Free Republic

SEOUL — As South Korea marks the 33rd anniversary of a citizen's uprising, there are questions about whether North Korea secretly attempted to stir social turmoil at the time. A former commander of U.S. Forces Korea, retired Army General John Wickham, Jr., says it is “plausible” North Korea may have tried to take advantage of unrest in the South during the 1980 uprising, but that he never saw evidence of that. Wickham, who subsequently served as U.S. Army chief of staff, recalls that he and then-U.S. Ambassador William Gleysteen had “limited intelligence on sources of unrest and activity” in Gwangju,...

S.Korea deploys Israeli missile on border with North Satellite-guided Spike missiles can "destroy North Korea's underground facilities," South Korean army official says. South Korea deployed Israeli precision-guided missiles on Yellow Sea islands bordering North Korea, Yonhap News Agency reported on Sunday. "Dozens of Spike missiles and their launchers have recently been deployed on Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong islands," a South Korean army official said. "They can destroy (North Korea's) underground facilities and can pursue and strike moving targets," he continued. The satellite-guided Spike anti-tank missile has a range of 20 kilometers and weighs 70 kilos, Yonhap cited military officials as saying....

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired short-range projectiles into its own eastern waters Monday for a third straight day, Seoul officials said. The North said it was bolstering deterrence against enemy attack. North Korea regularly conducts short-range missile tests. Analysts say the recent launches appear to be weapons tests or an attempt to get U.S. and South Korean attention amid tentative signs of diplomacy after soaring tensions that followed U.N. sanctions aimed at a North Korean nuclear test in February. The two projectiles fired by North Korea on Monday had similar trajectories as four previous launches over the...

(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.

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...

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea has replaced its hard-line defense chief with a little-known army general, according to a state media report Monday, in what outside analysts call an attempt to install a younger figure meant to solidify leader Kim Jong Un's grip on the powerful military. Jang Jong Nam's appointment is the latest move since Kim succeeded his late father in late 2011 that observers see as a young leader trying to consolidate control. The announcement comes amid easing animosities after weeks of warlike threats between the rivals, including North Korean vows of nuclear strikes. Pyongyang's rhetorical outbursts...

Dennis Rodman told TMZ he will be travelling back to North Korea in August to resume political dialogue with Kim Jong-Un because Barack Obama "can't do [expletive]." According to the gossip site, Rodman said he plans to do everything he can to get the "dear leader" to release Kenneth Bae, an American who was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea for allegedly scheming to overthrow the government.

For all his ranting against foreigners, North Korean Dictator Kim Jong-Un is strangely fixated on western symbols. He is said to be going ahead with plans for a world amusement park in North Korea, featuring replicas of landmarks like Big Ben in London and the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The idea may have come from China, which is building Western replicas on a much larger scale, even whole "copycat" cities.

North Korea today sentenced American Kenneth Bea to 15 years hard labor for crimes against the state. These crimes included helping starving children, and warning the world about the great evil in Kim Jong UN's dictatorship.

An American tour operator has been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea for alleged “hostile acts” against the repressive regime, according to its official state news agency.

Kim Jong Un building 'mini world' with replica Big Ben and Eiffel Tower Chubby tyrant Kim Jong Un is building a “miniature world” in North Korea – with a replica of London's Big Ben at its heart. The dictator is set to open the theme park in capital Pyongyang – and has included the iconic clock tower. The new attraction, which opens this year, will also boast a copy of Paris’ Eiffel Tower. The secretive state famously doesn’t allow its citizens to leave the country – so it appears Jong Un has decided to bring the world to his people....

North Korean sympathizers have invaded our schools like this guy Myers (see info below) who is apparently teaching at colleges in Raleigh plus working to send school groups over to north korea and making money off it. North Korea has threatened to nuke us, says they are at war with us and this guy gets away with pushing hard currency and young minds over to them. He needs to be reported or at least we should let him know what we think of him. Maybe good old peer pressure will shut him down. His website and email and phone below:...

