North Korea Watch

Artillery fire on Korean border - North Korea artillery fire hits South Korea island (Update 3)

2010-11-23T10:41:00.009Z

Artillery fire on Korean border
Source: BBC News online - www.bbc.co.uk
Date: Tuesday, 23 November 2010 at 06:46

North Korea has fired artillery shells across its western maritime border, prompting return fire from South Korea, reports say.

Some of the shells landed on a South Korean island, witnesses say.

A television station said some houses on the island were on fire, and Yonhap news agency said that four South Korean soldiers had been hurt.

South Korea has issued its highest non-wartime alert in response to the incident, the defence ministry said.

The incident comes days after North Korea revealed it had a modern uranium enrichment plant.

Earlier, the US ruled out more denuclearisation talks while Pyongyang continued to work on the facility.

'Illegal firing'

South Korean officials said several rounds of artillery landed on Yeonpyeong island, near the disputed inter-Korean maritime border to the west of the Korean Peninsula.

"A North Korean artillery unit staged an illegal firing provocation at 1434 PM (0534 GMT) and South Korean troops fired back immediately in self-defence," a defence ministry spokesman told AFP.

A resident on the island told the agency that dozens of houses were damaged, while television pictures reportedly showed plumes of smoke rising above the island.

This western maritime border has been the scene of numerous clashes between the two Koreas in the past.

In March, a South Korean warship went down near the border with the loss of 46 lives.

International investigators say a North Korean torpedo sank the ship, although Pyongyang denies any role in the incident.

Since then relations between the two neighbours - who have not signed a peace treaty since the 1950-53 Korean War - have been very tense.

- - -

UPDATE on Tuesday, 23 November 2010:
Excerpt from Channel 4 News Snowmail received today at 17:32 pm entitled "North Korea bombards South Korea"

By the time we get to air, fortunately the appalling clash between North and South Korea will be hanging in the air as rhetoric. But this morning's bombardment of a South Korean island by North Korean artillery has provided a nasty wake-up call to the world that the North Korean dictatorship is undergoing some sort of internal upheaval.

Amazingly, fifty years after satellites first read number plates in Red Square, the world has very little idea about what's going on in the inner sanctums of Pyongyang and the great danger is that China is the ultimate protector of North Korea and the United States, with its vast battalions stationed in and around South Korea, is that country's equally great protector. Lindsey Hilsum is on the case and will be talking to a raft of North Korean watchers.

North Korea artillery fire hits South Korea island
http://www.channel4.com/news/north-korea-artillery-fire-hits-south-korea-island

- - -

UPDATE on Wednesday, 24 November 2010:

Excerpt from BBC News online report published today at 04:26

President Barack Obama: North Korea 'a serious threat'

In an interview with ABC television news, President Obama said South Korea was an ''ally'' of the US

US President Barack Obama has strongly condemned North Korea's shelling of Yeonpyeong island in South Korea and said the US would defend South Korea.

Mr Obama told ABC News that North Korea was "a serious and ongoing threat that needs to be dealt with".

The attack near a disputed sea border was also denounced by Russia, Japan and the European Union.

South Korea returned fire and threatened missile strikes if there were "further provocations".

President Obama described South Korea as an important ally and "a cornerstone of US security in the Pacific region".

He said: "We strongly affirm our commitment to defend South Korea as part of that alliance.

"We want to make sure all the parties in the region recognise that this is a serious and ongoing threat that needs to be dealt with."

He called on North Korea's ally China to communicate to Pyongyang "that there are a set of international rules they need to abide by".

In a telephone conversation, Mr Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak agreed to hold combined military exercises in the days ahead to underscore the strength of their alliance, the White House said in a statement.

The US has 28,000 troops stationed in the South.

South Korea's military had been carrying out an exercise near Yeonpyeong, but it denies opening hostilities by firing towards the North.

Two South Korean marines died when dozens of artillery shells landed on the island - most of them hitting a military base. Both soldiers and civilians were wounded.

The South fired back some 80 shells. Casualties on the northern side are unknown.

- - -

Joint press conference: FM Liberman and Italian FM Frattini
Source: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs website - www.mfa.gov.il
Date: Tuesday, 23 November 2010. Excerpt:

Q: I would like to address Foreign Minister Liberman. I would like to ask for your response regarding the aggression shown by North Korea earlier this morning towards the South. Do you find it -

FM Liberman: We have enough problems with the Middle East.

Q: So I'll make it related to the Middle East. Do you think that it has implications on the Middle East and Israel? Do you find it alarming? And do you think that this act comes because of the changes in the leadership of the regime?

FM Liberman: Of course we really think that North Korea is part of the axis of evil that includes North Korea, Iran and Syria. Because of the close cooperation between these three countries, the proliferation of nuclear technology, the proliferation of missile technology, I think that North Korea is really, as we see, a threat not only to their part of the world but also for the Middle East and the entire world. Also, if the international community cannot stop and cannot suppress this crazy regime and resolve the nuclear problem of North Korea, how can the international community try to deal with the Iranian threat if it cannot stop and restrict even North Korea? I think it's a bad message, and it's necessary today more than in the past to stop and topple this crazy regime and to halt their proliferation and their provocations.

FM Frattini: We all should condemn this North Korean attack. You know, perhaps there is an ongoing G8 consultation which very likely will lead to a common document and, I'm sure, a common message of condemnation against that attack.

- - -

U.S. aircraft carrier heads for Korean waters
Source: Reuters - www.reuters.com - by Jack Kim and Lee Jae-won
INCHEON, South Korea
Date: Wednesday, 24 November 2010 9:56am EST. Excerpts:

A U.S. aircraft carrier group set off for Korean waters on Wednesday, a day after North Korea rained artillery shells on a South Korean island, in a move likely to enrage Pyongyang and unsettle its ally, China. [...]

Despite the rhetoric, regional powers made clear they were looking for a diplomatic way to calm things down.

South Korea, its armed forces technically superior though about half the size of the North's one-million-plus army, warned of "massive retaliation" if its neighbor attacked again.

But it was careful to avoid any immediate threat of retaliation which might spark an escalation of fighting across the Cold War's last frontier.

China has long propped up the Pyongyang leadership, worried that a collapse of the North could bring instability to its own borders and also wary of a unified Korea that would be dominated by the United States, the key ally of the South.

Beijing said it had agreed with the United States to try to restart talks among regional powers over North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

A number of analysts suspect that Tuesday's attack may have been an attempt by North Korean leader Kim jong-il to raise his bargaining position ahead of disarmament talks which he has used in the past to win concessions and aid from the outside world, in particular the United States.

(Reporting by Seoul bureau, Michael Martina, Aileen Wang and Benjamin Kang Lim in Beijing, Kaori Kaneko and Yoko Kubota in Tokyo, Alister Bull, Paul Eckert, Phil Stewart and Arshad Mohammed in Washington and Ralph Jennings in Taipei; Writing by Raju Gopalakrishnan; Editing by Jeremy Laurence and Sanjeev Miglani)

- - -

US Calls North Korean Artillery Strike Armistice Violation
Source: VOA (Voice of America News) - www.voanews.com
Author: David Gollust, US State Department
Date: Wednesday, 24 November 2010

The United States said Wednesday North Korea's lethal artillery strike on a South Korean island was premeditated and a violation of the 1953 Korean War armistice. But U.S. officials do not believe Pyongyang is preparing for an extended military campaign.

Officials here are not minimizing the seriousness of the North Korean artillery barrage, which they call a serious provocation and a deliberate violation of the Korean armistice.

But they say they are not observing preparations for a broader conflict by North Korea, and say they are looking to China to play a "pivotal" role in restraining its neighbor.

State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters the United States is engaged in wide-ranging diplomacy with China and others in the aftermath of the artillery clash, and intends to raise the matter directly with North Korea in the armistice framework.

The spokesman rejected North Korea's claim it acted in self defense after South Korean shelling in a military exercise. He said North Korea attacked the South Korean island hours after the routine exercise ended, in an obviously premeditated act, but that there has been no sign of a broader aggressive move by the North.

"This was in our view a one-off, premeditated act," said Crowley. "Without getting into intelligence matters, we don't see that North Korea is preparing for an extended military confrontation. That's what makes it not a war. It is a violation of the armistice. Among other things, we will have a conversation with North Korean general officers and make clear that this is a violation of the armistice."

Crowley said responsibility for the current crisis "rests exclusively" with North Korea, and the United States recognizes that China - despite being its main ally and aid provider - cannot dictate to Pyongyang.

Nonetheless he said Beijing has influence with North Korea, and the United States expects China to clear as to where the blame rests, and that Pyongyang should not be allowed to derive comfort from thus-far ambivalent Chinese statements on the issue.

President Obama late Tuesday announced U.S.-South Korean military exercises in the wake of the artillery attack, that will include dispatch of the nuclear aircraft carrier George Washington to waters off the Korean peninsula.

China has previously opposed such exercises but Crowley said they contribute to stability for the entire region including China.

"We have a military alliance with South Korea and we will continue to do what we need to do with South Korea to cooperate," he said. "Our alliance with South Korea provides stability and protection, and many, many countries, including China, benefit from the alliance that we have with South Korea and others in the region."

The spokesman said the United States is engaged in broad diplomatic consultations on both the artillery incident and recent claimed advances in North Korea's nuclear program.

Crowley said there have been preliminary contacts in the U.N. Security Council, but there is no indication an emergency council session is being sought.

Khartoum, Sudan: Assembly's Speaker Receives Korean Ambassador

2010-10-31T15:34:00.002Z

Assembly's Speaker Receives Korean Ambassador
Source: SUNA - www.sunanews.net
Date: Thursday, 28 October 2010:

(Khartoum) - The Speaker of the National Assembly, Ahmed Ibrahim Al-Tahir, has reviewed progress of the Sudanese Koran relations and means of consolidating them further when he received at his office Thursday the Korean Ambassador to Sudan

Al-Tahir appreciated firmness of the relations between the two countries

He informed the ambassador on the efforts being exerted by the government to implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), especially with regard to holding of the referendum of south Sudan, besides the efforts to realize peace and stability in the country

Meanwhile, the Korean ambassador expressed his country's support to Sudan in the economic, investment, political and cultural fields
IF/MO

S. Koreans reunited with Northern relatives after 60 years

2010-10-30T16:53:00.004+01:00

Hundreds of South Koreans held tearful reunions with their relatives living in the North as the heavily-guarded border was opened for the first time in over a year.

Report title: South Koreans reunited with Northern relatives after sixty years
Source: Telegraph.co.uk
Published: 12:21PM BST 30 Oct 2010

Photo: South Korean Kim Rye-jung, 96, left, hugs her North Korean daughter Woo Jung Hye during the Separated Family Reunion Meeting at Diamond Mountain in North Korea Photo: AP

Some 430 South Koreans crossed into the North on Saturday in a convoy of buses.

