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South Korea's defense chief said Monday his military will launch its own anti-proliferation exercise and resume psychological warfare against North Korea, as parts of its initial military measures to punish Pyongyang for a deadly torpedo attack on a South Korean warship in March. The planned military exercise scheduled to take place in the second half of the year to deter proliferation of North Korean weapons of mass destruction will be the first of its kind by the South's military. Defense Minister Kim Tae-young also said the South would actively participate in a U.S.-led anti-proliferation drill, known as the Proliferation of...

South Korea said Monday it will unhesitatingly exercise its right of self-defense in the event of future armed provocation by North Korea and freeze all of its remaining exchanges with the communist neighbor, except for Kaesong industrial park. Announcing a set of tough punitive steps against Pyongyang for its fatal attack on one of its warships in March, President Lee Myung-bak said his government will request the U.N. Security Council take up the case."From now on, the Republic of Korea will not tolerate any provocative act by the North and will maintain a principle of proactive deterrence," the president said...

So now it's official: North Korea did it. In the early morning hours of March 26 an explosion tore through the hull of the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan, which was sailing in waters not far from the disputed maritime boundary with the North. The 1,200-ton patrol boat split in two and sank, and 46 sailors lost their lives. The cause of the disaster wasn't immediately obvious. No one claimed responsibility for an attack, and some sort of accident was, of course, within the realm of possibility. So the South Korean government launched a probe to figure out what happened....

The official investigation is over. After weeks of careful technical review, an expert team of South Korean, US and European investigators believe that a North Korean torpedo blew in half and sunk a South Korean Navy corvette on March 26. The torpedo not only struck its immediate intended target (killing 46 sailors in the process), but has also undermined planned nuclear arms talks. On Thursday, officials in Seoul released critical evidence with photos of the recovered wreckage showing colossal damage to the keel. The Ministry of National Defense simulated striking the ROKS Cheonan near the ship’s gas turbine room—a strike...

Video Link is HERE.Video may stream for 1/2 more day. Not all systems can stream. Hit the white triangle in the center of the photo of the irate South Korean demonstrators bashing the cr*p out of an effigy of a North Korean torpedo, with sledgehammers, in busy downtown Seoul today.**NOTE THE CLOSING SECONDS OF VIDEO WITH RABID NORTH KOREAN TV GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCERETTE ON PYONGYANG (NORTH) KOREAN CENTRAL NEWS TV JUST TODAY DECLARING THAT NORTH KOREA WILL GO TO WAR AGAINST THE SOUTH IF THEY TRY TO DO ANYTHING UNWARRANTED IN RESPONSE.** She/he/it(?) spits this out in usual psychotic North...

PYEONGTAEK, South Korea — Investigators let media have a look at the wreckage of the Cheonan on Wednesday, the day before South Korea was to formally announce that a North Korea torpedo sank the South Korean patrol ship. The wreckage of the March 26 sinking was retrieved from the Yellow Sea near the maritime border between the two Koreas and hauled to South Korea’s Second Fleet Command base in Pyeongtaek. Yoon Duk-yong, an investigator with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, told reporters Wednesday that evidence from the recovered pieces of the ship points to a torpedo attack....

Following his return from a May 3-7 visit to the People’s Republic of China, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il affirmed his government’s willingness to respect his hosts’ desires and resume participation in the Six-Party Talks on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula at an appropriate time. The talks have remained suspended following an upsurge in tensions last April, when the UN Security Council imposed additional sanctions on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea after North Korea launched a ballistic missile under the guise of testing space rockets. Pyongyang responded defiantly by withdrawing from the talks and then testing another nuclear weapon, the...

The motives behind North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s ‘unofficial’ visit to China last week may not be that hard to decipher. Most analysts suspect he went to see his most important patron to seek more aid and, in all likelihood, his Chinese patrons would have thrown a bone or two to him to bribe him back to the increasingly meaningless Six-Party Talks. But if the stakeholders in East Asia’s peace and stability focus their attention on whether China’s prodding will lead to a more fruitful outcome in dismantling North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme this time, they’re simply wasting their time....

North Korean ruler Kim Jong-Il's youngest son and heir apparent, Kim Jong-Un, has been raising his own slush fund to buy luxury items and provide material goods to the ruling elite. The impoverished nation has set up a company devoted to earning foreign currency for Jong-Un, according to the Chosun Ilbo, citing a source "familiar" with North Korean affairs. "Under the direct control of Kim Jong-Un, the company is secretly amassing a slush fund," it said. The report also said the Organization-Guidance Department and the Propaganda-Agitation Department, both parts of the ruling Workers' Party, have ordered party members to contribute...

