Free Republic

One month ago, when we first discussed that in addition to the CVN-70 Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group, the US was deploying two more carriers toward the Korean peninsula, some took the Yonhap-sourced report skeptically: after all, what’s the incremental symbolic impact of having three, or even two aircraft carriers next to North Korea when just one would more than suffice. Then, two weeks ago, the report was proven half right when US officials announced that in addition to the first US carrier already on location, the US Navy is moving the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier to the Korean...

"(URGENT) N. Korea flies an unidentified projectile across border with S. Korea: military"

On April 30, South Korean officials told The Korea Times and YTN TV that North Korea’s test of a medium-range missile on April 29 was not a failure, as widely reported in the world press, because it was deliberately detonated at 72 kilometers altitude. 72 kilometers is the optimum burst height for a 10-Kt warhead making an EMP attack. … According to South Korean officials, “It’s believed the explosion was a test to develop a nuclear weapon different from existing ones.” Japan’s Tetsuro Kosaka writes in Nikkei, “Pyongyang could be saying, ‘We could launch an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack if...

'China must be prepared to TOPPLE Kim Jong-un or WE'LL do it', former US chief claims CHINA must be prepared to destabilise North Korea and unseat Kim Jong-un – or face the consequences of American intervention, a former US foreign policy chief has claimed. By VINCENT WOOD 01:10, Mon, May 8, 2017 | UPDATED: 02:16, Mon, May 8, 2017 Condoleezza Rice, who served as Secretary of State during George W. Bush’s administration, claimed China were too concerned about causing the “collapse” of dictator Kim Jong-un. Ms Rice claimed Beijing must be prepared for “instability on their border” as the US...

TEL AVIV – While the international community and news media focus on North Korean missile tests and the country’s nuclear program, one expert warned on Sunday that North Korea may be secretly assembling the capability to take out significant parts of the U.S. homeland via an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack. Dr. Peter Vincent Pry is executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security and is the chief of staff of the Congressional EMP Commission. Speaking on this reporter’s talk radio program, Pry pointed to two North Korean satellites that are currently orbiting the U.S. at trajectories he...

When Iran attempted to launch a cruise missile from a “midget” submarine earlier this week, Pentagon officials saw more evidence of North Korean influence in the Islamic Republic – with intelligence reports saying the submarine was based on a Pyongyang design, the same type that sank a South Korean warship in 2010. According to U.S. defense officials, Iran was attempting to launch a Jask-2 cruise missile underwater for the first time, but the launch failed. Nonproliferation experts have long suspected North Korea and Iran are sharing expertise when it comes to their rogue missile programs. “The very first missiles we...

Original newz story - Click here Earlier this morning we reported that according to Korea Times, China had allegedly sent North Korea what amount to a final warning over its military provocations. The rumor cited the May issue of Hong Kong monthly news outlet Dong Xiang. It said a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs junior minister invited Park Myung-ho, an official of North Korea, for a meeting. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the meeting and asked his junior to read aloud the warning to the North over the nuclear test. The memorandum mentioned that China will condemn strongly, pull...

The North Korean military's most powerful tool is artillery. It cannot level Seoul as some reports have claimed, but it could do significant damage. Pyongyang risks deteriorating its forces by exposing them to return fire, however, which significantly restricts their use. Less conventional methods of retaliation, such as sabotage or cyber warfare, are less risky but also limit the shock that North Korea would desire. After a strike, North Korea's most immediate and expected method of retaliation would center around conventional artillery. Many of the North's indirect fire systems are already located on or near the border with South Korea....

NUCLEAR COUNTDOWN US officials believe North Korea has placed a nuclear device in a tunnel, which could mean a nuclear test is imminent. Meanwhile foreign journalists visiting North Korea have been told to prepare for a 'big and important event' US military bosses fear North Korea is ready to detonate a nuclear bomb it has placed in a tunnel.