The reunions, which give divided families their first chance to see one another in six decades, took place at the Mount Kumgang resort on the North's southeastern coast, near the border.

"How are you, I could only see you in dreams," said Kim Rae-Jung, 96, from the South, choked in tears as she touched the face of her 71-year-old daughter, Wu Jong-Hye, from the North.

"I've been living well here, mother," said the daughter with tears rolling down her face.

She showed her mother pictures of her relatives and some 20 medals of honour that she and members of her family had received from the North Korean government.

The daughter was left behind in the North when other family members fled to the South in 1951 to avoid advancing Chinese troops during the Korean War.

The South Koreans from 97 families will spend three days with relatives in North Korea, from whom they were separated by the war.

Lee Moon-Yeong, in his 70s, said he had spent a sleepless night in anticipation of seeing one of his brothers after so many years apart with no chance of any communication.

He had previously feared the brother might have been killed in action after joining the North Korean army during the 1950-53 Korean War.

"Brothers were fighting against brothers. What a tragedy it was," he said.

Lee's second brother died in 1952 while fighting for the South.

North and South Korean troops on Friday briefly exchanged fire across the frontier, heightening tensions before next month's G20 summit of world leaders in Seoul. No casualties were reported.

Following the Saturday to Monday meetings, another batch of 96 South Koreans will be reunited with North Korean relatives next week.

The emotional meetings, the first since September last year, come despite icy inter-Korean ties in the aftermath of the North's alleged torpedoing of a South Korean warship, for which the North angrily denies responsibility.

Under President Lee Myung Bak, Seoul has rolled back the previous government's policy of reconciliation and taken a tougher stance towards the communist state, linking badly needed food and fertiliser aid to progress in talks on dismantling the North's nuclear programme.

On Friday, the North fired toward a South Korean guard post and South Korean soldiers there immediately returned three shots from a machine gun.

It marked the first time that shots have been fired from the North across the border since Lee's conservative government replaced a liberal government in February 2008.

Local newspaper reports said that a North Korean machine gun, always trained toward the South, might have accidentally fired.
Such accidental firings occurred occasionally, it said.

"Things are quiet there today," the Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman said.

The shooting, in the Hwacheon area 56 miles northeast of Seoul, comes as the South prepares to host the Group of 20 summit on November 11-12.

North and S. Korea on brink of war, Russian diplomat warns

2010-09-24T12:41:00.008+01:00

North and South Korea are on the brink of war, a top Russian diplomat has warned, calling for both countries to exercise restraint and sit down for talks.

North and South Korea on the brink of war, Russian diplomat warns
From The Daily Telegraph www.telegraph.co.uk
By Andrew Osborn in Moscow
Published: 12:04AM BST 24 Sep 2010

In Moscow's bleakest assessment of the situation on the Korean peninsula yet, Russian deputy foreign minister Alexei Borodavkin said tensions between the two countries were running at their highest and most dangerous level in a decade.

"Tensions on the Korean Peninsula could not be any higher. The only next step is a conflict," he told foreign policy experts at a round table on the subject in Moscow.

His prediction came two months after North Korea vowed to wage "a sacred war" against South Korea and its biggest backer, the United States.

Tensions bubbled over in March after Washington and Seoul concluded that a North Korean submarine had sunk a South Korean naval vessel in the Yellow Sea. Mr Borodavkin called for the investigation into exactly who was responsible for the sinking of the vessel, the Cheonan, to be urgently closed in order to remove an obvious source of tension.

Describing the standoff between the two Koreas as a "hangover from the Cold War," Mr Borodavkin said Russia, which is one of the six countries involved in talks with North Korea over its nuclear programme, was doing all it could to try to prevent an outbreak of hostilities.

But he said responsibility for keeping peace in the volatile region was shared equally between North and South Korea. He condemned North Korea's nuclear testing programme but also criticised the way the United States and South Korea had increased their military manoeuvres in the wake of the sinking of the Cheonan.

Related Articles
North Korea: Kim Jong-il's troops 'combat ready'
US sanctions against North Korea provoke Chinese anger
US and South Korea prepare for joint military exercises
North Korea claims US could provoke nuclear war
UN Security Council toughens sanctions against North Korea
Kim Jong-il is a headache, but not a nightmare

Kim Jong-il dictatorship could end within days

2010-09-21T21:35:00.002+01:00

The dictatorship of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il could end within days after a leadership conference was called for the first time in nearly 45 years.

Kim Jong-il dictatorship could end within days
From The Daily Telegraph (www.telegraph.co.uk)
By Malcolm Moore in Shanghai
Published: 6:30PM BST 21 Sep 2010:

The country has announced a "great revolutionary surge" as it prepares for a regime change which could see Mr Kim's son, Kim Jong-un, appointed as his successor.

North Korea will hold a party conference of its ruling Workers' Party next week, for the first time since 1966, to elect its "supreme leadership body".

Ostensibly the conference will appoint new blood into the North Korean bureaucracy, but the rarity of the event has convinced experts that Mr Kim, 68, could use the event to unveil his third son as his successor.

The elder Mr Kim travelled to China last month and may have sought China's rubber-stamp over the transfer of power. China remains North Korea's most important trading power and political ally.

If Mr Kim does hand over power, North Korea will continue to enjoy the apparent contradiction of being a centrally-planned Communist state with a hereditary dynasty in charge.

An announcement yesterday (tues) from the Korean Central News Agency, the mouthpiece of the government, said there would be a "new great revolutionary surge" and that all cadres in the country were "single-mindedly united" behind Kim Jong-il, whatever his decision may be.

The regime is "now ready to go ahead with its move to designate Kim Jong-Un as successor", said Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. "The son is expected to take a key party post but that will not be made public for a while," he added.

The meeting had been delayed since the beginning of September, causing many observers to wonder whether the elder Kim was facing an internal challenge to his choice of successor.

"It is possible that the North Korean elite is far less united than usually assumed, so some factions are seriously unhappy about the likely choice of successor or the expected composition of the new leadership," said Andrei Lankov, a professor at Seoul's Kookmin University.

Other analysts noted that the delay could have been triggered by the need to plan and stage-manage the succession and instruct cadres, who have been stationed in Pyongyang for two weeks in expectation of the meeting, about their roles in the event.

However, some observers note that the younger Kim, at 28, may not be ready to assume full control over North Korea and has not been groomed in the same way as his father. The younger Kim has instead been fast-tracked to leadership ever since his father suffered a stroke in 2008, leaving a question mark over his continuing rule.

Another possible option would be for Kim Jong-il to pass power to his brother-in-law, Chang Song-taek, as a regent while his son built his own power base. A bureaucratic reshuffling in 2009 helped to promote Chang, and the forthcoming conference could see him given further roles.

He is currently vice chairman of the National Defence Commission, a position considered second only to Kim Jong-il.

North Korea joins Facebook

2010-08-21T10:32:00.003+01:00

North Korea appears to have joined the social networking site Facebook after its Twitter account was blocked by South Korea under the country's security laws.

Full story: Telegraph.co.uk - North Korea joins Facebook - 20 August 2010.

US declines to put North Korea back on terrorism blacklist

2010-08-05T23:32:00.000+01:00

Report by AFP - Thursday, 05 August 2010:

US declines to put NKorea back on terrorism blacklist

The Obama administration declined Thursday to put North Korea back on a blacklist of countries supporting terrorism despite pressure from lawmakers to do so.

In its report for 2009, the State Department kept the same countries on the list as it did in 2008 -- Iran, Sudan, Cuba and Syria -- with Iran again listed as the "most active state sponsor of terrorism."

Former US president George W. Bush de-listed North Korea in 2008 after it vowed to end its nuclear program, agreed to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and pledged to disable its nuclear plants.

The Obama administration has kept it off the list again after citing narrow legal definition for what constitutes support for terrorism.

In June 2009, 16 US Republican Senators urged President Barack Obama's administration to place the communist regime back on the US blacklist.

The North conducted its second nuclear test the previous month and defied international criticism by firing a volley of short-range missiles and threatening to attack the capitalist South.

Though the report does not cover events this year, Republican senators renewed their call for North Korea to be listed again after South Korea and the United States blamed it for sinking a South Korean warship in March.

In keeping four countries on the blacklist, the Country Reports on Terrorism 2009 said "Iran remained the most active state sponsor of terrorism".

"Iran?s financial, material, and logistic support for terrorist and militant groups throughout the Middle East and Central Asia had a direct impact on international efforts to promote peace, threatened economic stability in the Gulf and undermined the growth of democracy," it said.

The US accuses Iran of actively supporting groups like the Taliban in Afghanistan, Shiite groups in Iraq and Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Palestinian territories.

On Sudan, the report said the government was cooperating with US counter-terrorism efforts, but said "Al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist elements as well as elements of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and HAMAS, remained in Sudan in 2009."

The report said the United States disagrees with Syria's support for what it calls national liberation movements, groups Washington considers are terrorist.

"Syria continued to provide safe-haven as well as political and other support to a number of designated Palestinian terrorist groups, including HAMAS, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC)," the report.

The report complained that Cuba still gives safe haven and ideological support for three terrorist organizations.

"The Government of Cuba has long assisted members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the National Liberation Army of Colombia (ELN), and Spain?s Basque Homeland and Freedom Organization (ETA), some having arrived in Cuba in connection with peace negotiations with the governments of Colombia and Spain," it said.

Israel says seized North Korean arms were for Hamas, Hezbollah

2010-06-11T19:46:00.005+01:00

Israel says seized North Korean arms were for Hamas, Hezbollah
Report from Reuters - Wednesday, 12 May 2010 3:19am EDT
(Reporting by Yoko Kubota; Editing by Jeremy Laurence):

(TOKYO) - The Israeli foreign minister said on Wednesday that North Korean weapons seized in Thailand last year were headed for Islamist groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

More than 35 tonnes of arms including rockets and rocket-propelled grenades were seized from a cargo plane after it made an emergency landing at a Bangkok airport in December. Thai authorities said the plane came from North Korea.

In January, the Thai government sent a report to the U.N. Security Council stating the weapons were headed for Iran, which is allied to Syria.

"With huge numbers of different weapons ... (it had the) intention to smuggling these weapons to Hamas and to Hezbollah," Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told a news conference in Tokyo, where he is visiting until Thursday.

"These cooperation between North Korea and Syria ... (do not) improve the economic situation in their countries," he said, speaking to reporters in English.

Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon said on Monday Israel was in a proxy war with Iran due to its sponsorship of Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas and the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas.

Diplomats have said the movement of North Korean arms to Iran appears to have been an effort to violate U.N. sanctions against North Korea, diplomats said. Although Iran is subject to separate U.N. sanctions because of its nuclear program, it is not forbidden to import arms.

