Free Republic

U.S. 'Worried About S.Korea's Bolder Deterrence Strategy' The U.S. is worried about South Korea's more aggressive deterrence strategy against North Korea, which was formulated after the North's attacks on the Navy corvette Cheonan and Yeonpyeong Island last year, a government source said Sunday. The military has been instructed to strike back faster and more aggressively in the event of any further provocations by the North. "After the North's attack on the Cheonan last year, Gen. Walter Sharp, the commander of the U.S. Forces Korea, expressed concerns about our military's increase of firepower near the demilitarized zone," the government source said....

China Warned N.Korea Against Attacking the South, Says Lee China clearly warned North Korea that South Korea would retaliate if the North carries out another provocation, President Lee Myung-bak said Thursday. At a lunch meeting with members of the parliamentary Defense Committee, Lee said the Chinese government informed him that the comments were "delivered to North Korea," according lawmakers who were there. "President Lee said North Korea would not be able to carry out further acts of provocation and added that China officially notified our government that it would no longer help the North if it did that," one committee...

Kim Jong-il's Recent Activities Hint at Trouble Ahead North Korean leader Kim Jong-il secretly visited a building where agencies engaged in military operations against South Korea are clustered and the General Reconnaissance Bureau last month, a source said Sunday. The so-called Building No. 3 houses the United Front Department and the Workers Party's international affairs department. The General Reconnaissance Bureau, an agency in charge of armed provocations against the South, is believed to have supervised the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan last year. "Kim Jong-il inspected the areas and encouraged agents" on his visits, a North Korean source said....

Is N.Korea Planning Fresh Attacks? North Korea's official news agency reiterated demands on Saturday that all 31 North Koreans whose boat drifted into South Korean waters must be returned. "We will not stand by and watch but mobilize all of our resources to deal with it," KCNA said. Seoul plans to negotiate with North Korea how to repatriate 27 of the North Koreans, since four have decided to defect. North Korea did not say what it meant by "all of our resources," but on Friday it jammed GPS signals in northwestern Seoul in an apparent attempt to disrupt the South's...

A massive meeting over North February 19, 2011 Amid growing concerns of renewed armed provocations by North Korea, a massive meeting attended by President Lee Myung-bak, cabinet members, senior military and police officials as well as mayors and governors took place yesterday to review the country’s readiness against any Pyongyang hostilities. The meeting, attended by 220 senior members of the central and local governments and the military, came after the two deadly attacks by North Korea last year. The participants discussed the country’s defense posture in the radically changed security environment of the peninsula following the attacks, along with the...

(3rd LD) Gates says diplomatic engagement with N. Korea 'possible' By Kim Deok-hyun SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday diplomatic engagement with North Korea is "possible," but Pyongyang must first stop its "dangerous provocations and take concrete steps" to meet its international obligations. Gates made the remarks as he started talks in Seoul with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin to discuss concerns over the increasingly belligerent North and ways to further strengthen their deterrence against the communist state. "With regard to next steps on North Korea, diplomatic engagement is possible, starting with direct...

Time for S.Korea to Develop Its Own Nuclear Arms Kim Dae-joong After shelling Yeonpyeong Island and sinking the Navy corvette Cheonan, North Korea has now shifted its attitude and is calling for inter-Korean dialogue. China has long urged dialogue and the resumption of six-party nuclear talks, so it will naturally press for talks, and even the United States appears to be leaning toward dialogue. The Barack Obama administration, though still reluctant to go back to the six-party talks, will eventually opt for dialogue lest it should be dragged into a major war over a small island in the West Sea....

When Force Works By Michael Mazza Friday, January 7, 2011 The latest developments on the Korean peninsula suggest that Seoul’s new, more forceful posturing has been effective, and that the North is desperate for a reprieve from South Korean pressure. South Korea has finally succeeded in putting North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il back on his heels. The latest developments on the Korean peninsula suggest that Seoul’s new, more forceful posturing has been effective, and that the North is desperate for a reprieve from South Korean pressure. Pyongyang’s response to the December 20 South Korean live-fire artillery exercise on Yeonpyeong Island...

Seoul's New N.Korea Policy 'Worries Washington' President Lee Myung-bak's shift to a tougher North Korea policy "has prompted modest but growing concern" in the U.S. administration, "where officials worry that an overly aggressive South Korea could become a liability in its own right," the Washington Post reported Wednesday. Although many officials in the U.S. government defended South Korea's recent plan to carry out artillery drills in the West Sea, the paper said growing concerns in the U.S. government were reflected by U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman James Cartwright, who warned the drills could set off a "chain reaction."...

