South Korea: North Korea's Nuclear Threat Very Dangerous

A DigitalGlobe satellite image shows a nuclear facility in Yongbyon, North Korea September 29, 2004. REUTERS/Stringer

North Korea Nuclear Threat Is "Alarming," Says South -- Reuters

SEOUL (Reuters) - Mercurial North Korea's nuclear threat has reached an "alarming level" and it is now trying to miniaturise weapons to improve their mobility and impact, a South Korean government official said.

A U.S. think-tank has also said satellite images taken last week showed that construction or excavation activity was taking place at the North's main Yongbyon nuclear complex.

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More News On South Korea's Concerns Over North Korea's Nuclear Program

South Korea: NKorea's nuclear threat 'dangerous' -- AP
Seoul warns of nuclear 'havoc' -- The Australian
S. Korea closely watches activity at Yongbyon nuclear site: official -- Xinhuanet
Factbox: A look at North Korea's nuclear arms programme -- Reuters

My Comment: Since the sinking of the South Korean naval ship Cheonan by a suspected North Korean sub early this year, relations and tensions have entered a new phases between the two countries. The reactivation and increased activity at North Korea's nuclear facility at Yongbyon is only helping to fuel these worries to a higher level.

Tensions On The Korean Peninsula Continue

The South Korean Navy amphibious landing ship ROKS Dokdo is underway in the Sea of Japan with the guided-missile destroyers USS Lassen and USS Chung-Hoon, July 27, 2010. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Adam K. Thomas

Seoul To Release Full Study On Ship Sinking -- Wall Street Journal

SEOUL—South Korea's defense ministry next week will release the full results of its investigation into the sinking a South Korean warship in a book-length document, a step officials hope will quell the doubts and criticisms that civic activists in Seoul have raised about their work.

The conclusion will be the same as a preliminary report issued on May 20, which said a North Korean torpedo on March 26 sank the 1,200-ton patrol boat Cheonan, causing the deaths of 46 South Korean sailors. But the new document will explain in far more detail how 74 military and civilian investigators, chiefly from South Korea but with the help of the U.S., U.K., Australia and Sweden, reached their findings.

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More News On The Growing of Tensions On The Korean Peninsula

South Korea, U.S. Begin Military Exercises -- Global Security Neswire
U.S., S. Korea launch joint military exercises amid threats from N. Korea -- Washington Post
U.S. and South Korea Begin War Drills -- New York Times
U.S.-South Korea Military Exercise Riles North -- New America
US, South Korea Begin Massive Military Exercise -- Voice of America
U.S., South Korea Launch Massive New Military Exercises -- Radio Free Europe
US joins South Korea in war games -- BBC

South Korea president calls for reunification tax -- Reuters
South Korean President Lee Myung-back calls for 'unification tax' -- the Australian
Little enthusiasm for Lee’s unification tax proposal -- Joong Ang daily
S. Korean president proposes three-stage reunification with DPRK -- Xinhuanet
Seoul proposes Korean unification tax -- Financial Times
South Korea proposes three-stage reunification with Communist North -- RIA Novosti

North Korea Signs Up for Twitter -- FOX News
North Korea makes Twitter debut -- The Guardian
Welcome To Twitter, North Korea -- Time magazine

Defectors shed light on N. Korea, despite dangers -- Korea Times
South Korea sends mixed message with war games, unification tax -- Christian Science Monitor
North Korea succession watch: A new contender? -- Brian Fung, Passport/Foreign Policy

North Korea Threatens Reprisals Over U.S. - South Korean War Games And Exercises

US, South Korea to Stage Another Military Exercise -- Voice Of America

The United States and South Korea will hold a massive joint military exercise this week aimed, at deterring aggression.

About 30,000 American troops and around 56,000 South Korean soldiers will take part in the 10-day annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian war games, which begin Monday and run through August 26.

