North Korea Nuclear Standoff

[cycloneye]

U.N. eyes tough resolution against North Korea

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States is working with its allies to send a "strong, unified" message to North Korea that its "belligerent" actions have consequences, the State Department said Monday.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke Monday with the Russian and Chinese foreign ministers, a department spokesman said, as the U.N. Security Council debates a tough resolution condemning North Korea's latest missile and nuclear tests.

"I think it's very clear that we are all on the same page with regard to the need to take very strong measures against North Korea," deputy spokesman Robert Wood said. "They're going to continue with our discussions on coming up with a strong resolution that responds to the North's violation of its international obligations."

Senior officials said that discussions on possible elements of the resolution have touched on travel and visa bans on certain members of the regime and tougher trade and economic sanctions, possibly including an arms embargo to prevent North Korea from engaging in lucrative arms sales.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06 ... index.html

[vbhoutex]

Resolution, smesolution. Talk does nothing with rogue governments such as NK.

[Brent]

NKorea violates SKorean waters amid high tension

SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea said a North Korean patrol boat entered its waters around their disputed maritime border Thursday but backed off after nearly an hour following repeated warnings. A senior American diplomat meanwhile cautioned Pyongyang that its bad behavior would no longer be rewarded.

The naval standoff came amid concerns that the North might try to provoke an armed clash in the area — the scene of deadly naval skirmishes in 1999 and 2002 — to stoke tensions that were already running high after Pyongyang's nuclear test and a barrage of missile launches last week.

http://www.yahoo.com/s/1081230

[wyq614]

Resolution, smesolution. Talk does nothing with rogue governments such as NK.

I agree with you

[cycloneye]

U.S. considers putting North Korea back to terrorist list

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is looking into putting North Korea back on a list of state sponsors of terrorism in response to its nuclear test last month, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in an interview on Sunday.

"We're going to look at it. There's a process for it. Obviously we would want to see recent evidence of their support for international terrorism," she said on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."

Asked whether she had evidence of the North's support for international terrorism, Clinton said: "We're just beginning to look at it. I don't have an answer for you right now."

The United States removed North Korea from its terrorism blacklist in October in a bid to revive faltering six-nation denuclearization talks that have completely broken down.

The impoverished Communist-ruled Asian nation was taken off the list after agreeing to a series of verification measures at its nuclear facilities. It has been condemned internationally since its defiant May 25 nuclear test.

"Obviously they were taken off of the list for a purpose, and that purpose is being thwarted by their actions," Clinton said.

Coming off the list meant North Korea could better tap into international finance and see some trade sanctions lifted -- benefits that would be reversed, although other sanctions have remained as a result of its first nuclear test in 2006.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090607/pl_ ... th_clinton

[Brent]

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea's top court convicted two American journalists and sentenced them to 12 years in labor prison Monday, intensifying the reclusive nation's confrontation with the United States.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090608/ap_ ... lists_held

[Cryomaniac]

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea's top court convicted two American journalists and sentenced them to 12 years in labor prison Monday, intensifying the reclusive nation's confrontation with the United States.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090608/ap_ ... lists_held

I can't see the US doing anything about this specifically.

[wyq614]

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea's top court convicted two American journalists and sentenced them to 12 years in labor prison Monday, intensifying the reclusive nation's confrontation with the United States.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090608/ap_ ... lists_held

I guess that labor prison may mean English teaching. What's more, I don't think the two reporters will stay in NK for as long as 12 years.

[Derek Ortt]

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea's top court convicted two American journalists and sentenced them to 12 years in labor prison Monday, intensifying the reclusive nation's confrontation with the United States.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090608/ap_ ... lists_held

I guess that labor prison may mean English teaching. What's more, I don't think the two reporters will stay in NK for as long as 12 years.

Unfortunately, I can see NK making examples out of them as they know they will not face any consequences for doing so based upon our response to the nuke and missle tests

[somethingfunny]

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea's top court convicted two American journalists and sentenced them to 12 years in labor prison Monday, intensifying the reclusive nation's confrontation with the United States.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090608/ap_ ... lists_held

I guess that labor prison may mean English teaching. What's more, I don't think the two reporters will stay in NK for as long as 12 years.

