North Korea Watch 2013-2019

Originally posted by Gazrok
reply to post by FraternitasSaturni

 

Yep, and it basically was the last card they played.... It was about the last "action" they could do...since then, all words, pretty much, though they did come up with that rather lame "move and raise the missiles" action as an original addition to their playbook. Still, did nothing for them except generate some more laughs.

Since then, war has been imminent, and that has been said from BOTH sides. Each is wanting the other to hit first, but both realize that the one who does, will lose in the court of international opinion. It's a stalemate.

edit on 29-4-2013 by Gazrok because: (no reason given)

Agreed.

Now it's all up to: Who screws up first. Who will accidently fire something, shoot something down, or various other ways it can start, all purely through a "oh crap" action.

Some times the news is comic strip english.yonhapnews.co.kr... from the link

2013/04/30 01:46 KST
text size plustext size minusprintsend twittersend facebooksend msn
For N. Korea, news agency is another main weapon
By Lee Chi-dong
WASHINGTON, April 29 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has effectively used its state news agency as a key weapon in its message war with South Korea and the United States amid heightened military tensions on the peninsula, the Washington Post said Monday.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), estimated to have more than 2,000 employees, is at the forefront of Pyongyang's sophisticated propaganda operation, it pointed out.

well gee you think?? wounder if they will deem KCNA a WMD?Weapon of Mass Dribble here is an other view of DPRK form Park also form the same link

2013/04/29 17:24 KST
text size plustext size minusprintsend twittersend facebooksend msn
(LEAD) Park slams N. Korea as 'too unpredictable'
SEOUL, April 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Monday lashed out at North Korea, calling it "too unpredictable" over its unilateral suspension of a jointly run factory complex, saying there is nothing Pyongyang can achieve unless it becomes responsible about its promises.

Park made the remark during a meeting with two U.S. lawmakers -- Rep. Steve Chabot, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, and Rep. Eni Faleomavaega, a Democrat from American Samoa -- calling on the international community to consistently urge Pyongyang to make the right decision.

The remark came after the last-remaining South Koreans have been pulling out of the complex in the North's border city of Kaesong under a government order. The South's government made the decision after North Korea turned down its offer to resolve the issue through dialogue.

On Saturday, 126 people came back to the South with the remaining 50 workers scheduled to return Monday afternoon, leaving no South Koreans at the complex for the first time since the zone went into operation in late 2004 as a prominent symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation.

"If companies are to make investments and do business activities, agreements should be kept faithfully and (companies) should not be worried under any circumstances. But in a situation where (agreements) evaporate like bubbles overnight, no country, including South Korea, can make investments. This is too unpredictable a place," Park said, according to her spokeswoman Kim Haing.

"How can this happen?," she said, speaking of scenes of South Koreans leaving Kaesong in cars loaded heavily with products, even on their roofs and hoods. "Unless North Korea shows it is a responsible member of the international community, I think it can't realize economic development or any other things," she said.

Chabot said that he absolutely supports Park's stance on the Kaesong issue.

During a meeting with senior secretaries earlier in the day, Park said the government should do whatever it can to provide substantial support for South Korean companies and workers suffering from Kaesong's suspension.

Kaesong's operations came to a halt earlier this month as North Korea withdrew all of its 53,000 workers from the 123 South Korean factories in the zone. Pyongyang has also barred South Koreans, parts and supplies from entering the complex while allowing only those already there to return to the South.

Kaesong's suspension was one of a string of steps that Pyongyang has taken in anger over American-involved annual military exercises in the South and a new U.N. sanctions resolution adopted after its third nuclear test in February.



[email protected]
(END)

Unpredictable well Un is the foist thing to think of, as if this was a surprise... not.

Park's stance: "daddy daddy you see what he did hm hm you see it you see it hm hm you see it? waaaa waaa you see it?"

Dont like Un but I sure dont like Park either...

reply to post by bekod


That is a very cool picture. I hadn't seen that large of a group all at the same time. Thanks for that!

here are tonight's head lines english.yonhapnews.co.kr... it is long so a short intro

2013/04/30 10:44 KST
text size plustext size minusprintsend twittersend facebooksend msn
N. Korea urges U.S. action to end nuclear standoff
SEOUL, April 30 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Tuesday urged the United States to take steps to fundamentally end the nuclear standoff on the Korean Peninsula.

The Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, said in a commentary that Washington is to blame for the current crisis and as such it must make the first move to resolve the impasse.

Speculations that Pyongyang wants to use its nuclear capability as a bargaining chip in negotiations are based on ignorance of the true intent of the country, it added.

well it seems DPRK and Un want nukes , and there is no changing their mind next up China is giving up on Un and the DPRK but they still need some convincing


english.yonhapnews.co.kr... an other short intro

2013/04/30 11:00 KST
text size plustext size minusprintsend twittersend facebooksend msn
Ex-U.S. diplomat sees China's 'apparent realignment' on N. Korea
SEOUL, April 30 (Yonhap) -- China has shown an "apparent realignment" of its thinking about North Korea following a series of provocations from the North's young leader, but South Korea and the U.S. should keep pressure on Beijing to rein in Pyongyang, a former senior U.S. diplomat said Tuesday.

Kurt Campbell, who until recently served as assistant U.S. secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, also urged South Korea and the U.S. to prepare for "unexpected developments and unpredictability," questioning the viability of the Kim Jong-un regime.

"Much has been made of an apparent realignment in Chinese thinking about their ultimate interests on the peninsula in the wake of the serial provocations from the new leader in the North," Campbell, who heads the consulting organization The Asia Group, told a forum in Seoul hosted by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

China will come around and say once and for all Un has to go. well at least lets hope they do.

Last up is about Kaesong and the last 7 workers and they are still there. will they become a barging chip? DPRK wants last years taxes and fines paid, SK say they are not legal and will not pay. DPRK could hold them till the money is payed, lets hope this is not the case.

english.yonhapnews.co.kr... it is a long read so here is a short intro

2013/04/30 13:58 KST
text size plustext size minusprintsend twittersend facebooksend msn
(LEAD) Seoul seeking quick return of remaining Kaesong personnel: official
SEOUL, April 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea plans to move quickly to conclude working-level talks on outstanding accounts to ensure the seven remaining personnel at an inter-Korean industrial park in the North's border city of Kaesong can return home as soon as possible, a government official said Tuesday.

The official said members of the Kaesong Industrial District Management Committee (KIDMAC) are in the process of requesting detailed claims made by the North in regards to unpaid wages, corporate taxes and communication service charges. It is estimated that the North is probably asking for around US$80 million, including $72 million in wages.

here is the SK view

Seoul is willing to pay what its firms owe North Korea, but it plans to ask the North to allow the transfer of manufacturing materials and finished products left behind by the 123 companies that had factories in the border city located just north of the demilitarized zone, he said.

The official also made clear that Seoul will not accept claims being made by the North that many South Korean companies did not pay fines following the unilateral hiking of taxes last year.

"That matter is off the table, because we have said in the past that last year's move is unacceptable and violates existing agreements," he said.

there is more but that was the jest of it. got tire of the wall of words and taken up space , so i will shorten them and will put up direct links to the full article.

oh crap could this be the deal breaker between US Japan and China?effecting SK's future? this does not look good www3.nhk.or.jp... from the link in full

US,Japan warn against attempt to change status quo

The defense ministers from Japan and the United States have agreed to oppose any action that threatens Japan's administrative control of the Senkaku Islands. Japan controls the islands in the East China Sea. China and Taiwan claim them.

Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera and US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel held a news conference after talks in Washington on Monday.

Onodera said the islands are an inherent part of Japanese territory historically and under international law. He said he confirmed with Hagel that both countries oppose any unilateral attempt to change the status quo.

Hagel said the US government does not take sides in territorial disputes. But he said the Senkaku Islands are under Japan's administration and covered by the Japan-US Security Treaty.

Hagel said any actions that raise tensions and could cause miscalculations would undermine regional stability.

He said the US will oppose any unilateral and coercive attempts to infringe Japan's administrative rights.

The meeting came after a series of intrusions by Chinese government ships into Japanese waters near the Senkaku Islands.

The defense ministers also agreed that Japan and the US will work closely to monitor moves by North Korea.

Onodera told reporters the 2 countries have no information to suggest they should lower the alert level.