Pyongyang was hit with fresh U.N. sanctions last year to punish it for a nuclear test in May 2009, its second atomic detonation. The expanded measures are aimed at cutting off its arms sales, a vital export estimated to earn the destitute state more than $1 billion a year.

North Korea's biggest arm sales come from ballistic missiles, with Iran and other Middle Eastern states as customers, according to U.S. government officials.

A North Korean submarine fired a torpedo which caused the sinking of a South Korean warship in South Korean waters - with the loss of 42 lives

2010-05-20T18:01:00.003+01:00

Excerpt from Channel 4's Snowmail - Thursday, 20 May 2010:

Dramatic tension between the two Koreas, with the official finding that a North Korean submarine fired a torpedo which caused the sinking of a South Korean warship - with the loss of 42 lives. The warship was in South Korean waters. The condemnation is worldwide. The problem for South Korea is that whatever it does in response, North Korea has threatened all out war. It’s an incident which threatens to spread well beyond the region. If there's a will in the international community to ramp up pressure on North Korea, would China scupper it?

North Korea blamed for sinking navy ship: http://bit.ly/9uauHl

North Korean refugees plead case against Kim Jong-il

2009-12-10T17:47:00.003Z

Refugees from North Korea are in The Hague in an attempt to convince the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute Kim Jong-il for crimes against humanity.

From NRC Handelsblad, 10 December 2009 17:31:
North Korean refugees plead case against Kim Jong-il
By Harry Meijer

Park Hye-ri (43) cried softly as she removed her artificial limbs in a hotel conference room in The Hague on Wednesday, her black lacquered shoes dangling pointlessly from the flesh-coloured prostheses. The limbs are evidence in a case Park Hye-ri and one of her compatriots came to make on behalf of 150 refugees from North Korea.

Hye-ri reached South Korea, where she now lives with her 19-year-old son, in 2006 at the end of her second escape attempt from North Korea. The first failed when she was intercepted by Chinese police in the border area between Mongolia and China, in 40 degrees Celsius below zero temperatures, and repatriated to North Korea, where she was detained and beaten for months.

"The Chinese sent me back with frozen feet. The North Korean secret police beat me on my feet, and drove a steel pin through them. My legs started rotting away. They only wanted one thing: to hear me confess that I had wanted to escape to South Korea," Hye-Ri told the court.

If al-Bashir, why not Kim Jong-il?

Hye-ri and the other refugees want the ICC's main prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, to investigate the possibility of indicting the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il for crimes against humanity. The charges include torture, deportation, sexual slavery, rape, starvation and summary executions.

The refugees are supported by a group of South Korean intellectuals and activists. They take courage from the ICC's earlier indictment of Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir for war crimes in Darfur.

If the ICC can issue an arrest warrant for Bashir, then surely it must do the same for North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, said Ha Tae-keung, a South Korean activist who is the driving force behind Open Radio for North Korea, a Seoul-based radio station that broadcasts daily to listeners in North Korea. "The crimes against humanity committed by North Korea are at least as grave as those of Sudan," said Ha.

Stalinist North Korea is one of the most reclusive and repressive regimes in the world. According to human rights organisations, an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 people are detained in political prisoners camps. Prisoners are subjected to forced labour, torture and public executions, claims the file of the refugees before the ICC.

Slim chance

The international community is at a loss what to do with the North Korean leader. US envoy Stephen Bosworth paid a three-day visit to Pyongyang this week in an attempt to persuade North Korea to re-enter talks about nuclear disarmament.

Activist Ha sees a trial in The Hague as another way to put pressure on the regime. "Kim Jong-il will never give up his atom bomb," he said, "but with enough international pressure he might be persuaded to do something about the human rights situation."

Chances that the ICC will prosecute Kim Jong-il personally are slim as North Korea does not recognise the court. The UN Security Council could refer Kim Jong-il to the ICC, but such a move would be almost certainly vetoed by China, an ally of North Korea.

Burma claims it will release Aung San Suu Kyi

2009-11-10T23:38:00.000Z

Photo: Aung San Suu Kyi is being held under house arrest in the commercial hub Yangon after her detention was extended by another 18 months in August. (AFP) Source: The Daily Telegraph, Nov. 03, 2009:
US diplomats arrive in Burma for talks with junta
- - -

From The Daily Telegraph
Burma claims it will release Aung San Suu Kyi
Published: 7:00AM GMT 10 Nov 2009

"There is a plan to release her soon ... so she can organise her party," Min Lwin, a director-general in the foreign ministry. He gave no details and it was unclear whether Mrs Suu Kyi would be allowed to campaign or stand for election.

Despite the conciliatory remarks, the country's constitution includes provisions that bar her from holding office and ensure the primacy of the government in the military.

The Nobel peace prize winner has spent 14 of the last 20 years under house arrest. In August a court sentenced her to an additional 18 months after an American, John Yettaw, swam across a lake to her villa in Rangoon and stayed overnight.

Burma's junta in the past has raised expectations of Mrs Suu Kyi's imminent release only to dash the hopes of her supporters at home and abroad.

Pro-democracy campaigners cautioned against reading too much into the latest hints on Mrs Suu Kyi's release. "They've been saying these sorts of things for a long time but they have never delivered on them," Anna Roberts, the director of the Burma Campaign UK told the Guardian. "The regime's main concern is get economic sanctions lifted and get approval for the sham elections next year."

Tantalising hints of a possible release for the political prisoner came as Min Lwin was in Manila for a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and the US.

- - -

Diplomat says jailed opposition leader will be allowed to organise her party for elections next year
Excerpt from The Guardian
Burma claims it will release Aung San Suu Kyi
Tuesday, 10 November 2009

In a break with George Bush's policy of isolating the Burmese regime, Barack Obama has decided on a policy of engagment with the junta. Last week the US assistant secretary of state for east Asia, Kurt Campbell, and his deputy, Scott Marciel, became the most senior American officials to visit Burma since 1995, when Madeleine Albright went as Bill Clinton's ambassador to the UN.

Campbell and Marciel held exploratory talks with senior figures in the junta, including the prime minister, Thein Sein, but not Than Shwe, the general who has ruled the country for the last 17 years. They also met Aung San Suu Kyi.

Obama will meet Asean leaders this weekend during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Singapore, possibly bringing him into rare contact with Thein Sein. The last US president to meet a Burmese leader was Lyndon Johnson, who held talks with prime minister Ne Win in 1966.

- - -
From The Irrwaddy
China Builds Fence on Part of Burma’s Kachin Border
By WAI MOE, Tuesday, December 23, 2008:

Chinese authorities are building a fence along the Burmese border near Laiza in Kachin State, reportedly to deter drug traffickers.

Awng Wa, of the Kachin Development Networking Group, based on the Sino-Burmese border, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that work began on the fence last month. He said it is expected to be at least 10 km long.

“I heard that the Chinese authorities want to complete the construction before the coming Chinese New Year Festival [in late January],” he said.

Awng Wa said that although the Chinese authorities claimed the fence was being built to prevent landslides, the real purpose appeared to be to stem rising drug trafficking across the border.

Authorities in China’s Yunnan Province report that in the three years ending April 2008 they seized 12.9 tons of heroin, 9.3 tons of crystal methamphetamines and 4.5 tons of opium originating in Burma. The heroin amounted to 75 percent of nationwide seizures, the methamphetamines accounted for 55 percent and the opium 87 percent.

The fence is the second to be built by China along its border with Burma. The first, 4 km long, was built near Ruili. A third is planned in the Pangwah pass area, according to sources.

Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese analyst on the Sino-Burma border, said the fences were not expected to disrupt drug trafficking. “The Chinese need to consider the root of the problem,” he said.

China and Burma have a relatively open border of more than 2,000 km, favoring smuggling and drug trafficking, according to Poon Kim Shee, an expert on Sino-Burmese relations.

Cross-border trade was banned by the government of Burmese dictator New Win from 1962 until 1988. The two countries signed an agreement legalizing trade in August 1988.

Since 1988, bilateral trade increased steadily, soaring 60 percent in the fiscal year ending last March 31, reaching a total value of US $2.4 billion.

China is now Burma’s second largest trading partner, after Thailand, and bilateral trade accounts for 24 percent of Burma’s trade.

Burmese exports to China comprise mostly raw materials such as agricultural produce, fish, timber, gems and minerals, while Burma imports Chinese machinery, electronics, processed food and consumer goods.

- - -

Further reading

Online Burma/Myanmar Library

From foes to friends: The changing face of Burma-North Korean relations
Did Foreign Pressure Make Ship Turn Back?
By LALIT K JHA (WASHINGTON) — Pressure from Burma’s key neighbors including India, China and members countries from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) could have persuaded the military junta not to be associated with North Korean nuclear activities at this point of time. The controversial North Korean ship heading for Burma may have been turned around as a result.

US diplomats arrive in Burma for talks with junta

Meme: Joe Trippi's Eleven-Eleven 1111Campaign - America's and Britain's Veterans have given so much. Now, you can give back.

2009-11-10T22:37:00.000Z

Joe Trippi, one of America's greatest bloggers, has launched Eleven Eleven Campaign. The objective of the Eleven Eleven Campaign is simple: to get 11 million Americans to donate $11 to support America’s Veterans. Here is a copy of Joe's latest tweet on Twitter:

Tomorrow is Veterans Day, and now is our moment to encourage our friends, family members and colleagues to join us... http://bit.ly/9Iu9s
33 minutes ago from Facebook
1111Campaign
Eleven Eleven

Hey Joe! Britain's Veterans have given so much too!

Stand with 11 million Brits and Give £11 to Support Britain’s Vets!

Take Action Today
Click here to support Britain's Veterans
November 11, 2009

Bill Clinton meets Kim Jong Il in North Korea, 4 Aug 2009

2009-08-04T18:44:00.005+01:00

Photo: The former American President Bill Clinton flew into North Korea on a surprise mission to secure the release of two American journalists. He was taken from the airport into a rare face-to-face meeting with the regime's 'Dear Leader', Kim Jong Il. It has raised hopes that North Korea may soon be enticed back to multinational disarmament talks after three months of mounting atomic tensions and provocation. (KRT/Reuters)

Photo: North Korea’s official news agency reported that Mr Clinton and Mr Kim engaged in "sincere and exhaustive discussions" on a range of issues. (KRT/Reuters)

Photo: A South Korean newspaper reports on his visit (Ahn Young-joon/AP/Times Online) Reports suggest that Mr Clinton will use the two-day trip to "negotiate robustly" for the release of Euna Lee and Laura Ling, the two American journalists who are serving 12 years hard labour in a North Korean prison. They were both working for a television company run by Mr Clinton’s former Vice-President, Al Gore, and were arrested for a "grave" though unspecified, crime on the North Korea-China
border earlier this year. (Yonhap/AP)

Photo: South Koreans have been demanding the release of the two women. Here they burn a defaced North Korean flag during a rally. (Ahn Young-joon/AP)

Photo: A defaced portrait of the North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is placed on the street during the rally in Soeul (Ahn Young-joon/AP)

Source: Times Online, 04 August 2009 - Bill Clinton meets North Korean leader Kim Jong Il for talks

UPDATE:

Within hours of shaking the hands of his reclusive host, Kim Jong Il, North Korea dramatically announced that the journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were free to go.

