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North Korea readies missile, makes new threat.

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TOKYO (AFP) — A US naval leader assured Japan Monday that US forces in the country were prepared ahead of a North Korean rocket launch due early next month amid fears that it could be a missile test, a report said.

"I wouldn't lose sleep at night. Japan is very safe," Rear Admiral James Kelly, the commander of the US Naval Forces in Japan, said at the US naval base of Yokosuka at the mouth of Tokyo Bay, Kyodo News reported.


The US forces are "postured the right way" to respond to the launch, Kelly said.

"I'm quite confident in the operational leaders that we've got on our side of the alliance to have their forces and their operations at the right places at the right times with the right readiness and the right gear to take care of business whatever it may be," he was quoted as saying.

Pyongyang has said it will launch a communications satellite over northern parts of Japanese territory between April 4 and 8. But the United States and its Asian allies suspect the launch is a cover for a ballistic missile test.

Kelly declined to say how many guided-missile ships the US 7th Fleet has deployed around Japan, Kyodo reported.

But he said more than half of the cruisers and destroyers based at Yokosuka are equipped to shoot down ballistic missiles, the report added.


Japan has deployed anti-missile systems to try to bring down the rocket should it start falling towards Japanese territory.

It has dispatched three Aegis destroyers, two of which are fitted with ballistic missile interceptors, to waters around Japan, and Patriot guided-missile units to select locations in the country.

The news agency reported that five Aegis destroyers of the US navy modified for ballistic missile defence had left Yokosuka and other Japanese ports by Monday.

They are expected to detect and track the North Korean rocket, which should pass over northeastern Japan if the launch goes according to plan, the report added.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ipJXyRirPQSE_tBMdpwjNeyUKRPA

I believe Sec Gates has also said the US will not shoot it down.
 
This is sounding like WW3 here. But im sure we wont go into another war. If we do go into war, i think they might issue a military draft.
 
NKorea launches rocket, defying world pressure

By JEAN H. LEE and JAE-SOON CHANG, Associated Press Writers Jean H. Lee And Jae-soon Chang, Associated Press Writers – 1 hr 36 mins ago
SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea fired a rocket over Japan on Sunday, defying Washington, Tokyo and others who suspect the launch was cover for a test of its long-range missile technology. President Barack Obama said the move threatens the security of nations "near and far."

Liftoff took place at 11:30 a.m. (0230 GMT) from the coastal Musudan-ri launch pad in northeastern North Korea, the South Korean and U.S. governments said. The multistage rocket hurtled toward the Pacific, reaching Japanese airspace within seven minutes, but no debris appeared to hit its territory, officials in Tokyo said.

Four hours after the launch, North Korea declared it a success. An experimental communications satellite reached outer space in just over nine minutes and is orbiting Earth, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said from Pyongyang.

"The satellite is transmitting the melodies of the immortal revolutionary paeans 'Song of Gen. Kim Il Sung' and 'Song of Gen. Kim Jong Il' as well as measurement data back to Earth," it said, referring to the country's late founder and his son, its current leader.

But the U.S. military said "no object entered orbit." North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command officials said in a statement that the first stage of the rocket fell into the waters between Korea and Japan, while the two other stages, and its payload, landed in the Pacific Ocean.

The launch was a bold act of defiance against Obama, Japanese leader Taro Aso, Hu Jintao of China and others who pressed North Korea in the days leading up to liftoff to cancel a move they said would threaten peace and stability in Northeast Asia.

The U.N. Security Council approved an emergency session for Sunday afternoon in New York.

"North Korea has ignored its international obligations, rejected unequivocal calls for restraint and further isolated itself from the community of nations," Obama said in Prague, urging the North to refrain from further "provocative" actions.

He said the move was a clear violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1718, which prohibits North Korea from conducting ballistic missile-related activities of any kind, and demands an international response.

"North Korea broke the rules once more by testing a rocket that could be used for a long range missile," Obama said. "This provocation underscores the need for action — not just this afternoon at the U.N. Security Council, but in our determination to prevent the spread of these weapons."

In Tokyo, Aso said the launch was "an extremely provocative act that cannot be overlooked."

