North Korea conducts underground nuclear test

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 02 Jun 2009 01:19

>>It will never make India "more unsafe". It will only make the US more unsafe. Why would India and Indians want to protect US security when the US has shown no such sensitivity to Indian security?

A most excellent observation, if only because I agree 400% with it. In the past, I have often recommended, tongue in cheek of course, that we provide Pak with the ICBM capability. That will surely put the fox among the chickens. But even if we were to do that, I strongly suspect the Pakis, tongue between uncle's cheeks of course, would refuse.

We must never forget that the US will not give up potential leverage against a potential peer competitor. Hence Pakistan exists and sells itself to the highest bidder of the moment...

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 02 Jun 2009 11:21

NoKo's anointed successor to the Dear Leader,his youngest son,who might perhaps be titled "Young Leader"?

Kim Jong Il formally names youngest son as successor
(KBS/Newsis/Reuters)
Kim Jong Un is Kim Jong Il's favourite son

Richard Lloyd Parry, Yeonpyeong Island
Kim Jong Un, the 25-year old youngest son of the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Il, has been formally declared as his successor, the South Korean media reported yesterday, in the latest sign of dramatic change in the isolated totalitarian state.

North Korea’s Worker’s Party, the country’s token parliament and cabinet were notified of the succession soon after the country’s second nuclear test, according to sources quoted by the Yonhap news agency and two Seoul newspapers. There were conflicting reports over whether foreign embassies had also been notified.

The news seems to confirm what has become increasingly clear for the past few months – that, after a serious illness last summer, 67-year old Kim Jong Il is preparing for his family’s continued rule of North Korea’s 25 million people, after he is gone.

It is a wish to offset the atmosphere of insecurity and uncertainty created by this transition, many North Korea watchers believe, that has led Mr Kim Snr to put on recent displays of confidence and strength, including last week’s underground nuclear test.

Kim Jong Il anoints son as next dear leader

This morning, the Seoul media were reporting that North Korea has increased its military activity in the Yellow Sea, where it has a tense and disputed sea border with South Korea, the site of previous minor naval battles.

The North was also reported to be preparing to test fire a medium range missile from its southeast coast in a move apparently designed to further rattle South Korea and Japan.

Outside the upper ranks of the Pyongyang elite, few North Koreans are even aware of the existence of Jong Un, and there is probably a long way to go before he is publicly named. When Kim Jong Il took over from his own father, North Korea’s founding leader, Kim Il Sung, he emerged from obscurity over the course of several years, serving in successively more important government and party posts.

Concern about the North Korean succession has been intense since last summer when Kim Jong Il disappeared from public view for three months after apparently suffering a stroke.

During his convalescence, his 62-year old brother-in-law, Chang Sung Taek, is said to have taken over his responsibilities. It is still possible that Jong Un may eventually serve as no more than a figurehead while real power lies with older and more experienced leaders.

Jong Un was born in 1983 and, as the youngest of three known sons of Kim Jong Il, he might have been expected to remain subordinate to his older brothers, in keeping with Confucian tradition.

His half-brother, Jong Nam, is 37 or 38, the son of his father’s first wife, a famous North Korean film star, who died in exile in 2002 after separating from Mr Kim. In 2001 he suffered a humiliation when he was detained for travelling in Japan on a trip to visit Tokyo Disneyland with his family. He is occasionally spotted in the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau.

Jong Un, and his 28-year old brother, Jong Chul, were born to Koh Young Hee, a Japanese-Korean dancer. Before her death from breast cancer in 2004, state media had referred to her as “respected mother”, suggesting that one of her boys was being groomed for the leadership.

All the sons were educated in an exclusive private boarding school in Switzerland. According to Kenji Fujimoto, a Japanese who worked as personal sushi chef to Kim Jong Il and knew both the young “princes” well, it was obvious from his childhood that Jong Un would eventually take over from his father.

“The older brother, Jong Chul, had the warm heart of a girl,” he told The Times. “The younger prince, Jong Un was a boy of inner strength.”

As teenagers, the boys played basketball and, even after casual games among friends, Jong Un would coach his teammates and analyse the successes and failures of their matches. “The first time I met him he was seven years old, and he looked at me as if I was an evil Japanese who had done terrible things to Koreans in the war,” said Mr Fujimoto. “I was impressed that even as a young boy he tried to analyse people he met.”