The Jerusalem Post reports: Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman hurt the “dignity of the supreme leadership” of North Korea, state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Saturday. The comment was in reaction to Israeli remarks on how the Jewish State is affected by North Korean tension with the United States. … “The reckless remarks of the Israeli defense minister are sordid and wicked behavior and grave challenge to the DPRK [North Korea],” the North Korean statement read.

North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile on Saturday in local time, Korean news service Yonhap reported citing South Korea's military. Yonhap reported that the test appears to have failed. One U.S. official confirmed to NBC news that there was a test, but that it was not nuclear. The incident comes as the United States reconsiders its strategy in dealing with the isolated nation. In an interview with Reuters published late Thursday, President Donald Trump said he wants South Korea to pay for the $1 billion missile defense system. The system, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), is designed to...

"Any jackass can kick a barn down, but it takes a carpenter to build it." ~ Sam Rayburn One jackass (oops we mean expert) after another, has been predicting that this market is ready to crash. The problem is that these brain surgeons have been making this argument for so long it almost sounds like the definition of insanity. Insanity boils down to doing the same thing over and over again and hoping for a new outcome. These predictions are so off the mark that they make a broken clock look fantastic which happens to be right once or twice...

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"North Korea test-fires ballistic missile: ReportChristine WangNorth Korea test-fired a ballistic missile on Saturday in local time, Korean news service Yonhap reported citing South Korea's military. This story is developing. Please check back for further updates.

Rex Tillerson makes his first trip to the UN to chair a Security Council meeting on North Korea. The US chairs the Security Council for the month of April. Other nations sending foreign ministers to the meeting are Britain, China, Japan, and South Korea. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will brief the council during the meeting. Live coverage on CSPAN 3 as well as live stream from the UN website.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This analysis argues that Iran is steadily making progress towards a nuclear weapon and is doing so via North Korea. Iran is unwilling to submit to a years-long freeze of its military nuclear program as stipulated by the July 2015 Vienna Nuclear Deal. North Korea is ready and able to provide a clandestine means of circumventing the deal, which would allow the Iranians to covertly advance that nuclear program. At the same time, Iran is likely assisting in the upgrading of certain North Korean strategic capacities.... All in all, a major consequence of the VND is that the...

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday a major conflict with North Korea is possible in the standoff over its nuclear and missile programs, but he would prefer a diplomatic outcome to the dispute. "There is a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea. Absolutely," Trump told Reuters in an Oval Office interview ahead of his 100th day in office on Saturday. Nonetheless, Trump said he wanted to peacefully resolve a crisis that has bedeviled multiple U.S. presidents, a path that he and his administration are emphasizing by preparing a variety of new...

Senators who were briefed at the White House on Wednesday about the situation with North Korea said they learned “very little” during the all-hands meeting — with some claiming it lacked “even straight answers” about President Trump’s ongoing plans. “There was very little, if anything new,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told The Washington Post. “I remain mystified about why the entire Senate had to be taken over to the White House rather than conducting it here,” he said. One Republican lawmaker, who chose to remain anonymous, claimed they weren’t updated on what the current policy was regarding the Hermit Kingdom...

The invective is seen as overblown by American weapons experts, who believe Pyongyang is likely a few years from having the capability of firing a nuclear-equipped missile that can reach the U.S. mainland. Yet some leading emergency response planners view the persistent menace of North Korea as a new opportunity: reason to alert the American public that a limited nuclear attack can be survivable, with a few precautions. ... Officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Department of Homeland Security say the nuclear safety directives are available, including online at Ready.gov, but they have not broadcast them more widely....

Host of 'The John Batchelor Show' on 770-WABC in New York joins NewsMax to talk about China's role in the North Korean crisis. JOHN BATCHELOR: The can has been kicked for so many years, it is difficult to say who started this. Certainly Clinton time, Bush time, Obama time, they did not confront a predator state with nuclear weapons and ambitions to dominate North Asia. China, watch China. President Obama did not watch China very carefully. He turned away from China. He did not confront the Chinese problem with North Korea. President Trump is confronting it. It is not of...