http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/northkorea/ en-us Wed, 30 Dec 2009 12:03:45 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417530/posts The U.S. Navy, worried by Iran's increasing underwater capability, has revealed for the first time that the rogue nation has acquired its submarine technology largely from North Korea, which has provided both mini-submarines and manufacturing know-how, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin. The revelation comes as the Office of Naval Intelligence, or ONI, recently released its latest report on Iran's conventional navy, with the observation that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, is working on programs to achieve an underwater stealth capability. WorldNetDaily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417530/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 12:03:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416326/posts North Korea has built a plant to manufacture a gas needed for uranium enrichment, according to a previously unpublicized account by the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb program, Abdul Qadeer Khan. It is a development that indicates Pyongyang opened a second way to build nuclear weapons as early as the 1990s. Dr Khan also said North Korea might have been enriching uranium on a small scale by 2002, with ''maybe 3000 or even more'' centrifuges, and that Pakistan helped the country with vital machinery, drawings and technical advice for at least six years. The New Media Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416326/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 16:40:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2415752/posts What could a free man hope to accomplish by crossing without permission into North Korea, to ask its rulers to repent, close the prison camps and free the people? Robert Park, a young American of Korean descent made exactly that crossing on Christmas day, walking from China into North Korea across the frozen Tumen River. There are reports that as he crossed, he called out, “I came here to proclaim God’s love.” A manifesto attributed to Park, leader of a Christian group advocating human rights for North Koreans, includes the statement: “All we are asking is for all North Koreans... The Rosett Report _ PJ Media http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2415752/posts#comment Sun, 27 Dec 2009 15:50:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415843/posts North Korean leader Kim Jong Il moved early this month to wipe out much of the wealth earned in the past decade in his country's private markets. As part of a surprise currency revaluation, the government sharply restricted the amount of old bills that could be traded for new and made it illegal for citizens to have more than $40 worth of local currency. It was an unexplained decision -- the kind of command that for more than six decades has been obeyed without question in North Korea. But this time, in a highly unusual challenge to Kim's near-absolute authority,... The New Media Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415843/posts#comment Sun, 27 Dec 2009 19:06:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415473/posts SEOUL, South Korea — An American Christian missionary slipped into isolated North Korea on Christmas Day, shouting that he brought God's love and carrying a letter urging leader Kim Jong Il to step down and free all political prisoners, an activist said Saturday. Robert Park, 28, crossed a poorly guarded stretch of the frozen Tumen River that separates North Korea from China, according to a member of the Seoul-based group Pax Koreana, which promotes human rights in the North. Two other activists apparently watched and filmed the entry. "I am an American citizen. I brought God's love. God loves you... AP - via Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415473/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 21:52:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415229/posts U.S. rights activist crosses into North Korea - reports Jon Herskovitz, Reuters December 26, 2009, 4:00 pm Send SEOUL (Reuters) - A U.S. human rights activist trying to raise global attention about the suffering of the North Korean people has crossed into the reclusive state, other activists and South Korean media said on Saturday. There has been no comment from North Korea, which usually arrests foreign border crossers on site, or from U.S. officials. Activists told Reuters that Robert Park, 28, had crossed into North Korea from China on Friday, while South Korea's Yonhap news agency and the Kukmin Ilbo... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415229/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 10:09:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415278/posts A U.S. human rights activist trying to raise global attention about the suffering of the North Korean people has crossed into the reclusive state, other activists and South Korean media said on Saturday. Park told to Reuters in Seoul earlier this week that he saw it as his duty as a Christian to make the journey and did not want the U.S. government to try to free him. "I don't want President Obama to come and pay to get me out. But I want the North Korean people to be free," Park said on Wednesday before departing for China. "Until... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415278/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 14:00:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415207/posts Thai authorities' high-profile inspection of 35 tons of North Korean weapons was nearing completion Friday, as clues emerging around the world shed light on the business of arms trafficking — and the lengths smugglers take to hide their identities. Two weeks after Thai authorities impounded the aircraft and arrested its five-man crew, the key questions of who organized the shipment and where it was headed remain unanswered. But a trail of companies and fake addresses from New Zealand to Barcelona has illustrated how the traffickers bounced around the globe to lightly regulated countries to disguise their movements. Over the past... Yahoo News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415207/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 05:44:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413300/posts South and North Korea were poised Tuesday to link their military hot lines they have been working to modernize, an official in Seoul said, just a day after Pyongyang raised tension by declaring the western sea border its firing zone. Construction aimed at linking the optical cable lines began on Dec. 1 and is expected to end later Tuesday, Moon