A recent military intelligence briefing for members of Congress states for the first time that North Korea can launch a nuclear missile at its enemies, but there's plenty of reason for skepticism about the assessment.
China's president, Xi Jinping, said Sunday that "no one should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gain," obviously (but not directly) referring to North Korea's latest round of saber-rattling that has put South Koreans and the United States on high alert. North Korea is looking to provoke other countries enough that they are given further aid and an end to sanctions against the isolated, despotic country, while observers become worried that it might launch a new missile this week.
In move that seems to cater the gossip set interested in international relations and possible nuclear war, North Korean officials told Russian officials to consider evacuating the Russian embassy in Pyongyang and also warned the UK, that the safety of their diplomats "cannot be guaranteed." German officials called a meeting with the North Korean ambassador to express their "serious concern."
North Korea's overseers are getting all huffy again, but like for real this time: longwindedly declaring war on South Korea (even though the first one never technically ended), moving missile launchers around, and warning, like an overeager college freshman in extremis: "The moment of explosion is approaching fast."
Declaring that North Korea's "nuclear armed forces represent the nation's life which can never be abandoned as long as the imperialists and nuclear threats exist on earth," Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un announced today that the country would be restarting a nuclear reactor it had shut down in 2007, reneging on an agreement it had reached in multilateral talks at the time. The news that the Yongbyon nuclear complex would "restart all nuclear facilities" comes a day after the U.S. sent the destroyer U.S.S. John S. McCain on patrol in the region, and reflected the bellicose tone that Pyongyang has taken since its third successful nuclear test in February. Luckily we're still a ways away from war; all threats between North and South Korea have been conditional ("we will turn your country into a sea of fire... if you provoke us"), and the relaunch of Yongbyon is unlikely to make a huge difference to the country's arsenal. Nonetheless, top U.S. commander in South Korea Gen. James Thurman expressed concern on Good Morning America that an "impulsive decision" by the DPRK leadership could cause "kinetic provocation." [CNN, The Atlantic Wire, NBC]
After releasing photos on Friday showing Kim Jong-Un and his advisers reviewing plans to attack major (and some not so major) American cities, mayors of those cities have responded to the possible (eh, not very possible) threat. Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell has released a statement, reassuring residents that they do not face imminent demise:
Despite the fact that North Korea and South Korea have technically been at war since the 1950s, when their hostilities ended with a ceasefire rather than a peace treaty, the North has now claimed to have entered a state of war with the South. Unfortunately, exactly what that means is difficult to decipher.
North Korean leader Kim Jon Un has placed his nation's missiles on standby and announced that he is targeting the American mainland. The leader has made recent brash public gestures of militarism, and the Pentagon has vowed to strengthen our nation's West Coast missile defenses in response. With tensions between the U.S. and the unpredictable North Korea at an all time high, the slightest signal by either side could set off a cascading set of responses that could end in disaster. So you can imagine the shockwaves rippling throughout the intelligence community right now, as analysts try to parse the latest strategic volley from North Korea's official news service:
Following a joint South Korea-U.S. stealth bomber practice mission, North Korea announced that it's pointing its rockets at the U.S. and putting them on standby, and a state news photo seems to show its main targets: Hawaii, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and, uh... Austin. (Just a few weeks too late, Un!) NKNews.org points out that this photo, released in state media organ Rodong Sinmun, features a large map conspicuously labelled, "U.S. Mainland Strike Plan"; a close examination of the map shows vectors pointed toward Hawaii, D.C., L.A.... and, as far as anyone can tell, Austin.
