Tag: North Korea

It is ironic that this complaint is coming from the same people who have boasted of turning Seoul into a “sea of fire” and threatened attacks against the US mainland:

North Korea‘s foreign ministry spokesman said he has information on precision strike operations the United States is planning as part of its “blatant war of aggression” against the country.

Pyongyang’s state-controlled news agency KCNA reported the spokesman has evidence Washington is openly discussing air strikes against North Korea’s nuclear facilities.

“The fact that the United States is openly discussing ‘precision strike operations’ is a sign it is on the brink of taking an extremely reckless step,” the spokesman said. “The fact the operation was made public ahead of the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercise, that dangerous ‘scenario of war’ taking place in August, cannot be overlooked.”

The spokesman added the alleged U.S. policy justifies Pyongyang’s policy of “Byungjin,” or pursuing economic development alongside the development of nuclear weapons.  [UPI]

You can read the rest at the link, If anything I would hope US military planners do have an on-the-shelf plan to bomb North Korean nuclear facilities if the situation arose.

https://twitter.com/pearswick/status/742540088844783616

It was reportedly bulldozed because Kim Jong-un said it reminded him of his executed uncle Jang Song-taek.  Like many anonymous reports out of North Korea who knows?

The Kim regime appears to be hoping that a future Trump presidency would in fact withdraw US troops from South Korea:

North Korean state media has praised US presidential hopeful Donald Trump, describing him as a “wise politician” and “far-sighted candidate” who could help unify the Korean peninsula.

An editorial in DPRK Today, an official media outlet, welcomed the Republican presidential candidate’s proposal to hold direct talks with Kim Jong-un, saying he could help bring about Pyongyang’s “Yankee go home” policy.

“There are many positive aspects to Trump’s ‘inflammatory policies’,” wrote Han Yong-mook, who described himself as a Chinese North Korean scholar.

“Trump said he will not get involved in the war between the South and the North, isn’t this fortunate from North Korea’ perspective?”

Analysts said that although the editorial was not officially from Pyongyang, it was sure to reflect thinking inside the regime.

“This is very striking,” said Aidan Foster-Carter of the University of Leeds. “Admittedly it is not exactly Pyongyang speaking, or at least not the DPRK government in an official capacity. But it is certainly Pyongyang flying a kite, or testing the waters.

“For the rest of us, this is a timely reminder – if it were needed – of just how completely Trump plans to tear up established US policy in the region.”

The editorial referred to Trump’s speech in March, in which he suggested he would withdraw US military forces from Seoul if South Korea did not increase spending on defence.

“Yes do it, now … Who knew that the slogan ‘Yankee Go Home’ would come true like this? The day when the ‘Yankee Go Home’ slogan becomes real would be the day of Korean Unification.”

The article urged Seoul not to increase defence spending so as to prompt a US withdrawal, and urged American voters not to choose the Democratic hopeful, Hillary Clinton.  [The Guardian]

You can read more at the link.

This is why classified information is not stored on an unclassified network because it is so easy for hackers to get access to it:

Hours after police revealed that North Korea gained access to a host of defense-related documents during a hacking attack in February, the South Korean military asserted that no military secrets were included in the leaked documents.

A military official said on Monday that most of the 42-thousand documents stolen from South Korea’s SK Networks and Korean Air by the North are already open to the public.

The leaked documents reportedly include the design map of the wing of the U.S. F-15 fighter jet and photos of parts of a medium altitude unmanned surveillance vehicle.

The compromised data of the U.S. F-15 fighter jet is said to be simple specifications of the jet’s external design such as its length and width, and has no relevance to South Korea’s F-15K.  The military said that the core part of the design of the medium altitude unmanned surveillance vehicle was not leaked.  [KBS World Radio]

North Korea is using the 14th anniversary of the tragic 2002 Armored Vehicle Accident to bash the United States and call for a withdrawal of US troops from Korea:

North Korean media urged South Koreans to turn toward anti-American sentiment and repel U.S. troops from South Korea, and mentioned the 2002 deaths of two schoolgirls crushed by a U.S. military vehicle.

The Yangju highway incident in South Korea, which happened 14 years ago today, was a tragic accident in which a U.S. military vehicle hit and crushed two Shim Mi-son and Shin Hyo-sun, both 14, while they walked beside a narrow country road on their way to a birthday party.

“Fourteen years ago today, two South Korean schoolgirls at the age of 14 were struck and killed by devilish homicidal American imperialists’ Caterpillar truck,” wrote state newspaper Rodong Sinmun on Monday, calling the incident “only one of many incidents in which American invaders have crushed the dignity and sovereignty of South Koreans.”

Pyongyang’s other publications also described the incident, and urged South Koreans to repel U.S. forces from the Korean Peninsula.

“This evilest deed of all evil deeds is only capable of being carried out by the soldiers of an evil empire, which was built on the skulls and blood of Native Americans …” wrote state medial portal Uriminzokkiri.  [NK News]

You can read the rest at the link, but this criticism of the US military for a tragic vehicle accident comes from the same people who intentionally launched an artillery strike and killed innocent South Korean civilians among dozens of other attacks over the decades.

For those that haven’t already I highly recommend reading my GI Flashbacks article about the accident:

• GI Flashbacks: The 2002 Armored Vehicle Accident

ROK Drop favorite Andrei Lankov has an opinion piece in the Korea Times that explains how China’s supposed harsh line with North Korea was merely a short term fluctuation and things are back to normal between the two countries:

For a brief while, South Korean diplomats were in a rather celebratory mood: it looked like China, for a change, had joined the ROK and the U.S. in their efforts to subject North Korea to the toughest sanctions ever. Indeed, in early March the Chinese representative in the U.N. Security Council voted for Resolution 2270 which introduced such measures, and for a while the united front looked like a reality.