Sang-gyoon, an official at the Ministry of National Defense, told reporters. The sides, technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, plan to test the lines on the west and east coasts on Thursday and Friday,... Yonhap News Service http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413300/posts#comment Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:51:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412759/posts A planeload of North Korean arms seized in Bangkok was reportedly bound for Iran, which has been buying up large amounts of weaponry in recent months as it braces for a possible onslaught by Israel, and possibly the United States. Mystery has shrouded the destination of the Georgian-registered Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane that was found be to carrying 35 tons of arms, including surface-to-air missiles and rocket launchers, in 12 crates when it was detained during a refueling stop on Dec. 11 following a tip-off from U.S. intelligence. The five-man crew, all former Soviet air force members from Belarus and... Space War http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412759/posts#comment Tue, 22 Dec 2009 05:25:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412099/posts The close relationship that once existed between Moscow and Pyongyang is a relic of the Cold War. In fact, there is reason to believe that the two neighbors now share little in common. Yet decades ago, the Soviets exercised tremendous influence over the North Korean regime, anecdotally evidenced by Kim Il-sung's fateful request to Josef Stalin asking to invade the South in 1950. Stalin, after much consternation, finally gave his approval.1 By deferring to Stalin, Kim Il-sung sought continued Soviet support, which he received for roughly 40 years until the breakup of the Soviet Union. In the early 1990s, however,... U.S. Army Professional Writings http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412099/posts#comment Mon, 21 Dec 2009 10:27:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412094/posts The South Korean military said Monday it has removed some 1,300 land mines this year from the country's rural areas bordering North Korea, a reminder of the tense 1950-53 Korean War that ended in a truce. In the operations that lasted from April to November, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) mobilized 3,300 personnel to remove mines from a total of 100,000 square meters of land south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), it said in a release. Since starting the operations in 1999, JCS has cleared 65,000 mines. "It was a rewarding operation as we moved carefully not to disrupt... Yonghap News Service http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412094/posts#comment Mon, 21 Dec 2009 09:38:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412089/posts South Korea – North Korea declared waters along its disputed sea border with South Korea a "firing zone" Monday and warned ships from the South to stay away from the area, which was the scene of a deadly clash last month. The naval command in Pyongyang accused the South of "reckless military provocations" in the area in an attempt to hold on to what it called an illegal border. It accused its neighbor of violating its waters and staging military drills in the area and vowed to protect its border by force. North Korea does not recognize the sea border,... Associated Press via Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412089/posts#comment Mon, 21 Dec 2009 08:39:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412084/posts An illicit North Korean arms shipment seized in Thailand last week was destined for the Middle East, the head of US intelligence said Friday. About 30 tonnes of sanctions-busting weapons were confiscated in Bangkok on Saturday but it had remained unclear where the North Korean shipment was headed. "Teamwork among different agencies in the United States and partners abroad just last week led to the interdiction of a Middle East-bound cargo of North Korean weapons," Dennis Blair, the director of national intelligence, wrote in a commentary in the Washington Post. Blair's reference marked the first public comment by the administration... Space War http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412084/posts#comment Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:59:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412083/posts North Korea will eventually be able to make a nuclear warhead small enough to fit in a missile, a news report said Sunday. Seoul's Yonhap news agency, citing the state-run Korea Institute for Defence Analyses (KIDA), said Pyongyang developing the technology to achieve miniaturisation was inevitable. "It is believed that North Korea has not completed the technology for the miniaturisation... of nuclear warheads," KIDA said in a report to be issued in January, according to Yonhap. But KIDA said it is "just a matter of time", noting the country has a high-explosives test site and an estimated 3,000 nuclear scientists... Space War http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412083/posts#comment Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:54:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410367/posts Obama proposes U.S. liaison in North Korea-Yonhap By Jon Herskovitz SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama has proposed setting up a liaison office in North Korea next year in a step to ease tensions between the two rival states, Yonhap news agency said on Friday. U.S. President Barack Obama speaks to cadets at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, December 1, 2009. (REUTERS/Jim Young/Files) The offer was in a letter for leader Kim Jong-il that Obama's first envoy to the secretive state delivered when he went to Pyongyang last week for discussions aimed at reviving dormant... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410367/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:36:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410217/posts SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's military said Friday it was investigating a hacking attack that netted secret defense plans with the United States and may have been carried out by North Korea. The suspected hacking occurred late last month when a South Korean officer failed to remove a USB device when he switched a military computer from a restricted-access intranet to the Internet, Defense Ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae said. The USB device contained a summary of plans for military operations by South Korean and U.S. troops in case of war on the Korean peninsula. Won said the stolen documents... AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410217/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:01:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2409406/posts Caveats:1) The streaming video, located on THIS Japanese news web page, may only be up for a half day or so. The link could go dead, or could link to another, new story.2) Not all computer systems might be able to play the video. You might need Microsoft Silverlight installed, but probably most can see the short stream.3) Go to the link and hit the photo with the white triangle and stream. Now for the explanation of this important video taken today of photos of the cargo of an aircraft seized in Bangkok which was heading from North Korea... NNN (Nihon Television) Network, Japan (Evening News) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2409406/posts#comment Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:52:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408755/posts President Obama has written a personal letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il that was delivered by the administration's special envoy for North Korea during a visit to Pyongyang last week. The existence of the letter has been closely held, with the administration insisting to its partners in disarmament talks with North Korea that it not be publicly discussed. State Department and White House officials confirmed this week that envoy Stephen W. Bosworth delivered a letter from Obama for Kim, but they declined to describe its contents. "We do not comment on private diplomatic correspondence," said White House National... wash post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408755/posts#comment Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:56:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408637/posts BANGKOK (Reuters) - Weapons seized in Thailand from an impounded plane traveling from North Korea were likely destined for Iran, said a high-ranking Thai government official on a team investigating the arms. "Some experts believe the weapons may be going to Iran, which has bought arms from North Korea in the past," said the official, quoting Thai government military experts who also took part in an investigation of the weapons. Speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media, he said the Thai investigating team considered Iran a likely destination because of the type... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408637/posts#comment Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:34:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408505/posts God Bless those enterprising, digging Japanese journalists and their film crews.A hot one in North Korean black weapons smuggling case was captured for all of Japan to see last night at the 11 p.m. TV news on NNN Network.The pushy and curious Japanese journalists and cameramen with their long lenses (and fluent Farsi and Korean speaking investing staff in Tokyo), discovered some VERY interesting things about the North Korean aircraft stopped this week in Thailand with Ukranian crew flying weapons in violation of US sanctions. The flight crew has been very tight lipped, but the Japanese journalists nevertheless caught some... NNN (Nihon Television) Network, Japan (Evening News) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408505/posts#comment Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:54:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408481/posts President Obama has written a personal letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il that was delivered by the administration's special envoy for North Korea during a visit to Pyongyang last week. The existence of the letter has been closely held, with the administration insisting to its partners in disarmament talks with North Korea that it not be publicly discussed. State Department and White House officials confirmed this week that envoy Stephen W. Bosworth delivered a letter from Obama for Kim, but they declined to describe its contents. "We do not comment on private diplomatic correspondence," said White House National... Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408481/posts#comment Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:52:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407767/posts The weapons laden plane seized in Bangkok en route from North Korea at the weekend has been linked to two renowned East European arms traffickers by a respected Swedish think-tank in the latest twist in the mysterious saga. The Ilyushin-76 aircraft, which was found to be carrying 35 tons of weapons including rockets and grenades, was most recently registered under a company called Beibars, linked to Serbian arms dealer Tomislav Dmanjanovic. It had previously been registered with three companies identified by the US Department of the Treasury as firms controlled by the notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, according to... The Times Online http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407767/posts#comment Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:27:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406948/posts Iran's military has postponed a test firing of a new intermediate-range ballistic missile after a shipment of parts from North Korea was delayed, Japan's Kyodo news service reported Dec. 6. The report quoted a western diplomatic source in South Korea familiar with North Korean issues as saying that Tehran told Pyongyang that it needs electronic components for improving the missile's accuracy that were ordered from North Korea. The delay in delivering the parts is a source of friction between the two countries, the source said. According to the report, North Korea has said it shipped the components in 10 containers... Geostrategy.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406948/posts#comment Mon, 14 Dec 2009 04:39:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406786/posts Five foreigners were detained and their foreign-registered aircraft impounded after it landed in the Thai capital Saturday with tons of war weaponry on board that originated in North Korea, Thai officials said. Air Force spokesman Capt. Montol Suchookorn said the chartered cargo plane originated in North Korea's capital Pyongyang and requested to land at Bangkok's Don Muang airport to refuel. Government spokesman Panithan Wattanayakorn confirmed the seizure and the arrests, saying the weapons included "missiles, explosives and tubes." He told The Associated Press that the material was being transferred to a Thai military facility but provided no further details. MSNBC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406786/posts#comment Sun, 13 Dec 2009 22:16:31 GMT