Tag: North Korea

The North Korean’s are believed to have doctored a video of their SLBM test to make people think they have greater capability than they really have.  Watch the video below and judge for yourself.  The reason the North Koreans really want people to believe they are developing an SLBM capability is because it then complicates missile defenses.  It is hard to preposition radars and launchers to protect assets when the missile can come from any direction from the sea instead of prepositioned locations within North Korea:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPzTP3wiIyM

South Korea’s military said Saturday the latest video of a new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) test released by the North earlier this week may have been manipulated.

“It is believed that North Korea’s SLBM ejection test video has been edited with images from a Scud missile ejection film made in the past,” a military official said, adding that the intention was to make the test seem successful.

“In May last year, the North’s SLBM video showed a launch angle of 74 degrees. As the latest video showed an angle of 90 degrees, it is possible that North Korea’s technology has improved to some extent,” the official added. North Korea also claimed then it had successfully carried out an underwater SLBM test.

A new documentary aired by the state-run (North) Korean Central Broadcasting Station on Friday featured leader Kim Jong-un giving field guidance during an SLBM ejection test the country is reported to have conducted on Dec. 21 in the East Sea.

In the video, a missile shoots off from a submarine at almost a completely vertical angle and ignites with a boom some 40 meters above the surface of the water before disappearing into the clouds.  [Yonhap]

You can read the rest at the link.

Once again if you are an American and willingly go into North Korea I believe the US government does not have an obligation to come and rescue you.  I says this every time another American gets detained by the regime, do not go to North Korea.  This guy, Kim Dong-chul claims to be a spy for South Korea, but who knows if anything he says is true considering the treatment he has likely received while detained in North Korea:

You can read more at the link.

I am sure the ROK military has thoroughly thought through and rehearsed their plans in response to whatever the next provocation North Korea has planned:

Tensions are running high near the inter-Korean border Friday afternoon as South Korea’s military resumed loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts toward North Korea in the demilitarized zone(DMZ).

To deal with possible North Korean attacks on South Korean speaker facilities, the South’s military has issued its highest level of vigilance at eleven areas at the forefront, where the psychological warfare facilities have been installed.

A defense official said Friday that the military will thoroughly carry out propaganda broadcast operations, and it will respond sternly and accordingly if the North’s military engages in artillery provocations against the loudspeakers or nearby areas.

In case the North attacks, the South’s military is said to be planning to retaliate with fire power that is three to four times stronger than the North’s.  [KBS World Radio]

You can read more at the link.

This is a pretty typical play from the US playbook in response to North Korean military provocations:

The United States’ B-52 Stratofortress strategic bomber flew in the skies of South Korea on Sunday in a major show of force four days after North Korea conducted what it said was its first hydrogen bomb test.

The B-52 bomber left U.S. Andersen Air Force Base in Guam on Sunday morning and arrived in the skies above Osan, Gyeonggi Province, at noon, armed with nuclear missiles and “bunker buster” bombs that are capable of bombarding North Korea’s underground facilities, according to Seoul and Washington.

The bomber flew low past the Osan air base, flanked by an entourage of two South Korean F-15Ks and two U.S. F-16s before returning to its home base, the two sides’ militaries said.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

As I posted earlier this week, it is business as usual on the Sino-NK border which is something that Secretary of State John Kerry says has to stop.  Despite this the Chinese government is claiming there is no “key” for them to use to stop North Korea’s nuclear program.  If the border was shutdown this is a key that would greatly pressure the Kim regime to halt their nuclear program:

China said Friday that it holds no “key” to curbing North Korea’s nuclear ambition, while the United States is urging Beijing to put more pressure on Pyongyang after the North’s fourth nuclear test.

The remarks by Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying were seen as a rare public acknowledgment that China’s influence on its unruly ally North Korea is limited.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during a telephone conservation on Thursday, “There cannot be business as usual” after North Korea claimed it successfully conducted a hydrogen bomb test.

Kerry said he reached the agreement with Wang, after making clear to his Chinese counterpart that the latest nuclear test has proven that Beijing’s approach to the North Korean nuclear issue “has not worked.”

The Wednesday nuclear test by North Korea is viewed as a diplomatic failure by Chinese President Xi Jinping in trying to rein in North Korea.

In response to such a view, Hua said, “I want to emphasize that the origin and frictions of the North Korean nuclear issue do not lie in China. The key of resolving the issue does not lie in China.”

