Tag: North Korea

Here we go again and just like each time one of these idiots gets in trouble in North Korea I continue to have no sympathy for them since they willing entered North Korea and put themselves at risk of detainment:

A man identified by North Korea as an American detainee said Friday he conducted espionage against the Communist nation and appealed for leniency at a state-controlled appearance that marked the first official accounting of his alleged crimes.

The highly scripted display of the prisoner — identified as Kim Dong-chul, a former resident of Fairfax, Va. — is certain to escalate tensions with Washington less than two weeks after North Korea sentenced an American student to 15 years in prison with hard labor for allegedly trying to take a sign as a souvenir during a tour.

There was no immediate comment from U.S. officials. But Washington has previously accused North Korea of taking Americans into custody as political pawns in its showdowns with the West over issues such as Pyongyang’s nuclear program.

In the North Korean capital, news agencies said Kim was brought before reporters and stated that he spied for South Korea’s intelligence agencies, sought to obtain details of the North’s military programs and tried to spread “religious” ideas — a serious crime in the North. [Washington Post]

You can read more at the link.

This is not good if true because it means that North Korea could fire their long range rockets without fueling.  Fueling of rockets if detected gives the US and the ROK militaries forewarning of a possible attack which solid fuel rockets prevents:

Leader Kim Jong-un claimed North Korea successfully tested a solid-fuel rocket engine that boosts the power of its ballistic missiles, state media reported Thursday, in his latest boast of military technology breakthroughs following United Nations sanctions.

The North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Kim led a test of solid-fuel rocket engines, stressing that the result of the test was in line with previous estimations.

“He noted with great pleasure that the successful test provided a guarantee for attaining the high goals of national defense science and technology without fail this year when the Seventh Congress of the Worker’s Party of Korea [meets],” the KCNA said, “and helped boost the power of ballistic rockets capable of mercilessly striking hostile forces.”  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

North Koreans say sanction hits hard on Kim Jong-un, but inevitably it will hit people’s lives as well https://t.co/nwuapDkdX4

— RimjingangNK (@RimjingangNK) March 23, 2016

This still image captured from video footage of North Korea’s key propaganda website, “Uriminjokkiri,” on March 22, 2016, shows Cheong Wa Dae being placed in crosshairs before President Park Geun-hye and the presidential office are shattered like glass. (Yonhap)

How many nations openly discuss assassinating the leader of a neighboring nation like the North Koreans do?  The rhetoric from North Korea recently seems to have reached a new level which makes me wonder if the sanctions really are beginning to bite?:

North Korea threatened Wednesday to wage a retaliatory war against President Park Geun-hye in the latest show of defiance against tougher U.N. sanctions and joint military drills between Seoul and Washington.

North Korea vowed to “launch a retaliatory battle of justice to resolutely eliminate” the United States and Park, warning that it is ready to turn South Korea’s presidential office into a sea of fire.

“The powerful large-caliber multiple rocket launching systems of invincible Korean People’s Army artillery units are highly alerted to scorch Cheong Wa Dae… in a jiffy,” the North’s committee handling inter-Korean affairs said in a statement carried by the country’s official Korean Central News Agency.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest North Korean provocation in response to the ongoing US-ROK military exercises being executed this week:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has inspected the military’s test-fire of a new large-caliber multiple rocket launcher, the North’s state media said Tuesday, amid heightened tension on the divided peninsula.

The North’s leader has expressed his satisfaction over the “perfect accuracy” of the launch system, praising officials and technicians in the field of defense science, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The leader said that its rocket launchers would help increase “the capability of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) to mount a precision attack on the enemies’ targets in the operational theater in the southern part of Korea,” the KCNA said.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but the way I look at it is that these types of provocations are better than them torpedoing ships or blowing the legs off of ROK soldiers.

