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Official North Korean Thread
- Thread starter killadoob
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LazyLion
King of de Jungle
NKorea offers guarantees to SKorea to reopen industrial zone
North Korea on Wednesday offered a series of proposals and guarantees to break deadlocked talks with South Korea on reopening a joint industrial zone shut down in April.
As well as allowing South Korean firms full access to the Kaesong complex, the North said it would guarantee the future attendance of its workers and the safety of all South Koreans working there.
Pyongyang had barred access to Kaesong in early April as military tensions on the Korean peninsula soared, and shortly afterwards withdrew its entire 53,000-strong workforce.
Crucially, Wednesday's statement by the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK) also proposed that both North and South prevent any future closure of Kaesong by ensuring that its operations are never again "affected by any situation in any case".
If the South responds to what the CPRK called "this bold and magnanimous stand", the committee said the North would agree to a seventh round of working-level talks on Kaesong's future on August 14.
The statement, carried on the North's official Korean Central News Agency, was the North's first response to South Korea's request, made on July 28, for a "final" set of talks.
It came just hours after Seoul announced it would begin paying out $250 million in compensation to the South Korean companies forced to abandon their factories in Kaesong.
The announcement was widely seen as presaging a decision permanently to shut down all operations at the complex, which lies 10 kilometers (six miles) across the border in North Korea.
The two Koreas have already held six fruitless rounds of talks aimed at agreeing a framework for the resumption of operations at Kaesong.
The main sticking point has been the South's insistence that the North provide a binding guarantee against any unilateral closure in the future.
Pyongyang had demurred and it was not immediately clear if Wednesday's statement provided the sort of assurances Seoul was seeking.
The South's Unification Ministry said it was studying the proposals.
The business association representing owners of the 123 South Korean companies in Kaesong said it "actively welcomed" the North's latest offer.
"We hope the (South) government will accept the proposal and Kaesong can get back to normal at an early date," it said in a statement.
Established in 2004 as a rare symbol of inter-Korean cooperation, the joint industrial zone was an important hard currency earner for the impoverished North.
Having survived previous cross-border crises, it eventually fell victim to two months of elevated tensions following a nuclear test by the North in February.
Source : Sapa-AFP /sdv
Date : 07 Aug 2013 11:26
North Korea on Wednesday offered a series of proposals and guarantees to break deadlocked talks with South Korea on reopening a joint industrial zone shut down in April.
As well as allowing South Korean firms full access to the Kaesong complex, the North said it would guarantee the future attendance of its workers and the safety of all South Koreans working there.
Pyongyang had barred access to Kaesong in early April as military tensions on the Korean peninsula soared, and shortly afterwards withdrew its entire 53,000-strong workforce.
Crucially, Wednesday's statement by the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK) also proposed that both North and South prevent any future closure of Kaesong by ensuring that its operations are never again "affected by any situation in any case".
If the South responds to what the CPRK called "this bold and magnanimous stand", the committee said the North would agree to a seventh round of working-level talks on Kaesong's future on August 14.
The statement, carried on the North's official Korean Central News Agency, was the North's first response to South Korea's request, made on July 28, for a "final" set of talks.
It came just hours after Seoul announced it would begin paying out $250 million in compensation to the South Korean companies forced to abandon their factories in Kaesong.
The announcement was widely seen as presaging a decision permanently to shut down all operations at the complex, which lies 10 kilometers (six miles) across the border in North Korea.
The two Koreas have already held six fruitless rounds of talks aimed at agreeing a framework for the resumption of operations at Kaesong.
The main sticking point has been the South's insistence that the North provide a binding guarantee against any unilateral closure in the future.
Pyongyang had demurred and it was not immediately clear if Wednesday's statement provided the sort of assurances Seoul was seeking.
The South's Unification Ministry said it was studying the proposals.
The business association representing owners of the 123 South Korean companies in Kaesong said it "actively welcomed" the North's latest offer.
"We hope the (South) government will accept the proposal and Kaesong can get back to normal at an early date," it said in a statement.
