All Things North Korea Thread

[BornaSkinsFan83]

Borna,

You are on the right track, but there are some things the intel community would disagree with. China is not the second most powerful country in the world. Far from it... their Hyperglide Delivery Vehicle has not passed one test.

I cannot say more as it is still classified, but China poses ZERO threat to the US except through economic and cyber warfare. NK they could handle. China is a ****hole of a country whose normal citizen makes about $3 dollars a day.

Appreciate it. I didn't mean to put China militarily in the same breath as us. It just seems to me that they're probably the next country that people would least want to **** with. Of course Vietnam essentially kicked their ass in the 70's (they didn't really kick our ass, they just outlasted us) so who knows.

Who would you put in your top 5 as world powers? Militarily speaking

[zoony]

China won't do anything as usual. Neither will we.

[Jumbo]

You know many intel ops and SEAL/DELTA ops we have as members according to their posts?

 

Something like 36% of the reg posters in the tailgate.

 

 

Hard to get a table in the tailgate cafeteria sometimes without getting inundated with the state secrets being bandied about over the Danish....not the pastry, our IT guy is Danish and secretly works for Forsvarets Efterretningstjeneste.

[Event_Horizon]

Yeah.. ha ha ^^ thanks for the unnecessary jab. I was just an Analyst who followed the money as part of GWOT as part of a NSC / JTF tasking.  Anyway... whatever.  I am retired and just a teacher now.

 

Borna,

 

If it was me to rank the top five right now?  Here it is:

 

1. USA

2. Russia

3. UK

4. France

5. China (mainly because of pure human manpower and not capability)

-----------

6. Germany

7. India

8. Turkey

9. South Korea

10. Japan

[visionary]

http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-northkorea-nuclear-idUKKBN0UK0AC20160107

South Korea seeks U.S. strategic weapons after North's nuclear test

 

South Korea is in talks with the United States to deploy U.S. strategic weapons on the Korean peninsula, a South Korean military official said on Thursday, a day after North Korea said it successfully tested a hydrogen nuclear device.

 

South Korea also said it would resume propaganda broadcasts by loudspeaker into North Korea from Friday, which is likely to infuriate its isolated rival, in response to its fourth nuclear test.

The United States and weapons experts voiced doubts the device North Korea tested on Wednesday was a hydrogen bomb, but calls mounted for more sanctions against it for its rogue nuclear programme.

 

The underground explosion angered China, which was not given prior notice although it is North Korea's main ally, pointing to a strain in their ties.

 

The test also alarmed Japan. Its prime minister, Shinzo Abe, agreed with U.S. President Barack Obama in a telephone call that a firm global response was needed, the White House said.

Obama also spoke to President Park Geun-hye of South Korea to discuss options.

 

A South Korean military official told Reuters the two countries had discussed the deployment of U.S. strategic assets on the divided Korean peninsula, but declined to give further details.

[China]

South Korea Punishes Kim Jong Un With K-Pop for Nuclear Test

 

 

With Kim Jong Un turning up the heat with North Korea’s fourth nuclear test, South Korea responded Friday by pumping up the volume. Literally.

 

At noon on North Korean leader Kim’s birthday, South Korea fired up loudspeakers along the heavily fortified border and resumed the propaganda blasts that brought the reclusive regime to a war footing in August -- and then to the negotiating table. South Korea has reinforced defensive positions near the loudspeakers in case of attack, while the North Korean army has stepped up surveillance along the border, the Defense Ministry said.

 

While years of United Nations sanctions and other penalties have failed to bring Kim to heel, one thing that can get under his skin is broadcasts over the demilitarized zone of South Korean ballads and rap music, a genre known as K-pop. The speakers have been used only once in the past decade, for part of August in retaliation for the maiming of two South Korean soldiers by DMZ mines.

 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

North Korea faked missile test footage: U.S. experts

 

Footage released last week by North Korea purporting to show the firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) appears to be fake, according to studies by U.S. experts.

 

In defiance of a U.N. ban, North Korea has said it has ballistic missile technology which would allow it to launch a nuclear warhead from a submarine, though analysis of North Korean state media images casts doubt on the claim.