South Korea's three main broadcasters and two of its major banks were paralyzed on Wednesday by a massive outbreak of malicious code that crashed and displayed "skulls" on some computers, thought by many to be a retaliatory cyberattack from North Korea. The television channels KBS, MBC, YTN and the banks Nonghyup and Shinhan Bank had their computer systems simultaneously shut down at around 2 p.m., with employees unable to boot up their computers or access the internet; by 4 p.m., the systems had been restored. Media outlets were able to continue broadcasting, but Shinhan found that its internet banking and some ATMs were rendered inoperable. The South Korean government has launched an investigation and upgraded its information operations condition; North Korea has been threatening to launch a cyberattack since last week, when it accused the U.S. and South Korea of hacking computers in Pyongyang. The hack is believed to have come through services provided by LG. [BBC | Korea Herald | AJE]
Footage of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un inspecting a delirious troop of soldiers on the front line with South Korea was broadcast on state television on Friday following a belligerent exchange of threats between the two Koreas, which are still technically at war. "With their targets set, our intercontinental ballistic missiles and other missiles are on a standby, loaded with lighter, smaller and diversified nuclear warheads," North Korea's vice defense minister, Kang Pyo-yong, told a rally in Pyongyang. "If we push the button, they will blast off and their barrage will turn Washington, the stronghold of American imperialists and the nest of evil, and its followers, into a sea of fire." Experts don't think North Korea has perfected the technology necessary to place nuclear warheads on missiles; nevertheless, South Korea says if Pyongyang does attack with a nuke, Kim Jong-Un and his military "will be erased from the earth." North Korea cancelled its non-aggression agreements with South Korea yesterday after the U.N.—backed by China, Pyongyang's ally and largest trading partner—passed a resolution strengthening sanctions on the impoverished kingdom, but experts think Kim's belligerence is an attempt to consolidate power rather than a real threat.
North Korea, a famine-ridden kingdom ruled by a chubby 20-something cult leader's grandson, is going to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the United States, its state media announced on Thursday. (It's mad because the UN is prepared to vote for harsher sanctions, aimed at stopping cash transfers into the already impoverished country.) North Korea does not, actually, have the ability to put a nuclear device on a ballistic missile, and if it did it wouldn't use one—it can't afford to alienate its main trading parter, China—but it wouldn't be a Thursday if there wasn't a poetically-worded threat out of Pyongyang:
Amid talk of new sanctions and continued U.S.-South Korea joint military drills, North Korea has vowed to cancel the 1953 Korean War cease-fire. North Korea's Korean People's Army Supreme Command issued a statement earlier today, as reports came that Washington and North Korean ally Beijing approved a draft of punishing new sanctions in response to North Korea's latest nuclear test.
There are a lot of surreal moments in this North Korean news report about Dennis Rodman's recent visit to the famine-ridden country. The first two and a half minutes or so is one long standing, cheering ovation for Kim Jong Un and his new best friend Dennis Rodman. Literally thousands of people, cheering non-stop. Then, of course, the report pans to three Harlem Globetrotters, who perform some basketball tricks for the still cheering crowd. That's followed by seven minutes of highlights from a not-very-impressive basketball game. The game ends with Kim Jong Un receiving his very own Globetrotters jersey, and then it's off to some sort State dinner for Un and Rodman and the hilariously still-in-uniform Globetrotters. There were also some very enthusiastic hugs between the new BFFs.
You may have heard by now that Dennis Rodman, professional basketball's version of a beleaguered shock jock, is on a diplomatic mission to nightmarish dictatorship North Korea, accompanied by a team from Vice and the Harlem Globetrotters. It's a motley crew to be sure, but based on the fact that Rodman and Vice are now calling themselves "friends" to the famine- and gulag-ridden Asian nation, things seem to be going quite well. One Vice staffer, Jason Mojica, even tweeted about being allowed into North Korean supreme leader King Jong-un's own home to be feted with food and booze:
The world scratched its head yesterday when it learned that former Chicago Bulls star Dennis Rodman is in North Korea, spreading a message of world peace via extreme facial piercings and basketball just days after North Korea's latest nuclear test. (And also filming an HBO documentary with the Harlem Globetrotters and VICE.) But the choice of Rodman actually seems inspired if you consider this photo of a young Kim Jong Un Kim Jong-Chul, Kim Jong Un's younger brother, glowering at the camera in Rodman's number 91 Bulls jersey from his days at a Swiss boarding school. The Kim clan are noted basketball fanatics, and all apparently a fondness for the Rodman-era Bulls, reportedly.
AP's chief photographer in Asia, David Guttenfelder, has been in North Korea for the past week. It's not his first time—it's his 20th, dating back to 2000—and it's not the first time he's been there with his phone, either. But it is the first time he's taking geotagged Instagram photos. He writes on his blog:
Pak Rim-su, a North Korean delegate to the Korean Demilitarized Zone, warned US General James Thurman on Saturday that a joint American and South Korean military exercise would "meet a miserable destruction" if it goes through this March. In a rare phone call to a US General, Pak reportedly (reported by KCNA, the North Korean state news agency, so who knows?) told the general that, "If your side ignites a war of aggression by staging the reckless joint military exercises...at this dangerous time, from that moment your fate will be hung by a thread with every hour." And also that he better "bear in mind that those igniting a war are destined to meet a miserable destruction."
