their two countries:

Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile that flew around 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) and landed in waters in Japan’s exclusive economic zone Wednesday morning, according to military officials.

At around 7:50 a.m., Pyongyang launched the missile from Unryul County in southwestern South Hwanghae Province toward its eastern coast, said the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

It was presumed to be an intermediate-range Rodong missile, which has a range of up to 1,300 kilometers.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad) determined that Pyongyang actually fired two intermediate-range missiles, but one exploded in midair immediately after launch.

The U.S. Strategic Command said in a statement that it detected “the simultaneous launch of two presumed intermediate-range ballistic missiles,” adding that one “exploded immediately after launch, while the second was tracked over North Korea and into the Sea of Japan,” which South Korea calls the East Sea.

“The missile that North Korea launched toward its east coast today flew over 1,000 kilometers and landed in Japan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ),” a JCS official said. Japan’s exclusive economic zone covers most of its ADIZ.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.