“Kim Jong Il issued an order ...on granting a special pardon to the two American journalists who had been sentenced to hard labour in accordance with Article 103 of the Socialist Constitution and releasing them,” North Korea’s official news agency reported.

They were expected to fly back home on board Mr Clinton’s plane.

Full story at Times Online by Leo Lewis in Tokyo, and Tim Reid in Washington 4 Aug 2009:
Bill Clinton secures 'pardon' for imprisoned journalists after meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Il

EU plans to sign $100 bln S.Korea trade pact in '09

2009-07-13T15:24:00.002+01:00

From Reuters Mon Jul 13, 2009 9:54am EDT
UPDATE 1-EU plans to sign $100 bln S.Korea trade pact in '09

* Swedish EU presidency plans to conclude S. Korea pact

* Free-trade agreement estimated to be worth $100 bln

* Diplomats see initialling of deal in September

* EU carmakers remain opposed, BusinessEurope in favour

S. Korean president seeks Italy's support for Korea-EU FTA in summit

2009-07-10T17:06:00.002+01:00

From Yonhap News Agency by Byun Duk-kun, Friday, 10 July 2009:
S. Korean president seeks Italy's support for Korea-EU FTA in summit

L'AQUILA, Italy, July 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak sought to win Italy's support for an envisioned free trade deal between his country and the European Union in a summit with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi here Friday.

The move is part of last-minute efforts by Seoul to conclude the free trade agreement (FTA) while three EU nations -- Italy, Poland and Hungary -- were believed to be holding back their full support for the accord.

Berlusconi agreed to work with the South Korean leader to help "upgrade the Korea-EU relationship to a strategic partnership by concluding the Korea-EU FTA at an early date as agreed in the Korea-EU summit held in Seoul on May 23," Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said in a press release.

The agreement could mean the sides are now only a step away from signing the deal which, once signed, is expected to generate billions of dollars in increased trade for both sides.

Poland is said to have withdrawn its early opposition to the proposed deal, with President Lech Kaczynski saying in a joint press conference with Lee after their summit Wednesday that the FTA will help improve the relationship between his country and South Korea.

Lee and the Italian prime minister agreed to improve their countries' bilateral ties, noting their relationship has steadily expanded to economic, political and cultural areas since first established in 1884, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

"The two heads of state agreed to strengthen the cooperation between their countries in dealing with global issues, such as the worldwide financial crisis and climate change," it said in the press release.

They also agreed to work together for an early resumption of six-nation talks on ending North Korea's nuclear ambition, noting its possession of nuclear weapons will not be accepted.

Pyongyang declared it was abandoning the nuclear disarmament talks in protest over U.N. condemnation of its rocket launch in April. The talks involve the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia.

bdk@yna.co.kr

(END)

Did North Korea cyber attack Washington?

2009-07-08T19:05:00.002+01:00

it seems the North Koreans may have carried out an act of cyber-war against half a dozen US government agencies and the hallowed Washington Post. Our Asia correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is out there in cyberspace, chasing them down.

Did North Korea attack Washington?: http://bit.ly/agDWR

Source: Channel 4 News (UK) Snowmail by Jon Snow, Wednesday, 08 July 2009.

Kaesong Industrial Park in the DPR Korea - A new city for 500,000 people

2009-07-04T10:48:00.006+01:00

See this incredible video uploaded to YouTube November 17, 2008.

A new centre for the far East. North and South Korea will co-exist. A new city for 500,000 people.

From Reuters Wed, 01 July 2009 10:53pm ED, by Jack Kim:
North Korea seen readying missiles

SEOUL (Reuters) - North and South Korean officials held talks on Thursday to salvage a joint factory park in the communist state that has become a key source of foreign cash for Pyongyang, hit by U.N. sanctions for its nuclear test.

The talks come as North Korea looks ready to launch medium or short range missiles from its east coast within days, a South Korean newspaper reported, which could further stoke tensions already high due to the North's May 25 nuclear test.

Washington said this week it has tightened its crackdown on firms linked to the North's lucrative proliferation of missiles, a major source of cash for the destitute state, and has sent the U.S. point man for sanctions to Asia for discussions.

The talks over the Kaesong industrial park, where about 100 South Korean companies pay $70 a month per person to employ about 40,000 North Koreans, have hit snags in previous rounds over the North's demands for sharp raises in wages and land lease fees.

Analysts said North Korea was trying to squeeze more money out of the South Korean companies in Kaesong as U.N. sanctions imposed for its missile and nuclear tests begin to grip the state that produces few goods other than arms it can export.

North Korea has ignored the South's demand for the release of a South Korean worker who has been held at the park located just inside North Korea for more than three months for supposedly insulting the North's political system.

The North said in May it was cancelling all wage, rent and tax agreements for the park, once hailed as a model of future economic cooperation between the rival states technically still at war who share one of the world most militarized borders.

MISSILES MOVES

The North was likely to fire medium or short range missiles from its east coast in early July that could include Scuds with a range of about 340 kilometers (210 miles) or Rodong missiles with a range of up to 1,000 kilometers, the daily JoongAng Ilbo quoted an intelligence source as saying.

Japan's coast guard has said it had monitored no-sail warnings by the North for 10 nautical areas around the Korean peninsula for military firing exercises.

On Tuesday, the United States said it was cracking down on companies involved in North Korea's suspected missile proliferation and in the purchase of equipment that could be used in a nuclear weapons program.

The U.S. Treasury and State Departments moved to freeze the assets of an Iranian and a North Korean firm under an executive order and also barred U.S. firms from dealing with them.

Philip Goldberg, the U.S. envoy who coordinates sanctions against the North, went to China in a bid to get tough with North Korea. China is the North's biggest benefactor whose cooperation could determine the success of any sanctions regime, analysts said.

He will be in Malaysia on Sunday before heading back to Washington on Monday. It was not immediately clear why he was visiting Malaysia.

A North Korean ship being tracked by the U.S. Navy on suspicion of carrying a banned arms cargo has turned around and is headed in the direction of the North after it was seen sailing to Myanmar.

Officials said the North's military grandstanding is likely related to moves by its leadership to begin readying leader Kim Jong-il's youngest son as a future heir by consolidating the 67-year-old leader's power base.

(Editing by Jon Herskovitz and Valerie Lee)

- - -

N Korea threatens US as world anticipates missile

Report from Associated Press (via Yahoo News) by HYUNG-JIN KIM, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jun 24, 2009 7:13 pm ET:

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea accused Washington of seeking to "provoke a second Korean War" as the regime prepared to hold maritime military exercises off the eastern coast. U.S. and regional authorities were watching closely for signs that North Korea might fire short- or mid-range missiles during the June 25 to July 10

timeframe cited in a no-sail ban for military drills sent to Japan's Coast Guard.

- - -

Source/credit: With thanks to seeker401 (a wordpress blog):

Jul 04, 2009 - Kaesong Industrial Park in North Korea..this is how the game is played

Jun 26, 2009 - North Korea threatens to wipe the USA off the map

North Korea has carried out a nuclear test

2009-05-25T17:49:00.004+01:00

North Korea has carried out a nuclear test. Barack Obama is threatening unspecified 'action'. The UN Security Council will meet later tonight.

Source: UK's Channel 4 News Service Snowmail, Monday, 25 May 2009.

See 25 May 2009 BBC News report Outrage over N Korea nuclear test and comments at Have Your Say

Microsoft blocks MSN access for selected countries

2009-05-22T14:46:00.002+01:00

Microsoft blocks MSN access for selected countries. List of those affected includes Syria, Cuba, Iran and North Korea.

Source: AJ-IT by Ben, Friday, 22 May, 2009:
Microsoft blocks MSN access for selected countries

Reports are surfacing online confirming that Microsoft has removed access to its Windows Live MSN services for residents in several embargoed countries, the full list of those effected includes Syria, Cuba, Iran and North Korea.

If, say, you’ve woken up in Cuba this morning and gone to log into your MSN account you would have seen this little error message pop-up, “Error 810003c1”, which, buried in Microsoft’s terms means “Microsoft has shut off the Windows Live Messenger IM for users in the countries embargoed by the US hence Microsoft no longer offers Windows Live Service in your country”.

The reasoning or logic behind which countries get denied access and which get allowed is undisclosed but could be considered more than a little confusing as other countries with sanctions against them remain unhindered in accessing the services.

The reason behind the timing of the decision is also unclear, but one thing is for sure, a simple IP-based blocking system won’t keep MSN users in those countries off of the service for very long.

Japan to 'destroy' N Korea rocket

2009-03-27T09:21:00.005Z

Report by the BBC March 27, 2009:
Japan to 'destroy' N Korea rocket (BBC)

Japan says it is deploying missile interceptors to destroy any parts of a North Korean rocket that might fall on its territory.
North Korea has said it will launch a satellite into orbit next month.

South Korea, Japan and the US say the launch is cover for a test of the Taepodong-2 ballistic missile.

The US said a launch would violate UN Security Council resolutions. Russia said North Korea should "abstain" from testing any missiles.

'Assure safety'

Japan's Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada issued the orders to mobilise Japan's missile defence shield after a meeting with Prime Minister Taro Aso and cabinet ministers.

"We will do our best to handle any flying object from North Korea in order to assure the Japanese people's safety and security," said Mr Hamada.

North Korea's missile programme

"A satellite or a missile - we are displeased with anything that is going to fly over our land, and such an action must be stopped."

It is the first time that constitutionally pacifist Japan has deployed the shield. The country's military is also expected to deploy warships off its coast.

North Korea says it intends to test-fire the rocket between the 4 and 8 April.

The trajectory issued by Pyongyang shows the rocket will pass over Japan, with the first booster stage landing in the sea to the west, the second in the Pacific Ocean to the east.

The interception is only likely to be activated if the launch does not go as planned and debris appears to be falling towards Japan.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin told journalists that the launch had led to increased tensions in the region, "and this is why it would be better if our partners in North Korea abstained from this".

Japan revised its Self-Defence Forces Law in 2005, legalising possible interceptions of ballistic missiles.

But the country's pacifist constitution does not allow it to intercept a missile if it is clearly heading elsewhere.

The Japanese government had previously warned it would try to shoot down any missile or debris that threatens to hit its territory.

North Korea has said it would regard any rocket intercept as an act of war.

North Korea accuses U.S. of plotting attack

2009-03-11T20:03:00.003Z

From Reuters Wed Mar 11, 2009
North Korea accuses U.S. of plotting attack

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday accused the United States of preparing for a war against the communist state in Pyongyang's first verbal criticism of the Obama Administration.