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More News On Korean Peninsula Tensions

SKorea, US launch war games despite NKorea threat -- AP
N.Korea warns of 'severest punishment' over war games -- Yahoo News/AFP
North Korea vows 'merciless counterblow' to U.S., South Korea -- CNN
N. Korea threatens 'merciless' response -- Jerusalem Post/AP
Annual drill set to exercise U.S., S. Korean military leaders -- Stars And Stripes
South Korean and UStroops start annual land-based war games -- Earth Times
U.S.-South Korea drills anger North, worry China -- Reuters

The Sinking Of The South Korean Warship Cheonan Will Have Repercussions For Years To Come

Cheonan. Reuters/ Lee Jae-Won

How the Cheonan Really Sank: What Do the Koreas Do Now? -- Time Magazine

On a chilly spring evening late last March, a South Korean naval ship called the Cheonan was conducting routine exercises in waters just off the coast of a sparsely populated island in what the Koreans call the West Sea (better known as the Yellow Sea), just 10 kilometers from North Korean land. It was just before 9:30, and for most of the ship's 104 crew members, work was done for the day. Some sat in the ship's mess chatting; others were exercising in a small gym. A few had already headed to their bunks for a night's rest. The ship's commanding officer, Choi Won Il, had retired to his cabin for the night and was checking email.

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My Comment: I have lost count on the many governments that now want this affair to go away .... but it cannot go away. The evidence is now being prepared to be published, and what is being leaked right now is probably being done to preempt critics who have their own theories (but no evidence) on what happened but who are looking for an audience to push their ideas.

Among my own Korean contacts (both family and friends), they tell me that there is overwhelming sentiment in South Korea that this was a North Korean provocation .... an implicit threat from the North that if they do not receive financial and economic assistance from the South .... low intensity warfare will be the result. If true .... present U.S. - South Korean war games may evolve into something else.

South Korea Begins Military Exercises Among North Korean Threats

A South Korean destroyer drops depth charges during
anti-submarine drills on Thursday. Photo from CNN

South Korea Begins Largest Anti-Submarine Drills Ever, Despite North Korea Threats -- Christian Science Monitor

South Korea has 4,500 service members from all military branches engaged in five days of anti-submarine drills. North Korea has threatened to retaliate.

South Korea began a five-day naval exercise Thursday near the disputed maritime border in spite of North Korea’s warnings of retaliation.

With 4,500 service members from all four branches of the military, this drill reportedly represents the nation’s largest anti-submarine training exercise ever. It is unusual for South Korea to independently conduct exercises of this scope without the involvement of the United States military.

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More News On South Korea's Military Exercises

South Korea begins massive military drill -- BBC
South Korea Begins Naval Exercises -- New York Times
SKorea Launches Drills Despite NKorean Threats -- New York Times/AP
South Korea drills draw North ire, no retaliation seen -- Reuters
South Korea begins massive anti-submarine drills -- CNN
S. Korea Vows Counter-Attack If North Opens Fire During Drills -- Voice of America
S. Korea dismisses DPRK warning against naval drills -- Xinhuanet
South Korea launches major naval drill -- AFP

South Korea Will Still Conduct Naval Drills Over North Korea's Threats

North Korea Threatens South Over Yellow Sea Naval Drills. What will China do? -- Christian Science Monitor

North Korea warned of a 'powerful physical retaliation' if South Korea goes through with naval drills in the Yellow Sea this week. The real concern is over how China will respond.

South Korea is sailing into naval exercises in the Yellow Sea on Thursday and Friday to the din of intimidating rhetoric from North Korea and rising fears about China’s response to military drills in waters so close to the Chinese mainland.

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More News On North Korea's Threats Against The South

N.Korea warns of retaliation for S.Korea exercise -- AFP
North Korea vows 'retaliation' over Yellow Sea drill -- BBC
North Korea Threatens `Physical Retaliation' Against South's Naval Drills -- Bloomberg
S. Korea to stick to planned naval drills despite DPRK warning -- Xinhuanet
North Korea Vows To Attack South Korea Over Naval Drill -- RTT
NK warns of 'physical retaliation' over West Sea drill -- Korea Times

My Comment: China will do nothing .... North Korea is a headache for them just as much as North Korea is a headache for everyone else.