Established in 2004 as a rare symbol of inter-Korean cooperation, the joint industrial zone was an important hard currency earner for the impoverished North.
Having survived previous cross-border crises, it eventually fell victim to two months of elevated tensions following a nuclear test by the North in February.
Source : Sapa-AFP /sdv
Date : 07 Aug 2013 11:26
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
North Korea may have doubled Uranium enrichment capacity: ISIS
Satellite images suggest North Korea may have doubled uranium enrichment capacity at its main Yongbyon nuclear complex, a US think-tank that tracks the North's nuclear weapons programme said Thursday
The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) said the images showed the building housing the gas centrifuge plant at Yongbyon had been expanded to twice its original size over the past four months.
When the North revealed the existence of the facility to visiting scientists in 2010, it contained 2,000 centrifuges for enriching uranium.
Assuming that the recent expansion would allow the doubling of that number to 4,000 centrifuges, the facility could produce as much as 68 kilograms of weapons-grade uranium a year -- enough for three nuclear bombs with a little left over, ISIS said in a report.
Given the highly covert nature of Pyongyang's nuclear programme, the ISIS acknowledged that its analysis relied on a large number of hypotheticals.
"It is not even known if North Korea intends to produce weapon-grade uranium in this facility," it said.
When it unveiled the centrifuge plant in 2010, Pyongyang stressed that it was devoted to low-level uranium enrichment for energy purposes.
But in April, at the height of a surge in military tensions with South Korea, the North announced it was "readjusting" its Yongbyon facilities, as well as restarting a five-megawatt nuclear reactor it shut down in 2007 under a six-nation aid-for-disarmament accord.
The announcement stipulated that the move was aimed at feeding its nuclear weapons programme.
The ISIS report noted that assessing the North's uranium enrichment capacity was "fraught with uncertainty" -- especially given suspicions of other hidden centrifuge facilities around the country.
As a result, the ISIS estimated that North Korea could have produced enough weapons-grade uranium in 2012 for anywhere from 0-13 nuclear weapons.
North Korea conducted its third nuclear test in February this year. International observers have been unable to confirm whether it was a plutonium device -- as used in its two previous tests in 2006 and 2009 -- or a uranium one.
Source : Sapa-AFP /ma
Date : 08 Aug 2013 06:43
Satellite images suggest North Korea may have doubled uranium enrichment capacity at its main Yongbyon nuclear complex, a US think-tank that tracks the North's nuclear weapons programme said Thursday
The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) said the images showed the building housing the gas centrifuge plant at Yongbyon had been expanded to twice its original size over the past four months.
When the North revealed the existence of the facility to visiting scientists in 2010, it contained 2,000 centrifuges for enriching uranium.
Assuming that the recent expansion would allow the doubling of that number to 4,000 centrifuges, the facility could produce as much as 68 kilograms of weapons-grade uranium a year -- enough for three nuclear bombs with a little left over, ISIS said in a report.
Given the highly covert nature of Pyongyang's nuclear programme, the ISIS acknowledged that its analysis relied on a large number of hypotheticals.
"It is not even known if North Korea intends to produce weapon-grade uranium in this facility," it said.
When it unveiled the centrifuge plant in 2010, Pyongyang stressed that it was devoted to low-level uranium enrichment for energy purposes.
But in April, at the height of a surge in military tensions with South Korea, the North announced it was "readjusting" its Yongbyon facilities, as well as restarting a five-megawatt nuclear reactor it shut down in 2007 under a six-nation aid-for-disarmament accord.
The announcement stipulated that the move was aimed at feeding its nuclear weapons programme.
The ISIS report noted that assessing the North's uranium enrichment capacity was "fraught with uncertainty" -- especially given suspicions of other hidden centrifuge facilities around the country.
As a result, the ISIS estimated that North Korea could have produced enough weapons-grade uranium in 2012 for anywhere from 0-13 nuclear weapons.
North Korea conducted its third nuclear test in February this year. International observers have been unable to confirm whether it was a plutonium device -- as used in its two previous tests in 2006 and 2009 -- or a uranium one.
