http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/nkorea/ en-us Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:13:09 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048921/posts WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush in 2002 branded Iraq, Iran and North Korea part of an "axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world" -- and he believes two of them still are, the White House said on Monday. Bush, in his 2002 State of the Union address to the U.S. Congress, accused the three countries of seeking weapons of mass destruction that could be used for attacks on U.S. allies or to blackmail the United States. The United States led a coalition of forces into Iraq but never found nuclear weapons. North Korea... Reuters on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048921/posts#comment Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:13:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040058/posts Al-Qaeda Draws New Recruits Via Internet Al-Qaeda is using the Internet to recruit vulnerable young people to its terrorist network, according to a programme aired on Saudi Arabian TV late on Tuesday. Umm Osama, the founder of al-Qaeda's first women-only website, al-Khansa, joined several others on the programme to discuss how they renounced jihadist ideology. Among those who sought a response to this question was an imam from the Medina mosque, Saleh Ibn Awad al-Mudamsi, and the father of a young al-Qaeda suspect held in an Iraqi prison. Read More Qaeda Targets U.S. Oil Interests in North Africa U.S.... Previous Thread http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040058/posts#comment Thu, 3 Jul 2008 02:02:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040959/posts Pakistan's Military Knew Of Nuclear Technology Transfer To N Korea, Says Scientist 7/4/2008 2:52 PM ET Abdul Qadir Khan, who is considered to be the father of Pakistan's nuclear program, said on Friday that the country's former military regime was aware of the transfer of nuclear technology to North Korea. AQ Khan told media on Friday that the Pakistani army, which was headed by President Pervez Musharraf then, was aware of the technology transfer as the uranium enrichment equipment was dispatched onboard a North Korean plane under the supervision of Pakistani army officials in 2000. Khan's statements on Friday contradicts... RTT News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040959/posts#comment Sat, 5 Jul 2008 03:43:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040962/posts North Korea in bid to recycle toxic waste By Michael Rank Last Updated: 12:01pm BST 30/06/2008 North Korea is planning to recycle waste that is so polluted other countries refuse to handle it. The Stalinist regime, which is reputedly a significant poppy grower for the world heroin trade, is now tendering for bids to process toxic waste at a refurbished port close to the capital Pyongyang as part of its desperate efforts to earn foreign currency. Through a Chinese-language website the country is seeking supplies of plastic and electronic waste which "can be processed in the port but which other... Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2040962/posts#comment Sat, 5 Jul 2008 03:54:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2039525/posts US has means to verify North Korea statement -Rice (Adds amount of plutonium, other details) By Susan Cornwell KYOTO, Japan, June 26 (Reuters) - The United States believes it has the means to verify North Korea's estimate of its nuclear programmes, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday. North Korea was expected to declare between 30-50 kg (66-110 lb) of plutonium in the document, given to the Chinese government on Thursday, a senior U.S. administration official said separately, but added that "our estimates are greater". Verification, which meant calculating and resolving differences in estimates, could take "months and... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2039525/posts#comment Wed, 2 Jul 2008 01:59:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2024913/posts The Hunt for American al Qaeda The United States is turning up the heat in the hunt for the California boy turned al Qaeda operative, Adam Gadahn, who has been charged with treason and is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan. If caught and convicted, Gadahn could face the death penalty. The State Department along with the Department of Diplomatic Security announced the beginning of a publicity campaign in Afghanistan urging locals to provide any information on Gadahn's whereabouts, with a reward if the information leads to his capture. Radio advertisements with information concerning the $1 million reward have... Previous Thread http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2024913/posts#comment Mon, 2 Jun 2008 19:04:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036694/posts By VOA News North Korea has submitted a long-awaited declaration about the extent of its nuclear activities, and the United States responded by announcing it would drop trade sanctions and intends to remove the Pyongyang government from a terrorism blacklist. U.S. President George Bush welcomed North Korea's declaration, which was handed over to Chinese officials Thursday. China is the host of six-nation talks aimed at disarming North Korea of nuclear weapons. Speaking at the White House shortly after North Korea's action, Mr. Bush called the gesture an important step, and said Washington would respond with two actions of its own.... VOA News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036694/posts#comment Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:40:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036529/posts World to witness blasting of NKorean cooling tower: officials Sun Jun 22, 6:23 AM ET North Korea has invited five media organisations from foreign countries to cover live the blowing-up of a cooling tower at its main nuclear site, officials said Sunday. The invited organisations -- one each from North Korea's five negotiating partners at six-party disarmament talks -- include US news channel CNN, Seoul's top nuclear envoy Kim Sook said. The United Sates, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia have been in talks with North Korea to dismantle Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme. "Five news organisations -- one each from... AFP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036529/posts#comment Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:46:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036516/posts /begin my translation N. Koreans Going South by Boat: 6 times in this Month alone Only one out of ten wanting to return..."N. Korea beefing up shore surveillance" (Seoul=Yonhap News) Kim Kwi-geun = N. Koreans came down to the South by boat, 6 times in June alone, it has been disclosed. A government source said on June 26, "N. Korean people came into our territorial water 6 times in this month alone, both in West Sea(Yellow Sea) and East Sea(Sea of Japan.) This is highly unusual, and we are closely monitoring N. Korean reactions." He said, "In four of those... Yonhap News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2036516/posts#comment Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:00:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035502/posts From: http://news.trendaz.com/index.shtml?show=news&newsid=1230980&lang=EN N. Korea invites media to nuclear plant blast 24.06.08 11:19 North Korea is to blow up a key part of its controversial Yongbyon nuclear reactor on Friday. The destruction of the plant's cooling tower is part of an agreement with the United States aimed at denuclearizing the Korean peninsula in exchange for loosening some restrictions on the highly secretive Communist country, reported CNN. The North Korean government has invited news organizations, including CNN, to witness the event. Earlier this year, Pyongyang agreed to disable its nuclear reactor and provide a full accounting of its plutonium stockpile, "acknowledge" concerns... TrendNews (Azerbaidjan) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2035502/posts#comment Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:01:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034629/posts Obama offers change Kim Jong-Il can believe in North Korea prefers Democratic candidate Barack Obama over Republican John McCain, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper in Japan said. The communist country, which has survived a relatively hawkish Bush administration, considers McCain "a variant of Bush" and "nothing better than a scarecrow of neoconservatives," according to the Choson Sinbo, a newspaper run by ethnic Koreans in Japan. The organization of Koreans, called Chongryon, has served as Pyongyang's de facto embassy in Japan, which has no diplomatic ties with North Korea. World Tribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034629/posts#comment Sun, 22 Jun 2008 07:30:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034572/posts Syria, NKorea helped Iran develop nuclear programme: German report Sat Jun 21, 1:57 PM ET Damascus and Pyongyang helped Iran to develop its nuclear programme through the construction of a suspected nuclear site in Syria that Israel destroyed last September, Der Spiegel reported. But the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is considering withdrawing his support for the Iranian programme, added the German newsweekly in its next edition out Monday, quoting German secret service reports. According to those intelligence reports, it said, a joint plan by Syria, North Korea and Iran for a nuclear reactor for military use was to have been... AFP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034572/posts#comment Sun, 22 Jun 2008 02:20:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033140/posts North Korean missile engineers during a secret visit to Syria in mid-November discussed loading chemical warheads on ballistic missiles, the Sankei Shimbun reports from Washington. Quoting an unnamed source familiar with the political situation in the Middle East, the Japanese daily said cooperation in chemical weapons was evidence of close collaboration in the development of weapons of mass destruction between the two countries. The source claimed North Korean ground-to-ground missile engineers are helping Syria install chemical warheads on missiles. He added the North Korea-Syria discussions were apparently aimed at resuming missile tests after an explosion occurred during a test on... Digital Chosunilbo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2033140/posts#comment Thu, 19 Jun 2008 02:30:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2031587/posts (AP / WASHINGTON) — An international smuggling ring may have secretly shared blueprints for an advanced nuclear weapon with Iran, North Korea and other rogue countries, The Washington Post reported Sunday The smuggling ring was led by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. ap http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2031587/posts#comment Sun, 15 Jun 2008 23:43:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2030982/posts It's All About Rice Cookers 2008-06-03 Never mind that state media still demonize anything marginally capitalist. In North Korea, nothing shouts "status" like a smuggled kitchen appliance. RFA photo Cuckoo rice cooker, Seoul. SEOUL—In tightly closed, pathologically secretive North Korea, nothing says “status” in 2008 like a smuggled South Korean rice cooker. And it seems even cadres in one of the world's last bastions of communism have developed a preference for high-end brands. The most popular rice cooker in affluent, arch-rival South Korea is the Cuckoo, a Korean homonym for the sound of steam escaping from a pressure valve... RFA http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2030982/posts#comment Sat, 14 Jun 2008 08:43:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2030389/posts /begin my summaryN. Korea Sent Nuclear Technicians to Iran"Technicians and Specialists from N. Korea's Yongbyun Facilities sent to Iran" N. Korea sent nuclear technicians to Iran in order to support its nuclear development, according to Japan's Sankei Shimbun on June 13th. Quoting a credible source on Korean Peninsula, it reported, "(N. Korea) conducts nuclear development project with Iran, not just with Syria." They are technicians from Yongbyun nuclear facilities and specialists from National Defense Institute. National Defense Institute is also called the Second Natural Science Institute, and said to be responsible for N. Korea's nuclear weapon's development. The source did... Daily NK (based on Sankei) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2030389/posts#comment Fri, 13 Jun 2008 04:12:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029745/posts Kim Jong Cheol Left off the Inspection Due to Absence of Leadership By Moon Sung Hwee, from Jagang in 2006 [2008-06-09 15:21 ] The "National Defense Committee Inspections," which began on April 20th mostly around Chongjin City in North Hamkyung Province left off for a reason of "farm supporting period" in mid-May. An