Keeping The Pressure On North Korea

Mr Einhorn said that illicit activities that bring hundreds of millions of dollars annually into North Korea, which can be used to support its nuclear or missile programmes or fund luxury goods purchases will have to stop. Photo: Reuters

Fresh North Korea Sanctions Aim To Cripple Regime's Arms Sales Profits -- Christian Science Monitor

New North Korea sanctions will target the banking sector in order to curtail the purchase and sale of weapons. The US-imposed sanctions also aim to stop the import of luxury goods for the elite surrounding leader Kim Jong-il.

Seoul, South Korea

The top US envoy on arms control promised Monday that new North Korea sanctions would make it much harder for Kim Jong-il's government to import military supplies and to profit from arms sales.

Robert Einhorn, whose title is special adviser on proliferation and arms control at the State Department, said the strengthened measures were to keep North Korea from getting funds for its nuclear and missile programs and also to stop the import of luxury goods for the elite surrounding North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

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More News On North Korea

Sanctions to hit illicit finance -- Straits Times
US, S.Korea discuss sanctions amid N.Korea warning -- AFP
US official in Seoul to discuss NKorea sanctions -- AP
U.S. calls for S Korean support for financial sanctions on DPRK -- Xinhuanet

N.Korea warns of retaliation for S.Korea exercise -- AFP
North Korea vows 'retaliation' over Yellow Sea drill -- BBC
North Korea Threatens `Physical Retaliation' Against South's Naval Drills -- Bloomberg
S. Korea to stick to planned naval drills despite DPRK warning -- Xinhuanet

N.Korean leader transfers secret fund to son: report -- AFP
Why the U.S. Is Going After Kim Jong-il's Slush Fund -- Chosun Ilbo

US, South Korea Conclude Joint War Games Without Incident

More than 200 aircraft took part in the joint military exercises. Photo AFP

Korean Peninsula Military Exercises End Without Incident -- Global Security Newswire

Four days of large-scale South Korean-U.S. naval drills concluded today without North Korea following through on its threat of an armed response, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, July 27).

The military exercises included antisubmarine maneuvers and were intended to provide a "clear message" to Pyongyang that future hostile actions would not be countenanced, said U.S. and South Korean officials. The allies have accused North Korea of using one of its submarines in March to sink a South Korean warship, killing 46 sailors. The Stalinist state denies all involvement.

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My Comment: I call this "the quiet before the storm". North Korea will need to act in order to reassert it's legitimacy and to preserve face .... what that will be is anyone's guess. And no .... these war games will not deter them.

U.S. - South Korean War Games Begin In The Sea Of Japan

U.S., South Korea Begin Large-Scale War Games Off Korean Coast -- Voice of America

A large 4-day exercise involving U.S and South Korea forces is under way in the Sea of Japan.

It comes in response to the sinking of a South Korean warship, the Cheonan, four months ago. An international investigation blamed a North Korean torpedo attack for the incident.

The war games off the east coast of the Korean peninsula were called to send a strong message of deterrence to Pyongyang.

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More News On The Beginning Of War Games In The Sea Of Japan

U.S.-S.Korea military exercises begin -- Washington Post
US, S.Korea stage naval exercise despite nuclear threats -- Yahoo News/AFP
U.S. Aircraft Carrier Leads Drills With S. Korea -- New York Times/AP
US and South Korea begin military drills in the face of nuclear threat from North Korea -- The Telegraph
North Korea warns of 'sacred nuclear war' as U.S. carries out military drills off peninsula -- The Daily Mail
S Korea-US military exercise begins in the Sea of Japan -- BBC
East Sea or Sea of Japan? -- Wall Street Journal

Did North Korea Sink The Cheonan?

Image: United Nations officers inspect what is alleged to be a North Korean torpedo.Song Kyung-Seok/Getty Images

Doubts Surface On North Korea's Role In Ship Sinking -- L.A. Times

Some in South Korea dispute the official version of events: that a North Korean torpedo ripped apart the Cheonan.

