Free Republic

South Korea imported 4.18 million barrels of Iranian crude oil in April, equivalent to 139,400 barrels per day (bpd), Reuters reported citing the latest official data on Wednesday. Earlier in January, statistics by Korea Customs Service indicated that Seoul bought 793,361 metric tons, or 188,000 bpd, of crude oil from Iran in December 2012 which showed a 24-percent rise compared with the 639,281 tons in the corresponding period a year earlier. South Korea halted crude imports from Iran in August and September 2012 after its refiners lost insurance coverage on ships because of the illegal sanctions imposed by the US...

A group of North Koreans claim to have hijacked a Chinese fishing boat, are holding hostages, and demand some 600,000 yuan in ransoms. The initial hijacking took place on May 6, but authorities are struggling to pin down exactly what happened. They are investigating the boat owner's claims that his ship and its crew were taken, but officials have been silent. North Korea isn't just fun-runs and basketball stars; there is a serious concern that the hijackers were in the nation's military, and may be harming their prisoners, as South China Morning Post reports: Yu [the boat owner] was not...

(Reuters) - North Korea fired three short-range missiles from its east coast on Saturday, South Korea's Defense Ministry said, but the purpose of the launches was unknown. Launches by the North of short-term missiles are not uncommon, but the ministry would not speculate whether these latest launches were part of a test or training exercise. "North Korea fired short-range guided missiles twice in the morning and once in the afternoon off its east coast," an official at the South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman's office said by telephone.

An outspoken nationalist mayor said the Japanese military's forced prostitution of Asian women before and during World War II was necessary to "maintain discipline" in the ranks and provide rest for soldiers who risked their lives in battle. The comments made Monday are already raising ire in neighboring countries that bore the brunt of Japan's wartime aggression and have long complained that Japan has failed to fully atone for wartime atrocities.

An outspoken nationalist mayor said the Japanese military's forced prostitution of Asian women before and during World War II was necessary to "maintain discipline" in the ranks and provide rest for soldiers who risked their lives in battle. The comments made Monday are already raising ire in neighboring countries that bore the brunt of Japan's wartime aggression and that have long complained that Japan has failed to fully atone for wartime atrocities. Toru Hashimoto, the young, brash mayor of Osaka who is also co-leader of an emerging conservative political party, also told reporters that there wasn't clear evidence that the...

SEOUL, May 13 (Yonhap) -- China's latest move of cutting ties with a key North Korean bank is a "very interesting and hopeful sign" that Beijing may be taking a tougher stance on the communist country, the top U.S. envoy on North Korea policy said Monday. Glyn Davies, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, made the remarks at a Seoul airport upon his arrival ahead of talks on Tuesday with South Korean officials to discuss ways to deal with North Korea following last week's summit talks between their leaders. In a move seen by analysts as indicating that...

From time to time Japan’s political leaders visit the Yasukuni Shrine where Class A war criminals are included on the list of remembrance, then make controversial remarks that deny or gloss over the acts of aggression that Japan committed in the first half of the 20th century. By so doing, they give legitimacy to a self-centered and distorted interpretation of Japan’s ignoble history that many Japanese harbor, as illustrated below. After the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Japan embarked on an ambitious modernization program, modeling itself on advanced European countries such as Britain, France and Germany. To emulate those countries which...

“If Pyongyang thought its recent threats would drive a wedge between South Korea and the United States or somehow garner the North international respect, today is further evidence that North Korea has failed again,” Obama said during a joint press conference with the two leaders. “The United States and the Republic of Korea are as united as ever … North Korea is more isolated than ever.” Obama said North Korea’s manufactured crises will no long elicit concessions and committed to protecting the United States and its allies.

NORTH Korea says it will put a US citizen on trial for trying to overthrow the communist regime, in the face of soaring tensions between Pyongyang and the West. ... Mr Pae, who is believed to be a Korean-American tour operator, was arrested in November as he entered the northeastern port city of Rason. KCNA said a "preliminary inquiry" had been completed. "He admitted that he committed crimes aimed to topple the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) with hostility toward it. His crimes were proved by evidence. "He will soon be taken to the Supreme Court of the DPRK...

SEOUL, South Korea – After weeks of threatening rhetoric from the North, South Korea on Thursday promised its own unspecified "grave measures" if Pyongyang rejects talks on a jointly run factory park shuttered for nearly a month.

