North Korea (Superthread)

[57Chevy]

S.Korea starts exercise, Obama urges China to curb N.Korea
Article Link

SEOUL - South Korea's military began a major live-fire exercise Monday amid high tensions sparked by North Korea's deadly bombardment last month, as Washington pressed Beijing to curb its unruly ally Pyongyang.

The South, smarting over the unprecedented shelling of a civilian area, dismissed claims by the North that the five-day drill could spark war.

The land, sea and air firing exercise follows last week's major show of naval strength by Seoul and its close ally Washington, designed to deter Pyongyang from future attacks.

U.S. President Barack Obama in a telephone call late Sunday urged his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao to send "a clear message" to the North that its shelling of South Korean territory and other provocations must end.

Obama urged China to work with the United States and other countries "to send a clear message to North Korea that its provocations are unacceptable", a White House statement said.

article continues, read more at link
                                (Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act)

 

[midget-boyd91]

The CBC.... gotta love how accurate they are when it comes to fact checking.  :

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/12/06/war-crimes-korea.html

The International Criminal Court announced Monday it will investigate North Korea for possible war crimes for its role in the shelling and for the sinking of a South Korean submarine in March.

Sure, it may have eventually become a submarine... but when it was hit, it wasn't.

This isn't even the first or second or even third time I've seen this same mistake made...

 

[57Chevy]

U.S., S.Korea military chiefs discuss N.Korea threat
article link

SEOUL - U.S. and South Korean military chiefs started talks Wednesday on ways to deter further attacks by North Korea after its deadly bombardment of a South Korean island.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), and his counterpart General Han Min-Koo were also expected to discuss the North's likely motives in shelling the border island, said a spokesman for Seoul's JCS.

They would talk about ways to improve defence co-operation and are likely to discuss more joint exercises off the Korean peninsula, the spokesman told AFP.

The two countries' navies last week staged their biggest-ever joint exercise as a warning to the North, after its November 23 attack killed two civilians and two marines, wrecked homes and threw the region into crisis.

This week the South's military is holding live-fire drills off its coast, ignoring the North's warnings that it could spark a war.

Mullen, in comments to reporters aboard his plane, said the two sides would review planned exercises and discuss appropriate responses to any future attacks by the North.


The U.S. military chief, quoted by The Wall Street Journal, said future exercises must improve preparedness while not fuelling tensions.

"We all need to be mindful of the overall situation as we look at what we would call normal kinds of exercises, or even routine, because normalcy and routine are not what they used to be," Mullen said.

The South's military was widely criticized for a perceived weak response to last month's attack and the defence minister stepped down.

His successor Kim Kwan-Jin, who will meet Mullen later, has vowed next time to use the South's air power to hit the North's artillery batteries.

The United States stations some 28,500 troops in the country, and assumes command of both countries' militaries in case of war. The South currently has an agreement to consult U.S. forces before using its own jet fighters in combat.

"The two sides are likely (Wednesday) to discuss the issue of approving an air raid when North Korea attacks our territory," a Seoul military source told Yonhap news agency Tuesday.

"Part of our discussion is to keep any actions limited to those that would not escalate, because no one wants this to break out into conflict right now," Mullen said on his plane.

"That said, the South Koreans have every right to defend their country and their people."

The United States is pressing China to use its economic and political influence to restrain its ally North Korea.

But the U.S. and its own allies have rejected a Chinese call for emergency talks about the crisis among envoys to six-party nuclear disarmament talks, including the North.

Mullen said he believed China was a "big part of the solution-set here." He said because Beijing's economy is dependent on stability, he hoped it would pressure Pyongyang to change its behaviour.

                      (Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act)

 

[George Wallace]

Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act.



China delegation visits North Korea, expresses support for Kim Jong Il


The US was hoping that China, the only country with diplomatic influence over North Korea, would rebuke the country for shelling South Korea last month. But China appears intent on maintaining support for Kim Jong Il.


December 9, 2010
By Tom A. Peter, Correspondent
The Christian Science Monitor

LINK

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il met with high-level Chinese officials on Thursday in North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, where China reaffirmed its relationship with its fellow communist state and maintained a neutral stance on North Korea's attack on South Korean forces last month.

North Korea, which hasn't explained why it shelled the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula further by saying that the island is surrounded by North Korea-controlled waters. The internationally determined border is several miles to the north of the island, reports The Wall Street Journal.