observation has been proposed that the sudden evacuation of all inspectors from Chongjin is not due to the "farm supporting period, but due to "Kim Jong Cheol's absence in leadership. It has been relayed that Kim Jong Cheol, while staying in Chongjin since last March, led the... Daily NK http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029745/posts#comment Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:16:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2028726/posts Sung Kim, the U.S. State Department's top Korea expert, crossed into North Korea via the heavily fortified land border with South Korea, the U.S. Embassy in Seoul said. Kim was to stay in North Korea for two days to discuss how it can finish several remaining steps in disabling its Yongbyong reactor as well the possibility of blowing up a cooling tower there, according to the State Department and the embassy. North Korea has promised to provide a complete declaration of its nuclear programs in return for aid and political concessions, but has not yet done so. It handed 18,500... Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2028726/posts#comment Tue, 10 Jun 2008 09:04:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2028725/posts North Korea reiterates anti-terror policy in apparent bid for removal from US blacklist AP - 2 hours 14 minutes ago SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea has reiterated its opposition to terrorism and nuclear proliferation in an apparent attempt to bolster its bid for removal from a U.S. blacklist. The North's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the country "will firmly maintain its consistent stand of opposing all forms of terrorism." The ministry also said the North will take part in international efforts to prevent weapons of mass destruction from falling into terrorists' hands. The U.S. has pledged to... AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2028725/posts#comment Tue, 10 Jun 2008 08:54:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2026970/posts For the last four years, China has been holding an increasing number of exercises to test their ability to come to the aid of North Korea, in the event of a war with South Korea (and the United States). On in the event of a collapse of the North Korean government. More Chinese ground units have been moved to areas just across the Yalu river from North Korea (and many of the troops set to work guarding the border against the growing number of desperate North Koreans trying to get out.) There have also been exercises with engineers practicing erecting... Strategy Page http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2026970/posts#comment Fri, 6 Jun 2008 11:38:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2026096/posts AQ Khan recants nuclear admission WASHINGTON: Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan told the US media on Tuesday that he was not responsible for passing nuclear secrets to Iran and Libya, back-pedalling from his earlier admissions. In an interview with the McClatchy news organisation, Khan said he had introduced Tripoli and Tehran to Western businesses that provided information on building a nuclear weapons programme. Khan had confessed in February 2004 that he had run a network that passed atomic secrets, equipment and technological advice to Iran, North Korea and Libya over a period of 15 years, a statement he recanted... Daily Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2026096/posts#comment Wed, 4 Jun 2008 22:41:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2025496/posts A South Korean humanitarian agency says a mysterious epidemic has been spreading along North Korean towns along the border with China, killing dozens of children. The Seoul-based Good Friends agency says five or six children have died every day since the highly infectious disease emerged on April 27. The group says North Korean doctors have been unable to diagnose or cure the disease, and have said it could be avian flu or the hand-foot-and-mouth disease which has killed dozens of children in China in recent weeks. Good Friends reports the outbreak has mainly affected state-run daycare centres and kindergartens, with... radio australia http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2025496/posts#comment Tue, 3 Jun 2008 21:56:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2025198/posts [Outlook]Be prepared When we are well prepared, we won’t panic when urgent changes occur in North Korea. June 03, 2008 On the night of May 26, an urgent message from China came to the editorial bureau. It said that Kim Jong-il, the North Korean leader, had died of a heart attack. While checking the veracity of the message with high officials and other authorities, we prepared articles just in case the news did turn out to be true. When Kim Il Sung died, we were able to run articles without problems thanks to such preparations. But what measures have the... JoongAng Daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2025198/posts#comment Tue, 3 Jun 2008 10:14:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2024759/posts INTERVIEW-N.Korean methamphetamines flood Philippines 30 May 2008 09:39:07 GMT Source: Reuters By Manny Mogato MANILA, May 30 (Reuters) - High-grade methamphetamines from North Korea have started to flood the Philippines, reducing street prices of the drug by about 50 percent, the head of the country's drug enforcement agency said on Friday. Dionisio Santiago, a retired general, told Reuters there was strong suspicion a huge shipment of methamphetamines seized at the former U.S. navy base of Subic north of Manila this week came from clandestine drugs laboratories in North Korea. "We've been informed by our counterparts abroad that North Korea has... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2024759/posts#comment Mon, 2 Jun 2008 13:16:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2024233/posts Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, on a state visit to North Korea in 1993, smuggled in critical data on uranium enrichment -- a route to making a nuclear weapon -- to help facilitate a missile deal with Pyongyang, according to a new book by a journalist who knew the slain politician well. The assertion is based on conversations that the author, Shyam Bhatia, had with Bhutto in 2003, in which she said she would tell him a secret "so significant that I had to promise never to reveal it, at least not during her lifetime," Bhatia writes in "Goodbye,... Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2024233/posts#comment Sun, 1 Jun 2008 02:05:56 GMT