However, Hua repeated that, “China urges the North Korean side to stick to reaffirming its commitment of denuclearization and stop taking actions that make the situation worse.” [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Over at One Free Korea, there is a great update on the current actions going on in Washington, DC in response to the latest North Korean nuclear test.  It appears the one thing Democrats and Republicans can agree on is that the “strategic patience” strategy with North Korea has not worked.  So Congress is moving forward with their own sanctions package which is forcing the executive branch to preempt this by trying to implement their own new sanctions on North Korea.  Whatever the sanctions are it seems to me if it does not include threatening to cut off banks’ access to the US financial system for conducting business with North Korea it will not work to curb their nuclear program:

So far, so good, but then, Nakamura’s sources criticize the President for not trying hard enough to get a deal, which isn’t quite fair. As The Wall Street Journal told us yesterday, “U.S. officials say they have repeatedly tried to engage North Korea in dialogue about its nuclear program in recent months, but Pyongyang hasn’t responded to their advances.” It sounds self-serving, but the record supports that contention. Besides which, the harder American presidents try to “engage” North Korea, the worse their results tend to be.

In this climate, all the administration can really do is shift the focus to its push for tougher sanctions at the U.N. It needs a win in New York to make up for what looks like a general rout of its North Korea (non-) policy in Washington. The administration will probably announce new bilateral sanctions under existing executive orders to preempt some of the momentum in Congress, but I doubt that will appease Congress now. The administration can forget about any new diplomatic initiatives. Its goal now is to avoid a greater crisis, and to keep North Korea from sapping its credibility on other foreign policy issues.  [One Free Korea]

I highly recommend reading the rest at the link.

From the US perspective assuring the ROK that America will full support them against a nuclear North Korea and that they have no need to pursue their own nuclear weapons program makes sense for near term regionally stability.  However, since the Chinese government are the one’s enabling the Kim regime to move forward with their nuclear weapons program, it may take a shock like South Korea and Japan taking concrete actions to move forward with their own nuclear weapons program to get China to take real action against North Korea:

“President Obama reaffirmed the unshakeable U.S. commitment to the security of the [South], and the two leaders agreed to work together to forge a united and strong international response to North Korea’s latest reckless behavior,” the White House said.

The U.S. assurance to defend its ally from escalating North Korean threats came as conservatives in the South started demanding that the country arm itself with nuclear weapons. At a Supreme Council meeting of the ruling Saenuri Party, several leaders publicly stressed the need for defensive nuclear armaments.

“The time has come for the South to have a peaceful nuclear program for the sake of self-defense to counter the North’s fearful, destructive nuclear weapons,” said Rep. Won Yoo-chul, floor leader of the Saenuri Party. “The North is aiming at our head with nuclear weapons, and it is frustrating for us to just respond with sanctions.”

Won, a former chairman of the National Assembly’s Defense Committee, had previously commented that the South should become a nuclear state, but this was the first time he voiced the opinion as the ruling party’s floor leader.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read the rest at the link.

The B-52 and B-2 bombers are the weapons "Kim Jong Un fears the most." https://t.co/o5eDexgrgD

— Elizabeth Shim (@GlobalAsianista) January 7, 2016

It appears that David Sanger at the New York Times understands what I have been saying for years, no matter how much anyone want to talk to them, the Kim regime has no intention of giving up its nuclear weapons:

From Pyongyang’s viewpoint, there is little incentive to give up the nuclear arsenal. The world is not exactly banging on North Korea’s door to do business the way it is with Iran: The North has no oil, no striving middle class and little strategic value in the modern world. Its greatest power is the threat it poses to one of the most prosperous corners of the globe.

But many also consider it too dangerous to allow North Korea to fail. The Chinese know that if it ceases to exist, the South Koreans, and their American allies, will be on the Chinese border. The South Koreans know that if a conflict breaks out, the North will lose — but only after Seoul, just 35 miles or so from the North Korean border, is a smoking ruin.

So the North Korean strategy is to up the ante and hope the world will acknowledge it as a nuclear weapons power that has to be dealt with. H-Bomb or no H-bomb, nuclear weapons are the country’s insurance policy, and the test was a sign that it has no intention of cashing it in.  [New York Times]

You can read the rest at the link.

North Korea poured $3B into weapons development, equal to 3 years' worth of food https://t.co/WhhzbVqOBB

— Elizabeth Shim (@GlobalAsianista) January 7, 2016