As a boy, Jong Un drove a Mercedes Benz with specially adapted pedals and seat around the grounds of Kim Jong Il’s home. He liked Chinese food and sushi, especially squid and the finest cuts of tuna, and used to smoke Mr Fujimoto’s menthol cigarettes

“If power is to be handed over then Jong Un is the best for it,” Mr Fujimoto said. “He has superb physical gifts, is a big drinker and never admits defeat.”

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 02 Jun 2009 19:17

Washingtonpost wrote:Shadow Boxing in Pyongyang
North Koreans have stepped up their war rhetoric, and their war preparations, because China wants them to do so. I cannot prove that this is the case -- just as no one else can prove any of their theories about North Korea -- but I can look at the evidence, which is as follows:

China is the one country that actually has influence over North Korea

China has ambitions to replace the United States as the dominant power in East Asia.

China knows the rest of Asia is watching this test of the Obama administration.

North Korea is a puppet state, and the Chinese are the puppeteers. They could end this farce tomorrow. If they haven't done so yet, there must be a reason.

Prem Kumar · Post by **Prem Kumar** » 03 Jun 2009 01:10

You know what we should do: grease Kim Jong's palms and outsource our nuclear testing to NoKo. $1M per test - straight to Swiss bank account. IMO, this is a more probable scenario than us coming out of our "voluntary crematorium"

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 03 Jun 2009 01:23

The Axis of Evil, Again

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 03 Jun 2009 01:29

^^^ above article

The American bomb was conceived by European scientists and built in a consortium with Britain and Canada. The Soviets got their bomb thanks largely to atomic spies, particularly Germany's Klaus Fuchs. The Chinese nuclear program got its start with Soviet help.
Britain gave France the secret of the hydrogen bomb, hoping French President Charles de Gaulle would return the favor by admitting the U.K. into the European Economic Community. (He Gallicly refused.) France shared key nuclear technology with Israel and then with Iraq. South Africa got its bombs (since dismantled) with Israeli help. India made illegal use of plutonium from a U.S.-Canadian reactor to build its first bomb. The Chinese lent the design of one of their early atomic bombs to Pakistan, which then gave it to Libya, North Korea and probably Iran.

world is truly small

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 03 Jun 2009 01:34

India is the exception here.

There was no transfer of weapons design knowledge to India (as the famous Venn diagram shows)

Prem Kumar · Post by **Prem Kumar** » 03 Jun 2009 01:43

Very true. In accordance with our Dharmic traditions, we have been neither the proliferator nor the proliferatee

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 03 Jun 2009 01:50

Does the U.S. Science-Based Stockpile Stewardship Program Pose a Proliferation Threat?

By Christopher E. Paine, Senior Researcher and Co-Director, NRDC Nuclear Program, and Matthew G. McKinzie, Project Scientist, NRDC Nuclear Program. A shorter version of this article appeared in the journal Science and Global Security, 1998, Volume 7, pp. 151-193.

http://www.nrdc.org/nuclear/athreat.asp

Figure 1: Venn diagram displaying the historical sharing of nuclear weapons knowledge among declared nuclear weapon states (solid circles), undeclared nuclear weapon states (dashed circles), and South Africa, a former undeclared nuclear weapon state. The number of explosive nuclear tests performed is given in parentheses. Area of overlap is not strictly proportional to the degree of knowledge sharing, as this is difficult to quantify. The Russia-U.S. overlap reflects the recent purchase by the U.S. Defense Special Weapons Agency (via a detailed negotiated contract) of a large amount of data concerning the former Soviet test program.[2] The number of tests indicated for India includes one on 18 May 1974 and three it claimed in May of 1998 and Pakistan claimed to have conducted two tests in May 1998.[3] Transfer of information from nuclear weapon states to non-nuclear weapon states that would assist the latter "in any way" to acquire nuclear explosive devices is prohibited under Articles I and II of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 03 Jun 2009 02:59

NKorean missiles hinder foreign nuclear assessment

efforts to assess the test were slowed by the North's rapid-fire launches of six ground-to-ship or ground-to-air missiles in the days that followed, and more launches were expected.

