N. Korea Crisis - Updated as News come to hand

reply to post by Vitchilo



Thanks for the verification - think I was having a senior moment.

Tourist facilities - Yea lets all holiday on the new Chinese islands

Originally posted by Portugoal
...The beginning of WW3. Assasination of some Austrian guy, invasion of lowly Poland, and now bombing some houses. All tiny things that do little to change the international order, yet will go down in history as causing the most brutal wars.

This doesn't look good. S.Korea would be stupid for taking this and allowing N.Korea to get away with it(assuming it was actually their's).

edit on 23-11-2010 by Portugoal because: (no reason given)

SK puppet nation doesn't care about it's people.

China to lead development of N. Korea’s Rajin port
More Chinese investment in North Korea...

China`s Jilin province also agreed with the North to build the four-lane road and bridges by 2012. The construction is in the design phase and Jilin will foot up to 250 million yuan (37.5 million U.S. dollars).

“Another plan being actively considered is the building of a closed road reserved for China by installing iron fences on both sides of the road,” the source said.

Closed road reserved for China uh? Wouldn't that be useful for troops/tanks movements if war were to break out? Ah yes...

N. Korea threatens nuclear war amid looming regional diplomacy

North Korea warned Friday that another war with South Korea would involve nuclear arms and spread beyond the peninsula, upping the ante as a prominent U.S. politician and a top U.S. nuclear envoy each visited Pyongyang and Seoul to defuse tension.

Typical North Korean threats. What they could do is smuggle a dirty bomb in Seoul and threaten to blow it up if their conditions are not met...

What do you think will happen tomorrow, Vitchilo? Could tit-for-tat escallate to a point where carrots just won't cut it?

N.Korea vows to strike back if South holds island drill

North Korea's military threatened Friday to strike back if South Korea goes ahead with an imminent live-fire drill on a border island which the communist state shelled last month.

The North "will deal the second and third unpredictable self-defensive blow" to protect its territorial waters if the South holds the one-day drill scheduled between Saturday and Tuesday, it said.

"It will be deadlier than what was made on November 23 in terms of the powerfulness and sphere of the strike," according to the military statement carried by the English-language service of the North's official news agency.

Christmas war from that book someone mentioned becoming true!

Members of the US-led United Nations Command are scheduled to observe the drill and about 20 US soldiers will play a supporting role.
But a top US general Thursday voiced concern over a possible "chain reaction".
General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the US 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."

Seoul military spokesmen had no immediate comment on whether the drill would go ahead despite the latest warning.
The South's defence ministry, in a statement, suggested it would be held.

"Our military's stance is that we do not need to react to every single threat and unreasonable statement," it said.
The ministry said it had given a warning to shipping about the drill and made its plans for the exercise public.
Yeonpyeong is just south of the Yellow Sea border drawn by United Nations forces after the war, which the North refuses to recognise. It claims the seas around the island as its own maritime territory.

A firing drill into the Yellow Sea by South Korean marines based on the island on November 23 was answered by the North's deadly bombardment.

"The waters off Yeonpyoong island, the target of their shelling, are the inviolable territorial waters of the DPRK (North Korea)," the North's statement said.
In an earlier message, Pyongyang's official website Uriminzokkiri warned that another war with South Korea would involve nuclear weapons.

"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.

you're all posting to the rhythm of the war drums...

delete

Is it just me or does this start to look alot as if it might actually escalate this time?

Bigtime?

NK has had 2 nukes tested so far, last test was an estimated 20 KT blast, 20 times stronger then their first. If it comes down to nukes... does it really matter if the blast is 20KT from a NK bomb dropping somewhere or if it's 100/500KT dropped by the US or Russia? End result is still the same..

Let's hope it's just barking again this time, but events in that region as of late don't make it look like it'll be cooling down anytime soon there, rather the opposite.

it's like a ping pong effect, when you do this i do this. And over and over again. We will see what come's from it??? I think this will go on for another 50 years!