 

North Korea released the submarine launch footage after it separately conducted a fourth nuclear weapons test last Wednesday.

North Korean state television aired footage on Friday of the submarine test said to have taken place in December. Unlike a previous SLBM test in May, it was not announced at the time.

 

South Korea's military said on Saturday North Korea appeared to have modified the video and edited it with Scud missile footage from 2014 although an official told Reuters the ejection technology might have improved since the May test.

 

An analysis by the California-based James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) shows two frames of video from state media where flames engulf the missile and small parts of its body break away.

 

"The rocket ejected, began to light, and then failed catastrophically," Melissa Hanham, a senior research associate at the Middlebury Institute's CNS, said in an email. "North Korea used heavy video editing to cover over this fact."

 

Click on the link for the full article

[visionary]

http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/Article.aspx?aid=3013855

North tested its nuclear device deep in ground

 

North Korea conducted its fourth underground nuclear test last week far deeper into a mountain than in previous tests in 2009 and 2013.

 

According to the South Korean government, the North burrowed a tunnel 770 meters (2,526 feet) beneath the top of a peak at the Punggye-ri nuclear site, either to prevent contamination escaping the tunnel’s mouth or to prevent the weapon, which was supposed to be a powerful hydrogen bomb, from blowing out the tunnel.

 

“The site where North Korea detonated its nuclear bomb is 770 meters beneath the highest peak [of 2,180 meters] in Punggye-ri,” said Ji Hun-cheol, director of the geological survey team at the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources.

 

For North Korea’s third nuclear test in 2013, a bomb was detonated in a tunnel burrowed 330 meters beneath the peak of another mountain, while the second test was conducted at 480 meters beneath a mountain peak.

 

“The test this time was carried out at the location where the earth was much thicker than in previous tests,” added Ji.

 

The state-run geoscience institute collects seismic data from 38 seismological observatories and eight sonar radars nationwide.

 

Ji’s remarks are the first information on the depth of the detonation of the nuclear device on Jan. 6, which Pyongyang claims was a hydrogen bomb, a claim that has been met with skepticism due to a lack of evidence and the relatively small tremor caused by the test.

 

The much deeper underground tunnel, Ji said, could have been a measure to prevent the collapse of the tunnel after a more powerful explosion, such as an H-bomb detonation.

 

Or the tunnel was made longer to make the world think Pyongyang was worried about the size of a hydrogen bomb blast.

 

The size of the tremor created by the test argues against the hydrogen bomb claim.

 

According to Ji, the nuclear test generated a 4.8-magnitude tremor, which was actually smaller than the 4.9 magnitude generated by the 2013 nuclear test. Pyongyang said that test was of an atomic bomb.

 

https://twitter.com/AP

BREAKING: Seoul media says South Korea has fired warning shots after North Korean drone seen across border.
1:21 AM

Edited January 13, 2016 by visionary

[visionary]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35379583?ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbc_breaking&ns_source=twitter&ns_linkname=news_central

North Korea arrests US student

 

North Korea says it has arrested a US student on charges of committing a "hostile act"

Edited January 22, 2016 by visionary

[China]

North Korea plans to launch a satellite into space sometime this month

 

North Korea plans to launch a rocket carrying an Earth observation satellite into space sometime within the next three weeks, the Associated Press reports. That's according to an official at the International Maritime Organization in London, which is responsible for regulating shipping and safety of international waters. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that North Korea declared the launch would happen sometime between February 8th and 25th. Such a launch will likely be decried by the international community as a way for North Korea to test out long-range missile technology.

 

Along with the IMO, North Korea has also made its intentions known to the International Telecommunications Union, CNN reports. The ITU is a United Nations agency that helps to manage global telecommunications technologies, including communications satellites in orbit.

 

Many experts have speculated within the past month that North Korea may launch a satellite soon. Satellite imagery has shown increased activity at the Sohae satellite launch facility in the northwestern area of the country. The images revealed what looked like hardware and propellant being moved around the site. There was also activity on the launch pad itself, but it's not clear if the site has a rocket yet, Reuters reports.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[zoony]

I just recently found a picture of me around 10 years old or so standing in North Korea at the dmz with my parents. There is a South Korean soldier right behind us guarding the door to the North Korean side so we don't get snatched which is apparently something that has happened before

Anyway, the more things change..,

[visionary]

North Korea doesn't seem to have gotten the message yet.

https://mobile.twitter.com/AP/status/696130334778331136

https://mobile.twitter.com/AP/status/696132807681318912

Edited February 7, 2016 by visionary

[Skin'emAlive]

How are you going to say that and not post the picture, man. Leaving us in the dark.