While oil has been the motivating factor for US-led wars in the Middle East, many are wondering what might be behind their constant belligerence towards Pyongyang. But while North Korea may not have oil, the estimated value of their mineral deposits is a staggering $6 trillion, according to the South Korean government. North Korea is sitting on world’s second-largest supply of rare earth metals, which are essential for modern electronics like laptops, smartphones, solar electricity panels and precision missiles. The US, along with their allies Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, three major producers of sophisticated electronics, are surely interested in...

BEIJING (Reuters) - Growth in China's vast factory sector dipped in April as new export orders shrank, a preliminary survey of factory managers showed on Tuesday, suggesting the world's second-largest economy still faces formidable global headwinds into the second quarter. The flash HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index for April fell to 50.5 in April from 51.6 in March but was still stronger than February's reading of 50.4. A sub-index measuring new export orders fell to 48.6 in April from 50.5 in March, reflecting weaker global demand as the U.S. economic recovery remains fragile and the euro zone is mired in recession....

Saying he was “fed up with the nutso actions of this goofball gook,” Secretary of State John Kerry threatened North Korea’s Kim Jong-un “if he continues to taunt us with his threats to launch his nuclear missile.” The former decorated Vietnam veteran warned Kim “Don’t make me come over there. If I have to I will kill you and cut off your ears. Don’t think I won’t. I’ve done it before. In case you weren’t aware, I served in Vietnam. And if you ask those who served with me they’ll tell you I was a virtual Genghis Khan. So, don’t...

Our nation has been righfully griped by the events in Boston over the past week. Just before that, the world seemed on the brink of global nuclear conflagration. Just why did that switch got turned off and all of a sudden what seemed like an imminent worldwide crisis has fizzled into nothing. Little Kim was upstaged, or was he?

WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Friday named Mark Lippert, a Navy veteran and Pentagon official, as his chief of staff. Lippert, 40, currently assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs, takes over May 1 as Hagel’s right-hand man. Marcel Lettre, Hagel’s acting chief of staff for the moment, will become Lippert’s deputy, and later move to an still-undetermined senior position, officials said. A White House insider, Lippert has ties to both Hagel and President Barack Obama that stretch back years. He accompanied both men, when they were still senators, on a 2008 visit to Afghanistan,...

Do we know what's happening? Probably not. But historical context may help.Topographic map of North Korea. Created with GMT from SRTM data. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption] The following article from Stratfor, republished with permission, provides useful historical context for the current situations in Korea and its usual (apparent) ally, China. It spans many centuries. The Chinese ruling powers are new. Kim Jong-un and his regency are also relatively new. Nevertheless, we probably have better insights into what's happening at the top in China than we do into what's happening at the top in North Korea, an informational black hole from which very...

President Obama shared his thoughts on North Korea in an interview that aired this morning on NBC: (video)

Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. Now, South Korea is mimicking the Bank of Japan and The Federal Reserve and is attempting to stimulate economic growth mostly through issuing new debt (15T won), April 16 (Bloomberg) — South Korea plans 19.3t won of additional fiscal support to spur growth, Finance Ministry says in an e-mailed statement. • Stimulus package will boost growth by 0.3 percentage points and create 40,000 jobs • Of the total stimulus amount, 15.8t won will be financed by issuing new bonds and adjusting a debt buyback program • Additional bond issuance may raise bond...

Secretary of State John Kerry offered concessions on Asian missile defense systems in exchange for China’s help with North Korea. The Boston Globe reported: Secretary of State John Kerry flew to China on Saturday and offered a concession on missile defense meant to elicit China’s help in dealing with an increasingly recalcitrant and nuclear armed North Korea. In a news conference after meetings with China’s top leaders, Kerry said the United States would reduce its missile defenses in Asia if North Korea abandoned its nuclear weapons program. Kerry’s overture appeared aimed at addressing Chinese concerns that North Korea’s provocative actions...

Since April 15th (Later on today United States Time) is Kim il Sung 101st birthday, we think today would be the day for the DPRK to launch if they intend to. New Secretary of State Kerry is in the region trying to come up with his first victory since taking office. But the DPRK is not backing down. NORTH KOREA UNBENDING Pyongyang, which was preparing to celebrate the birth date of state founder Kim Il-Sung on Monday, reiterated it had no intention of abandoning its atomic arms programs. "We will expand in quantity our nuclear weapons capability, which is the...