#ROK Defense Ministry: Live-fire drill on Yeonpyeong will go ahead despite #DPRK threats. #Koreas about 9 hours ago via TweetDeck

Now at least limited firefight is 90%+ sure.

China responds to Japan's new defense guidelines, says it poses no threat to anybody


N Korea vows 'deadlier' retaliation if S. Korea conducts planned live-fire drills
Deadlier... they could launch a short range missile armed with chemical weapons at a small South Korean town. Or shell others islands that are not part of the drill.

N. Korea slams S. Korea over propaganda leaflets as activists vow to send more
Of course. Since this really put their regime in danger.

China sticks to call for dialogue to resolve tensions over N. Korea: official
Well yeah. Putting the North into a corner ain't good.

Myanmar officials talked of 'going nuclear': US cable
Gee another Chinese ally going nuclear... what a coincidence.

Russia warns S. Korea, U.S. over live-firing drill
Russia wants stability, not war.

And a question to you all... if North Korea, which was stronger in all areas than South Korea back in the 60s and 70s and had the support of China and the Soviet Union didn't make its move...why are they branded as "crazies who can invade the South at any moment" when they clearly don't have the advantage? If they really wanted nuclear weapons they would have developed them long ago, they could have easily with the help of the Soviet Union and China.

North Korea is making those threats and building nukes because they are afraid because they know they don't have the capabilities to defend themselves if the US-ROK attack them full force. US-ROK making threats like that is really bad, especially when the SKorean president is talking about ``reunification``... that scares the NKorean regime into making bold moves which unintentionally could create full scale war.

If they want to stop this whole thing, they need to cancel the drill, Obama needs to go there and follow China's advise of talks... and not just nuclear talks. They need to do a peace treaty or at least a treaty of non-aggression.

But of course that won't happen since it's too costly politically, which is a shame since people will end up dying even if it's a limited skirmish.

I think nothing will happen...America's economy...western economy is going to hell in a handbasket, so you need to distract the ppl with this nonsense.

So yesterday I was still reading the book about North Korea...

And something interesting came up.

Moreover, even a benign interpretation of the North's deployments as defensively intended does not mitigate preemptive or preventive incentives to act. On the contrary, as demonstrated in a Korean war gaming scenario on ABC's Nightline with Ted Koppel, inferior forces deployed offensively (but for defensive reasons) are extremely prone to ``use them or lose them`` motivations if conflict appears imminent.

And who was on that show as expert? General James Clapper, Director of DIA 1991-94.... and what is he doing now? He's director of national intelligence nominated by Obama in early august.

Now if that guy is doing his job, he's saying exactly that to Obama. That if the ROK-US pushes too far with the drills/counter air strikes and NKorea thinks that conflict is imminent, they could think ``use them or lose them`` and full war will break out.

He better do his freaking job and tell Obama this.

Why should the US use kid gloves when dealing with communist dictators? It is time to put them on the table and prove we still have a pair. This tone of apeasement is appalling.

reply to post by onthedownlow


This ain't appeasement. Appeasement is when the other guy is ABLE to carry out expansion. North Korea ain't able to do that. They'll lose for sure in a war.

What you want to do, is SAVE A DOZEN, maybe A MILLION people from dying.

When it ain't you that is on the line, it's easy to say ``let's get this thing started``.

Russia urges South Korea to scrap planned firing drill

Russia summoned the US and South Korean ambassadors Friday to express "deep concern" about a live-fire drill planned by Seoul amid mounting tensions with North Korea, the foreign ministry said.

"We strongly call on South Korea to refrain from holding the planned artillery firing in order to prevent a further escalation of tensions on the Korean peninsula," the foreign ministry statement said in a statement.

Basically Russia saying to the US and South Korea : STOP YOUR BS.

And don't you forget that US TROOPS will be on the island this time. If US troops are killed you can bet your bottom dollar that republicans will call for war and maybe even pass a draft.