A ministry spokesman said military drills taking place between U.S. and South Korean forces were "nuclear war exercises designed to mount a preemptive attack on the DPRK." The DPRK is the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The comments came as Russia and China -- two of the North's few remaining allies -- said that they were also concerned about rising tensions on the Korean peninsula.

"The new administration of the U.S. is now working hard to infringe upon the sovereignty of the DPRK by force of arms in collusion with the South Korean puppet bellicose forces," said a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, in comments carried by the North's official KCNA news agency.

"The DPRK, exposed to the potential threat of the U.S. and its allied forces, will take every necessary measure to protect its sovereignty," the unnamed spokesman added.

Since the inauguration of the South's conservative President Lee Myung-bak, the North has all but severed relations with its wealthy neighbor, and in recent weeks increasingly stepped up rhetoric against the United States.

TENSE SITUATION

The North Korean official said that inter-Korean relations had reached their worst phase and the situation had grown so tense that "a war may break out any moment due to the reckless policy of confrontation" pursued by South Korea.

The prickly North has turned increasingly strident in its rhetoric, putting its one-million-strong military on combat readiness over the exercises in the South and planning to launch a long-range missile in what several governments have said would be in contravention of U.N. sanctions.

Media reported last week that Japan and the United States might try to intercept any ballistic missile launched by the North.

The North says the rocket is part of a peaceful space programme and any attempt to shoot down its missile would be seen as an act of war.

North Korea on Monday said it had put its armed forces on full combat readiness in response to the start of the annual military exercises that have been held for years without incident. The drills end on March 20.

On Wednesday, U.S. aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis made a port call in the southern city of Busan to join the drills while a guided missile destroyer the USS Chafee was in the waters off the peninsula's east.

The commanding officer of the nuclear-powered carrier, Rear Admiral Mark A. Vance said the exercise and the participation of the fleet was not at all in response to the increased tensions surrounding the North's missile launch preparations.

RUSSIA, CHINA CONCERNED

Russia and China called on those involved "to show restraint and composure, and to refrain from any actions that could undermine security and stability in this region," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke to his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi on Tuesday.

Russia and China, together with South and North Korea, the United States and Japan are party to multilateral talks that began in 2003 on ending the North's nuclear arms programme.

Implementation of a key disarmament deal struck in 2005 has been held up as Pyongyang slowed the process of disabling its nuclear facilities while energy aid to the North in return for those steps also dried up in recent weeks.

The conservative South Korean government has stopped aid to the impoverished North after 10 years of no-questions-asked aid by Lee's liberal predecessors, angering Pyongyang's leaders.

After a day of suspending border processing on Monday, the communist North on Tuesday allowed South Koreans back into a lucrative factory just across the armed border.

Traffic and personnel flow across the heavily armed border continued as usual while the military hotline used to process the crossing remained cut from the North's side, officials said.

(Additional reporting by Jo Yong-hak in Busan and Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

North Korea's Kim Jong-il 'appears in public'

2008-10-04T22:17:00.001+01:00

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il is reported to have made his first public appearance since rumours surfaced that he had suffered a stroke. Officials have denied Kim Jong-il was ill. - BBC Saturday, 4 October 2008 16:01 UK

A sticking point in talks has been how to verify North Korea's disarmament (BBC)

2008-09-24T15:07:00.003+01:00

The UN's atomic watchdog says it has removed seals and surveillance cameras from North Korea's main nuclear complex at Pyongyang's request.

Read more from BBC News report North Korea nuclear seals removed Wednesday, 24 September 2008 13:53 UK:

North Korea says the move is part of a plan to reactivate the Yongbyon plant, and that it plans to return nuclear material to the site next week.

The move comes amid a dispute over an international disarmament-for-aid deal.

A similar step in 2002 sparked a crisis which eventually resulted in Pyongyang testing a nuclear weapon in 2006.

The removal of seals and cameras "was completed today" at the site, a spokeswoman for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said.

IAEA inspectors will have no further access to the reprocessing plant, she added.

The US said North Korea's decision to exclude UN monitors was "very disappointing" and urged Pyongyang to reconsider the move or face further isolation.

"We strongly urge the North to reconsider these steps and come back immediately into compliance with its obligations as outlined in the six-party agreements," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

He said that Washington remained "open to further discussions" with the North on their obligations for denuclearisation.
The North has been locked in discussions for years over its nuclear ambitions with five other nations - South Korea, the US, China, Russia and Japan.

Symbolic gesture

Pyongyang began dismantling the reactor, which can be used to make weapons-grade plutonium, last November.

However, on Friday it announced that it was working to reactivate it.

North Korea was expecting to be removed from the US terror list after submitting a long-delayed account of its nuclear facilities to the international talks in June, in accordance with the disarmament deal it signed in 2007.

It also blew up the main cooling tower at Yongbyon in a symbolic gesture of its commitment to the process.

However, the US said it would not remove North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism until procedures by which the North's disarmament would be verified were established.

North and South Korea have been technically at war since their 1950-53 conflict ended without a peace treaty.

Fuel rods

Experts say the Yongbyon plant could take up to a year to bring back into commission, so there will be no new plutonium production for a while.

However, there is plenty already available in the form of the spent fuel rods, taken from the reactor core, but only removed to a water-cooled tank on the site, says the BBC's John Sudworth in Seoul.

It is this nuclear material that will now be introduced into the separate plutonium reprocessing plant, according to the information given to the IAEA.

Some estimates suggest the fuel rods could yield about 6kg (13lbs) of plutonium within two to three months - enough for one atomic bomb to add to North Korea's existing stockpile.

Ban visits Republic of Korea for first time since taking helm at UN

2008-09-22T10:21:00.005+01:00

This must be the trip of a lifetime for UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. My heart goes fuzzy warm whenever I see news or photos of him because he seems such a thoroughly decent and kind human being, the sort anyone would love to have as a relative. Even his name, Ban Ki Moon, sounds friendly and cheery.

Visiting his native Republic of Korea for the first time since assuming his post at the United Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was given a red carpet welcome as he arrived in Seoul, where he and his wife Madam Ban (Yoo) Soon-taek were greeted by Prime Minister Han Seung-Soo (right). The ceremony included a 21-gun salute and a marching band. (3 July 2008)

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Madam Ban (Yoo) Soon-taek take part in a welcoming ceremony at his birthplace, the village of Haengchi in the Republic of Korea. “This is the trip for which both my wife and I have been counting the days -- the trip back home,” Mr. Ban said. (5 July 2008).

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pays respect to his ancestors at the village temple in his birthplace, Haengchi village, in the Republic of Korea. (5 July 2008)

Secretary-General Ban-Ki-moon meets with Prime Minister Han Seung-soo of the Republic of Korea, who previously served as President of the United Nations General Assembly. (5 July 2008)

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon receives a United Nations flag from Yi So-yeon, the Korean astronaut who recently carried the banner into outer space. The Secretary-General took the opportunity to praise the role of women in all fields of work, in the Republic of Korea and throughout the world. (3 July 2008)

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon receives an honorary doctorate degree from his alma mater, Seoul National University. “As leaders of tomorrow, you should embrace change, not fear it. By changing ourselves, we change the world. By changing the world, we change our destiny,” he told students. (3 July 2008)

Source: UN.org photo stories Homecoming for UN leader

North Korea builds secret launch site for ballistic missiles

2008-09-14T23:48:00.000+01:00

North Korea has secretly built a launch site for ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads according to new satellite imagery.

Source: Telegraph September 11, 2008

US and China in secret talks on N Korea chaos fears after Kim Jong-il 'stroke'

2008-09-14T23:06:00.002+01:00

September 13, 2008 (UK) Telegraph report by Philip Sherwell in New York and Stanlislav Varivoda in Kuala Lumpur:

America and China are holding secret talks about their shared fear of instability in nuclear-armed North Korea amid reports that the country's diminutive bouffant-haired dictator Kim Jong-il suffered a serious stroke last month.

The world's most unpredictable nation is thought to be heading for a succession crisis involving the three pillars of state - the Kim dynasty, the military and the Workers' Party.

Veteran generals and party technocrats are expected to install one of Kim's sons or his brother-in-law as a figurehead for a collective leadership if the ailing 66-year-old "Dear Leader" is incapacitated or dies, US and South Korean intelligence believe.

But Kim's protracted recovery and his failure to groom an obvious successor - in contrast to the way he was prepared for power by his father Kim il-Sung, the nation's founder - have heightened fears of a political vacuum and in-fighting.

His absence from Tuesday's military parade marking the country's 60th anniversary - an annual celebration that he has never previously missed - is seen as in indication that he is seriously ill.

And North Korea's recent failure to complete two accords that would require Kim's approval - verification of nuclear disarmament and an agreement with Japan on abductions of citizens - is a sign that decision-making may already be crippled.

Pyongyang's backtracking on its pledge to abandon its nuclear programme in return for desperately-needed economic aid coincides with reports that it has almost completed a missile base that could put US territory within range.

This has set alarm bells ringing in the White House after President George W Bush recently signed off the controversial nuclear deal with the Stalinist regime. He did so on the advice of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice but to the dismay of neoconservative hawks like Vice President Dick Cheney.

A senior administration official told Fox News that the US and China, which have often been rivals over regional politics, were holding highly-sensitive talks about what to do if there is ensuing instability in North Korea.

Although Beijing is regarded as an ally of Pyongyang, it does not want its impoverished neighbour to implode, potentially creating a wave of refugees trying to reach China.

US intelligence believes that Kim suffered a major stroke and that, with a family history of diabetes and heart disease, he is a prime candidate for another attack that could kill him. It believes he is able to talk and walk, but is very weak and his recovery could at best be slow.

Although Kim has not apparently chosen a successor, he and his father have both been revered under the state ideology of Juche as near god-like figures. So the country's military and party leaders are expected to choose a close relative for a symbolic role in the succession for the sake of continuity.

His eldest son Kim Jong-nam, 37, would usually have been regarded as the natural successor under Confucian tradition. But the playboy with a penchant for discos, casinos and brothels caused an embarrassing scandal for Pyongyang when he was caught trying to sneak into Japan on a fake Dominican passport in 2001.

He then spent time partying and gambling in the former Portuguese Chinese enclave of Macau. Nonetheless, if he is seen subsequently to have atoned and repented, he could still be rehabilitated.

In his 20s, he seemed to be on the fast-track to succeed his father after he was appointed to a senior post in the domestic intelligence agency where, according to defectors, he oversaw a major purge that ended in dozens of executions.

He also held positions in the secret police, army and Workers' Party.

Known as "Comrade General" after his father promoted him to that rank at 24, his army unit was once hailed on state television for assisting peasant farmers by preparing "good-quality manure" - high praise in North Korea.