North Korea has announced that an American tourist is to be tried on charges of plotting to overthrow the government, a crime that carries a possible death penalty. The case against Korean-American Kenneth Bae, who has been imprisoned in North Korea since early November, could further stoke tensions between Pyongyang and Washington. … Bae, 44, was arrested in Rason, a special economic zone in North Korea’s far north-eastern region bordering China and Russia, according to official state media. The exact nature of his alleged crimes has not been disclosed, but North Korea accuses Bae, described as a tour operator, of...

This guy in north Carolina is working with the north Koreans. This is an outrage. They threaten to nuke us and this Myers guy stl has a passport? Visit his page, there is an email address there and a phone number so call him up tonight and ask him how much he makes off all the people in the camps. Would like to hear his answers. Bet he voted for obama.

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...

ALMATY (Reuters) - NATO member Turkey signed up on Friday to became a "dialogue partner" of a security bloc dominated by China and Russia, and declared that its destiny is in Asia. "This is really a historic day for us," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in Kazakhstan's commercial capital Almaty after signing a memorandum of understanding with Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Secretary General Dmitry Mezentsev. "Now, with this choice, Turkey is declaring that our destiny is the same as the destiny of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) countries." China, Russia and four Central Asian nations - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and...

Asian Security: As Korea festers, our friends in Beijing have deployed near Taiwan a powerful missile designed to take out U.S. aircraft carriers as Beijing strengthens its ability to prevent U.S. forces from aiding Taiwan. When North Korea announced the 1953 Armistice was considered null and void and threatened renewed missile tests, the U.S. rushed naval assets to the region, including two destroyers equipped with the Aegis anti-missile defense system. We presumably would do so if things heated up between Beijing and its claimed "lost province," Taiwan. That option became increasingly problematical when news of China's deployment of an anti-ship...

IF KIM JONG UN thinks he can shake down Washington by threatening nuclear apocalypse, President Obama says, the belligerent North Korean dictator has another think coming. "Since I came into office, the one thing I was clear about was: We're not going to reward this provocative behavior," Obama told NBC's Savannah Guthrie in an interview last week. "You don't get to bang your spoon on the table and somehow you get your way." No rewards for Pyongyang's criminal regime or its bloody-minded young tyrant. Everyone clear on that? Well, maybe not everyone. Speaking to reporters in Tokyo the day before...

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?

North Korea has emphatically denied that they are responsible for the Marathon City of Boston Bombing. They have offered help using their advanced intelligence services. From Young Moon Son, of an unafilliated Nork Public Affairs office: Unsubstantiated accusations of The Peoples Glorious Republic of North Korea's involvement in the pusillanimous bombing attack on the Marathon City of Boston in the Capitalist Dictatorship of the USA are completely false. Any person can easily see that this is misdirection for another purpose. A PGRNK attack would be much more effective. We would kill many thousands, not just three and wound hundreds. This...

SEOUL, April 21 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has recently moved two additional missile launchers believed to be for Scud missiles to its east coast, a military source familiar with the matter said Sunday, in yet another sign of preparations for a missile launch at a volatile time on the Korean Peninsula. According to intelligence authorities, the North in early April moved two mid-range Musudan missiles to Wonsan, and placed seven mobile missile transporter-erector-launchers (TEL) in Wonsan and South Hamgyeong Province at its eastern coast. Coupled with warning diplomats in Pyongyang to leave in case of war, the missiles fueled speculation...

SEOUL, April 20 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Saturday denied that it has any links to the Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people and wounded dozens earlier this week, saying it opposes all forms of terrorism. On Wednesday, the conservative U.S. news Website WND reported that North Korea may be behind the bombing, citing the communist country's recent threats to attack the U.S. and its "history of committing terrorist attacks without taking credit for them." The report also noted that the April 15 bombing coincided with the 101st birth anniversary of North Korea's founding leader Kim Il-sung, the grandfather...

WASHINGTON -- Senior Obama administration officials have agreed that the number of nuclear warheads the U.S. military deploys could be cut by at least a third without harming national security, according to those involved in the deliberations. Such a reduction would open the door to billions of dollars in military savings, which might ease the federal budget deficit. It also would improve prospects for a new arms deal with Russia before President Barack Obama leaves office, those involved said, but it’s likely to draw fire from conservatives, if previous debate on the issue is any guide.