Investigators probing the deadly sinking of a South Korean navy ship in March near the North have concluded that a torpedo was the source of an explosion that destroyed the vessel, a news report said on Friday.The team of South Korean and foreign investigators found traces of explosives used in torpedoes on several parts of the sunken ship as well as pieces of composite metal used in such weapons, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said quoting a senior government official. South Korean officials have not officially accused the North but made little secret of their belief Pyongyang deliberately torpedoed the...

China, Iran and North Korea have established a strategic alliance that focuses on missile and nuclear development, according to a new report. The report said that Beijing, Pyongyang and Teheran were helping each other in missile and nuclear programs. The report, titled "China, Iran and North Korea: A Triangular Strategic Alliance," by Israel's GLORIA Center said China and North Korea were the key suppliers of Scud-based ballistic missiles to Iran's military, the target of Western sanctions. "This flurry of activities underscored the growing proliferation threats posed by DPRK [North Korea] assistance to Iran's missile capabilities, which has also led to...

The reclusive leader is expected to demand sweeteners to rein in its military and return to the international talks on nuclear disarmament.Reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-il arrived in China yesterday in search of economic support and diplomatic protection from his only major ally, after bungled policies at home and military grandstanding that has exasperated the region. China, which has propped up the North’s leaders for decades, is becoming increasingly fed up with its provocative neighbor, analysts say, but it is willing to bankroll Kim to prevent chaos on its border. Kim, aware of Beijing’s predicament, is expected to demand...

The Latest Kim Jong-il Sighting

SEOUL, South Korea – An explosion from a torpedo likely sank a South Korean warship that went down near the tense border with North Korea last month, the South's defense minister said Sunday amid growing speculation Pyongyang may be behind the blast. Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said the most likely cause of the disaster was a torpedo exploding near the ship, with the force of the underwater blast ripping the vessel apart. Investigators who examined salvaged wreckage separately announced Sunday that a close-range, external explosion likely sank it. "Basically, I think the bubble jet effect caused by a heavy torpedo...

South Korea on Saturday raised the front half of a warship that exploded and sank a month ago near a contested sea border with North Korea, finding clues that support growing suspicions Pyongyang attacked the vessel. The 1,200-tonne corvette Cheonan sank in what military officials said was a torpedo attack. Forty-six South Korean sailors were killed in what could be one of the deadliest strikes by Pyongyang on its rival since the end of the Korean War. The North denies involvement. South Korea's president on Friday gave the clearest signal yet Seoul had no plan to launch a revenge attack,...

South Korea's military believes a torpedo fired from a North Korean submarine sank its navy ship last month, based on intelligence gathered jointly with the United States, a news report said on Thursday. The Yonhap news agency report appears to be the clearest sign yet that Seoul blames Pyongyang for the sinking, thought to have killed 46 sailors in what would be one of the deadliest incidents between the rivals since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

N.Korea's Command Center of Clandestine Operations North Korea's Reconnaissance Bureau, the new integrated agency in charge of spy operations against the South, has become the focus of attention after speculation that it had a hand in sinking the Navy corvette Cheonan and the arrest of two agents in a plot to assassinate a senior defector. The melodramatic plot apparently targeted Hwang Jang-yop (87), a former secretary of the North's ruling Workers' Party and chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly, who is the highest-ranking defector from the communist country. The two spies are said to have had orders from Lt. Gen....

In connection with the breaking news out of South Korea, here is a Korean language map from South Korean daily conservative newspaper Chosun Ilbo, showing the land and air routes the potential assassins (two males; highly trained) took from North Korea under orders from North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, until they were arrested in the South. Will post other breaking news as it comes in. No photographs have emerged yet of the two arrested and or whether weaponry was found on their persons.

Abstract: North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il's faltering health has raised concerns about regime stability. Succession rumors have been swirling for years, with Kim's third son, Jong-eun, currently rumored to be Kim's favored choice. But regardless of whether leadership stays in the family or is wrested away by a challenger, a new North Korean leader is likely to keep in place the same belligerent policies--toward South Korea, toward China and Japan, and toward the U.S. If succession does not go smoothly, and if the North Korean regime were to collapse, the ensuing chaos would require immediate action by the U.S. and...

BAENGNYEONG ISLAND, South Korea (AP) - South Korea's president ordered the military on alert Tuesday for any moves by North Korea after the defense minister said a mine from the rival country may have caused the explosion that sank a South Korean naval ship.