TOKYO — The United States and Japan opened the door Sunday to new nuclear talks with North Korea if the saber-rattling country lowered tensions and honored past agreements, even as it rejected South Korea's latest offer of dialogue as a "crafty trick." U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters in Tokyo that North Korea would find "ready partners" in the United States if it began abandoning its nuclear program...

North Korea rejects South Korea calls for talks

BEIJING — Secretary of State John F. Kerry lobbied China on Saturday to lean harder on its Marxist ally North Korea, suggesting that Washington might reverse certain military moves in the region if the North gives up its nuclear weapons ambitions. Kerry argued that the North’s escalating belligerence threatens the entire Pacific region, including China’s interests. He won a modest restatement of the shared goal of a ­non-nuclear Korean Peninsula and a public call from China’s foreign policy chief, Yang Jiechi, for a way out of the tension “peacefully, through dialogue.” That was a clear warning to North Korea that...

April 13, 2013 North Korean Leader, Young and Defiant, Strains Ties With Chinese By JANE PERLEZ BEIJING — The last known face-to-face contact between Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, and senior Chinese officials did not end well. A member of China’s Politburo, Li Jianguo, led a small delegation to Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, in November. He carried a letter from China’s new leader, Xi Jinping, which is said to have contained a simple message: Do not launch a ballistic missile. Twelve days later, Mr. Kim did just that.

SEOUL, April 14 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's young leader Kim Jong-un has not been seen in public over the past two weeks, setting off speculation that he might be tempted to tone down fiery threats of provocations, according to sources and an analyst on Sunday. Kim's absence from the public eye, judged by the North's choreographed media reports, was not unusual, but this month's disappearance from public view comes amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula as Pyongyang is expected to launch a mid-range ballistic missile.

Question! I'm trying to learn more and keep up with the movements, etc in North Korea. Where on the internet are there some good, reliable websites that Freepers go to for news about the rogue state? For instance there was a Freeper a few days ago who had posted about how you can go online and watch North Korea's "objects" in orbit. Anyhow just curious! Would be great to pool some news resources!

BEIJING — Secretary of State John Kerry flew to China on Saturday and offered a concession on missile defense meant to elicit China’s help in dealing with an increasingly recalcitrant and nuclear armed North Korea. In a news conference following meetings with China’s top leaders, Mr. Kerry said that the United States would reduce its missile defenses in Asia if North Korea abandons its nuclear weapons program. Mr. Kerry’s overture appeared aimed at addressing Chinese concerns that North Korea’s provocative actions were leading the United States to build up military strength in the region as China is boosting its own...

2013/04/13 14:53 KST (LEAD) N. Korea has likely not moved mobile missile launchers: source SEOUL, April 13 (Yonhap) -- North Korea did not appear to move vehicles suspected to be mobile launchers for its medium-range missiles over the past two days, a government source said Saturday, in an indication that Pyongyang's missile launch is not imminent. According to intelligence sources, the North had moved two Musudan intermediate missiles, which had been concealed in a shed in the eastern port city of Wonsan, in and out of the facility earlier this week in an apparent bid to interfere with Seoul's intelligence...

A child of around 10 sits dying of starvation by the side of the road while just yards away soldiers load enough rice on to trucks to feed families for weeks. As the young boy slumps on the grimy kerb in his filthy, oversized army jacket, locals stroll past zombie-style without even glancing in his direction or displaying an ounce of pity for his wretched plight. Nearby his friends scavenge in disease-ridden rubbish tips for scraps of what might pass for food in a land where people are so poor they are forced to eat tree bark or even corpses,...

AMERICA is rightly on edge. When a man with the power to make life-or-death decisions affecting thousands of U.S. citizens recklessly shows contempt for decency and international norms of behavior, it is no wonder the American people would be both angry and fearful. When his threats are so clearly contrary to the interests of those he represents and even those who might otherwise support him, it is natural to wonder whether he has somehow become unhinged. But we should react calmly. We should not let such disregard for the public good and such an imminent threat to the lives of...