Reporting from Seoul — The way U.S. officials see it, there's little mystery behind the most notorious shipwreck in recent Korean history.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton calls the evidence "overwhelming" that the Cheonan, a South Korean warship that sank in March, was hit by a North Korean torpedo. Vice President Joe Biden has cited the South Korean-led panel investigating the sinking as a model of transparency.

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More News On The Sinking Of The Cheonan

Questions raised over Korean torpedo claims -- Nature
Now, doubt over Pyongyang's role in ship sinking -- Times Of India
Scientists raise doubts over North's hand behind sinking of South Korean ship 'Cheonan' -- DNAIndia

My Comment: OK .... even if the Nature magazine story is correct .... how did the Cheonan split into two and sink immediately after that.

North Korea Threatens Nuclear War

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton look out over North Korea from Observation Point Ouellette during a tour from the demilitarized zone in South Korea, July 21, 2010. DoD photo by Cherie Cullen

North Korea Threatens 'Nuclear War' Over Troop Exercises -- The Guardian

Pyongyang ramps up the tension over this weekend's joint US-South Korean wargames in the Sea of Japan.

North Korea has threatened to use its "nuclear deterrent" in response to planned military exercises by the US and South Korea this weekend.

The regime promised a "retaliatory sacred war" amid increased tensions on the Korean peninsula over the March sinking of a South Korean navy vessel, which Seoul and Washington blame on Pyongyang.

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More News On North Korea's Threats

NKorea vows nuclear response to US-SKorea drills -- Yahoo News/AP
North Korea declares "sacred war" on U.S. and South -- Yahoo News/Reuters
NKorea Threatens 'Nuclear Deterrence' Over Drills -- ABC News
North Korea threatens nuclear response to U.S.-South Korea military exercises -- Washington Post
North Korea ramps up threats against military exercises -- CNN
North Korea Ratchets Up the Rhetoric -- FOX News
North Korea Threatens 'Sacred War' Against US, S. Korea -- Voice of America
North Korea warns of nuclear 'sacred war' -- BBC (video)
North Korea warns of nuclear 'sacred war' -- BBC
Asia on edge after North Korea nuke threat -- UPI

North Korea Threatens To Respond Against The U.S. And South Korea

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton look out over North Korea from Observation Point Ouellette during a tour from the demilitarized zone in South Korea, July 21, 2010. DoD photo by Cherie Cullen

North Korea Threatens 'Physical Response' To US Military Exercises -- The Guardian

Regime sees naval and air drills as sign of hostility as US urges Asian nations to enforce UN sanctions against North Korea.

North Korea today threatened a "physical response" to planned military exercises by the US and South Korea this weekend, as tensions on the Korean peninsula dominated a regional security forum in Hanoi.

The regime did not specify what that response might be, but said it interpreted the launch on Sunday of four days of naval and air drills in the Sea of Japan as another sign of US "hostility".

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More News On The Tensions That Are On The Korean Peninsula

N.Korea threatens to respond to naval drills -- Yahoo News/AFP
North Korea vows 'physical response' to US exercise -- BBC
North Korea Sends Warning Over U.S. Military Exercises -- NPR
North Korea warns of 'physical response' to US-South Korea war games; Clinton shrugs -- Christian Science Monitor
North Korea threatens 'physical response' to U.S. military exercise -- CNN
North Korea threatens 'physical response' to US war games -- The Telegraph
North Korea Considers `Physical Response' to Planned U.S. Naval Maneuvers -- Bloomberg
N. Korea Warns US to Stop Military Exercises with South -- Voice of America
NKorea Tensions Spike at Asian Security Forum -- New York Times/AP
UN Command confronts NKorea over ship sinking -- AP
US, NKorea meet but progress on nukes unlikely -- Washington Post
Sanctions Expected to Harm North Korean Economy -- Voice of America
US to freeze 100 N Korea-linked bank accounts -- Times Of India

How Did The South Korean Warship Cheonan Sink (Video)

S. Korean Warship Probe Shows How Ship Blew Up -- CBS News

Investigators Detonate Torpedo Under Out-of-Service Australian Warship.