Apr. 29, 2013 - Updated 23:58 UTC

China could see this as a "slap in face" and back out of any DPRK agreement, but then that is just my call, lets all say I am wrong and it will not happen, that China has more umph than that. DPRK and Un need to be handled first, then they, US, Japan, and China can work out a deal over the Islands.

UN asks for aid to feed the people of DPRK er North Korea www3.nhk.or.jp... from the link in full

UN agencies call for emergency funds for N.Korea

Five UN agencies have appealed for nearly 30 million dollars to meet the most critical health and food needs in North Korea.

The World Food Program, the United Nations Children's Fund and 3 other agencies say they require 147 million dollars this year to respond to humanitarian priorities in the country.

But the agencies say they have received less than one-third of the amount from UN members.

They called on nations to contribute 29.4 million dollars to meet urgent needs, such as nutritious food for about 1.6 million children and pregnant women, as well as vaccines for infants.

The UN agencies say the shortage of funds leaves them concerned about the continuation of their programs in North Korea.

Some analysts say North Korean leaders' hard-line attitude toward pursuing their nuclear and missile programs has made UN members reluctant to provide aid.

Apr. 30, 2013 - Updated 01:29 UTC

like the people would get it! Un would take the money and , spend it on a night on the town with Rod Man, why not go get it from one of Un UK accounts he has a Billion or so hidden they and we know it so take it from Un and give to the people through UN aid, or does that make just to much sense?

If We the USA take his special money and give it to UN how badly will it End? War maybe?

reply to post by springtime
doubt it no war yet , Un would have a fit but that would be about it.
Here is an up date on the Kaesong mess
SK not to give in to DPRK or Un demands english.yonhapnews.co.kr... from the link

2013/04/30 17:00 KST
text size plustext size minusprintsend twittersend facebooksend msn
S. Korea to spurn any N.K. demands on Kaesong: minister
SEOUL, April 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will not accept any unjust North Korean preconditions for the normalization of a suspended joint industrial complex as such a move does little to promote inter-Korean cooperation, Seoul's unification minister said Tuesday.

"It is pointless to normalize operations at the Kaesong Industrial Complex if it entails accepting unreasonable claims and preconditions," Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae told a gathering of the National Unification Advisory Council.

well an other slow news day

China has been making all kinds of little intrusions lately....think they are just testing the waters to see how bad we want help with Un?

The Rod ong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea

Well, we can agree that he's a "rod" and an "organ"...though I think the type of organ may be a violation of the T&C...

US SK War Games end english.yonhapnews.co.kr...

S. Korea, U.S. conclude Foal Eagle Exercise
South Korean military vehicles return to their barracks in the southern part of the country from a border area with North Korea in Paju City, Gyeonggi Province, on April 30, 2013. South Korea and the U.S. concluded on the same day the two-month Foal Eagle exercises, which triggered a strong reaction from North Korea, including the suspension of the Kaesong Industrial Complex run by South Korean companies in the North's border city of Kaesong. The annual exercises featured the operation of nuclear-capable B-2 bombers and submarines and other state-of-the-art weaponry by the allies. (Yonhap)


(END)

we shall see what Un will say and do now. Now that the War Games , er what Un had see as a threat is over. or will he keep up the same war like moves and talk. Un is a pun, for he rimes with Attila the Hun.

reply to post by bekod


My bet, when the exercises are over, he's going to tell his people that he made them leave...and they will believe him. Of course, he'll still be out of food and fuel. At least, he may actually talk then..

reply to post by Gazrok

That's my thinking as well, Un could use this to bolster his peoples opinion of him "the mighty leader fends off the dread full US SK with out firing a shot" the US see's the lack remarks as a plus

2013/05/01 03:38 KST
text size plustext size minusprintsend twittersend facebooksend msn
U.S. hails N. Korea's 'silence,' urges dialogue
By Lee Chi-dong
WASHINGTON, April 30 (Yonhap) -- Although North Korea has apparently adopted a tactic of silence following months of bellicose statements, the U.S. is waiting for clear signals that the communist nation is serious about dialogue, the U.S. government said Tuesday.

"Certainly stopping some of the bluster and the rhetoric and the threats is a good thing," Patrick Ventrell, deputy spokesman for the State Department, said, briefing reporters. "But in addition to lowering rhetoric and tension, we also want them to start to make signals that they're going to come in compliance with their international obligations."