Father Kapaun in an undated photo. (CNS photo/courtesy The Catholic Advance) This afternoon’s White House Medal of Honor ceremony recognizing the heroic efforts of Army chaplain Father Emil Kapaun on the battlefield during the Korean War prompted us to look in our archives and find original news reports on the famed Wichita diocesan priest and candidate for sainthood.Here is a story from March 1951, when Father Patrick O’Connor, a correspondent for CNS’ predecessor, the N.C.W.C. News Service, interviewed soldiers who knew Father Kapaun and last saw him ministering to soldiers before he was taken prisoner. The record shows that the...

We may not agree with Kim Jong-un, but caricaturing him as a little dancing fool with the crazy hairstyle is plain prejudice. It's a happy truism. Scratch a politically correct liberal, and you'll find a human being. And it appears that racism is the default state of being for humans. Don't ask me why. Perhaps when the Catholics tell us we are all born in sin, this is the sin they mean? Take North Korea, and the current hoo-ha about its threat to launch missiles against the US. It seems that some people think it's okay to caricature Kim Jong-un...

"The puppet group of south Korea is resorting to smear propaganda campaign to seek its comfort by forcing others into death like itself," KCNA said today. Warning of impending nuclear war, the chilling rant by the state run news agency continued: "The arrows indicating the merciless retaliatory strikes have already been drawn directing at the U.S. mainland, U.S. military bases in the Pacific and all other bases where the U.S. imperialist aggression forces station. "The powerful strike means of the revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK have been put in their places and the coordinates of targets put into the...

Kerry to North Korea: Don't test missile By BRADLEY KLAPPER | Associated Press – 1 hr 18 mins ago SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry delivered a stark warning to North Korea on Friday not to test-fire a mid-range missile, while rejecting a new U.S. intelligence report suggesting significant progress in the communist regime's nuclear weapons program. Kicking off four days of talks in an East Asia beset by increasing North Korean threats, Kerry told reporters in Seoul that Pyongyang and its enigmatic young leader would only increase their isolation if they launched the missile...

A U.S. intelligence report concludes that North Korea has advanced its nuclear knowhow to the point that it could arm a ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead, a jarring revelation in the midst of bellicose threats from the unpredictable communist regime. President Barack Obama urged calm, calling on Pyongyang to end its saber-rattling while sternly warning that he would "take all necessary steps" to protect American citizens. The new American intelligence analysis, disclosed Thursday at a hearing on Capitol Hill, says the Pentagon's intelligence wing has "moderate confidence" that North Korea has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles...

Pyongyang warned that Tokyo would be its primary target if war broke out on the Korean Peninsula, if Japan maintains its "hostile posture." It also threatened a nuclear strike against the island nation if it intercepts any North Korean test missiles. In the comments, carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Friday, Pyongyang lambasted Tokyo's standing orders to shoot down any North Korean missile heading towards Japan, Seoul-based Yonhap news agency reports.

"While I cannot speak to all the details of a report that is classified in its entirety, it would be inaccurate to suggest that the North Korean regime has fully tested, developed, or demonstrated the kinds of nuclear capabilities referenced in the passage," said George Little, the Pentagon spokesman. The US denial was followed quickly by the South Korean defence ministry, which said the North had still not developed a warhead small enough to place on top of a a missile. "Our military's assessment is that the North has not yet miniaturised," ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told a news briefing....

The Obama administration says China is increasingly frustrated by the provocative actions of North Korea and Secretary of State John Kerry will try to convince leaders in Beijing that Pyongyang is, as one senior administration official said, “putting China’s own interests at risk.” Briefing reporters on Kerry’s plane as he flew from London to the first stop on his four-day Asian tour, that official and a senior State Department official said the administration is urging China to use its leverage with the North “otherwise it is very destabilizing.” Specifically, the officials said the United States wants Beijing to “stop the...

President Obama warned North Korea on Thursday that his administration will take "all necessary steps" to defend the United States from aggression and urged Pyongyang to tone down its threats. "Now is the time for North Korea to end the kind of belligerent approach that they've been taking, and to try to lower temperatures," he said in the Oval Office, after a meeting with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. "Nobody wants to see a conflict on the Korean Peninsula." North Korea, he said, must "observe the basic rules and norms" set by the international community, including the UN. "We...

The results of a classified Defense Intelligence Agency report indicate that “North Korea now has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles.” That was the bombshell out of a House Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday. It came when Rep. Doug Lamborn (R) of Colorado began quoting from what he said was an unclassified version of the DIA report, which has not yet been made public.