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/BNONews

BREAKING: North Korea executes military chief on corruption charges, source tells Yonhap news agency; no independent confirmation
2:14 AM

[China]

North Korea trashes South Korea with used toilet paper

 

North Korea has been floating balloons over the border with a cargo of propaganda leaflets denouncing the United States as well as South Korean leader Park Geun-hye, calling her “political filth.”

Recently, the leaflets have been accompanied by genuine filth: cigarette butts and used toilet paper.

According to military and police sources Monday, Pyongyang began sending the balloons carrying leaflets starting from Jan. 12 to retaliate for South Korea’s resumption of propaganda broadcasts at the border earlier that week.

The loudspeakers, which blast bouncy K-pop songs and announcements critical of the North Korean regime, were restarted to punish Pyongyang for carrying out a fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6.

After reports from people living near the border, police were dispatched to gather the balloons that failed to explode in midair and had instead fallen in fields and even on cars.

Intelligence officials analyzed the objects packed into the balloons, concerned that they may include hazardous biochemical substances.

“When we opened up a bundle dropped on the ground, we found plastic bags filled with leaflets mixed with trash,” a South Korean military official said. “There was concern that North Korea may have sent biochemical substances to harm our people, but after analyzing the content, it was just trash.”

“In some of the bundles, there were cigarette butts, tissues and daily waste,” a South Korean police official said. “Between the leaflets, there was lots of filth difficult to describe in words.”

This included used toilet paper.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[pjfootballer]

They have toilet paper in NK?

I'm not a proponent of war. It is a horrible waste of lives in most instances, but is anyone like me in that, every once in a while I think "do it Kim. Give us a reason!"? I know it's stupid, but after a while I just think, we need to get rid of this clown.

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/northkorea-usa-whitehouse-idUSKCN0VQ2IL?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=twitter

Obama plans to sign North Korea sanctions bill: White House

 

President Barack Obama does plan to sign a North Korea sanctions bill, the White House said on Wednesday.

 

In a press briefing with reporters, White House spokesman Josh Earnest gave no indication of when such a measure might come.

Edited February 17, 2016 by visionary

[China]

North Korea is planning a terror attack, spies reveal

North Korea is believed to be planning a series of terror attacks on South Korea, a spy agency has revealed.

 

Tensions have been growing significantly since the North’s recent nuclear tests and rocket launch.

In a private briefing to ruling Saenuri Party members, the National Intelligence Service said the North’s spy agency has begun work to implement the order to ‘actively muster capabilities’ to carry out cyber and other attacks on South Korea,

Click on the link for the full article

[visionary]

https://twitter.com/AP/status/700403471942598656

BREAKING: Obama signs legislation hitting North Korea with more stringent sanctions over nuclear weapons program.
2:36 PM

Edited February 18, 2016 by visionary

[Predicto]

They have toilet paper in NK?

I'm not a proponent of war. It is a horrible waste of lives in most instances, but is anyone like me in that, every once in a while I think "do it Kim. Give us a reason!"? I know it's stupid, but after a while I just think, we need to get rid of this clown.

 

 

That's easy for us to say.   The 30 million South Koreans living within 50 miles of the border, within the range of NK's thousands of big guns, chemical weapons and handful of nukes - they aren't so sure that it's a good idea.  

 

Sure, the good guys would win the war eventually, but since a few hundred thousand civilians are almost sure to die within the first couple of hours of the shelling, poisoning and nuking, it's a choice to be avoided.  

 

I know you know this - but sometimes someone reading these posts doesn't get it.   

[pjfootballer]

That's easy for us to say. The 30 million South Koreans living within 50 miles of the border, within the range of NK's thousands of big guns, chemical weapons and handful of nukes - they aren't so sure that it's a good idea.