"It seems radioactivity-level measurements have not been that good because the North kept firing missiles," said Cha Du-hyeon, chief of the North Korean military research division at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses.

johneeG · Post by **johneeG** » 03 Jun 2009 17:03

Prem Kumar wrote:Very true. In accordance with our Dharmic traditions, we have been neither the proliferator nor the proliferatee

Is nuclear proliferation adharmic? If so Why?

p_saggu · Post by **p_saggu** » 03 Jun 2009 21:34

Here is a more correct way to represent the Nuclear Weapons programs of the various nations. The bracket denotes the number of tests each has carried out.
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/8544/tests.jpg

p_saggu · Post by **p_saggu** » 03 Jun 2009 21:40

WRT Pakistan, there is political obfuscation of the number of tests, where the likely claimed number of 6 is intended to be a political riposte to India. Initial reports from pakistani sources suggested this number

John Snow · Post by **John Snow** » 04 Jun 2009 00:13

Tulsa world

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 09 Jun 2009 17:53

NoKo threatens :merciless" nuclear strikes if "provoked"! Should Dear Leader Kim move his show to Broadway? He would win a handful of awards.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/ju ... ear-threat

North Korea threatens 'merciless' nuclear offensive• Nuclear arms a 'means to deal a just retaliatory strike'

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 10 Jun 2009 05:42

South Korea: Nuke test evidence hard to find

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 10 Jun 2009 05:46

p_saggu wrote:Here is a more correct way to represent the Nuclear Weapons programs of the various nations. The bracket denotes the number of tests each has carried out.

It may be more accurate but it is not from a peer reviewed gora journal article. It doesn't have the +ve psy-ops value.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 10 Jun 2009 05:49

Japan Buddhism-based party wants to drop pacifism

"First, it is important above all to change Article 9 of the constitution," party leader Kyoko Okawa said in an interview on Tuesday in a room decorated with statues at the religion's Tokyo headquarters.

"We must make clear our right to defend ourselves."

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 10 Jun 2009 18:12

NoKo is celebrating Dear Leader Kim's annnouncement of his son and heir to be,with another imminent "firework display",says Russia.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... ssile.html

Russia says North Korea to launch new ballistic missile

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 12 Jun 2009 01:28

Nuclear war is Kim Jong-il's game plan

AnimeshP · Post by **AnimeshP** » 12 Jun 2009 01:35

Gerard wrote:Nuclear war is Kim Jong-il's game plan

Gerard ... you might want to check on the author ...

Kim Myong Chol is author of a number of books and papers in Korean, Japanese and English on North Korea, including Kim Jong-il's Strategy for Reunification. He has a PhD from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's Academy of Social Sciences and is often called an "unofficial" spokesman of Kim Jong-il and North Korea.

To me it seems nothing more than posturing from "Dear Leader" to get some more concessions from the US ...

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 12 Jun 2009 01:37

Indeed, outlandish nonsense but very interesting.

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 12 Jun 2009 01:42

Did some one read this?
http://www.rense.com/general37/nkorr.htm

KLNMurthy · Post by **KLNMurthy** » 12 Jun 2009 02:05

IndraD wrote:Did some one read this?
http://www.rense.com/general37/nkorr.htm

From the article:

ii). Blitz Klieg

North Korea has tanks, armored cars, and self-propelled artillery for blitz klieg.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 13 Jun 2009 06:33

AP source: NKorea may be prepping new nuclear test

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 13 Jun 2009 08:47

Gerard wrote:AP source: NKorea may be prepping new nuclear test

Reminds me of how HIV/gonorrhea spreads. Wife finds she has gonorrhea. Turns out that hubby has had a one night stand with neighbor's wife. Neighbor himself is having it off with multiple partners. On the surface, everyone is chaste and faithful.

The US opposed communism and the USSR
The US proliferated to UK/France
The USSR proliferated to China
The US used ally Pakistan against the USSR
The US encouraged a US-China entente via ally Pakistan
China proliferated to Pakistan to oppose India
Pakistan proliferated to North Korea to get missiles and money
Pakistan proliferated to Libya and Iran as well. Perhaps KSA

The US is "holding the ring":
1)in Taiwan against China
2) In South Korea against North Korea
3) In Afghanistan against the Taliban
4) In Pakistan against India and the Taliban
5) The US is in Iraq for no discernible reason

Sooner of later the US will be over stretched. Deal Leadel understands this perfectly well. The US and the world have already used up all options against North Korea. But if deal leadel chooses to wage war, the US will be forced into a war that it did not want.

If the US gets into war in Korea, it would be the ideal time for Pakistan to stop cooperating with the US. The US would then have to triple or quadruple "aid" top Pakistan and give it arms against India in addition to funds against Taliban.

If the US gets bogged down in the far East, apart from current areas, Iran could assert its will in the neighborhood.

i just wonder who will use nukes first?

John Snow · Post by **John Snow** » 13 Jun 2009 09:15

Shiv ji your are on dot.