President Barack Obama delivered an impassioned speech Thursday at the memorial service for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. But that was to be expected. We all know Obama can give a stem-winder. What wasn’t expected was that this would be by far the toughest week of the Obama presidency—the first time I can remember the president being dealt an unequivocal policy defeat. Only the “shellacking” of the 2010 midterm comes close, and even there a case can be made that achieving the decades-old progressive dream of universal health care was worth losing the House of Representatives and a filibuster-proof...

China is moving tanks and armored vehicles closer to the North Korean border in response to increasing military threats from Pyongyang. People’s Liberation Army troop and tank movements were reported in Daqing, Heilongjiang, and in Shenyang and Dandong, Liaoning. They include the 190th Mechanized Infantry Brigade based in Benxi, Liaoning. Large numbers of fighter jets were also reported above Fucheng, Hebei and Zhangwu and Changchun, Liaoning. The Washington Times reports that one of China’s Russian-made Su-27 jets crashed on March 31 in Rongcheng, Shandong – across the Yellow Sea from Korea.

Pyongyang wants withdrawal of all UN sanctions and US pledge not to engage in 'nuclear war practice' with South North Korea has issued a detailed statement on its terms for dialogue with the United States, after weeks of tensions. The demands from the North's top military body include the withdrawal of all UN sanctions imposed due to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests, and a US pledge not to engage in "nuclear war practice" with the South. It said denuclearisation of the peninsula should begin with the withdrawal of US weapons. Seoul was swift to dismiss the North's conditions as incomprehensible...

President Barack Obama has said he doesn't believe North Korea can fit a nuclear warhead on a missile, casting strong doubt on an alarming assessment disclosed last week by the Pentagon's intelligence arm. And he warned the young North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that weeks of threats against the United States and South Korea had only served to isolate the regime further. Asked in an NBC News interview whether North Korea could put a nuclear weapon on a ballistic missile, Obama said, "Based on our current intelligence assessments, we do not think that they have that capacity." ~snip~ 'I'm...

Since the Boston bombing, there has been very little mention of North Korea. NORK dominated the news before the bombing, now silence.

Asked if there might be war, the 40ish woman with the spangly purple shirt laughed out loud. She waved her hands back and forth, as if whisking away a pesky insect. She fled North Korea late last summer, pushing her way at night through the chest-deep waters of the Amnok River, following a guide into China and, eventually, to South Korea. The journey cost her $5,000, a fortune back home. She comes from a part of rural North Korea where electricity is a rarity, and the punishing winters seem to last forever. She came to a city of two-story-tall TV...

After the North Korean launch, U.S. Navy ships managed to recover the front section of the rocket used in it, according to three U.S. officials who work closely on North Korean proliferation. That part of the rocket in turn provided useful clues about North Korean warhead design, should the next payload be a warhead rather than a satellite...

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

PYONGYANG, North Korea,- A North Korean propaganda video threatening a missile strike against Colorado Springs, Colo., misidentifies the city's location by about 1,000 miles. The video, released by the state-run media organization Uriminzokkiri, threatens the country could launch its KN-08 missiles at Washington, Los Angeles, Honolulu and Colorado Springs, but the spot on the map where it places Colorado Springs is actually somewhere in the vicinity of Shreveport, La., approximately 900 miles south of the labeled location, The Washington Post reported Thursday. The Post said the KN-08 missile is untested and North Korea has not demonstrated the ability to reach...

National Security: Our secretary of state tells the Chinese we'll restrain missile defense activities in Asia in exchange for their help in reducing the threat of a nuclear North Korea. Isn't this where we came in? In a news conference after meetings with China's top leaders on Saturday, Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would reduce its missile defenses in Asia if North Korea abandoned its nuclear weapons program. Well, at least he didn't bow. In response to North Korea's threat to fire some of its latest missiles, including the road-mobile Musudan, amidst news that it can...

It’s way past time for the Obama administration to take North Korean and Iranian nuclear threats seriously. An urgently critical priority must be to counter North Korea’s rapidly-emerging capability to deliver and detonate an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) device in the sky over America which could knock out electronic computer circuits and paralyze virtually all activities over a vast region. Last December they successfully demonstrated its capability to launch a small payload into orbit, meaning that may soon be able to target regions in the U.S. and other distant locations. A devastating nuclear EMP device could be small, and North Korea...