In other (good) news: Unemployment amongst North Korean defectors continues to decline. pic.twitter.com/Dm2z32aLvZ

— Sokeel Park 박석길 (@Sokeel) March 18, 2016

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects a set of military landing drills, the state-run Rodong Sinmun reported on March 20, 2016. Kim ordered his forces to bury any enemies attacking the country at sea. (Photos posted in Rodong Sinmun)

According to civilian satellite imagery it appears that the Kim regime is preparing the Pungye Nuclear Test Site for future nuclear tests:

North Korea’s Punggye-ri site in Kilju County, North Hamgyong Province, is active and could be ready for new nuclear tests, according to 38 North, as Pyongyang continues to ignore United Nations resolutions and threaten further nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

The website 38 North, which specializes in North Korean affairs and is run by the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), said Friday that satellite imagery from March 6 and March 14 show active maintenance at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site.

The activity “does not appear directed at further tunnel excavation,” it said, but rather to maintain existing tunnels as well as to clean up after the nuclear test in January.

“It is highly likely that site is capable of supporting additional tests at any time,” the website continued.   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read the rest at the link, but just because they are cleaning up the test site I would think does not necessarily mean there will be a test in the near term.  However, I do have to wonder who in North Korea cleans up these test sites?  Do they send some of their political prisoners into the tunnels to do the work?

For those that enjoy reading Korean War history, below I have consolidated the links to my on going series of Heroes of the Korean War. The Korean War is filled with many great heroes, but due to little public interest in the war, the stories of their heroics has largely gone unnoticed. Here at the ROK Drop the leadership, bravery, and sacrifices of the brave servicemembers who fought in the Korean War does not go unnoticed. I hope through my on going series to educate readers about these heroes.  So take the time and read the stories of these brave men who served so notably during the Korean War:

1950:
Lieutenant Colonel Charles B. Smith (USA), Commander 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, Taskforce Smith Battle

Major General William Dean (USA), Commander 24th Infantry Division, Battle of Taejon

Corporal Mitchell Red Cloud Jr. (USA), Squad Leader 2-19 Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, Battle of the Chongchon River

Captain Charles M. Bussey (USA), Commander 77th Engineer Combat Company, Firefight at Yechon

General Tahsin Yazici (Turkey), Commander 1st Turkish Brigade, Battle of Kunu-ri

Ensign Jesse L. Brown (USA), US Navy 32nd Fighter Squadron, Chosin Reservoir

Lieutenant Colonel William W. Harris (USA), Commander 65th Infantry Regiment, Chosin Reservoir

Lieutenant Colonel Russell Blaisdell (USA), Chaplain US Air Force, Operation Kiddy Car Airlift

1951:

Captain Lewis L. Millett (USA), Commander E Co. 27th Infantry Regiment, Battle of Bayonet Hill.

Colonel Paul Freeman (USA), Commander 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, Battle of Chipyong-ni

Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Monclar (France), Commander French Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, Battle of Chipyong-ni

Lieutenant Colonel James P. Carne (UK), Commander Gloucestershire Battalion, Battle of the Imjim x

Lieutenant Colonel J.R. Stone (Canada), Commander Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Battle of the Kapyong

Lieutenant Colonel Dionisio Ojeda (Philippines), Commander Philippines Expeditionary Force To Korea (PEFTOK), Battle of the Yultong

First Sergeant Benjamin Wilson (USA), First Sergeant Company I, 3d Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, Battle of Hell Hill

Private First Class Anthony T. Kaho’ohanohano (USA), 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, Battle of Chup’a-ri

1952:
Brigadier General Haydon Boatner (USA), Commander Geoje POW Camp

Colonel Young-oak Kim (USA), Commander 1-31 Infantry Regiment, First Asian-American Battalion Commander

1953:
Lieutenant Colonel George Koumanakos (Greece), Commander Greek Battalion, Battle of Outpost Harry

Post-Korean War:

Lieutenant General Subayya Kadenera Thimayya (India), Commander of the Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission (NNRC), Operation Big Switch