And in Jan 2001, a state policy of "New Thinking" was unveiled, putting a priority on the technological reconstruction of North Korea, with a special emphasis on information technology - an area of expertise of Jong-nam.

Travel restrictions did not apply to him and he was believed to be regular visitor to Japan, where he developed his interest in information technology. But later in 2001 came the incident at Narita airport that began his fall from grace.

The death of his mother, an actress who reportedly never married his father, further weakened his status. His wayward reputation was sealed when Japanese media published an interview with a prostitute who said he visited her brothel and had a huge tattoo of a bear on his back.

But Kim himself has often also been described as a communist playboy with a taste for expensive cognac and Western movies, so his oldest offspring's behaviour may not count against him in perpetuity.

His other two known sons are Kim Jong-chol, 27, and Kim Jong-Un, 25, the children of the Japanese-born star of Pyongyang's most famous song-and-dance troupe. Kim Jong-il's former sushi chef Kenji Fujimoto, who defected to Japan, has said that Jong-un is the most favoured of the three sons because of his striking resemblance to his father - a serious advantage in the eyes of a famously vain figure.

But neither has any public profile or is known to have held any significant positions in the military or party. And in a society that places high importance on age and wisdom, it is unlikely that such young men could fulfil even a symbolic leadership role.

The dark horse in the family succession stakes is Kim's brother-in-law Chang Sung-taek. He has two major factors in his favour - he is more mature in years than his nephews and he runs the country's internal security system.

In a worst-case scenario, different Kim relatives could be backed by rival factions. In 2006, South Korea's intelligence service, which has a network of well-placed informants in Pyongyang, predicted that when the dictator died, a power battle would break out between top military officials - in partnership with the dictator's sons.

The current uncertainty coincides with reports that North Korea is completing a long-range missile base larger and more capable than an older and well-known launch pad for intercontinental ballistic missiles, according to the AP news agency.

Jane's Defence Weekly said that the system is about one or two years from first-stage completion, but the launch pad likely has had "emergency launch capability" since 2006.

The base is a major step forward for North Korea's long-range missile programme, said John Pike, an imagery expert with GlobalSecurity.org who was among analysts who first reviewed the information.

"It would suggest they have the intention to develop the capability to perfect a missile to deliver atomic bombs to the United States," he told AP.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/2909511/US-and-China-in-secret-talks-on-N-Korea-chaos-fears-after-Kim-Jong-il-stroke.html

North Korea claims nuclear test

2006-10-09T06:42:00.000+01:00

Oct 9 2006 BBC news report:

North Korea says it has carried out its first test of a nuclear weapon, the state news agency (KCNA) has reported.

It said the underground test, carried out in defiance of international warnings, was a success and had not resulted in any leak of radiation.

Pyongyang triggered an international outcry last week, when it announced plans to carry out the test.

On Sunday, China and Japan said in a joint statement that they would not tolerate such an action.

In response to the reported test, the South Korean armed forces have been put on a heightened state of alert, and President Roh Moo-hyun has called an emergency meeting of his government's National Security Council.

'Historic event'

There has been no official confirmation of the test, although South Korea's Yonhap news agency is reporting that it took place in Gilju in Hamgyong province at 1036 (0136 GMT).

KOREAN NUCLEAR CRISIS
Sept 2005:At first hailed as a breakthrough, North Korea agrees to give up nuclear activities
Next day, N Korea says it will not scrap its activities unless it gets a civilian nuclear reactor
US imposes financial sanctions on N Korea businesses
July 2006: N Korea test-fires seven missiles
UN Security Council votes to impose sanctions over the tests
Oct 2006: N Korea threatens nuclear test

N Korea nuclear timeline

A South Korean official said an 3.5 magnitude seismic tremor had been detected in north Hamgyong province, in the north-east of North Korea.

When it announced the test, KCNA described it as an "historic event that brought happiness to our military and people".

"The nuclear test will contribute to maintaining peace and stability in the Korean peninsula and surrounding region," KCNA said.

The region has been on high alert since North Korea announced last week that it would conduct a nuclear test.

Japan said that if the test was confirmed, it would be a "grave threat", while China denounced the action as "brazen".

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has just arrived in Seoul for a meeting with Mr Roh, following talks on the crisis with his Chinese counterparts in Beijing.

Mr Abe said Japan wanted to co-ordinate its response with the South Koreans, and was also in contact with the US and China.

In Tokyo, ministers were called to an urgent meeting, and the government set up a special task force.

The US has yet to give an official response to the reported test, but US negotiator Christopher Hill said last week that North Korea must choose either to have a future or to have nuclear weapons, "but it cannot have them both".

Eyewitness: US tourist in North Korea

2005-10-22T01:25:00.000+01:00

Email received today - with a link to this BBC report Eyewitness: US tourist in North Korea - from a friend with this message:

"Unfortunately, humans are great 'followers' by temperament and preference."

North Korea tells aid agencies to leave

2005-10-04T19:49:00.000+01:00

Right now here in England it is 7.30 Tuesday evening and I am watching channel 4 TV news. Commentator Jon Snow says North Korea is telling aid agencies to leave, even though thousands are starving and in need in aid.

According to the report, North Korea is a country where millions are starving or malnourished:

6.5 million people receive aid. It's leadership is throwing out western aid agencies by the end of the year.

North Korea Manager of the UN's World Food Programme was interviewed. They have been asked to stop humanitarian aid. The UN agency has been asked to stay to do development work but is unclear as to what that is.

Foreign NGOs have been told to get out. North Korea's leaders insist the country can feed itself.

The reality is an impoverished land still struggling to feed itself. It's the monitoring of aid North Korea does not like. They feel there are too many foreigners around. Grain including rice has been banned from being sold commerically.

Also, the reporter said if North Korea finds western aid workers too instrusive, it does not bode well for nuclear inspections.

MEDIA FAST FOR MOJTABA

2005-05-20T00:28:00.000+01:00

Excerpt from a post at Committee to Protect Bloggers May 19, 2005:

The CPB is asking bloggers and other concerned people to observe next Thursday, May 26 as a Media Fast for Mojtaba.

Mojtaba Saminejad, a blogger from Iran, has declared a hunger strike. He is being held at Tehran's Gohar Dashat prison, which has a reputation for mistreatment of detainees. He is being held in the general population, the overwhelming majority of which are common criminals.

Mojtaba was arrested for reporting the earlier arrest of three of his fellow Iranian bloggers. (Iran has arrested over 20 bloggers over the last year.) Iranian bloggers who have been released have reported being the victims of torture.

Read full story at Committee to Protect Bloggers: MEDIA FAST FOR MOJTABA.

[via Curt with thanks] Tags: Tehran Iran Mojtaba Blog Bloggers Committee+to+Protect+Bloggers

THE FUTURE OF PUBLIC RADIO IN THE AGE OF PODCASTING: Anybody can create their own public radio online

2005-05-17T22:54:00.000+01:00

Note Rebecca MacKinnon's post linking to a live webcast from Harvard's Berkman Center today, May 17, 2005.

Jake Shapiro of the Public Radio Exchange will talk about the future of public radio in the age of podcasting, which enables anybody to create their own public radio online.

This is history in the making. Keep it for your archives.
- - -

Open Source. It'll be a radio show. May 30, 2005

Here is a don't miss, must-do: listen to Open Source's pilot on podcasting and bloggers without borders. Hear phone interviews and discussions with Rebecca and Ethan of Global Voices, and several other bloggers, hosted by smooth (and thankfully not-so-fast) talking American Christopher Lydon at Harvad's Berkman.

See Ethan's follow-up post "On hold with Chris Lydon".

Note also GlobalCoordinate.com Geo-Community. Click on the map to zoom in. You can add your own comments, stories, or photos at any location.

Tags: Tehran Iran Podcast Blog Podcasting Radio Audioblogging Zuckermann Lydon MacKinnon Shapiro Berkman Harvard

Make Poverty History - Tony Blair chairs G8 summit July 6, 2005

2005-05-10T13:43:00.000+01:00

Email just received from Patrick Kielty (pictured below):

Hello,

Over the past few months more than a quarter of a million people have sent a message to Tony Blair and asked him to make poverty history.

It's an achievable aim that has risen up the political and news agendas like never before - thanks to the actions of people like you.

But we are rapidly approaching the critical moment of this campaign - and it really is time to turn up the heat.

After last week's election result we now know for sure that it will be Mr. Blair who sits at that all-important G8 summit table in Scotland on July 6th. Last month, he said he would work "night and day" on this issue until the summit. Now he has the chance to prove it, and the responsibility to deliver.

30,000 children will continue to die needlessly every day unless he succeeds.

So please, if you are in the UK click here [outside the UK click here] and urge Tony Blair to make this his number one post-election priority.

Even if you have emailed him before, now is the time to do so again.

The countdown has begun to the biggest day ever in the fight to end poverty and we need to make sure that our message is getting through loud and clear.

Thank you,

Patrick Kielty

Worse Than 1984 - North Korea, slave state.

2005-05-04T16:06:00.000+01:00

Copy of a report by Christopher Hitchens, May 2, 2005:

How extraordinary it is, when you give it a moment's thought, that it was only last week that an American president officially spoke the obvious truth about North Korea. In point of fact, Mr. Bush rather understated matters when he said that Kim Jong-il's government runs "concentration camps." It would be truer to say that the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea, as it calls itself, is a concentration camp. It would be even more accurate to say, in American idiom, that North Korea is a slave state.

This way of phrasing it would not have the legal implication that the use of the word "genocide" has. To call a set of actions "genocidal," as in the case of Darfur, is to invoke legal consequences that are entailed by the U.N.'s genocide convention, to which we are signatories. However, to call a country a slave state is to set another process in motion: that strange business that we might call the working of the American conscience.

It was rhetorically possible, in past epochs of ideological confrontation, for politicians to shout about the "slavery" of Nazism and of communism, and indeed of nations that were themselves "captive." The element of exaggeration was pardonable, in that both systems used forced labor and also the threat of forced labor to coerce or to terrify others. But not even in the lowest moments of the Third Reich, or of the gulag, or of Mao's "Great Leap Forward," was there a time when all the subjects of the system were actually enslaved.

In North Korea, every person is property and is owned by a small and mad family with hereditary power. Every minute of every day, as far as regimentation can assure the fact, is spent in absolute subjection and serfdom. The private life has been entirely abolished. One tries to avoid cliché, and I did my best on a visit to this terrifying country in the year 2000, but George Orwell's 1984 was published at about the time that Kim Il Sung set up his system, and it really is as if he got hold of an early copy of the novel and used it as a blueprint. ("Hmmm … good book. Let's see if we can make it work.")