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...

North Korea rejects South Korea calls for talks

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...

Secretary of State John Kerry flew to China on Saturday and sought to elicit China’s help in dealing with an increasingly recalcitrant nuclear armed North Korea by saying that American missile defenses could be cut back if the North abandoned its nuclear program. Mr. Kerry’s trip to China, his first since taking office, is part of an intensive three-day push to try to calm tensions on the Korean Peninsula that have threatened to spiral out of control and rattled world leaders. In a news conference, Mr. Kerry suggested that the United States could remove some newly enhanced missile defenses in...

The militarization of a population, the manner by which a regime systematically destines its people for a perpetual clash with an enemy, is a prime method for dangerously prolonging a conflict, sometimes for decades. Indeed, the past couple of weeks of unrestrained provocations have reminded us of the 60- year-old war footing maintained by the North Korean government against the West. But one need not look so far eastward to find another example of a regime using its resources for waging hostilities with both its external and internal enemies. Indeed, Israelis can find a more telling example of a government...

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.

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...

(snip) "Destroying the North Korean missile before it is launched is the best of bad options on the Korean Peninsula. A prolonged crisis would undermine regional security and global efforts to stop nuclear proliferation. And a future war would be much worse. The most prudent move is to eliminate the most imminent military threat in self-defense, establish clear and reasonable limits on future belligerence, and maintain allied unity for stability — not forced regime change — in the region. This is the kind of pre-emptive action that would save lives and maybe even preserve the uneasy peace on the Korean...

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry demanded on Friday that North Korea scrap an expected missile test and dial down its virulent rhetoric, AFP reported. As Pyongyang aimed fresh nuclear threats at Japan, Kerry urged China to step in and said the North would never be accepted as a nuclear power. Visiting Seoul to give full U.S. backing to military ally South Korea, Kerry mixed tough talk with more conciliatory comments about the prospects for a peaceful way out of a crisis that has sent inter-Korea tensions soaring. In particular, he said Washington chose to "honor" the vision of South...

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...

Well, sorta. Maybe it will be his last, but I wouldn't count on it.Kim Il-sung s Poster (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption] Kim Il-sung was born (it is written and may even be true) on April 15, 1912. There are over 500 statues of Kim Il-sung in North Korea.[53] The most prominent are at Kim Il-sung University, Kim Il-sung Stadium, Mansudae Hill, Kim Il-sung Bridge and the Immortal Statue of Kim Il-sung. Some statues have been reported to have been destroyed by explosions or damaged with graffiti by North Korean activists.[54][55]Yeong Saeng ("eternal life") monuments have been erected throughout the country, each dedicated to the departed "Eternal Leader", at which...

I was just read about life in North Korea. I found the Following interesting...do You? Parents who send their kids to schools are expected to provide desks, chairs, building materials and cash to pay for heating fuel. Some students are put to work producing goods for the government or gathering up discarded materials. Parents can bribe teachers to exempt their kids from labor or just keep them away from school And this is OBAMACare is action! North Korea has a "free" medical system, but hospital patients must pay for their own drugs, cover the cost of heat, and prepare all...

North Korea Missile Test Delayed By Windows 8, Kim Jong-Un To Declare War On Microsoft? /snip The New Yorker is claiming the North Korea missile test was delayed by Windows 8 since previously their computers were running on Windows 95. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) says they are “working with Windows 8 support to resolve the issue” and the North Korea missile test has “been delayed indefinitely.” It’s said “Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un is furious about the Windows 8 problems” and may declare war on Microsoft. /snip

No comment. That’s what China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lei said earlier today (April 12) in response to a report by a US spy agency saying North Korea has a nuclear weapon it could mount on a missile. Several US and South Korean officials were also quick to deny the report. This is after promises by North Korea to turn its enemies’ strongholds into a sea of flames. Even with an aggressive, potentially nuclear rogue regime sharing a border with China, Hong Lei maintained dialogue was the way to resolve tensions on the Korean peninsula.