Unfortunately, I can see NK making examples out of them as they know they will not face any consequences for doing so based upon our response to the nuke and missle tests

I think it's more likely that North Korea will hold on to them for as long as the NKers feel they can be used as bargaining chips (aka hostages) and not a moment longer.

[Cryomaniac]

Unfortunately, I can see NK making examples out of them as they know they will not face any consequences for doing so based upon our response to the nuke and missle tests

Pretty much. As long as they think they can do what ever they like they will continue to do so.

[gtalum]

I don't think we should waste our resources on those two women. I feel for them, but they knew the risks when they illegally entered NK. We should carry on whatever strategy we're going to pursue in respect to NK and ignore the fact that they're there.

[Ed Mahmoud]

North Korea holds the entire city of Seoul hostage. They have hundreds of artillery pieces and rockets aimed at Seoul.


Me, I'd build a new Seoul down near Pusan. But the RoK doesn't consult me for advice.

[gtalum]

It is odd that they have their capital so close to NK. On the other hand, I'm not sure that moving to the southern end of the peninsula makes any substantive difference.

[Derek Ortt]

North Korea holds the entire city of Seoul hostage. They have hundreds of artillery pieces and rockets aimed at Seoul.


Me, I'd build a new Seoul down near Pusan. But the RoK doesn't consult me for advice.

and we hold the city of Pyongyang hostage

[gtalum]

But Kim Jong Il is insane, so I doubt he cares.

[cycloneye]

Kim Jon Il Eldest Son not interested in succeeding his father


(CNN) -- The eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, in a rare television interview Tuesday, shed some light on who might eventually take over leadership of the country.

Kim Jong Nam told TV Asahi in Macau that he does not care about politics or succeeding his father.

"Personally, I am not interested in this issue (succession)," he said in an interview with the Japanese television network. "Sorry, I am not interested in the politics."

The rules governing transfer of power in the secretive communist nation are unclear.

Kim Jong Il rules without challenge and has built a cult of personality around himself and his family.

He is widely reported to have suffered a stroke in August and has been absent from many public functions in recent months.

In April, he named his son, Kim Jong Un, and brother-in-law, Jang Song Thaek, to the country's powerful National Defense Commission, suggesting his third son may be his heir.

There has been speculation that Kim Jong Nam would defect from North Korea and that a purge of his supporters was under way. He told Asahi he saw no reason for leaving his homeland.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiap ... index.html

[Ptarmigan]

North Korea holds the entire city of Seoul hostage. They have hundreds of artillery pieces and rockets aimed at Seoul.


Me, I'd build a new Seoul down near Pusan. But the RoK doesn't consult me for advice.

My parents told me that is the worse case scenario for South Korea. I have heard that South Korea is moving parts of their government to Mongolia. This is coming from South Korean news reports.

[cycloneye]

Could North Korea provoke another Korean War?

To fear a new Korean War is historically inaccurate, because, in fact, the last one never ended: the world's most dangerous border, across which some 2 million North Korean, U.S. and South Korean troops face each other along the 38th parallel of the Korean Peninsula is, in fact, simply an armistice line. On July 27, 1953, the U.S. and North Korea signed a truce pausing, but not ending, a war that claimed more than 2 million lives, including those of 36,940 U.S. troops. And the North's recent nuclear and missile saber-rattling has many growing nervous about the potential for a resumption of hostilities.

North Korea, in fact, announced on May 27 that it was withdrawing from the armistice. It declared it could no longer guarantee the safety of ships sailing through the Yellow Sea off its western coast, and would no longer respect the legal status of several islands off South Korea's coast. It also vowed to attack South Korea if North Korean vessels suspected of smuggling nuclear and missile components are stopped and searched by a U.S.-led U.N. naval armada — a proposal currently under discussion. (See pictures of North Koreans at the polls.)

U.S. officials are concerned that political instability inside the Pyongyang regime may raise the danger of confrontation. "Dear Leader" Kim Jong Il has been weakened by a stroke suffered late last year, his 26-year old heir apparent is not yet ready to take the reins and the North Korean military is eager to maintain its preeminence in the coming political succession. "Any time you have a combination of this behavior of doing provocative things in order to excite a response — plus succession questions — you have a potentially dangerous mixture," said U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair on Monday.