North Korea threatens to strike South Korea if they do the Live drills,South Korea warns North Korea a strike would mean all out war.

if all the talk about TPTB is really true, then war will happen, its building up for this moment, if peace prevails then i think its total BS

UPDATE FROM RICHARDSON :

US governor urges 'extreme restraint' by N.Korea

US troubleshooter Bill Richardson said Friday he urged North Korean officials on a visit to Pyongyang to exercise "extreme restraint" with South Korea and said he made "a little headway."

The New Mexico governor, a veteran negotiator with the communist state, said he asked North Korea to let the South go ahead with a planned exercise after Pyongyang threatened to strike back with deadly firepower.

"I'm urging them extreme restraint," Richardson told CNN, saying he was "very, very strong with the North Korean foreign ministry officials" during a dinner on Friday.

"I think I made a little headway," Richardson said. "My sense from the North Koreans is that they are trying to find ways to tamp things down."

Hopefully this is enough for calming things down.

Richardson said he suggested ways to calm the situation, including potentially arranging talks between North and South Korea or working toward the resumption of long-stalled denuclearization talks.

"Let's cool things down. No response -- Let the exercises take place," Richardson said of his message.

"But on all sides I'm urging restraint," Richardson said, describing a warning on Thursday by a senior US general, James Cartwright, as "very encouraging."

China and Russia

Both China and Russia have their strategic interests in North Korea, with which each shares a border. But Russia set itself apart from China when it severely rebuked North Korea for its recent artillery attack on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong.

If there is any country that can teach a lesson to Pyongyang, it definitely is China. But what did China do each time its wayward communist ally took a major step toward nuclear armament? All it did was to agree reluctantly to give Pyongyang a slap on the wrist, but not more, at the U.N. Security Council.

China, allegedly fearful of a massive influx of refugees in the event of an North Korean implosion, says it has little leverage on its communist ally. But everybody knows it is capable of making or breaking Kim Jong-il’s dynasty. After all, China is the main trading partner and aid provider for the rogue state which has turned itself into an international pariah by counterfeiting U.S. banknotes and smuggling contraband as well as developing nuclear weapons.

Yeah but if they ``break`` the North Korean regime... war will be almost a certainty on the peninsula.

Top headlines in major S. Korean newspapers

-- N. Korea vows second, third attack if S. Korea pursues drill off Yeonpyeong (Donga llbo)
-- N. Korea says it will deal unpredictable blow in event of live-fire drills (Segye Times)
-- S. Korea to proceed with drill, N. Korea warns of attack, U.S. vows counter-strike (Seoul Shinmun)
-- N. Korea warns of second, third strike if S. Korea proceeds with live-fire drills off Yeonpyeong (JoongAng Ilbo)
-- N. Korea threatens unpredictable strike, while U.S. warns of chain reaction (Chosun Ilbo)
-- N. Korea vows to deal self-defensive blow if Yeonpyeong drill is pursued (Hankyoreh)
-- N. Korea says it will strike back in event of live-fire drills off Yeonpyeong (Hankook Ilbo)

Maybe now that Little Kim have lots of front page news with probably his picture on top of every newspaper in Korea he'll calm down? He loves the attention after all, he's like Paris Hilton leaking her sex tape for publicity.

More news...

China urges S. Korea to refrain from planned live-fire drill off border island: source
So now Russia and China urging South Korea/US to stop that drill...

South Korea's live-fire drill that was expected as early as this weekend off a front-line island will likely be moved back a day or two because of bad weather
Good. More time to cancel it/talk/calm down...

DPRK radio broadcast in English just now vows if #ROK does live-fire exercise on Yeonpyeong #DPRK defend its "sacred territorial waters." 27 minutes ago via TweetDeck

# Broadcast repeats earlier Korean language statement vowing another strike on #ROK soil if artillery fired into Yellow Sea from Yeonpyeong. 25 minutes ago via TweetDeck

NM Gov. Richardson, in Pyonygyang, to CNN today: "This is a tinderbox." #DPRK #Koreas 17 minutes ago via TweetDeck

reply to post by Vitchilo


Here we go . . . I am sure the North Koreans will display this as a victory. I believe the south has lost its balls and is backing down; seems like a little bad weather would be ideal training conditions, especially if it is seasonal weather.