A top position fell vacant in a MNC, a potential candidate with fantastic academic and experience credentials was being interviewed.

Chairman of Selection committee: Sir you are an expert on S.W.O.T analysis can you illustrate your experience?
Candidate: Strength Weakness Opportunities Threats.
Chairman, any experience of yours?
Candidate: My Wife is my strength
Chairman: Hmm interesting proceed
Candidate: Weakness is my neighbors wife
CM: Intigued hmm? opportunities
Candidate: When her husband is on travel / tours.
CM threats?...
Candidate, when he is around...

Now the Little Kim is the husband to unkil with a couple of nukes...

amdavadi · Post by **amdavadi** » 13 Jun 2009 09:59

no one but the uncle as they are the only to use it in the past, and will be the one in future to keep the empire going.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 13 Jun 2009 17:57

North Korea in plutonium threat

The North Korean foreign ministry statement said: "Firstly, all plutonium to be extracted will be weaponised. One third of used fuel rods have so far been reprocessed.
"Secondly, we will start uranium enrichment," the statement added.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 13 Jun 2009 23:50

N.Korea's reply to U.N. sanctions for nuclear test

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea issued the following statement Saturday in connection with the fact that at the instigation of the U.S., the United Nations Security Council has finally adopted a 'resolution on sanctions' against the DPRK over its second nuclear test:

"On June 12, the United Nations Security Council, at the instigation of the U.S., has finally adopted a 'resolution on sanctions' against the DPRK over its second nuclear test.

"This is yet another vile product of the U.S.-led offensive of international pressure aimed at undermining the DPRK's ideology and its system chosen by its people by disarming the DPRK and suffocating its economy.

"The U.S. and Japan, not content with this 'resolution', are hatching dirty plots to add their own 'sanctions' to the existing ones against the DPRK by framing up the fictional issues of 'counterfeit money' and 'drug trafficking'.

"The U.S. incited the United Nations Security Council to get more deeply embroiled in its attempt to stifle the DPRK, which resulted in the creation of an unprecedentedly acute tension on the Korean Peninsula. This confrontation was sparked off by unlawful strong arm actions of the U.S. and its obedient UNSC in denial of the legitimate right of a sovereign state to launch satellites.

"The UNSC's April 14th 'presidential statement' orchestrated by the U.S. does not hold any ground in view of international law. What permeates this statement is none other than animosity against and rejection of a country that has a system different from theirs along with an arrogant and arbitrary view that a small country must obey a large one. The DPRK is a small country, but it is a political, ideological and military power.

"If this high-handed act of the U.S. is tolerated, the DPRK will no longer be entitled to launch satellites again -- which everyone else does -- but will forever be deprived of its right to use outer space.

"The DPRK's second nuclear test is a self-defensive measure as it was conducted to cope with such hostile acts of the U.S. and this does not run counter to any international law.

"In essence, this confrontation is an issue related to the sovereignty and dignity of the DPRK rather than an issue related to peace and security -- this is the DPRK-U.S. confrontation.

"There can be no genuine peace in the absence of independence and equality. Had any other country found itself in the situation of the DPRK, it would have clearly realised that the DPRK has never chosen but was compelled to go nuclear in the face of the U.S. hostile policy and its nuclear threats.

"It has become an absolutely impossible option for the DPRK to even think about giving up its nuclear weapons. It makes no difference to the DPRK whether its nuclear status is recognised or not.

"Upon authorisation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the DPRK strongly condemns and rejects the UNSC 'resolution 1874' and declares that it will take the following countermeasures at this early phase of all-out confrontation with the U.S. in order to defend the national dignity and the country's sovereignty.

"First: The whole amount of the newly extracted plutonium will be weaponised. More than one third of the spent fuel rods has been reprocessed to date.

"Second: The process of uranium enrichment will be commenced. Pursuant to the decision to build its own light-water reactor, enough success has been made in developing uranium enrichment technology to provide nuclear fuel to allow the experimental procedure.

"Third: An attempted blockade of any kind by the U.S. and its followers will be regarded as an act of war and met with a decisive military response. No mater how hard the U.S.-led hostile forces may try all sorts of isolation and blockade, the DPRK, a proud nuclear power, will not flinch from them. It is the Songun idea-based mode of counter-action for the DPRK to decisively counter 'sanctions' with retaliation and "confrontation" with all-out confrontation."