/being my excerpts N. Korea Set up Special Unit to Disrupt G-20 Summit Kim Hyung-won N. Korea is drawing up 'emergency plans' to raise tension in Korean Peninsula during G-20 Summit period which is due to start on Nov. 11, and they include special force operation, according to Nov. 3 report of Radio Free Asia. Quoting sources in China, it said that Kim Jong-eun went to N. Korea's Reconnaissance Bureau and instructed Kim Yong-chol, the Bureau's head, to set up special force unit to carry out military provocation or terrorist attacks. The goal of N. Korea is said to convince...

<p>On Sunday April 18, Westboro Baptist Church came to Gainesville. One of their stops was a liberal "Open doors, open hearts, open minds," church near us, so we took part of our Sunday Service time and went as a church to stand with them.</p>

U.S. Says N.Korean Artillery Fire 'Killed a Lot of Fish' The United States on Monday expressed concern over North Korea's firing of artillery shells off the west coast. "It is not a helpful sign by North Korea, and this is exactly the kind of behavior we would like to see North Korea avoid," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters. Asked whether Pyongyang will resort to further provocations, Crowley said, "Regrettably, the answer is we're likely to see more provocations. All we can continue to communicate to North Korea is that there will be no reward for these provocations." He...

N.Korea seizes S.Korean fishing boat by Park Chan-Kyong 1 hr 5 mins ago SEOUL (AFP) – North Korea has seized a South Korean fishing boat in the Sea of Japan (East Sea), the South's coastguard said Sunday, in an incident which could further inflame high cross-border tensions. The boat with four South Korean and three Chinese crewmen was detained while apparently operating near the North's exclusive economic zone, the coastguard said in a statement. It was being towed Sunday to the North's northeastern port of Songjin. "We urge North Korean authorities to handle this case in accordance with international norms...

The Obama Plan (with the aid of supporters/conspirators) Many people have been wondering what the Obama administration with the help of certain members of congress and influential, Godless radicals around the world are doing to the United States. In this essay, it will be pointed out that more than likely a specific plan is in place to divide the nation, make an attempt to pull it back together, appear to be the hero in the process and eventually end up with an ultimate disaster and a lot of deaths instead of accomplishing the intended goal. A lot of people in...

At about 5:50 am on Saturday, the first reports came in over Twitter that the 'Rachel Corrie' had been boarded close to Gaza. Earlier the activists reported that their radar had been jammed, however their Twitter accounts continued to operate. The activists reported that three boats were following them for about twenty minutes and then that they had been boarded. The passengers are said to be under arrest.

More 'bad behavior' from N. Korea possible before G20 summit: Nomura By Kim Young-gyo HONG KONG, June 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korea could take more provocative acts before the November summit of the Group of 20 nations in South Korea if history is any indication, a Japanese investment bank said Friday. Nomura International warned that North Korea may display more "bad behavior" similar to the March sinking of South Korea's 1,200-ton corvette Cheonan, of which North Korea stands accused. "Experts are wondering whether North Korea's bad behavior... may be no coincidence," said Alastair Newton and Kwon Young-sun, two Nomura economists,...

N.Korea 'Could Attack South to Cover Internal Crisis' North Korea could attempt to provoke the South prior to the G20 summit in Seoul in November in an effort to divert attention from its deepening domestic crisis, experts speculated Monday at a seminar on the G20 summit and security in the Korean Peninsula organized by the Institute for National Security Strategy. The seminar comes amid suspicions that North Korea may have been involved in the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan in a mysterious explosion on March 26. Brian Myers, a professor at Dogseo University in Busan, said North Korea is...

(LEAD) N. Korea accuses South of armed provocation in DMZ (ATTN: UPDATES throughout with S. Korea's response) SEOUL, April 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korea claimed Sunday that the South Korean military "committed grave armed provocation" in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the two countries, but military officials here denied the accusation. The North's official news agency, KCNA, reported that a group of South Korean soldiers intruded into the eastern section of the DMZ around 2:07 p.m. and fired 90mm recoilless guns toward a civil police post in the North, "thus seriously threatening the safety of civil policemen of the north...

N.Korea fires artillery for third day: Seoul officials AFP N.Korea fires artillery for third day: Seoul officials AFP – A border area of North Korea's west coast is seen from South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island in the … 15 mins ago SEOUL (AFP) – North Korea Friday fired artillery into the sea near its disputed border with South Korea for the third successive day, Seoul's military said. The communist state fired 20 shells between 7:50 am (2250 GMT Thursday) and 11:50 am," a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff told AFP. He said shells landed in the North's territory north...

(URGENT) N. Korea confirms artillery shooting in Yellow Sea, says firing will continue / no content yet /