North Korea Nuclear Standoff

[Nimbus]

I wonder if she is expecting support from Vladivostok before the end of the month?

There is something going on in the region but I'm not sure of what.

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7014162733

[cycloneye]

North Korea says No U.S. / South Korea Military Exercises

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea demanded Monday that the U.S. call off its annual military exercises with South Korea, a report said as rare talks between the North and U.N. forces ended without clear progress on defusing tensions.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the North made the demand during talks with the U.S.-led U.N. Command at the Korean border village of Panmunjom, held for the first time in nearly seven years. It came amid fears North Korea is gearing up to test-launch a missile believed capable of reaching U.S. territory.

Yonhap quoted an unidentified South Korean military official as saying the North warned that the upcoming maneuvers would "further stir up" tensions on the Korean peninsula.

The report said the U.N. Command insisted that the exercise — involving 26,000 American troops, an unspecified number of South Korean soldiers and a U.S. aircraft carrier — is purely defensive and not preparation for an invasion as the North claims.

North Korea has routinely condemned the regular U.S.-South Korea military drills as preparation for an invasion, although the allies have said they have no intention to attack.

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea demanded Monday that the U.S. call off its annual military exercises with South Korea, a report said as rare talks between the North and U.N. forces ended without clear progress on defusing tensions.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the North made the demand during talks with the U.S.-led U.N. Command at the Korean border village of Panmunjom, held for the first time in nearly seven years. It came amid fears North Korea is gearing up to test-launch a missile believed capable of reaching U.S. territory.

Yonhap quoted an unidentified South Korean military official as saying the North warned that the upcoming maneuvers would "further stir up" tensions on the Korean peninsula.

The report said the U.N. Command insisted that the exercise — involving 26,000 American troops, an unspecified number of South Korean soldiers and a U.S. aircraft carrier — is purely defensive and not preparation for an invasion as the North claims.

North Korea has routinely condemned the regular U.S.-South Korea military drills as preparation for an invasion, although the allies have said they have no intention to attack.

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea demanded Monday that the U.S. call off its annual military exercises with South Korea, a report said as rare talks between the North and U.N. forces ended without clear progress on defusing tensions.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the North made the demand during talks with the U.S.-led U.N. Command at the Korean border village of Panmunjom, held for the first time in nearly seven years. It came amid fears North Korea is gearing up to test-launch a missile believed capable of reaching U.S. territory.

Yonhap quoted an unidentified South Korean military official as saying the North warned that the upcoming maneuvers would "further stir up" tensions on the Korean peninsula.

The report said the U.N. Command insisted that the exercise — involving 26,000 American troops, an unspecified number of South Korean soldiers and a U.S. aircraft carrier — is purely defensive and not preparation for an invasion as the North claims.

North Korea has routinely condemned the regular U.S.-South Korea military drills as preparation for an invasion, although the allies have said they have no intention to attack.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090302/ap_ ... as_tension

[HURAKAN]

N Korea threatens civilian planes

North Korea has said it cannot ensure the safety of South Korean civilian flights passing near its airspace over the Sea of Japan (East Sea).

The comment comes ahead of a joint South Korean-US military exercise, which Pyongyang says is preparation for an invasion of the communist state.

Washington and Seoul say the annual drill is for purely defence purposes.

Tensions are high in the region amid speculation that the North is planning to test-fire a long-range missile.

In the latest of a series of bellicose statements, a North Korean committee warned that "security cannot be guaranteed for South Korean civil airplanes... in particular while the military exercises are under way".

It said no one knows what "military conflicts will be touched off by the reckless war exercises".

Launch fears

The annual US-South Korean drill, which involves tens of thousands of troops, starts on Monday and continues for 12 days.

North Korea opposes the exercise every year, but this event comes at a particularly tense time on the Korean peninsula.

Pyongyang has scrapped a series of peace agreements with Seoul over its decision to link bilateral aid to progress on denuclearisation.

The communist state also announced last month that it was preparing to launch a communications satellite. Some suspect this could be a cover for a test of the Taepodong 2 missile, which is capable of reaching as far as Alaska.