China, North Korea's biggest source of economic aid and diplomatic support, urged all sides to maintain calm and exercise restraint. It offered to play a "constructive role," though some say it could use its veto power to block a unified response to the launch at the Security Council.

Russia, which shares a border with North Korea, also called for calm. "We urge all states concerned to show restraint in judgments and action in the current situation, and to be guided by objective data on the nature of North Korea's launch," a Foreign Ministry statement said.

North Korea says the launch of the "Kwangmyongsong-2" satellite was a peaceful bid to develop its space program.

But the U.S., South Korea, Japan and others suspect the launch was a guise for testing the regime's long-range missile technology — a step toward eventually mounting a nuclear weapon on a missile capable of reaching Alaska and beyond.

They contend it violates Resolution 1718, part of efforts to force North Korea to shelve its nuclear program and halt long-range missile tests. The European Union also "strongly" condemned the launch.

Japan's U.N. mission immediately requested a meeting of the 15-nation council, spokesman Yutaka Arima said. Mexico, which holds the 15-nation council's presidency this month, set the meeting for 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT), spokesman Marco Morales said.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he regretted North Korea's move "against strong international appeal" at a time when nuclear disarmament talks involving six nations remain stalled.

"Given the volatility in the region, as well as a stalemate in interaction among the concerned parties, such a launch is not conducive to efforts to promote dialogue, regional peace and stability," Ban said in a statement from Paris.

At the United Nations, diplomats have begun discussing ways to affirm existing sanctions on North Korea. Envoys said permanent council members U.S., Britain and France are unlikely to secure agreement on new sanctions from veto holders Russia and China. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions.

North Korea, which says its participation in a U.N. space treaty protects its right to send a satellite into orbit, took pains to alert international maritime and aviation authorities of the rocket's flight path, in marked contrast to 2006, when it carried out a surprise launch.

"Even if a satellite was launched, we see this as a ballistic missile test," Japan's chief Cabinet spokesman Takeo Kawamura said.

Japan had threatened to shoot down any debris from the rocket if the launch went wrong, and positioned batteries of interceptor missiles on its coast and radar-equipped ships in its northern seas to monitor the liftoff. Russia also scrambled fighter jets to monitor the launch, while U.S. and South Korea sent warships to nearby waters, reports said.

No attempt at interception was made because no debris fell onto its territory, Japan's Defense Ministry said.

However, Japan threatened to add more bilateral sanctions onto those it imposed after the July 2006 launch of a similar Taepodong-2 long-range missile that fizzled 42 seconds after takeoff.

South Korea, which technically remains at war with the North because their three-year conflict ended in 1953 in a truce rather than a peace treaty, put its forces on heightened alert.

North Korea, one of the world's poorest nations, is led with absolute authority by leader Kim Jong Il, who is poised to preside over the first session of the country's new parliament on Thursday. The appearance will be his first major public appearance since reportedly suffering a stroke last August.

Amid the controversy over the rocket launch, North Korea announced last week it would put two American reporters detained at the border with China on trial for allegedly entering the country illegally and engaging in "hostile acts."

Laura Ling and Euna Lee, reporters for former U.S. Vice President Al Gore's Current TV media venture, were seized by North Korean soldiers on March 17.
 
FAIL: NORTH KOREAN ROCKET CRASHES IN PACIFIC OCEAN

2zh4p09.jpg
 
r2332407209.jpg


THE TEST...
'ON A PAR WITH HIROSHIMA'...
GAVE USA LESS THAN HOUR'S NOTICE...
Could carry out more...
Fires 3 short-range missiles...
Aggressive...
Condemned...
UN Urgent Meet...
Japan says 'unacceptable'...


capt.photo_1240722814151-1-0.jpg


North Korea declares it conducted nuclear test

May 25, 7:05 AM (ET)

By JEAN H. LEE

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea claimed it carried out a powerful underground nuclear test Monday - much larger than one conducted in 2006 - in a major provocation in the escalating international standoff over its rogue nuclear and missile programs.

Pyongyang announced the test, and Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed an atomic explosion at 9:54 a.m. (0054 GMT) in northeastern North Korea, estimating the blast's yield at 10 to 20 kilotons - comparable to the bombs that flattened Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The regime also test-fired three short-range, ground-to-air missiles later Monday from the same northeastern site where it launched a rocket last month, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing unnamed sources. The rocket liftoff, widely believed to be a cover for a test of its long-range missile technology, drew censure from the U.N. Security Council.