U.S. and allied intelligence agencies have identified the launch zone on North Korea’s east coast... The North Koreans recently began fueling two road-mobile Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missiles located along the east coast between the cities of Wonsan and Hamhung,.. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said in addition to the 2,500-mile-range Musudans the North Koreans could conduct test firings of several 620-mile-range Nodong missiles and shorter-range Scuds simultaneously as a way to thwart U.S. missile defenses. Unlike earlier launches, the North Koreans are not expected to provide advance warning of the timing for the launches, such as announcing a...

Tonight there's urgent new evidence that north korea is ready to launch a missile at any hour, any moment, a show of force, a defiant test of world reaction. ABC news has been told that the fuel has been loaded. The missile is on the pad. And our bob woodruff is in south korea to bring us more details right now. Reporter: The top u. S. Defense official responded to kim jong-un'sising rhetoric today. North korea's actions have been skating very close to a dangerous line. Reporter: There is some anxiety growing on the streets and in the subways of...

SEOUL, April 11 (Yonhap) -- As South Korea and the United States brace for a possible missile launch by North Korea, the communist nation appears to be moving several missiles repeatedly on its east coast in an apparent attempt to interfere with intelligence monitoring, sources familiar with the matter said Thursday. According to intelligence analysis, the North has moved two Musudan intermediate missiles, which had been concealed in a shed in the eastern port city of Wonsan, in and out of the facility. Four or five wheeled vehicles, suspected to be so-called transporter erector launchers (TEL), were also spotted being...

Pyongyang, April 10 (KCNA) -- An oath-taking meeting of young people took place before the statues of Generalissimos Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il on Mansu Hill Wednesday. They vowed to uphold the leadership of the dear respected Marshal Kim Jong Un with loyalty, true to the behests of the great Generalissimos. Laid before the statues were a floral basket in the name of the participants in the meeting and flowers. Jon Yong Nam, chairman of the Central Committee of the Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League, read out a letter of pledge. Thanks to the pure loyalty and...

WASHINGTON – The military officer charged with monitoring North Korea at a time when the rogue nation is threatening to unleash missile attacks worldwide has used a Senate hearing to double down on his claim that it is global warming that is the real danger. Navy Adm. Samuel Locklear III originally caused a stir just weeks ago when in a speech to scholars at Harvard and Tufts universities in Cambridge, Mass., he said the climate change factor should be the focus of American concern. At today’s hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee he defended his assessment that global warming...

(CNN) – Republican leaders in Congress received a dire warning on Tuesday from former Vice President Dick Cheney on the ongoing crisis in North Korea.“We’re in deep doo doo,” Cheney told lawmakers, according to a GOP leadership aide.Cheney added the current North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, is unpredictable and doesn't share the United States worldview.One lawmaker present at the session, Rep. Steve Southerland of Florida, said Cheney wore a cowboy hat and "looked really good, spoke really clearly, lucidly.”

Former Vice President Dick Cheney told members of House Republican leadership Tuesday to be wary of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the escalating situation in the Korean Peninsula. Cheney attended a leadership meeting in the office of Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio before walking to the office of Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy of California to speak with the GOP whip team. He came at the behest of McCarthy, according to aides and members. Cheney declined to say what he told the members, saying it was a private meeting. “I’m concerned about it, of course, like I’m sure...

From www.mrvirtualpresident.com/blog/article/north-korea-virtual-press-conference: With tensions rising, the Virtual President discusses options as the Korean Peninsula faces the possibility of a Second Korean War.

If Dennis Rodman can go to North Korea and hang with leader Kim Jong-un, then why can’t Stevie Wonder? As tensions rise on the Korean Peninsula, and Kim threatens nuclear war against the U.S. and its allies in the region, the music legend says he’d like to travel there and talk some sense into the young Supreme Leader. Speaking about unity and love with reporters backstage at the Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday night, Wonder said, “Listen, we could not be here without love. I wish I could say to the president at this very moment, ‘President Obama,...

Within hours of South Korean news sources breaking a story that several Sang-Ho class submarines had disappeared from their North Korean bases, a ham radio operator named Tim, picked up a “numbers station” broadcasting on the same frequency as “The Voice of Korea” propaganda station. What makes this even more interesting is that at the tail end of the numbers transmission there was a long duration digital transmission as well. So why is this important and alarming?There are several reasons why this new development is particularly alarming. The first being the existence of the numbers station coming online shortly after...