N. Korea prepping for nuclear test: intelligence official

Yonhap News ^ | 04/08/12

[TigerLikesRooster]

N. Korea prepping for nuclear test: intelligence official

SEOUL, April 8 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is believed to be gearing up for a nuclear test, an intelligence official said Sunday, a move certain to fuel the already high tensions over its planned long-range rocket launch.

Satellite images show the communist nation digging a new tunnel underground in the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in the country's northeast, where it conducted two previous nuclear tests, first in 2006 and then in 2009.

The construction is believed to be in its final stage, the official said.

"North Korea is making clandestine preparations for a third nuclear test at Punggye-ri in North Hamkyong Province, where it conducted two nuclear tests in the past," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Commercial satellite imagery showed piles of earth and sand at the entrance of a tunnel in the Punggye-ri site. The soil is believed to have been brought to the site to plug the tunnel, one of final steps before carrying out a nuclear test blast.

A nuclear test following a long-range missile test fits the pattern of North Korean behavior.

In 2006, the provocative regime carried out its first-ever nuclear test, three months after the test-firing of its long-range Taepodong-2 rocket. The second nuclear test in 2009 came just one month after a long-range rocket launch.

The North says it will fire off its Unha-3 long-range rocket between April 12-16 to put what it claims is a satellite into orbit. But regional powers believe the launch is a pretext to disguise a ballistic missile test banned under a U.N. Security Council resolution.

Sources said the North is believed to have put the rocket on a launch pad in the country's northwest on Friday.

The North's nuclear and missile programs have long been a regional security concern. The country is believed to have advanced ballistic missile technology, though it is still not clear whether it has mastered the technology to put a nuclear warhead on a missile.

[TigerLikesRooster]

P!

[LukeL]

Don’t you need a powergrid before a satellite is of any real use?

[U-238]

I will not be surprised if there are officials from Pakistan and Iran attending the launch.

[U-238]

I really do not think that its going to fly. But maybe wrong. I hope that either the Taiwanese Air Force or the Japanese shoot it down if its likely the rocket it performing well.

[U-238]

Im sorry for my mistake I thought it was the upcoming launch. I still will not be suprised if Pakistan and Iranian officials attend the nuke test.

[Mister Da]

Shoot down the missile early & the NK nuke program is effectively neutered.

[U-238]

You can detect an underground nuclear explosion. There are seismic stations all around the world to find “abnormal” seismic activity. There are something around 300 seismic stations around the world looking for cheaters.There are detectable concentrations of the rare gases argon-37 and xenon-133 at 50 and 80 days, respectively, after the detonation.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Since they are apparantlyletting in Western journalists by the boatload to watch this fiasco (the southward ICBM launch I mean) it should be no difficult matter for a resourceful “reporter” operating under deep cover, to ascertain the presence of Pakistani or Irani technical personnel in the North. Most visiting or posted foreigners in the People’s Hell on Earth are usually housed in similiar areas, and by chance their paths could indeed cross. I particularly do not think the DPRK folks are THAT smart or THAT conscientious in covering their tracks.

[AmericanInTokyo]

It think the idea would be to intercept and destroy shortly after liftoff from the pad because of the elevation and speed factors, mabye two or three minutes into flight if possible, but still a) might be well out of range of such action, and b) a ROK or US Aegis in the Yellow Sea doing such a thing successfully would be subject to a torpedo attack by DPRK subs which are now out and about as we speak.

[SpaceBar]

Michael Savage has been saying for years that they should just take the whole thing out right on the launch pad while all the dignitaries are there picking their noses.

[AmericanInTokyo]

It could be done. I would think that they could outsource it to the crack Israeli commandoes to go in and destroy it on on the pad at night with high explosives, as their own practice for future actions on Iran. In fact this might be more of an Iranian missile test launch outsourced to DPRK than anything else. Israel and Mossad should be very, very interested in these developments and results.

[SpaceBar]

commandos...at night with high explosives...

Not necessary. A cruise missile would do the trick.

[U-238]

I am sure that the “guests” of the North Koreans would be carefully chosen and vetted before entering the base. They have a list of people who they have invited.

[U-238]

Our government carefully looks into the background of the people they let in to our most sensitive places.They also limit any movement within sensitive bases.

[AmericanInTokyo]

That is not the only place they could come across the Iranians (if there).

[AmericanInTokyo]

Yes, but that creates other problems, although it is the most effacacious, logistically speaking.

[Mister Da]

Those NK subs are coastal subs. The Aegis will be hundreds of miles from the coast, in deep water, & well protected. Subs are easier to detect in deep water.

Certainly, the North Koreans will try something. Artillery attacks on SK islands, sub attacks along the coast, but nothing that would start an outright war with SK & the USA.

I believe that NK would lose such a war badly, & NK knows it. Their military is decrepit, starving & demoralized just like the general population. The leadership is spoiled, fat, lazy, corrupt, old, & militarily inept. The last thing they want is to see their palaces shattered & their lifestyles destroyed. In any protracted conflict, which I doubt, all of NK would simply starve to death.

Given this, CHINA will not allow NK to start a war that ends with a reunited, democratic Korea.

Frankly, I don't believe Obama will try to shoot the missile down. He hates the military & would avoid any opportunity for them to shine. He has a lot of purging left to do in the military before they become HIS military.

Too, he likes to keep the people's stress level high. Stress causes mistakes, like in the polling booth. A NK missile headed toward Hawaii is a great public distraction from his many failures. Shooting down the NK missile would be Politically Incorrect. Endless talk in the face of repeated provocation is the PC way.