Source : Sapa-AFP /ma
Date : 08 Aug 2013 06:43
killadoob
Honorary Master
0? So they estimate that north korea could either make no bombs or 13 bombs LOL. Boy o boy. They need to go through all that to come to a 0 or 13
. I could have done that, how many nukes do you think NK could make mr Killadoob: Well i think given the testing and the lack of any proper delivery system i would say within in the next 2 years none. I highly doubt could they make anywhere near 5 let alone 13. I also do not believe they would be able to deliver a nuke effectively within the next 2 years and i would have to say there would be a strike on NK long before they could actually launch the weapon. So i would say they are not a nuclear threat and i estimate they could make 0-1000 bombs in the next 100 years.Thank you, now can you pay me the amount of money it took to come to 0-13 please.
Last edited:
killadoob
Honorary Master
China? Keeping dictators in power?
Kim jong un
killadoob
Honorary Master
So explain to me how you propose china or anyone tackles a country with 10 million soldiers ready for war and nukes? All those troops are committed and will die for the cause. What would you do if you were in the position china is in? China is mainly the reason NK remains calm.
Remember the chinese don't want war but at the same time being friends with a country like NK could be a very big advantage should war break out. With the americans moving operations from the middle east towards asia china may yet find a use for NK. Keep them calm, try your best to avoid a war but history shows war is inevitable and NK on your side could prove extremely handy.
Military support. Thats unless their relations have changed drastically since the war in the 1950s.
killadoob
Honorary Master
Military support from who? 10 million troops and unknown amount of nukes seems a little more challenging than suggesting military support. China, russia, US, SK. Then do you nuke NK or send in ground troops? From the chinese perspective they would prefer NK as it is just like the US will support the bahrain government and the saudis even though the saudis fund terror and bahrain oppress the majority with an iron fist. You really think the US wants to be friends with a country that funds terror?
You need to have powerful friends, why do you think the US lick saudi ass and western nations lick US ass? All about having powerful friends regardless of how bad they may be. Sadly the planet is run by greedy, power seeking governments. Look at situation like they do to get the best perspective.
You took words from my mouth. That was my point. For the good of your people, you associate with those who benefit you irrespective of whether they are good or bad. I don't think there is any country that is innocent from this, which is why people shouldn't criticize any government based on its relations with others. There is too much criticism directed at USA for this but people are forgetting that every country does this with the only difference being that others cant be as influential because of inferior military and economy
killadoob
Honorary Master
Where the US states go wrong and i will explain it.
They remove dictators due to humans right abuses and freeing the people is what they feed us while they sit with a base in a country that has terrible human rights and is oppressing the majority with the aid of the saudis.
So when you claim to be about human rights and freedom and use it as an excuse to remove people, then you look rather idiotic setting up a base in a country with terrible humans rights and no freedom for the majority.
Now how does any rational person miss the total and complete double standard which is created by the use of humans rights and freedom for entering or helping remove people. China don't do that, russia don't do it. The US try to come across like the heroes saving the planet and that is why they end up taking so much crap from people because their so called freedom and human rights excuses point out to any rational person that they are BSing everyone. You cannot go remove a dictator claiming freedom and human rights while you have a base in a country that is the total opposite and you allow them rule with an iron fist.
The_Assimilator
Executive Member
The only use North Korean troops would be in a war is as cannon fodder.
killadoob
Honorary Master
Yea this is what they said about vietnam
How did that work out for them? never underestimate your enemy, the US have proven that time and again. All their technology, all their weapons got them nowhere in vietnam, all it did was send home maimed americans and 50000 dead americans. The easy war they said. O they also left the war with a record for the worst chemical weapon usage in recorded history.
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
Two koreas agree on re-opening joint industrial park
North and South Korea agreed Wednesday to work on reopening a joint industrial zone shut down in April amid soaring military tensions -- and vowed to prevent its closure being repeated.
But they failed to set a precise date for the resumption of operations at the shuttered complex in Kaesong, and the South Korean side sounded a note of caution after the deal was announced.
"This agreement is not an end but only a beginning," its chief negotiator Kim Ki-Woong told reporters.