(CBS) In a show of force, the aircraft carrier USS George Washington arrived in South Korea Wednesday. It's expected to take part in military exercises next week.

Relations with the north have gone straight downhill since a South Korean warship was sunk in March, an attack blamed on North Korea.

The 46 sailors who died never had a chance, CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin reports.

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My Comment: Just by looking at the above video, it is obvious that the South Korean warship Cheonan did not have a chance.

Tensions Increase On The Korean Peninsula -- News Roundup

SOLDIER VIEW - A North Korean soldier looks in through the window of the T2 building as U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton tour the demilitarized zone in South Korea, July 21, 2010. DoD photo by Cherie Cullen

Korea War Games Sign Of Growing Tensions -- BBC News

These are tense times on the Korean peninsula, reason enough for two high-profile US visitors - the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Secretary of Defence Robert Gates - to be in South Korea at the same time.

The sinking last March of the Cheonan, a South Korean naval corvette, precipitated a new round of tensions between North and South. Forty-six sailors died in the incident.

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More News On The Tensions Between North And South Korea

Cabinet secretaries Clinton, Gates visit DMZ in show of support for South Korea -- Washington Post
Clinton, Gates Visit Korean DMZ -- Voice of America
Clinton and Gates visit Korean Demilitarized Zone -- BBC
What is the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea? -- The Guardian

Clinton announces new US sanctions against NKorea -- AP
In South Korea, Clinton announces sanctions against the north -- L.A. Times
U.S. Plans Sanctions on North Korea After Sinking of South Korean Warship -- Bloomberg
U.S. to Enact More Sanctions Against North Korea -- New York Times

U.S.-Korean Defense Leaders Announce Exercise Invincible Spirit -- U.S. Department of Defense
China expresses concern over US-S.Korea drill -- AFP
US Won't Bow to Chinese Concerns on Yellow Sea Exercises -- Voice of America
U.S. Spy Chief - Nominee Warns Of More North Korean Attacks -- New York Times/Reuters

U.S. Stands Firm with South Korea -- FOX News
U.S. Stealth Jets, Carrier Tell Norks: Back The Hell Up -- The Danger Room
Experts: U.S., S. Korea must disrupt North's illicit activities -- Washington Times
Q+A: U.S. sanctions aim to squeeze N.Korea's leaders -- Reuters
Q+A: What do South Korea and the U.S. want from the North ? -- Reuters

Tensions On The Korean Peninsula Continues -- News Updates June 12/13, 2010

Photo from Yonhap News Agency

North Korea Renews Threat on Propaganda -- New York Times

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea renewed its threats on Saturday to destroy South Korean propaganda loudspeakers, vowing a “merciless strike” that could turn Seoul into “a sea of flame.”

While such bellicose language is common in North Korea’s official news media, the threats underscore the continuing tensions here since the March sinking of a South Korean warship. South Korea has responded with measures like curtailing trade with the North and resuming psychological warfare broadcasts along heavily fortified border between the nations.

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More News On The Korean Peninsula

NKorea vows to blow up South propaganda facilities -- Seattle PI/AP
N.Korea warns it could turn Seoul into 'sea of flame' -- AFP
N. Korea threatens 'sea of fire' in 16 years -- Korea Times
North Korea Threatens South -- Voice of America
North Korea Threatens to Strike South’s Loudspeakers -- Bloomberg Businessweek
North Korea warns South again over loudspeakers -- Reuters

U.N. report raises concerns about North Korea sanctions -- Reuters
Clinton appoints coordinator for sanctions against Iran, DPRK -- Xinhuanet

Myanmar denies nuclear cooperation with North Korea -- AFP
Myanmar denies nuclear plans, North Korean help -- Reuters
Myanmar denies links to N. Korea -- The Hindu