Actually, North Korea is rather worse than Orwell's dystopia. There would be no way, in the capital city of Pyongyang, to wander off and get lost in the slums, let alone to rent an off-the-record love nest in a room over a shop. Everybody in the city has to be at home and in bed by curfew time, when all the lights go off (if they haven't already failed). A recent nighttime photograph of the Korean peninsula from outer space shows something that no "free-world" propaganda could invent: a blaze of electric light all over the southern half, stopping exactly at the demilitarized zone and becoming an area of darkness in the north.

Concealed in that pitch-black night is an imploding state where the only things that work are the police and the armed forces. The situation is actually slightly worse than indentured servitude. The slave owner historically promises, in effect, at least to keep his slaves fed. In North Korea, this compact has been broken. It is a famine state as well as a slave state. Partly because of the end of favorable trade relations with, and subsidies from, the former USSR, but mainly because of the lunacy of its command economy, North Korea broke down in the 1990s and lost an unguessable number of people to sheer starvation. The survivors, especially the children, have been stunted and malformed. Even on a tightly controlled tour of the place—North Korea is almost as hard to visit as it is to leave—my robotic guides couldn't prevent me from seeing people drinking from sewers and picking up individual grains of food from barren fields. (I was reduced to eating a dog, and I was a privileged "guest.") Film shot from over the Chinese border shows whole towns ruined and abandoned, with their few factories idle and cannibalized. It seems that the mines in the north of the country have been flooded beyond repair.

In consequence of this, and for the first time since the founding of Kim Il Sung's state, large numbers of people have begun to take the appalling risk of running away. If they make it, they make it across the river into China, where there is a Korean-speaking area in the remote adjoining province. There they live under the constant threat of being forcibly repatriated. The fate of the fugitive slave is not pretty: North Korea does indeed operate a system of camps, most memorably described in a book—The Aquariums of Pyongyang, by Kang Chol-Hwan—that ought to be much more famous than it is. Given what everyday life in North Korea is like, I don't have sufficient imagination to guess what life in its prison system must be, but this book gives one a hint.

It seems to me imperative that the human rights movement, hitherto unpardonably tongue-tied about all this, should insistently take up the case of North Korea and demand that an underground railway, or perhaps even an overground one, be established. Any Korean slave who can get out should be welcomed, fed, protected, and assisted to move to South Korea. Other countries, including our own, should announce that they will take specified numbers of refugees, in case the current steady trickle should suddenly become an inundation. The Chinese obviously cannot be expected to take millions of North Koreans all at once, which is why they engage in their otherwise criminal policy of propping up Kim Jong-il, but if international guarantees for runaway slaves could be established, this problem could be anticipated.

Kim Jong-il and his fellow slave masters are trying to dictate the pace of events by setting a timetable of nuclearization, based on a crash program wrung from their human property. But why should it be assumed that their failed state and society are permanent? Another timeline, oriented to liberation and regime change, is what the dynasty most fears. It should start to fear it more. Bravo to President Bush, anyway, for his bluntness.

[via Slate Magazine via Disinformation with thanks]

Related in Slate
Fred Kaplan questioned whether President Bush understands the situation in North Korea in this "War Stories"; Kaplan's other Slate articles on North Korea can be found here. In March, Soyoung Ho filed a "Foreigners" detailing her conversation with a North Korean defector living in Seoul. Brendan Koerner explained why the North Koreans kidnapped Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s in 2003. This 2002 "Assessment" of Kim Jong-il said that, "It would be easy to dismiss Kim as a madman, but his behavior is too consistent for that."

Christopher Hitchens is a columnist for Vanity Fair. His most recent book is Love, Poverty and War: Journeys and Essays, in which a longer account of North Korea can be found.

South Korea Prepared for Possible Govt Collapse in North

2004-10-05T17:37:00.000+01:00

VOA News October 5, 2004 - A South Korean newspaper reports that Seoul has prepared secret plans to deal with the possible collapse of North Korea's government.

The JoongAng Ilbo said the plans, discussed at a South Korean parliamentary hearing Monday, call for South Korea's Unification Minister to take over as ruler of a post-collapse North Korea.

The report says South Korea's military has set up 10 refugee camps for North Korean defectors near the inter-Korean border, while Seoul has designated public facilities nationwide to house more than 200,000 North Koreans.

The plans, made public by an opposition lawmaker after a parliamentary hearing, were said to have been first drawn up around the time of the death of North Korea's founder, Kim il-sung.

South Korea has declined comment on the newspaper report.

http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=9EB7B5FC-72A9-4B9F-97015B2611E805DC&title=Re

Seoul: North Koreans Train for Cyberwar

2004-10-05T17:34:00.000+01:00

VOA News October 4, 2004: South Korea's Defense Ministry says North Korea has trained hundreds of computer hackers to wage cyberwar against other countries.

In a report to the National Assembly's National Defense Committee, the ministry said North Korean hackers are among the best in the world.

The report said 500 to 600 military hackers in North Korea have been put through a five-year university course training them to penetrate the computer systems of South Korea, the United States and Japan. Officials say the North Koreans are able to launch cyberattacks to gather intelligence information.

Earlier this year, hackers broke into 211 computers at 10 government agencies in South Korea, including those at defense- and security-related agencies.

South Korea's National Intelligence Services said in July that the attacks were launched from China, but it could not be determined whether the hackers were Chinese or nationals from a third country using China-based computers.

Seoul on Alert After al-Qaida Calls for Attacks

2004-10-03T14:53:00.000+01:00

Here is a copy of a report by staff writer Song-wu Park at hankooki.com online October 2, 2004:

Seoul went on high alert for possible terrorist attacks over the weekend after a close associate of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden purportedly called for attacks on the United States and its allies, including South Korea.

The Defense Ministry on Sunday ordered the whole army, including the 2,800 troops dispatched to Iraq, to step up anti-terrorism readiness, following government measures on Saturday to enhance security measures at foreign embassies in Seoul and certain key facilities, including government offices, airports and seaports.

South Korean soldiers stationed in the northern Iraqi town of Irbil are keeping a low-key posture so as not to provoke Islamic rebels, the Defense Ministry said.

The Arabic language TV news network Al Jazeera aired Friday what it claimed was a new audiotape of bin Laden's top lieutenant Ayman al-Zawahiri urging ``young men of Islam'' to resist the U.S.' allies by saying, ``The interests of America, Britain, Australia, France, Norway, Poland, South Korea and Japan are everywhere.''

CNN quoted a CIA official as saying it had "high confidence'' that the tape was of al-Zawahiri, the second in command of al-Qaida.

It is not clear when the tape was made. The main purpose of the audiotape appears to be to encourage Muslims to help Palestine. "In Palestine we don't face the Jews only, but also the anti-Muslim world coalition led by America,'' al-Zawahiri said at the beginning of the statement.

In response to the audiotape, some lawmakers said the Seoul government does not need to overreact to the inclusion of South Korea on the al-Qaida list of more than 10 U.S. allies, although the government should guard against terrorist attacks.

"He didn't point to South Korea alone as a target for attacks,'' Rep. Park Jin of the opposition Grand National Party said. "We don't need to act excessively in response to such a strategy of psychological warfare. But we need to be fully ready for any terrorist attacks because it could turn into a real threat sometime later.''

A defense minister-turned lawmaker also echoed Park's remarks, saying: "It's not new for South Korea to receive such warnings on terrorism.''

Rep. Cho Seong-tae of the ruling Uri Party, who served as defense minister from 1999 to 2001, said Seoul received warnings against South Korean supertankers in July this year and even suffered the death of Kim Sun-il, an Arabic interpreter who was captured and decapitated by Islamic insurgents in Iraq in June.

"Their aim is to attack what they think are `anti-Arab' countries like the United States,'' Cho said. "We didn't need to worry about such animosity-driven attacks from Arab terrorists when I was working as defense minister. But now we have dispatched troops to Iraq, we have every reason to be on high alert.''

Following an emergency meeting of the National Security Council on Saturday, the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry ordered diplomatic missions overseas to strengthen security.

The Justice Ministry directed airport authorities to tighten immigration procedures to prevent the entry of suspected terrorists. The ministry also increased checks on illegal foreign workers in South Korea due to concerns that they might collaborate with international terrorist networks.

South Korea is relatively unfamiliar with Islamic terrorism, most of its defense capabilities being directed against the communist North Korea.

South Korea deployed 2,800 troops to Iraq last month and will add 800 more once the brigade has expanded its base in Irbil. The unit, which needs its mandate renewed by the National Assembly to stay beyond December, is the third-largest foreign force in the Middle Eastern country, after the contingents from the U.S. and Britain.

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200410/kt2004100316552211950.htm

American professor Tom Plate's report in Korea Times: Smell of a Pre-war Countdown

2004-10-03T14:47:00.000+01:00

Tom Plate is a Professor at Univesity of California, Los Angeles and Director of Asia Pacific Media Network. Below is a copy of his report, published at Korea Times online October 2004, entitled Smell of a Pre-war Countdown.

LOS ANGELES - You know what’s even more pertinent than a tension-filled American presidential debate? It’s the prospect of war between China and Taiwan. And, unlike our so-called “debates,” it’s real. What’s more, folks, the possibility of war is looming, getting less and less unlikely.

One way you know for sure that something big is up is that even Singapore is caught in the teeth of the imbroglio. Sharp-as-a-nail Singapore is to the diplomatic misstep what Balanchine was to amateur ballet.

And what an improbable imbroglio it is: For no less than George Yeo, Singapore’s internationally respected diplomat, who was recently elevated to the position of foreign minister, had the temerity to suggest to Taiwan, in a major U.N. speech, that pulling the China cat’s tail was a good way to suck Asia into a big-time regional war.

By George! He meant only to be helpful, but the remark drove nervous Taiwan absolutely ballistic, despite decades of friendship between the city-state and the wanna-be-independent-state of Taiwan. Indeed, the latter’s foreign minister responded to Yeo as if his public plaint were some kind of cheap low blow, adding insult to vitriolic injury by charging that little Singapore was just sucking up to giant China.

Well, that’s probably true; in fact, just about everyone in Asia (with the possible exception of North Korea, alas) has been sucking up to China lately. And why not? It is better positioned than any other country to become the first Asian superpower since imperial Japan. So who in his right mind _ besides the current Democratic Progressive Party government in Taiwan _ would want to pick a fight with the geopolitical heavyweight champion of Asia?

In fact, the question people are starting to ask, predictably, is whether the government of Taiwan is in its right mind. Having recently returned from a reporting trip there, I suspect it knows exactly what it is doing. Ordinarily, I am the first to admit that it’s hard to understand this bizarre cross-strait relationship. My Chinese-American friends, those who frequently visit the mainland on family or commercial business, counsel me to take all the nasty cross-strait insults with the proverbial grain of salt.

As a director of a Southern California bank that does business in Asia recently put it to me, “You have to figure that each side has taken the measure of the other, knows how much it can get away with, and is playing a highly sophisticated game at a level of diplomatic nuance well beyond our normal decoding.”