North Korea, incensed by the condemnation of the April 5 rocket launch, had warned last month that it would restart its rogue nuclear program, conduct an atomic test and carry out long-range missile tests.

On Monday, the country's official Korean Central News Agency said the regime "successfully conducted one more underground nuclear test on May 25 as part of measures to bolster its nuclear deterrent for self-defense."

President Barack Obama said a nuclear test would constitute an act of "blatant defiance" of the U.N. Security Council and a violation of international law, and only further isolate North Korea.

North Korea's claims "are a matter of grave concern to all nations," he said, calling for international action in a statement from Washington. "North Korea's attempts to develop nuclear weapons, as well as its ballistic missile program, constitute a threat to international peace and security."

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso said the U.N. Security Council will meet at 4:30 p.m. Monday in New York (2030 GMT).

"North Korea's nuclear test poses a grave challenge to nuclear nonproliferation and clearly violates U.N. Security Council resolutions," he said in Tokyo. "We are not tolerating this at all."

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown condemned the test as "erroneous, misguided and a danger to the world. This act will undermine prospects for peace on the Korean peninsula and will do nothing for North Korea's security," he said. "The international community will treat North Korea as a partner if it behaves responsibly. If it does not, then it can expect only renewed isolation."

South Korea, meanwhile, was grappling with the suicide two days earlier of President Lee Myung-bak's liberal predecessor, Roh Moo-hyun, whose death drew condolences from North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. Kim held a 2007 summit in Pyongyang with Roh, who championed reconciliation with North Korea.

The rise in tensions over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs comes amid questions about who will succeed the authoritarian Kim, 67, who is believed to have suffered a stroke last August. North Korea also has custody of two American journalists - accused of entering the country illegally and engaging in "hostile acts" - who are set to stand trial June 4.

Monday's atomic test was conducted about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of the northern city of Kilju, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky said, speaking on state-run Rossiya television.

Kilju, in the northeastern province of North Hamgyong, is where North Korea conducted its first nuclear test in October 2006 in a surprise move that angered even traditional ally China and drew wide-ranging sanctions from the Security Council.

An emergency siren sounded in the Chinese border city of Yanji, 130 miles (200 kilometers) to the northwest. A receptionist at Yanji's International Hotel said she and several hotel guests felt the ground tremble.

North Korea boasted that Monday's test was conducted "on a new higher level in terms of its explosive power and technology of its control" than in 2006.

Ten to 20 kilotons would be far more than North Korea managed in 2006. U.S. intelligence officials said the 2006 test measured less than a kiloton; 1 kiloton is equal to the force produced by 1,000 tons of TNT. However, Russia estimated the force of the 2006 blast at 5 to 15 kilotons, far higher than other estimates at the time.

Radiation levels in Russia's Primorye region, which shares a short border with North Korea, were normal Monday several hours after the blast, the state meteorological office said.

In Vladivostok, a city of 500,000 about 85 miles (140 kilometers) from the Russian-North Korean border, translator Alexei Sergeyev said he wasn't concerned about the test and doesn't fear North Korea.

"Their nuclear program does not have military aims - their only aim is to frighten the U.S. and receive more humanitarian aid as a result," said Sergeyev, 24.

The reported test-firing of short-range missiles took place at the Musudan-ri launchpad on North Korea's northeast coast, some 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the nuclear test site, Yonhap said. Unnamed sources described it as a ground-to-air missile with a range of 80 miles (130 kilometers).

Japan's coast guard had said Friday that North Korea warned ships to steer clear of waters off the coast near the launch site, suggesting Pyongyang was preparing for a missile test. Yonhap also had reported brisk activity along the northeast coast last week.

South Korean troops were on high alert but there was no sign North Korean soldiers were massing along the heavily fortified border dividing the two nations, according to an official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff headquarters in Seoul. He spoke on condition of anonymity, citing agency policy.

The two Koreas technically remain at war because their three-year conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953. Tensions have been high since conservative President Lee Myung-bak took office in Seoul in February 2008 saying Pyongyang must fulfill its promises to dismantle its nuclear program before it can expect aid.