He stressed that the broader policy goal of the U.S. is still the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

from Yonhap news english.yonhapnews.co.kr... if they only would read the KCNA news they would know this is out of the Question www.kcna.kp... for what they print comes form Un and the DPRK leader ship, or with its blessings. back with the full KCNA view er Un thoughts form the KCNA link

KCNA Commentary Slams U.S. Hypocritical Talk about Dialogue

[Article List]
[Video]
[Photo]
[Music]
[Larger Font]
[Smaller Font]
[Expand]

Korean / English / Chinese / Spanish / Japanese
Pyongyang, April 30 (KCNA) -- Voices that the DPRK's stand is unacceptable are heard from among high-ranking officials of the U.S. after a statement was issued by the Policy Department of the DPRK National Defence Commission.
A spokesman for the White House in a press conference on April 18 claimed that the U.S. is still keen to "have trustworthy and sincere negotiations with north Korea" but it has not shown any sincere approach toward its dismantlement of nukes. On the same day U.S. secretary of State Kerry said at the Senate meeting that the U.S. cannot accept conditions raised by north Korea, adding that the U.S. can start negotiations with north Korea only when it makes a bold decision to dismantle its nukes.
The U.S. hypocritical talk about dialogue is nothing but rhetoric for confrontation with the DPRK as it is aimed to evade the blame for the tension on the Korean Peninsula and carry out its policy for stifling the DPRK.
The tension on the peninsula is bringing consequences contrary to what the U.S. intended. Upset by this, it proposed dialogue to the DPRK on April 11. It was so arrogant that it asserted dialogue is possible only when the DPRK stops "provocative" remarks and show its will to realize denuclearization and halt the missile launch, to begin with.
Such outbursts as terming the just countermeasures taken by the army and people of the DPRK to defend its sovereignty and rights to live and develop provocations can be mouthed only by the hostile forces blinded by the ambition to stifle the DPRK.
It is a well-known fact that the U.S. has persisted in the moves to ignite a war and apply sanctions against the DPRK, an invulnerable fortress standing against the U.S. strategy for dominating Asia for several decades.
The U.S. sanctions and frantic war exercises against the DPRK over its satellite launch for peaceful purposes and nuclear test for self-defence have reached the height in their aggressive and ferocious nature.
The escalating tension on the Korean Peninsula is entirely attributable to the U.S. heinous hostile policy toward the DPRK.
The U.S. is seriously mistaken if it thinks it can cover up its sinister scenario by talking about dialogue though it is the arch criminal who drove the situation to the brink of a nuclear war.
The situation goes to prove that most just is the stand of the DPRK which calls for an immediate halt to the hostile forces' anti-DPRK provocations and their moves for a nuclear war, assurances against the recurrence of such actions and a total withdrawal of the U.S. nuclear strike means.
The U.S. should stop talking about hypocritical dialogue and explicitly choose between war and peace. -0-

No matter what we say or do, Un will have no part of it , as long as we the US and SK say he, they Un and the DPRK can not have nukes, or the US stays in South Korea.

It is a stall game , for as we sit and play the wait and see game Un and the DPRK continue to build up Nukes, for the longer time goes by , the more knowledge they will have , and I do dare say with in 2 years could drop a nuke on DC or any city in the US

No hot news line tonight , but for you that are keeping up on things here are two for you, first up Kaesong workers not due home Wednesday english.yonhapnews.co.kr... Un wants more nukes and better economic out come english.yonhapnews.co.kr... that is all

reply to post by bekod

It is a stall game , for as we sit and play the wait and see game Un and the DPRK continue to build up Nukes, for the longer time goes by , the more knowledge they will have , and I do dare say with in 2 years could drop a nuke on DC or any city in the US

Ahh....but a stall game in which time is on our side, not Un's. He's going to need capital to further his program, no matter what...and meanwhile, his army is going hungry. Hungry army = limited days for fearless leader. It would not surprise me if right now, a CIA operative and his Chinese counterpart are coaxing a hand-picked General to bide his time and strike at the right opportunity.