China's stance has irked many American leaders and their allies who hoped that China, North Korea’s only ally, would apply pressure on Mr. Kim to stop his hawkish policies, reports BeijingNews.net.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen was among the loudest critics, sharply condemning China for its apparent unconditional support of North Korea. He had hoped that Chinese officials would express public disapproval of the North's Nov. 23 artillery strike. The shelling was the most violent exchange since the Korean War ended in 1953.

“The Chinese have enormous influence over the North, influence that no other nation on Earth enjoys,” Mullen was quoted as saying in an article in the Los Angeles Times.  “And yet, despite a shared interest in reducing tensions, they appear unwilling to use it…. Even tacit approval of Pyongyang's brazenness leaves all their neighbors asking, ‘What will be next?’”

China has defended its support of the North, calling Mullen’s remarks an “accusation,” reports the BBC. Jiang Yu, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry also criticized Mullen asking what exactly he had done to create “peace and stability in the region.”

Next week a team of US diplomats will travel to China to discuss the shelling incident and the subsequent tensions. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, who will lead the delegation, has tried to move the focus away from the friction between US and China, saying leaders in Beijing can play a “critical role” in defusing the situation. He added that the US and China have a common interest in finding a peaceful resolution to this situation, reports Al Jazeera.

President Obama spoke with Chinese President Hu Jintao over the phone on Monday. The two discussed North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and the worsened security situation on the peninsula following the shelling. The US has also pledged to increase joint training exercises with South Korean forces, reports The New York Times.

In an editorial for The Korea Times, Zhu Feng, deputy director of the Center for International and Strategic Studies at Peking University, writes that the latest WikiLeaks cables reveal that China would be willing to accept the reunification of Korea in favor of the South but for the American military presence. He speculates that China’s continued support of North Korea is an attempt to keep the communist state as a buffer between it and US forces currently stationed on the peninsula.

“Thus China does what it must, shoring up the Kim family dynasty to prevent Korea from reunifying on South Korean terms. Indeed, the controversy in Chinese eyes is not really about Korean reunification ― few in Beijing speculate that the endgame will be otherwise ― but to what extent reunification can be achieved without damaging China’s security concerns,” writes Mr. Feng.

IN PICTURES - Cult of Personality: Inside North Korea

Related stories

What next for North Korea's nukes?

US envoy arrives in Seoul amid 'stunning' report on new North Korea nuclear facility

Kim Jong-il's oldest son reveals ruling family fissure

 

[57Chevy]

Ex-U.S. intel chief foresees South Korea military action
article link

WASHINGTON , Dec 12, 2010 (AFP) - The former chief of U.S. intelligence warned Sunday that South Korea has lost its patience with provocations by North Korea and "will be taking military action."

Retired admiral Dennis Blair, who was director of national intelligence until May, said he did not think that hostilities would escalate into a larger war with artillery attacks on Seoul because North Korea knows it would lose.

"So I don’t think a war is going to start but I think there is going to be a military confrontation at lower levels rather than simply accepting these, this North Korean aggression, and going and negotiating," he said on CNN’s State of the Union.

Blair said the North had gone beyond its usual pattern of brinkmanship with an artillery barrage on a South Korean island that killed four people November 23, and the sinking in May of a South Korean warship, which killed 46 sailors.

"So South Korea is beginning to lose patience with the North, which there was a great deal of patience," said Blair, who just returned from South Korea.

Asked what that meant, the retired admiral said, "It means they will be taking military action against North Korea."

His comments came as South Korea was preparing to go ahead with live fire drills off its coasts, but not near the contested maritime border with the North in the Yellow Sea.

North Korea’s artillery attack on the island of Yeonpyeong was the first on a civilian area since the end of the Korean war in 1953.

Amid a flurry of diplomatic attempts to defuse regional tension, Beijing has called for an emergency meeting between chief delegates to long-stalled six-party talks on the North’s nuclear disarmament.

The North’s leader Kim Jong-Il told Dao Bingguo, a visiting senior Beijing official, that Pyongyang was willing to rejoin the talks if other neighbors also agree to come forward, Yonhap news agency reported, citing a senior diplomatic source in Seoul.

But Blair suggested that South Korean leaders would continue to take a tough line against Pyongyang, and that such an approach would have wide popular support.

"In fact, a South Korean government who does not react would not be able to survive there," he said.

He said China had less influence on North Korea than some believe because of its fear of instability on its border, which the North "can sort of turn on any time they want."

"That being said, China’s policy is not commensurate with the overall stature and growth of China," he said. "They still have a policy of the weak, which is, ’Don’t want anything to happen in North Korea, no instability there. Let’s just keep things divided, a divided peninsula.’"