North Korea is believed to have enough weaponized plutonium for at least a half-dozen atomic bombs. However, experts say scientists have not yet mastered the miniaturization needed to mount a nuclear device onto a long-range missile.

The 2006 test prompted North Korea's neighbors and the U.S. to push for a pact that would give Pyongyang 1 million tons of fuel oil in exchange for disabling its nuclear facilities.

North Korea signed the accord in February 2007 and began disabling its main nuclear reactor in Yongbyon that November. Pyongyang destroyed the Yongbyon cooling tower in June 2008 in dramatic show of its commitment to the process, but then abruptly halted the process weeks later over a dispute with Washington over how to verify its 18,000-page list of past atomic activities.

Talks hosted by Beijing in December failed to resolve the impasse, and North Korea abandoned the six-nation negotiations last month in anger over the U.N. condemnation of its rocket launch.

North Korea claims it launched the rocket to send a satellite into space; South Korea, Japan and other nations saw it as a way to test the technology used to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile, one capable of reaching the U.S.

The Security Council called the launch a violation of 2006 resolutions barring the regime from ballistic missile-related activity.

---
 
This is sounding like WW3 here. But im sure we wont go into another war. If we do go into war, i think they might issue a military draft.

If North Korea actually attacks something, than yes. However, just testing a missile. I doubt we do anything.
 
Let Japan deal with them. We have our own problems.
 
Let Japan deal with them. We have our own problems.
Yeah, like game 4... **** North Korea, we have a big game tomorrow..

Get your head out of your ass, Max...
 
IMO, the best strategy to use against N. Korea is to impose 100% international sanctions, including all forms food and medical supplies, and simply ignore them. Have high flying aircraft carriers jam all transmissions over their country with Flavor/Rock of Love, and other pop culture programs. Beyond that, starvation would quickly force them to into a regime change.

Uranium for food sounds good to me.

Good plan, but unfortunately the United States itself cannot impose 100% international sanctions, bc Russia will not agree with us, and China will most likely not agree with us either.. We won't be able to get100% international sanctions without the help of the rest of the world.. and if the past is any indicator, Russia and China both would likely oppose those sanctions.
 
I don't believe starving the people will work in a nation like N. Korea. The people are already cut off from any news outlets so the only info they get is from the state. Don't you think that would only embolden the people to back their country?

Kim Jong Il is on his last leg; best bet would probably be to send some interceptor missiles to Japan and wait him out.
 
Word is Max made some bad nachos game 1.
 
(LEAD) N. Korea launches additional missile into East Sea: official
capt.photo_1241749834007-1-0.jpg

SEOUL, May 27 (Yonhap) -- North Korea launched an additional short-range missile from its east coast Tuesday night, an official at the South Korean presidential office said Wednesday.

"The North appears to have launched a ground-to-ship missile into the East Sea shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday," the official said, asking not to be identified. Pyongyang had launched two short-range missiles from its east coast earlier Tuesday, following its supposed nuclear test the day before.

Officials here believe the missile launches are partly aimed at preventing South Korean and U.S. reconnaissance planes from nearing the communist state to verify its claimed nuclear test.

Earlier reports said there were also signs of imminent missile launches on the North's west coast. The official at the presidential office said the North has yet to launch any missile from the west.





North Korea Threatens Armed Strike, End to Armistice (Update1)
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By Heejin Koo

May 27 (Bloomberg) -- North Korea threatened a military response to South Korean participation in a U.S.-led program to seize weapons of mass destruction, and said it will no longer abide by the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War.

“The Korean People’s Army will not be bound to the Armistice Agreement any longer,” the official Korean Central News Agency said in a statement today. Any attempt to inspect North Korean vessels will be countered with “prompt and strong military strikes.” South Korea’s military said it will “deal sternly with any provocation” from the North.

South Korean President Lee Myung Bak ordered his government to take “calm” measures on the threats, his office said in a statement today. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, Takeo Kawamura, echoed those remarks and called on North Korea to “refrain from taking actions that would elevate tensions in Asia.”

The threats are the strongest since North Korea tested a nuclear weapon on May 25, drawing international condemnation and the prospect of increased sanctions against the communist nation. South Korea dispatched a warship to its maritime border and is prepared to deploy aircraft, Yonhap News reported, citing military officials it didn’t identify.