Frankly, for yours truly, it was a surprise: the harsh position Beijing had seemingly committed itself to was unprecedented, and China’s switch happened quite suddenly. However, now it seems that this change was merely a short-term fluctuation.

There are many signs of a warming of relations between China and North Korea. In early June, Ri Su-yong, the former North Korean foreign minister who currently is the Korean Workers’ Party vice-chairman responsible for foreign relations, visited Beijing. It is the first time since 2013 that a North Korean official of such high rank has appeared in the Chinese capital. Among other things, Ri was granted an audience with President Xi Jinping. It lasted merely 20 minutes and therefore was, first and foremost, a formality, but it still had much symbolic meaning. It is equally important that the Chinese media devoted much space to describing the visit.

Simultaneously, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman expressed dissatisfaction with the new U.S. policy initiative ― unilateral sanctions, targeting banks that deal with North Korea. On the other hand, the U.S. authorities subpoenaed Huawei, a massive Chinese telecommunication company, for its alleged deals with North Korea. There is also a growing body of evidence that China is not being as strict with sanctions’ enforcement as many had hoped for.

There is nothing surprising about all this. Like it or not, when it comes to the Korean Peninsula, Chinese interests are seriously different from those of the United States.  [Korea Times]

You can read the rest at the link, but like I have always said China is never going to take a position that would risk the stability of the Kim regime.  As bad as the regime is, to the Chinese government it is better than the alternative of regime collapse and the unification of the peninsula under South Korean rule backed with US troops.

https://twitter.com/pearswick/status/741133375486976000

This incident involving a Chinese fishing boat shows the very dangerous situation that could have materialized along the inter-Korean Northern Limit Line (NLL) because the Chinese government absolutely refuses to control their fishermen:

A Chinese vessel illegally fishing off Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea was seized by Incheon Coast Guard – but not before trying to flee with Korean officers still on board.

A 50-ton Chinese boat illegally caught some 45 kilograms (99 pounds) of crab and small fish in waters 8.6 kilometers (5.3 miles) to the south of the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border between the two Koreas, at around 4:40 p.m. Saturday afternoon, according to the Incheon Coast Guard Sunday. This was in violation of Korea’s exclusive economic zone.

During the raid, 14 Korean Coast Guard officers boarded the Chinese fishing vessel to seize it.

But Chinese sailors blockaded the wheelhouse and tried to take off with the Coast Guard officers still on board. They managed to sail around 1 kilometer to the north before control was seized.

This led to the arrest of all seven Chinese sailors on board, who were transported to Incheon.

Had the South Korean Coast Guard crossed over into North Korean waters, it could have given Pyongyang a pretext for some form of retaliation.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but I would not be surprised if the Chinese government puts out some statement trying to put blame on the Korean Coast Guard for the incident.  I have always believed that these fishermen need to be jailed and their boats auctioned off as a deterrent to this activity.  These Chinese fishermen have not only injured and murdered Korean Coast Guard personnel in the past, but now they are even threatening to start a war with North Korea.

Something needs to be done and maybe the Argentine approach of just sinking them is the way to go.

It just makes me wonder where all the money is coming from for the Kim regime to build up their nuclear, ballistic missile and conventional military strength like this?  Here may be the most important modernization that did not require any money to get:

Additionally, there is reason to believe that Kim Jung Un has had some success in revitalizing the military by instituting new military leadershipafter a rash of executions removed some of the old brass.

Joseph S. Bermudez, an expert on North Korea’s military, told The Washington Post: “I get a sense that when Kim Jong Un came to power, he looked around and said, ‘We have all these old guys running things who haven’t been in the field for 15 or 20 years. We need people who know what they’re talking about.'”

“Before, you had leaders of special forces who couldn’t run a mile. Now, we see artillery division commanders that actually have an artillery background,” Bermudez continued.  [Business Insider]

You can read more at the link.

The Joong Ang Ilbo has an article published that shows some of the details of the foreign tourism industry in North Korea.  Like I have always said I encourage people to not travel to North Korea because the money is used to subsidize the Kim regime and not some misguided sense of engagement some may think their travel to North Korea is offering.  I will travel to North Korea one day when the Kim regime is gone and the Korea’s are reunited:

The eyes of the world were upon Pyongyang when the former NBA player, Dennis Rodman, visited the city with the Harlem Globetrotters, an American exhibition basketball team, on Feb. 26, 2013. The North Korean leader Kim Jong-un personally threw a welcoming party for the American athletes.

Another visit was made by retired Japanese wrestler-cum-lawmaker Kanji Inoki, more widely known by his ring name, Antonio Inoki, who appeared at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport with his fellow wrestlers in August 2014. An international competition was held in Ryugyong Chung Ju-yung Gymnasium, built by the South’s Hyundai Group in an effort to initiate inter-Korean sports events. The event signaled the return of pro-wrestling to North Korea for the first time in 18 years.

Behind both these events was Michael Spavor, the head of Paektu Cultural Exchange, a “non-profit organization that facilitates cultural exchanges and business with North Korea,” according to its website. The Canadian enterpriser maintains a close connection with Kim, hosting not only sports exchanges, but investment briefings for foreigners, as well.

As inter-Korean relations experience a chill, foreign influence is rapidly squeezing through the gap, pervading cultural, political, economic and social domains, helping define the country’s change under Kim Jong-un’s leadership.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.