Instead, China should talk with the United States and South Korea about the future of Korea, he said, saying a united peninsula free of nuclear weapons and that did not threaten China was possible.

Blair also suggested in the interview that the administration of President Barack Obama had been distracted by its focus on the Middle East.

"And I think these events in East Asia have made us realize that there are big United States interests out there and we are going to have to provide steady leadership in more than one region of the world," he said.

                      (Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act)

 

[Nemo888]

Started reading, Nothing to Envy, Ordinary Lives in North Korea. It's a good read so far and may be one to pick up if you are one of the Peak Oil doomers. In the 80's when the Soviet Union fell all the oil was shut off to North Korea and Cuba. DPRK has experienced the fallout from a peak oil experience for over 25 years. The stories of a kindergarten teacher watching her students starve and die off while filling their heads with propaganda are very moving. It is so like Orwell's 1984. Ironically since 1984 it actually got worse than Oceania ever was in the book.

 

[57Chevy]

N.Korea says war with South would go nuclear
article link

SEOUL - North Korea warned that another war with South Korea would involve nuclear weapons, as diplomatic efforts continued Friday to ease high tensions over its atomic ambitions and deadly artillery attack.

Uriminzokkiri, the official website of the communist state, said in a commentary seen Friday that war on the Korean peninsula is only a matter of time.

"Because of the South Koreans' reckless war policies, it is not about war or peace on the Korean peninsula but when the war will break out," the website said.

"If war breaks out, it will lead to nuclear warfare and not be limited to the Korean peninsula," it said in a posting dated Thursday.

The North frequently claims nuclear war is imminent. But military tensions have risen sharply since it bombarded South Korea's Yeonpyeong border island on November 23, killing two marines and two civilians.

Pyongyang's disclosure last month of an apparently working uranium enrichment plant — a potential new source of bomb-making material — also heightened regional security fears.

In a separate commentary, the North's ruling communist party newspaper Rodong Sinmun Friday described the peninsula as the world's most dangerous place.

It reiterated calls for a formal peace treaty with Washington and the withdrawal of 28,500 U.S. troops from South Korea.

"The Korean peninsula remains a region fraught with the greatest danger of war in the world," the paper said. "This is entirely attributable to the U.S. pursuance of the policy of aggression against the DPRK (North Korea)."

Prominent U.S. politician Bill Richardson, a veteran troubleshooter with North Korea, is paying a private visit to Pyongyang to try to ease tensions.

And the U.S. envoy to stalled six-party talks on the North's nuclear disarmament, Sung Kim, held talks in Seoul Friday with his South Korean counterpart Wi Sung-Lac.

In Beijing a U.S. delegation led by Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg wrapped up three days of discussions on the Korean peninsula situation.

Washington's embassy said the two sides had "useful conversations concerning shared interests in peace and stability in northeast Asia" as well as "the importance of realizing the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula".

The United States, China, the two Koreas, Japan and Russia are members of the denuclearization forum which the North abandoned in April 2009, a month before its second atomic weapons test.

Host China along with Russia is trying to revive the forum to ease the crisis, and the North says it is willing to talk. But the United States, South Korea and Japan say the North must first mend ties with the South and show genuine seriousness about abandoning its nuclear drive.

The U.S. and South Korea have staged a major naval show of strength to deter the North, and the South is preparing to hold a one-day live-fire artillery drill on Yeonpyeong sometime between Saturday and Tuesday.

A similar firing drill into the Yellow Sea on November 23 was answered by the North's deadly bombardment of villages on the island.

The South's military said its guns would be aimed away from the North as usual but it would respond strongly if provoked.

Members of the U.S.-led United Nations Command will observe the exercise, and about 20 U.S. soldiers will play a supporting role.

But a top U.S. general Thursday voiced concern over a possible "chain reaction".

General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the drill was being held on a "well-established and well-used" range in a transparent way, but could draw a North Korean reaction.

"What we worry about obviously is . . . if North Korea were to react to that in a negative way and fire back at those firing positions on the islands, that would start potentially a chain reaction," Cartwright told reporters.

"What you don't want to have happen out of that is for . . . us to lose control of the escalation."

Amid the continuing tensions, Japan said it would strengthen missile defences against the threat from North Korea. Its major strategic review announced Friday describes the North as an "urgent, grave factor for instability".


                      (Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act)

 

[57Chevy]

Emergency UN Security Council meeting on Korean tension expected
article link

UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council will probably convene an emergency session on Saturday on the escalating tension between North and South Korea, council diplomats said.