Sure, the good guys would win the war eventually, but since a few hundred thousand civilians are almost sure to die within the first couple of hours of the shelling, poisoning and nuking, it's a choice to be avoided.

I know you know this - but sometimes someone reading these posts doesn't get it.

Yeah. He's pretty much not worth the lives lost and I like the way we've handled him, which is to pretty much laugh at him. But you know the thought crosses someone's mind every once in a while.

[China]

North Korea doctored photographs of Kim Jong Un, official says

 

SEOUL, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- Recent photographs of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appeared to have been doctored, prompting speculation regarding Kim's wariness about his personal safety as tensions rise on the peninsula.

 

The photographs that ran on the seventh page of state newspaper Rodong Sinmun on Friday show Kim surrounded by a large group of party officials, posing before the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo reported.

 

Kumsusan is also the mausoleum of the late Kim Il Sung, North Korea's founder.

 

But something doesn't look quite right.

 

On closer inspection, the main flag at the top of the building flutters in one direction, while a group of flags in the background flies in the opposite way, an unlikely phenomenon if wind was blowing at the time the photograph was taken.

 

 

The newspaper also ran multiple photographs of the scene, each time showing a different set of officials posing with Kim. But in each photograph, the flags appear to be identical, leading one unidentified South Korean official to say the images were falsified.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

North Korea Is Hosting Its First Air Show

 

Airplanes, waterfalls, tae kwon do, and a beer festival await you​ in paranoid paradise

 

If you've ever wanted to attend an air show in the world's most repressive and paranoid country, now's your chance: North Korea has scheduled its very first such event. The Wonsan Air Festival will feature North Korean military and civil aircraft of all types. It will happen this September.

 

...

 

The air show will run from September 21-28 at Wonsan Airport, a civil-military airport on the country's east coast. Kalma, as the airport is called, was recently renovated by a Chinese architectural firm. The airport's mascot is a giant, broad-faced smiling sun—somewhat reminiscent of Kim Jong-un himself—tattooed into the ground and visible in Google Earth, greeting visitors as they land. Curiously, not a single vehicle—car, truck, helicopter or airplane—is visible there on Google Earth. The airport could be still under construction, but there are no signs of construction vehicles, either. On the other hand, it looks quite nice inside.

 

The show promises fighters, bombers, trainers, and transport aircraft from the air force. The most likely show participants are the country's 35 MiG-29 fighters, purchased in the late 1990s from Russia. Other crowd-pleasers will include the country's Su-25 "Frogfoot" ground attack planes that are variants of those currently used by Russia in Syria, MiG-23 "Fulcrum" fighters, and MiG-21bis fighters, one of the last versions of the venerable Cold War fighter. 

 

The country's national (and only) airline, Air Koryo, is expected to contribute planes as well. The airline's meager fleet of less than two dozen aircraft consists of aging Soviet-era airliners including the Tupolev Tu-154 and the Ilyushin Il-62. 

 

This air show won't be just sitting in a review stand watching things—you'll get to actively participate in events too. There will be opportunities to fly in passenger liners, skydive, and "participate in mass hot air balloon ascents." You'll watch Tae Kwon Do demonstrations and visit waterfalls. There's even a scheduled aviation quiz, with prizes awarded.

 

Finally, the event promises a fireworks display over Wonsan harbor and a "mass dance" in the city square, no doubt similar to the dances at the Arrirang Mass Games. But wait, there's more: the event will also include North Korea's first beer festival! 

 

Tour pricing was not available at time of publication nor details regarding accommodations. Only 636 spaces for international visitors are available, and North Korean citizens are not allowed in.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[visionary]

http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-agreed-to-north-korea-peace-talks-1456076019

U.S. Agreed to North Korea Peace Talks Before Latest Nuclear Test

 

Days before North Korea’s latest nuclear-bomb test, the Obama administration secretly agreed to talks to try to formally end the Korean War, dropping a longstanding condition that Pyongyang first take steps to curtail its nuclear arsenal.

Edited February 21, 2016 by visionary

[zoony]

Seriously where is NK getting all this money? Sanctions are as tight as they've ever been.

And please don't say "China". That's an answer I could get from any 7th grader in the country.