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 14 Jun 2009 22:01

Hiroshima mayor 'fury' over N.Korea nuclear plans

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 14 Jun 2009 23:45

Endgame in Korea?

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 16 Jun 2009 21:40

U.S. Says N.Korean Nuclear Test Smaller Than First Believed

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 17 Jun 2009 02:28

N.Korea may have more nuclear test sites: report

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 21 Jun 2009 21:07

U.S. Destroyer Shadows N. Korean Ship

North Korean ship likely headed for Myanmar

IndraD · Post by **IndraD** » 24 Jun 2009 20:39

N. Korea threatens US; world anticipates missile
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_koreas_nuclear

North Korea threatened Wednesday to wipe the United States off the map as Washington and its allies watched for signs the regime will launch a series of missiles in the coming days.Off China's coast, a U.S. destroyer was tailing a North Korean ship suspected of transporting illicit weapons to Myanmar in what could be the first test of U.N. sanctions passed to punish the nation for an underground nuclear test last month.

A simple pooch: does N Kores have capability to hit US with N bums?

Satya_anveshi · Post by **Satya_anveshi** » 25 Jun 2009 00:03

But is amusing to see the US media attention (or the lack thereof) to the gravest threat we have heard in a while hurled at US. On the contrary one would have noted how the headless chickens the US media were trumpeting the treat from Iraq WMD. All we are hearing is that some missile defense was deployed in Hawaii.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 25 Jun 2009 02:42

N. Korea issues navigation ban for military exercise

North Korea has banned all vessels from passing through waters off its eastern coast for 16 days starting from June 25 due to "a military exercise,"

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 04 Jul 2009 04:46

North Korea nuclear test warning

North Korea may be about to carry out another nuclear test, the British ambassador in Pyongyang has said.

North Korea carried out a nuclear test in May - a move that experts said put it closer to having a working nuclear bomb.

"We cannot rule out that a further nuclear test will take place," said Peter Hughes, the British ambassador to North Korea.

"Yesterday, two short-range missiles were launched and you'll have seen reports that there may be a launch of an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) in the coming days or weeks," he said.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 10 Jul 2009 17:15

Dear Leader Kim very ill ,might die soon,says this report.There is no doubt that from the recent pics from NoKo,the Dear Leader is very frail and in poor shape.His annointing of one of his sons as succesor is to prepare the people for his death well in advance,so that no turmoil over his suuccession takes place when he departs to join the Great Leader his father.

Frail Kim Jong-il 'may only have months to live'
Kim Jong-il is seriously ill and is likely to be dead before the end of the year, according to a source within the North Korean leader's own family.

By Julian Ryall in Tokyo
Published: 5:28AM BST 10 Jul 2009

Kim jong-il taking part in the 15th anniversary of the death of his father and country's founder Kim Il-sung in Pyongyang Photo: REUTERS
The latest speculation over the health of the reclusive Kim has been triggered by his appearance on state television on Wednesday to mark the 15th anniversary of the death of Kim Il Sung, his father and the man revered as the founder of North Korea.

He looked gaunt, his hair has thinned dramatically and he walked with a limp. It is believed that 67-year-old Kim suffered a serious stroke in August 2008 and that his recovery has been delayed by long-standing diabetes and heart disease.

Kim Jong-il anoints youngest son as successor"

He does not have all that much longer to live and my sources say the doctors' diagnosis is that he will die before the end of the year," Professor Toshimitsu Shigemura, an expert on North Korean affairs at Waseda University, told the Daily Telegraph.

"He is still being treated for the main problem, which is complications arising from his diabetes, and it had been expected that he could die as soon as this summer," he said, citing personal sources within Kim's extended family.

Similar reports on Kim's health have been reported in the United States, with an official telling The Washington Times that the government estimates he has a year to live.

"He has essentially lost the ability to decide policy now and that is being carried out by a collective leadership made up of the Politburo, the party and the military," he said.

There were no signs of a power struggle to become Kim's successor, he said, although there are suggestions that Kim Jong Un, his son and widely considered as being groomed to take over as heir, may not now get the post.

According to Professor Shimada, China has refused to support Kim Jong Un's bid for power and is instead calling for Kim's younger half-brother, called Kim Hyong, to take over.

North Korea's unofficial spokesman in Japan has denied that the "Dear Leader" is unwell.

"The reports are all misleading and he is in better health than people are saying," said Kim Myong Chol, executive director of the Center for U.S.-North Korea Peace. "The authorities there would not have released photos of him this week if they were not confident of his health."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... -live.html