It is, analysts believe, keen to secure a position high on the agenda of the new US administration - and perhaps press for further concessions in return for abandoning its nuclear ambitions.

America's top envoy on North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, is currently visiting China, Japan and South Korea in a bid to breathe life into the stalled nuclear disarmament talks and reduce regional tensions.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/w ... 926149.stm

[Derek Ortt]

how long is this lame puppet show going to continue

take out the puppet master (also may end our recession/depression)

[gtalum]

I'm curious how starting an offensive war against NK would end our current recession. The last offensive war is one big part of why we're in one in the first place.

[Derek Ortt]

I'm curious how starting an offensive war against NK would end our current recession. The last offensive war is one big part of why we're in one in the first place.

Because of the same principle that worked in WW2. War with NK would require more of a total mobilization of our nation, which would mean increased defense production. They do have a real army, unlike Saddam's junk army. There would be a pressing need for additional aircraft, etc, in turn increasing our GDP

[Ed Mahmoud]

I'm curious how starting an offensive war against NK would end our current recession. The last offensive war is one big part of why we're in one in the first place.

Well, Clinton, then Bush, and I'm sure Obama, have/will dangle(d) big carrots and tiny sticks, and we've seen how well that has worked so far.

[Ed Mahmoud]

I'm curious how starting an offensive war against NK would end our current recession. The last offensive war is one big part of why we're in one in the first place.

The first 'stimulus' bill will cost far more than the entire Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined, so I'd like to see your reasoning that the Iraq war played a significant role in the current economic troubles.

I'd say the CRA signed by Carter, expanded by Clinton, and further promoted by Bush, that seemed to suggest people had a right to homes more expensive than they could afford, combined with an assumption by a large portion of the American public, and banks and investment houses, that home prices could only go up, which encouraged people to buy homes they couldn't afford, often with balloon mortgages on the assumption they could refinance on a more valuable home, is the root of the current difficulty.

People borrowed money on assets they assumed would always increase in value, and they didn't. A bubble.

[cycloneye]

I think this thread is about North Korea not about Iraq and also is not about the economic crisis.

[gtalum]

Sorry, you're right. I'll move my last post to the appropriate thread.

[cycloneye]

North Korea Warns about interception of Satellite

CNN) -- North Korea says it will retaliate if its "satellite" launch from its northeastern coast is intercepted, with the communist nation saying interference would "mean a war." The statement came as the North cut off communications with neighboring South Korea.

"Shooting our satellite for peaceful purposes will precisely mean a war," a spokesman for the North Korean army said in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

U.S. and South Korean officials have said that North Korea appears to be preparing to test-fire its long-range missile, the Taepodong-2, under the guise of launching a satellite into space. The missile is thought to have an intended range of about 4,200 miles (6,700 kilometers), which -- if true -- could give it the capability of striking Alaska or Hawaii.

North Korea's announcement comes as South Korea and the United States start their annual joint military drills on Monday.

"We have said several times that the U.S.-South Korean military exercises are annual defensive exercises," Kim Ho-nyun, spokesman for South Korea's Ministry of Unification, said at a news briefing Monday.

"We again urge North Korea to maintain the agreed stance of mutual respect and to stop its verbal attacks and actions that are raising tensions on the Korean peninsula," Kim said.

North Korea said the communications channel will remain closed until the 12-day joint exercise by South Korean and U.S. forces ends on March 20, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

Kim said his government is urging North Korea "to immediately retract this measure and to allow the smooth flow of personnel and communication."



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

[Nimbus]

China and North Korea are allies so I guess the US tension with China is on topic for this thread.

News this morning claims that the US Navy is escalating their presence in the South China sea.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/w ... 898650.ece

The US spy ship Impeccable had been monitoring activity near the Chinese submarine base at Hainan island listening for submarine activity.

The US debt to China is over a trillion dollars and the prospect of the US devaluing that debt probably does not please China.

It will take a while to read this.

Perhaps surveillance in the area was better tolerated when the climate of trust with the US was higher? Hope this isn't going to end up like the cold war Cuba event.