“This rapid-fire provocation indicates a more aggressive shift in the Kim Jong Il regime,” said Ryoo Kihl Jae, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. “Kim is obviously using a strategy of maximum force.”

Markets Fall

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi stock index fell for a fifth day, the longest losing streak since February. The index declined 0.7 percent to 1,362.02. The won weakened 0.5 percent to 1,269.35 per dollar as of the 3 p.m. close of trade in Seoul.

The yield on government debt due in March 2014 rose six basis points to 4.58 percent, while the three-year yield added five basis points to 3.79 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.

North Korea can’t guarantee the safety of ships passing through its western waters, KCNA said. The statement specified five islands controlled by the South that were the site of naval skirmishes in 1999 and 2002.

“What they are saying is that they will take military action if there is any action taken on behalf of the program such as boarding their ships, stopping and searching and so on,” said Han Sung Joo, a former South Korean foreign minister.

‘Deal Sternly’

South Korea’s military “will deal sternly with any provocation by North Korea, based on a strong South Korea-U.S. defense coalition,” Rear Admiral Lee Ki Sik of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in an e-mailed statement. North Korea was making “obstinate claims” about nullifying the armistice, he said.

The U.S. has about 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea, according to the United States Forces Korea Web site.

South Korea yesterday agreed to join the Proliferation Security Initiative, or PSI, set up to locate and seize shipments of equipment and materials used to make weapons of mass destruction.

President Lee had resisted joining the PSI until the nuclear test, even after North Korea fired a ballistic missile on April 5. His predecessor, Roh Moo Hyun, had said that joining the initiative would be too provocative.

North Korea has also fired five short-range missiles in two days in a further display of military defiance. The United Nations Security Council agreed in an emergency session on May 25 to condemn the nuclear test and missile launches.

‘Cessation’ of Hostilities


Under the July 27, 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War, both sides agreed to “a complete cessation of all hostilities” and pledged to accept the demarcation line that has become the world’s most-heavily mined demilitarized zone.

North Korea may be preparing to reprocess spent fuel rods at its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported earlier today, citing an unidentified South Korean official. Steam has been rising from the facilities, the newspaper said.

Kim is 68 according to research groups including the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute, while the regime says he is a year younger. He likely suffered a stroke last August, according to U.S. intelligence officials, and disappeared from public view before presiding over a parliamentary session in April, when he looked gaunt and aged.

To contact the reporters on this story: Heejin Koo in Seoul at hjkoo@bloomberg.net; Bomi Lim in Seoul at blim30@bloomberg.net
 
Russia fears Korea conflict could go nuclear
Wed May 27, 2009 4:48pm IST Email | Print | Share| Single Page[-] Text [+]
1 of 1Full SizeBy Oleg Shchedrov

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is taking security measures as a precaution against the possibility tension over North Korea could escalate into nuclear war, news agencies quoted officials as saying on Wednesday.

Interfax quoted an unnamed security source as saying a stand-off triggered by Pyongyang's nuclear test on Monday could affect the security of Russia's far eastern regions, which border North Korea.

"The need has emerged for an appropriate package of precautionary measures," the source said.

"We are not talking about stepping up military efforts but rather about measures in case a military conflict, perhaps with the use of nuclear weapons, flares up on the Korean Peninsula," he added. The official did not elaborate further.

North Korea has responded to international condemnation of its nuclear test and a threat of new U.N. sanctions by saying it is no longer bound by an armistice signed with South Korea at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Itar-Tass news agency quoted a Russian Foreign Ministry official as saying the "war of nerves" over North Korea should not be allowed to grow into a military conflict, a reference to Pyongyang's decision to drop out of the armistice deal.
 
I'm going to do you guys some good and tell you that North Korea is like your 8 year old little brother. What does he do when he wants something? He steps on your feet and cries like a little bitch, and says that he's gonna tell on you. He says he's going to do something bad if you don't give into him...but he never does.

North Korea will be the 51st state, or the next wasteland if they even THINK about using nuclear weapons, or starting a war. All they want is money.....and all we do is give it to them (which isn't a good thing, however).
 

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