[Former Proud Canadian]

So, you don’t think USN or ROK ASW is up to the task of neutralizing Nork subs?

[Chode]

according to the Korean Herald

Several North Korean submarines have disappeared after departing from bases on the eastern coast. According to reports, three or four North Korean submarines recently departed from bases on the east coast and have since remained outside South Korean surveillance.

The submarines are thought to be 370-ton shark-class vessels. The North Korean submarine used in the attack on the Cheonan in March 2010 was a 130-ton salmon-class vessel. North Korea has between 70 and 80 submarines ranging from 1,500-ton vessels to 130-ton vessels. Of the total, 80 percent are said to be based in the East Sea, where the waters are deeper than the West Sea, providing better conditions for submarine operations.

[AmericanInTokyo]

I dunno. You’d probably have to ask the families of the deceased crew members of the Cheonan (ROK Navy).

[SevenofNine]

Hey Tiger are these toys that Chia Pet left to son JR before he croak I THINK SO

[GeronL]

Oh it might fly, but it ain’t reaching orbit. I doubt its got that capability. I think the “satellite” is nothing but a very bad smokescreen.

[Aglooka]

If they do test another nuclear weapon, will it use Plutonium or Uranium? North Korea appears to be ahead of Iran when it comes to Uranium enrichment.

[Mr Apple]

Upon review the indisputable facts:

Agreed Framework Between The United States of America And The Democratic People's Republic of Korea
http://www.armscontrol.org/documents/af

North Korea gathers kit for nuclear bombs
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1550021/posts

Clinton Bankrolled North Korea's Nuke Program
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/770752/posts

***
***

Then finally, like pulling teeth - Madeleine Albright and the democrats belated acknowledgment

FLASHBACK: Albright: North Korea 'Cheated' on Clinton Nuke Agreement
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1716930/posts

[U-238]

The North Korean missile tests remind me of the early Atlas missile tests

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEFNjL86y9c&feature=related

[AdmSmith]

NK letter:

[AdmSmith]

http://lewis.armscontrolwonk.com/archive/5131/dprk-gdae-stationary

[AdmSmith]

Meanwhile, the launch of the U’nha-3 and Kwangmyo’ngso’ng-3 satellite may not be the only test carried out by the Korean Workers’ Party (KWP) Central Committee’s Machine-Building Industry Department and its subordinate organizations, the Second Economy Commission and Second Natural Sciences Academy. South Korean officials say that ongoing excavation and construction activities near P’unggye-ri, Kilchu County, North Hamgyo’ng Province suggest the DPRK may conduct a third underground nuclear detonation, likely HEU. Yonhap reports

http://nkleadershipwatch.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/rocket-on-launch-pad/

[AdmSmith]

Two OT:
North Korea no longer relies on a single foreign telecom company to carry its Internet traffic to and from the rest of the world. A second route via Intelsat started appearing in BGP announcements from April 5 (around 6am local Pyongyang time).

Detected prefix: 175.45.176.0/24 , Announced by AS131279 (STAR-KP — Ryugyong-dong) Detected upstream/next hop AS: AS22351(INTELSAT Intelsat Global BGP Routing Policy)

http://www.northkoreatech.org/2012/04/08/dprk-gets-second-link-to-internet/

and Changes at Pyongyang Earth Station:

http://www.northkoreatech.org/2012/03/31/changes-at-pyongyang-earth-station/

[AdmSmith]

Here is the AS22351 INTELSAT Global BGP Routing Policy
http://www.robtex.com/as/as22351.html

But I do not see a link to AS22351 here: http://www.robtex.com/route/175.45.176.0-24.html

only to AS4837 China-Network-Communications-Group China Network Communications (CNC Group) http://www.robtex.com/as/as4837.html

[AdmSmith]

The Google advisory gives green light:

Diagnostic page for AS131279 (STAR)

What happened when Google visited sites hosted on this network?

Of the 3 site(s) we tested on this network over the past 90 days, none served content that resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent.

The last time Google tested a site on this network was on 2012-03-22, and no suspicious content was found on this network within the past 90 days.

Has this network hosted sites acting as intermediaries for further malware distribution?

Over the past 90 days, this network has not hosted any sites that appeared to function as intermediaries for the infection of any other sites.

Has this network hosted sites that have distributed malware?

No, this network has not hosted any sites that have distributed malicious software over the past 90 days.

http://safebrowsing.clients.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=AS:131279

[AdmSmith]

The propaganda ministry works as if KJI still is alive and they mix up the dates:

Pyongyang, April 9 (KCNA) — Leader Kim Jong Il was awarded Kim Il Sung Prize on the occasion of the centenary of the birth of President Kim Il Sung.

A decree on awarding the prize was released on Mar. 29 by the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) of the DPRK.

The SPA Presidium said in its decree that reflecting the unanimous will and desire of all the service personnel and people, it decided to confer the prize on Kim Jong Il who indicated the road for the Korean revolution and the times to follow with his encyclopedic ideas and theories and ushered in a shining heyday of building socialist culture in Songun Korea. -0-
http://www.kcna.kp/goHome.do?lang=eng

Kim Il-sung (15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) i.e. not March 29 nor April 9,

[AdmSmith]

NK control room:


NASA control Room:


source: http://blog.livedoor.jp/dqnplus/archives/1706509.html

[AmericanInTokyo]

And in this case, the "NASA" will stand for:

NEVER

A

STRAIGHT

ANSWER

[AmericanInTokyo]

The “NASA” for the North, that is.

[Cementjungle]

They’ll do their nuke test, launch their missile and that will be that. Obama will give them another boatload of cash and they’ll promise to be good. Life will resume as before.