"What's more important is how both Koreas can implement the agreement ... we can't say for sure when (Kaesong) will actually reopen," Kim added.
Nevertheless, the agreement marked a tangible breakthrough after six previous rounds of talks had ended in mutual recrimination.
It may also help ease tensions before the launch of joint South Korea-US military exercises on Monday which the North has warned could bring the divided peninsula "to the brink of war".
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said Wednesday that the agreement to reopen the joint industrial zone was a "positive development".
Ban "hopes that its operation will be normalized as quickly as possible and that it faces no further interruptions to its work in the future," a UN statement said.
The United States also welcomed the move.
"We...have long supported improved inter-Korean relations and welcome news that the South Korean and North Korean governments have agreed to reopen the Kaesong industrial complex," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.
"This is a good sign and it will help the two sides solve other pending issues," said Kim Yong-Hyun, a North Korean expert at Dongguk University in Seoul.
South Korean President Park Geun-Hye said she hoped the agreement would "set the stage for a fresh start in relations".
The five-point deal committed both sides to "active efforts" to resume normal operations in Kaesong after inspecting the 123 shuttered South Korean factories housed in the complex.
A joint committee will be set up to oversee the process and discuss compensation for any economic losses suffered.
Established in 2004 as a rare symbol of inter-Korean cooperation, Kaesong was a major hard-currency earner for the North, bringing it $80 million a year. Pyongyang's decision to shut it down took many observers by surprise.
The project had managed to ride out previous North-South crises without serious disruption, but it eventually fell victim to an extended period of heightened tension following the North's third nuclear test in February.
Pyongyang initially barred access to the park, which lies 10 kilometers (six miles) inside the North Korean border, and then withdrew its 53,000-strong workforce from the South's factories.
The six previous rounds of talks had foundered on the South's insistence that North Korea provide a binding guarantee that it would not close the complex again.
Wednesday's agreement suggested a compromise had been reached where the North accepted the worker pullout had closed Kaesong, but both sides jointly promised to ensure it remained open in the future.
"The South and the North will prevent the current suspension of the Kaesong industrial complex caused by the workers' withdrawal from being repeated again," it said.
It also included a pledge to promote foreign investment in Kaesong -- a key South Korean demand.
The North had proposed the seventh round of talks last week, just hours after Seoul announced it was going to start compensation payments totalling $250 million to the businesses impacted by Kaesong's closure.
The payout move was widely seen as the first step towards a permanent withdrawal from the zone.
Wednesday's accord was immediately welcomed by the South Korean company owners, who had complained that both Seoul and Pyongyang were using their livelihoods as a political football.
Monday's annual South Korea-US drill, dubbed "Ulchi Freedom Guardian", involves about 50,000 South Korean and 30,000 US troops practising a North Korean invasion scenario.
Although largely computer-simulated, it is viewed as highly provocative by North Korea, which has already issued dire warnings of its impact on stability on the peninsula.
"If the drill takes place, conditions in the region will become unpredictable and escalate to the brink of war," the North's ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun said last month.
The North had cited similar joint exercises earlier this year as the main trigger for Kaesong's closure.
Source : Sapa-AFP /mjs
Date : 15 Aug 2013 00:05
North and South Korea agreed Wednesday to work on reopening a joint industrial zone shut down in April amid soaring military tensions -- and vowed to prevent its closure being repeated.
But they failed to set a precise date for the resumption of operations at the shuttered complex in Kaesong, and the South Korean side sounded a note of caution after the deal was announced.
"This agreement is not an end but only a beginning," its chief negotiator Kim Ki-Woong told reporters.
"What's more important is how both Koreas can implement the agreement ... we can't say for sure when (Kaesong) will actually reopen," Kim added.
Nevertheless, the agreement marked a tangible breakthrough after six previous rounds of talks had ended in mutual recrimination.
It may also help ease tensions before the launch of joint South Korea-US military exercises on Monday which the North has warned could bring the divided peninsula "to the brink of war".
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said Wednesday that the agreement to reopen the joint industrial zone was a "positive development".