Originally posted by Gazrok
reply to post by bekod

 

It is a stall game , for as we sit and play the wait and see game Un and the DPRK continue to build up Nukes, for the longer time goes by , the more knowledge they will have , and I do dare say with in 2 years could drop a nuke on DC or any city in the US

Ahh....but a stall game in which time is on our side, not Un's. He's going to need capital to further his program, no matter what...and meanwhile, his army is going hungry. Hungry army = limited days for fearless leader. It would not surprise me if right now, a CIA operative and his Chinese counterpart are coaxing a hand-picked General to bide his time and strike at the right opportunity.

If this is on the cards you better hope they don't mess it up!

What we don't need right now is a failed CIA backed takeover, Un's reaction could be devastating! I don't have a great deal of faith in the CIA and China could very well be playing all sides against each other. This is a complex situation much like a game of high stakes poker. No one knows what the other hands are.

No disrespect, but I hope you are wrong!

P

reply to post by pheonix358

What we don't need right now is a failed CIA backed takeover, Un's reaction could be devastating!

I'd be worried more about the international response than Un's reaction. What I meant is, I think if I were China, I'd have a Chinese agent pushing a pro-denuclearization General into mounting a coup. The CIA role in it would strictly be that of not interfering, or providing additional info. In either case, any assassination and coup would be done by NK citizens recruited by a CIA case officer or MSS (China's intel service) agent, not the foreign agents themselves.

Un and the DPRK prove once again that they want need nukes at all cost, even if it is war to have them from KCNA

DPRK Will Always Remain True to Its Principle: KCNA Commentary

[Article List]
[Video]
[Photo]
[Music]
[Larger Font]
[Smaller Font]
[Expand]

Korean / English / Chinese / Spanish / Japanese
Pyongyang, April 30 (KCNA) -- The Korean people are keenly aware of the danger of the U.S. nuclear war at a time when the Foal Eagle joint military exercises have reached their height in south Korea.
U.S. super-large nuclear carrier groups with nuclear warheads aboard, B-52, B-2 and other strategic bombers, nuclear-powered submarines, guided-missile destroyer groups, F-22 stealth fighters formation and other nuclear strike means are operating against the DPRK. U.S. and south Korean warmongers are busy staging combined landing drill, joint coastal amphibious logistic drill, emergency runway taking-off and landing drill, increasing the danger of their provocations. Commenting on this situation, even foreign media reported that the probability of the outbreak of a war on the Korean Peninsula is 80 percent.
The U.S. and other warmongers do not want detente on the peninsula even a bit but are keen to ignite a nuclear war at any cost.
The increasing military threat and dangerous saber-rattling go to clearly prove who is the arch criminal escalating the tension on the peninsula and bringing a nuclear war disaster to it.
The U.S. has not yet drawn a serious lesson from the failure of its hostile policy toward the DPRK that has lasted for over half a century.
The U.S. started the Korean War to occupy the DPRK in its cradle but sustained a bitter defeat for the first time in its history. It deplored that it fought a war against a wrong rival at a wrong time after the ceasefire in the 1950s. But it is the 21st century.
The DPRK has grown to be a full-fledged nuclear weapons state and acquired tremendous military capabilities including nuclear force.
The U.S. nuclear threat to the DPRK compelled it to bolster its nuclear deterrent. Now that the U.S. is imposing a nuclear war upon the DPRK, while showing off latest nuclear hardware, the latter is left with no option but to cope with it with nuclear weapons.
The DPRK does not want a war but is not afraid of it either.
It is the unshakable principle and strategic line of the DPRK to take hold on nuclear shield for self-defence and thus shatter the U.S. ambition to annex the Korean Peninsula by force of arms and reduce the Korean people to modern type slaves, and firmly protect its idea and social system and the whole wealth of socialism gained at the cost of blood.
The DPRK is fully ready to meet the U.S. political and military challenges and honorably conclude the decades-long confrontation with it.
It will keep to the road chosen by itself as long as there persist the U.S. hostile acts against it. -0-

The above is from the link www.kcna.kp... In other words DPRK will have and keep nukes US SK get use to it, you too China. It seems we missed the chance to keep Un er DPRK form having the nuke, now if we US SK or China do anything to take away Un's toys er nukes, they Un and DPRK, will make it a hot war. Someone dropped the ball, big time on this mess.

reply to post by bekod


We dropped the ball the first time they tested a nuke. We gave them a slap on the wrist, instead of backhand across the face.

I expected something to happen today..
1947 North Korea was born on this day.