"We will very likely have a meeting this afternoon," a diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Diplomats said the meeting was tentatively scheduled for 3 p.m., although it could change.

The meeting was called at the request of Russia, an envoy said. It was unclear what the 15-member council planned to do. Diplomats said they hoped to issue some kind of statement to help ease the tension in the region.

Bad weather on Saturday appeared likely to delay a live-fire drill by South Korean marines that has drawn North Korean threats of another military attack.

Recent attempts by the Security Council to agree anything on North Korea have run into difficulties because of disputes between China on one side and the United States, Britain and France on the other.

Russia has also been supporting the Chinese position that the council should avoid harsh rebukes of Pyongyang. The five powers are the veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council.

                          (Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act)

 

[57Chevy]

UN council struggles to overcome split on N.Korea
article link

The U.N. Security Council met in emergency session Sunday to try to cool tensions on the Korean Peninsula, but the five big powers were split on whether to publicly blame North Korea for the crisis.

Pyongyang raised an alert for artillery units along its west coast in what appeared to be its latest move in a growing crisis between the two Koreas, Yonhap news agency said, quoting a South Korean government source. The report was issued ahead of a planned live-fire drill by South Korea.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry offered no immediate comment on the Yonhap report. Bad weather has so far delayed the planned firing drill at a disputed border that has enraged Pyongyang.

Both sides have said they will use military means to defend what they say is their territory off the west coast, raising international concern that the standoff could quickly spiral out of control.

The 15 Security Council members were meeting behind closed doors to try to agree on a statement that Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said he hoped would send a ”restraining signal” to both the North and the South.

article continues....
                        (Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act)

*color

 

[a_majoor]

Deconstructing the issues and possible solutions:

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/turning-the-tables-on-north-korea/?singlepage=true

Turning the Tables on North Korea
A proper understanding of the regime’s behavior does offer a way to deter Kim Jong-Il.
December 14, 2010 - by Ryan Mauro

The conflict with North Korea is a Catch-22. On the one hand, ignoring the regime’s provocations guarantees they will continue and will escalate. On the other, the West does not want to risk war and destabilization makes it more likely that corrupt officials will sell expertise, weapons, and even WMDs to high-paying customers. At the moment, there is no viable opposition group that can replace the regime. The West seems stuck, but a proper understanding of the regime’s behavior does offer a way to deter Kim Jong-Il and Kim Jong-Un, his youngest son and successor.

The artillery barrage was part of a methodical escalation. Prior to the attack, Kim Jong-Il and his son met with the military officials in charge of the area from which the artillery would be fired. Shortly before this, the regime showed off a new uranium enrichment site to an American nuclear expert and told him that 2,000 centrifuges had been installed. The North Koreans also shot at a South Korean border post on October 29 and began constructing a lightwater reactor.

These provocations coincide with a purge of the military and the governing political party. Defectors say that older officers are being replaced as it is unlikely that the older leaders will follow a 26-year old with no military experience and no qualifications to lead them beyond his last name. About 1,000 officials in the party have been arrested and 20 to 30 executed to stifle any dissent or potential internal challenges. The simultaneous provocations and purge indicate the two are aimed at a common objective: securing the rise of Kim Jong-Un.

Knowing this, it appears the U.S. has two broad options: Ignore North Korea, denying the regime the tension it seeks, or react and potentially give the regime what it wants. The problem with the first option is that if Kim Jong-Il and his son feel a crisis is necessary for their survival, they will keep upping the ante until they get it. Dismissing them just guarantees greater provocations. That leaves the second option of retaliating, but this must be done in such a way that it discourages future aggression. The key is to cause a backlash among the military he’s trying to secure his hand over. If the provocations are done for stability, then we must make them result in instability. If their goal is to unite the regime, then division is what must happen.

South Korea, Japan, and the U.S. must build a Clintonesque “war room” that can immediately tell the truth about any provocation to the North Korean people and military, especially the soldiers that take part in any clash. Half of the North Korean population is now consuming foreign news media and an underground network exists to receive and deliver information. The personality cult that has sustained the government has, for the first time in its history, begun falling apart. If they hear a different story about how a clash happened than the one told by regime outlets, their new-found cynicism will cause them to consider it.

This political counterattack must be coupled with limited but impressive retaliation that hurts the military and unmistakably demonstrates the West’s military superiority. If handled properly, this embarrassment for the regime will undermine the North Korean forces’ confidence, shake the population’s faith in the military’s strength, and, most importantly, cause both the people and the military to question the wisdom of Kim Jong-Il and his son. The military won’t take kindly to paying the cost for a regime that has led them to depravity, especially if the leader is in his mid-20s and living lavishly.