This is a confusing situation and I'm curious what the response from the rest of the world countries will be, that do not have a stake in the dispute.

[cycloneye]

North Korea is ready to launch the Taepodong-2 missile as it is at the launchpad.

WASHINGTON - North Korea has positioned a Taepodong-2 missile on the launchpad at its facility in Musudan in the east of the country, U.S. officials told NBC News on Wednesday.

Pyongyang has said it intends to use the missile to launch a satellite into space. The North Koreans issued an international notice that the launch may occur sometime between April 4 through the 8th.

According to the U.S. officials, while two stages of the missile can be seen, the top is covered with a shroud supported by a crane.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29875242/

[cycloneye]

U.S. warns NK not to launch Missile:

The director of national intelligence said Thursday that North Korea would risk international condemnation and possibly worse if it goes ahead with a planned rocket launch the U.S. considers a front for a ballistic missile program.

Intelligence chief Dennis Blair's comments, reported by Reuters, came as the State Department called North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons a "real and immediate" danger following Pyongyang's threat to restart its weapons-grade nuclear program.

North Korea was preparing to fire what the U.S. believes is a long-range ballistic missile, and warned the United Nations that it would reconstitute its nuclear weapons program if the world body took any action to punish it for the launch. Pyongyang claims the rocket carries a communications satellite.

A State Department spokesman said Thursday the declaration was against the interests of peace and that no nation thinks the launch is a good idea.

"This provocative type of action would not go unnoticed," said acting deputy State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid, without commenting on a possible U.S. response. "I'm not going to preview what action might occur. The place to pursue a reaction would be through the (United Nations) Security Council."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first10 ... d-missile/

[Ed Mahmoud]

I don't think stern letters of protest bother the regime in Pyongyang very much.

[Derek Ortt]

until we're willing to send 1,000 planes at pyongyang, this stuff will continue

[cycloneye]

Below is the area where the launching pad is located.



A missile like this one is what NK plans to launch.

[cycloneye]

Japan on maximun alert preparing its military.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan on Friday ordered its military to prepare to intercept any dangerous debris that might fall on its territory if a missile launch planned by Pyongyang goes wrong.

Pyongyang has said that between April 4-8 it will launch a satellite, but regional powers believe the real purpose is to test its longest-range missile, the Taepodong-2. It has already positioned what is believed to be the missile on a launch pad.

"I have issued an order ... to prepare to destroy any object that might fall on Japan as a result of an accident involving a flying object from North Korea," Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada told reporters after a meeting of Japan's Security Council.

North Korea this week put a long-range missile in place for the launch, which the United States has warned would violate U.N. sanctions imposed on Pyongyang for past weapons tests.

Top nuclear envoys from Japan, South Korea and the United States were to meet in Washington on Friday in a signal of growing concern over the possible launch, the first big test for U.S. President Barack Obama in dealing with the prickly North.

INTERCEPT DEBRIS

Japan's pacifist constitution does not allow it to intercept a missile if it is clearly heading elsewhere, but Tokyo would try to shoot down a missile aimed at Japanese territory and might try to intercept any debris that falls toward Japan.

Japan is expected to move ground-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptors to northern Japan, which lies under the rocket's trajectory, and deploy two Aegis-equipped destroyers with Standard Missile-3 interceptors off Japan's coast.

North Korea has given international agencies notice of the rocket's planned trajectory that would take it over Japan, dropping booster stages to its east and west.

The U.S. military has said it could with "high probability" intercept any North Korean missile heading for U.S. territory, if ordered to do so. Pyongyang says any attempt to shoot down the rocket would be an act of war.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090327/ts_ ... orea_north

[Cryomaniac]

GATES: U.S IS NOT PREPARED TO RESPOND TO NORTH KOREA

Doesn't look like the US will do anything. Gates doesn't speak for Japan though, and I can't see Japan not doing anything, since it's a more real threat to them.

[cycloneye]

As part of preparations for a launch from North Korea of a long range missile,the destroyer USS Chaffee is headed to the Sea of Japan as one of the ships going there.



Launch site with the long range missile at pad.



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