Despite the rising tensions, however, a number of factors militate against a new chapter being opened in the Korean War. South Korea, backed by the U.S., doesn't want war, because the North has some 13,000 artillery tubes aimed at Seoul and the more than 10 million South Koreans living within 30 miles of the DMZ. North Korea, backed by China, doesn't want war because if it comes, it all but guarantees the collapse of Kim's regime, which is also the family business.

Washington has made clear that it wants to solve this latest flare-up via diplomatic channels. "Our focus is now — and has been and likely will continue to be — on coming up with diplomatic and economic pressures that will persuade the North to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons and the platforms to deliver them," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said June 8. And if that fails? "We all need to be prudent about our planning for defensive measures." That suggests neither Washington nor Seoul is going to take preemptive military action.

The immediate priority of the U.S. and its allies is to prevent North Korea from spreading its nuclear know-how around the world. And their own lever is China's influence over the hermit regime. "There's a view that if you want to get the Chinese to act on North Korea, you need to signal a willingness to take military action," Scott Snyder, a Korea expert with the Council on Foreign Relations, said last week. "But at the same time, how do you do that — especially in conjunction with allies — without the Chinese feeling that you're trying to manipulate them tactically?"

U.S. Soldiers take part in a drill with South Korean soldiers.



http://www.time.com/time/world/article/ ... ml?cnn=yes

[cycloneye]

North Korea may be preparing for another nuclear test

Here they go again.The question may be,if this is a bluff from them or it is a real threat.

WASHINGTON – North Korea may be preparing for its third nuclear test, a show of defiance as the United Nations considers new sanctions on the dictatorship for conducting an underground nuclear explosion in May, according to a U.S. government official.

North Korea conducted an underground explosion on May 25, its first since a 2006 atomic test. The official, who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the unreleased information, would not provide details regarding the assessment.

A draft U.N. resolution proposed Wednesday would impose tough sanctions on North Korea's weapons exports and financial dealings and allow inspections of suspect cargo in ports and on the high seas. North Korea has threatened to retaliate if new sanctions are adopted.

North Korea already is a pariah to many countries and has been under tough economic sanctions for years. Last month's reported test defied a Security Council resolution adopted after the North's first underground atomic blast in October 2006.

The White House National Security Council would not comment on the assessment of a possible third nuclear test in the works.

"We have come to expect North Korea to act recklessly and dangerously," NSC spokesman Mike Hammer said in a statement. "But while the world unites to pass a strong new Security Council resolution, it is clear that North Korea's behavior is succeeding only in further isolating itself."

President Barack Obama's special envoy on North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, said Thursday that the United States is determined to make sure the North faces serious consequences for its growing missile and nuclear threat.

Bosworth told lawmakers at a hearing that the Obama administration is considering freezing North Korean accounts at banks outside the country. Similar action by the George W. Bush administration infuriated the North and effectively severed it from the international financial system and led to a breakdown in nuclear talks.

But Bosworth also said Obama wants to talk to Pyongyang, either through the six-nation mechanism or directly.

North Korea has so far spurned the administration's attempts at engagement, Bosworth said. The North will come back to disarmament talks eventually, he said, but not soon.

For now, Bosworth said, North Korea will "suffer consequences if it does not reverse course."

Also on Thursday, CIA Director Leon Panetta said U.S. intelligence agencies are watching North Korea very closely in hopes of detecting or preventing North Korea's sale of nuclear and missile expertise and technology "to anyone willing to pay."

North Korea is a hard target to spy on but "we are making good progress," Panetta said.

The administration's approach to confronting North Korea will be an "important signal" for how it will deal with Iran if it continues to pursue nuclear weapons, he said.

The United States accuses Iran of secretly trying to develop atomic weapons. Iran denies the allegation.

In Brussels, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said there are no indications North Korea is making preparations for a military strike.

Gates says the Pyongyang regime is unpredictable, however, so he does not dismiss the threats.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090612/ap_ ... ea_nuclear