Critics of this dual political-military approach will either argue that it is too risky or too weak; that the North Korean leadership is so evil and deranged that nothing short of death will stop them from aggressively acting out. Recent history shows that the regime is fearful of internal dissent, so much so that it is willing to modify its behavior to avoid it. When the public unprecedentedly voiced their outrage at a currency replacement plan in December 2009, the regime backpedaled and, amazingly, apologized. Kim Jong-Il executed an official for the blunder afterwards.

The regime’s retreat in the face of public opposition bears a lesson for the future. The regime will modify its behavior in response to significant internal opposition. If military aggression results in similar dissent instead of a closing of the ranks, then a similar response may occur. These short-term reactions to North Korea’s provocations can serve as a model for a long-term strategy of amplifying the dissent that intimidates the regime into containing itself.

There are risks that come with striking back at North Korea in these ways, but the risks are lower and more manageable than doing nothing. If we want to influence the regime’s behavior, we need to alter its perception of what brings it stability.

Ryan Mauro is the founder of WorldThreats.com, national security advisor to the Christian Action Network, and an intelligence analyst with the Asymmetrical Warfare and Intelligence Center (AWIC). He can be contacted at TDCAnalyst@aol.com.

 

[Ridgeline]

Both sides have said they will use military means to defend what they say is their territory off the west coast, raising international concern that the standoff could quickly spiral out of control.

Sounds like Christmas might actually be interesting this year

 

[GAP]

Defectors say that older officers are being replaced as it is unlikely that the older leaders will follow a 26-year old with no military experience and no qualifications to lead them beyond his last name. About 1,000 officials in the party have been arrested and 20 to 30 executed to stifle any dissent or potential internal challenges. The simultaneous provocations and purge indicate the two are aimed at a common objective: securing the rise of Kim Jong-Un.

This does not bode well. There must be fierce dissension within the military hierarchy.

 

[Ridgeline]

This does not bode well. There must be fierce dissension within the military hierarchy.

Sounds good for us! Lets hope it turns out to be as bad as the Soviet Purge.  Set them back a few years just at the start of a conflict

 

[blacktriangle]

Sounds good for us! Lets hope it turns out to be as bad as the Soviet Purge.  Set them back a few years just at the start of a conflict

Or fills their ranks with hot headed young officers itching for a fight...

I personally have no interest in visiting the Korean Peninsula.

;D

 

[Ridgeline]

That wouldn't be so bad .... might as well get the war over with, instead of tip toeing around the issue.  There WILL be a continuance of open warfare in Korea, if it's tomorrow or years from now.

 

[wannabe SF member]

That wouldn't be so bad .... might as well get the war over with, instead of tip toeing around the issue.  There WILL be a continuance of open warfare in Korea, if it's tomorrow or years from now.

I'd much rather see North Korea go with a whimper than with a bang.

 

[Ridgeline]

I'd much rather see North Korea go with a whimper than with a bang.

True, I think everyone would like that; however I do not think North Korea will go out like that.  The Problem in Korea cannot be settled without further military action.  50+ years of peace talks have not done anything, it has only made the North even more radical and isolated.  Though I think there will be continued warfare lets hope it's in 75 years from now when were not here to deal with it.

 

[57Chevy]

IMO Koreas on verge of war as both sides are provocative bullies trying one the other.
            ____________________________________________________________________

Ignoring North Korean threats, South holds live-fire exercise
article link
BEIJING — South Korea's government remained on emergency alert Monday night for possible retaliation after staging more than an hour of live artillery exercises on the island that North Korea shelled last month.

The artillery fire took place on Yeonpyeong Island, some seven miles off North Korea's coastline, and lasted about 90 minutes, adding to tensions on the Korean Peninsula, which are widely seen as being at their worst in decades.

North Korea released an official statement Monday evening that said it wouldn't respond, but Pyongyang's history of erratic behavior made it impossible to evaluate how long that position would last. As recently as Saturday, North Korea had threatened "decisive and merciless punishment" should the South hold the drills.

article continues at link....

                      (Reproduced under the Fair Dealings provisions of the Copyright Act)

 

[Ridgeline]

North Korea did not retaliate as threatened Monday as well as the North agreed to allow U.N. monitors access to its uranium-enrichment facility ... geeze there like my wife, they can't make up there mind ... one day they wanna kill everyone and the next there best friends

 

[Dissident]

A part of me doesn't want any more wars, the other just wants to see NK burn.