His observation reminded me of a similar one made by a high-level Taipei-based international lawyer at a World Economic Forum conference in Beijing a few years ago. He was seated at the same table as a prominent mainland industrialist, and the two of them went at it with the delicious pleasure of old friends at a college reunion. When I expressed surprise at the obvious depth of their mutual respect, my lawyer friend later explained to me that tension across the strait was more artificial than real, whipped up by politicians who are eager to take people’s minds off such concrete issues as prices, jobs, housing shortages and so on.

I have tried to keep this measured perspective in mind ever since, especially in recent months as the cross-strait temperature has risen. If, as my friend suggests, politicians on both sides are just playing their usual games, perhaps the American media’s virtual indifference to this story will in retrospect prove to be inspired news judgment.

But sometimes game-playing can go too far, and things get out of control. The mainland game is: the civil war that ended in 1949 isn’t over, because we’ve still not settled the Taiwan secession issue. The Taiwan game is: we’re a proud democracy and until that’s what the mainland becomes, all talk of unity is foolish, even immoral.

But when the premier of Taiwan suggests, as he recently did, that the island of 23 million people needs to target missiles at Shanghai, the most populous metropolis in a country of 1.3 billion, alarm bells should go off. It has the smell of a pre-war countdown.

This is where statesmanship comes in. And this is where Foreign Minister Yeo tried to come in with his U.N. comment. But as his reward, Taiwan tried to bite off his nose. Say whatever you want about Singapore _ make all the caning and chewing-gum jokes you want. But one thing you can’t say is that it’s a stupid country. And stupid is quite far from the first word that comes to mind when you think about a brain like Yeo.

Korea Planning to Nurture 10 Nobel Prize Candidates

2004-10-03T14:43:00.000+01:00

Here is a copy of a report publishined online at Korea Times in October 2004:

South Korea plans to shell out big bucks to foster a number of candidates capable of garnering the prestigious Nobel Prize, according to a senior official in Chong Wa Dae Sunday.

Park Ky-young, presidential adviser for science and technology, reported the grandiose scheme to president Roh Moo-hyun in August and it will be fully operational next year.

Under the plan, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) will handpick around 10 promising scientists, who grab international attention with epoch-making expertise or research, and financially support their studies.

The MOST looks to provide at least several million dollars to scientists who have the potential to bring in the nation's first bona fide Nobel Prize.

"We want to support basic scientists who retain global competitiveness rather than spending money on applied scientists," Park said.

Former president Kim Dae-jung snatched the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his diplomatic efforts to bring peace to the Korean peninsula, as well as in promoting democracy and human rights here.

But aside from Kim's award, the nation has yet to gain a Nobel Prize especially in the fields of science or medicine.

Seoul National University professor Hwang Woo-suk could be the first candidate for the plan.

The nation earmarked a total of 26.5 billion won to support his attention-grabbing biotechnological breakthroughs.

Hwang stole the show twice over the past year when he created mad cow disease-resistant calves last December and cloned the world's first human embryos earlier this year.

The bio-scientist also plans to take the wraps off his study on gnotobiotic (sterilized) pigs soon.

Together with the mad cow disease-resistant calves last December, Hwang developed six gnotobiotic miniature pigs, whose organs can be transplanted into humans.

The pigs all failed to survive more than two days at the time but with the development of technology, some pigs are currently older than six months according to an inside researcher.

He added Hwang's team gained about five gnotobiotic pigs this month alone and now holds more than 10 pigs.

Sudan Wants to Expand Economic Ties With S. Korea

2004-09-19T01:11:00.000+01:00

SOUTH KOREA: Visiting Sudanese Foreign Affairs Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail has called for further economic cooperation with South Korea in sectors such as electronics, textiles, cars and the oil industry.

After signing an agreement to avoid double taxation with his South Korean counterpart Friday, Ismail said this agreement and his visit to Seoul will help boost the economic relationship of the two countries,

"I have met with some chairmen of important companies here, and also invited President Roh Moo-hyun and Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon to our country. Maybe business groups will come with them,'' Ismail said in an interview with The Korea Times Sunday.

"Unfortunately, South Korean National Oil Corporation (KNOC) came in second after a Malaysian national company in a competition for an oil contract in our country recently,'' he said, citing KNOC's lack of specific knowledge on the international oil market and scarce government-level exchanges between the two countries as some of the reasons for the failure.

The minister, however, stressed that his country still has a lot of opportunities to offer investors, especially those from Asian countries, unlike other African nations where European companies tend to be dominant." "Our biggest trading partner is China. France is second, Malaysia third and India is following close behind,'' he said.

"Those countries in alliance with the U.S., like Japan and South Korea, have been reluctant to invest because of political interests. China, however, pursues an independent policy, as does Malaysia, India and Iran. China approached us first, so they became our number one partner,'' he added, explaining how China came to play such a big role in their economy, especially in the oil sector, since the Sudanese government has a ``sometimes difficult'' relationship with the U.S.

South Korea, with no crude oil produced on its territory, has been stepping up energy diplomacy, including projects involving trans-Siberian pipelines as well as direct imports from resource-rich countries.

Recently Sudan has received a lot of international attention regarding the Darfur crisis. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell reported to the U.S. Senate's Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday that the Sudanese government in Khartoum and the Janjaweed, or Arab militia under the government's control, is committing ``genocide'' against the people of Darfur, in the western region of Sudan. Ismail rebuffed the accusation against Sudanese government involvement in the ``genocide'' as totally groundless.

"Of course there is a humanitarian crisis in Darfur. But is it okay to use the case for immoral political agenda? The Bush administration is just trying to detract the world's attention from Iraq, where their soldiers are dying and the prisoners of Abu Graib are being immorally and sexually abused,'' the minister said, accusing the U.S. of applying double standards to Iraq and Sudan.

He also pointed to the relatively lukewarm reaction from other parts of the world, such as members of the African Union (AU) and European countries, to the Darfur crisis. "Other delegations from AU, European and Arab countries have also been welcomed into our country to assess the situation, but it is only the U.S. who uses the term "genocide'' to describe the situation in Darfur,'' he said.

N Korea rules out nuclear freeze - UN team arrive in Seoul Sunday to scrutinise nuclear disclosures

2004-09-19T01:07:00.000+01:00

North Korea has said it can "never dismantle" its nuclear arsenal while US policy towards it remains hostile.

Pyongyang also accused the US of "double standards", saying it had aided nuclear experiments by South Korea.

North Korea suspended talks aimed at nuclear disarmament earlier this month after the disclosure that South Korea had secretly violated nuclear accords.

The US, Japan, China, Russia and South Korea have been negotiating with North Korea to reduce its nuclear capability.

Shock disclosure

South Korea has said its efforts to extract plutonium and enrich uranium were undertaken purely for civilian purposes.

Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the UN's atomic agency, meanwhile praised Seoul for co-operating with an inquiry into its nuclear experiments.

A UN team is to arrive in Seoul on Sunday to scrutinise its nuclear disclosures.

South Korea shocked observers on 2 September by admitting its scientists had taken part in small experiments to yield materials that could be used in processes leading towards building nuclear weapons.

Little progress

The statement by North Korean news agency, KCNA, reiterated a refusal to continue disarmament talks and accused the US of stoking an arms race in the region.

"South Korea's clandestine nuclear experiments go to prove that the US double standards are a fundamental factor of the nuclear proliferation," it said.

Talks could not be resumed, the agency said, "unless the US drops its hostile policy based on double standards towards [North Korea]."

Disarming Pyongyang's "nuclear deterrent force" was also out of the question, KCNA said.

Long-running talks aimed at encouraging North Korea to surrender some of its nuclear weapons in exchange for aid and guarantees of security have made little progress so far.

Mushroom Cloud Reported Over North Korea

2004-09-12T21:02:00.000+01:00

Sep 13, 2004: A massive explosion has reportedly rocked a northern province of North Korea close to the Chinese border.

South Korea's Yonhap new agency reported the incident on Sunday despite the event having taken place on Thursday.

Yonhap, quoting an unnamed diplomatic source in Seoul as saying a mushroom cloud, with a radius of 3.5-4 kms (2.2-2.5 miles), was spotted in Kimhyungjik county in Yanggang province.

Satellite images of the event have gone explained until the Yonhap report.

Seoul's top negotiator with North Korea, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, said South Korea was seeking confirmation of the explosion, its cause and effects, according to the Yonhap report.

North Korea is a secretive nation that rarely reveals happenings within the country. The press and media generally is tightly controlled by the government.

Earlier this year North Korea admitted to an explosion at a railway station, which killed more than 150 people, three days after the event. Unconfirmed reports at the time put the death toll at much higher levels.

Meantime North Korea is reportedly attempting to delay talks that were planned for later this month on North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

During the last talks in June, South and North Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia agreed to meet again before the end of September.

Pyongyang is now seeking to delay the negotiations until after the U.S. presidential race, hoping President George W. Bush is voted out of office, the Korea Times reported Saturday.
- - -

Upddate -

South Korean media has been full of speculation about the blast

BBC report September 13 (note BBC's excellent database, further information, resource links, etc.): South Korean media has been full of speculation about the blast. Visiting UK Foreign Minister Bill Rammell, urged North Korea to allow a British diplomat to inspect the scene. Copy of report here - in full:

North Korea has given its first explanation for the huge blast last week which prompted speculation that it had carried out a nuclear test.

The country's foreign minister, Paek Nam-sun, said the blast was in fact the deliberate demolition of a mountain as part of a huge, hydro-electric project.

His remarks came in response to a call for information by the visiting UK Foreign Office minister, Bill Rammell.

North Korea had said nothing about the incident until now.

After meeting with Mr Paek, Mr Rammell urged North Korea to allow a British diplomat to inspect the scene.

Mr Rammell welcomed the fact that North Korea had provided an explanation.

"But if they are going to be open and engage with the international community, what we really need is diplomats to be able to go to the area and confirm for themselves that that is the case," Mr Rammell said.

The North Koreans have promised to consider the request, he said.

'Peculiar cloud'

The United States and South Korea had already played down suggestions that the explosion in Yanggang Province, close to the Chinese border, was caused by a nuclear device.

"There was no indication that was a nuclear event of any kind. Exactly what it was, we're not sure," US Secretary of State Colin Powell told ABC television on Sunday.

The blast in Yanggang Province, close to the Chinese border, is said to have happened on Thursday as the Stalinist state celebrated its National Day.

It created what officials in Seoul say was a peculiar-shaped cloud.

The incident and the fears it has provoked around the world are another illustration of the enormous tension between the regime and the international community, says the BBC's diplomatic correspondent James Robbins, in Pyongyang.

North Korea is under international pressure to end all nuclear programmes and disarm.

But so far it has offered only limited concessions during "six-party" international talks involving both Koreas, the US, China, Russia and Japan.

It has not yet committed to attend a fourth round of the talks, which the Chinese, as hosts, wanted to start before the end of this month.