Ban "hopes that its operation will be normalized as quickly as possible and that it faces no further interruptions to its work in the future," a UN statement said.
The United States also welcomed the move.
"We...have long supported improved inter-Korean relations and welcome news that the South Korean and North Korean governments have agreed to reopen the Kaesong industrial complex," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.
"This is a good sign and it will help the two sides solve other pending issues," said Kim Yong-Hyun, a North Korean expert at Dongguk University in Seoul.
South Korean President Park Geun-Hye said she hoped the agreement would "set the stage for a fresh start in relations".
The five-point deal committed both sides to "active efforts" to resume normal operations in Kaesong after inspecting the 123 shuttered South Korean factories housed in the complex.
A joint committee will be set up to oversee the process and discuss compensation for any economic losses suffered.
Established in 2004 as a rare symbol of inter-Korean cooperation, Kaesong was a major hard-currency earner for the North, bringing it $80 million a year. Pyongyang's decision to shut it down took many observers by surprise.
The project had managed to ride out previous North-South crises without serious disruption, but it eventually fell victim to an extended period of heightened tension following the North's third nuclear test in February.
Pyongyang initially barred access to the park, which lies 10 kilometers (six miles) inside the North Korean border, and then withdrew its 53,000-strong workforce from the South's factories.
The six previous rounds of talks had foundered on the South's insistence that North Korea provide a binding guarantee that it would not close the complex again.
Wednesday's agreement suggested a compromise had been reached where the North accepted the worker pullout had closed Kaesong, but both sides jointly promised to ensure it remained open in the future.
"The South and the North will prevent the current suspension of the Kaesong industrial complex caused by the workers' withdrawal from being repeated again," it said.
It also included a pledge to promote foreign investment in Kaesong -- a key South Korean demand.
The North had proposed the seventh round of talks last week, just hours after Seoul announced it was going to start compensation payments totalling $250 million to the businesses impacted by Kaesong's closure.
The payout move was widely seen as the first step towards a permanent withdrawal from the zone.
Wednesday's accord was immediately welcomed by the South Korean company owners, who had complained that both Seoul and Pyongyang were using their livelihoods as a political football.
Monday's annual South Korea-US drill, dubbed "Ulchi Freedom Guardian", involves about 50,000 South Korean and 30,000 US troops practising a North Korean invasion scenario.
Although largely computer-simulated, it is viewed as highly provocative by North Korea, which has already issued dire warnings of its impact on stability on the peninsula.
"If the drill takes place, conditions in the region will become unpredictable and escalate to the brink of war," the North's ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun said last month.
The North had cited similar joint exercises earlier this year as the main trigger for Kaesong's closure.
Source : Sapa-AFP /mjs
Date : 15 Aug 2013 00:05
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
SKorea raises possible Syria-NKorea Weapons Link
South Korea's defence ministry Thursday called for fresh attention to North Korean chemical weapons, suggesting such arms might have been traded between Pyongyang and Syria.
The warning comes amid international outrage over the Syrian regime's alleged use of chemical weapons against its own people.
"We believe there has been a chemical weapons connection between North Korea and Syria," Defence Ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok told reporters.
Any link between North Korea and the attacks in Syria could further isolate Pyongyang, which is prohibited from international sales of its weapons under UN sanctions for conducting nuclear and missile tests.
Suspicions over chemical weapons trade between Pyongyang and Damascus have been raised in the past.
Concerns have grown since South Korea intercepted a North Korean shipment of protective gear on a vessel sailing near the southern port of Busan in 2009, Kim said.
Later that year Greece also seized almost 14,000 suits that provide protection from chemical weapons on a North Korean ship they believed was headed to Syria.
"Protective gear related to chemical weapons was traded," Kim said, declining to disclose details.
Japan's Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported last month that North Korea tried to export gas masks to Syria this spring.
Acting on the tip from the United States, Turkey intercepted a vessel carrying rifles, pistols, ammunition and gas masks, it said.
The North is believed to have up to 5,000 tonnes of chemical weapons deliverable by artillery or missile, Kim said.
South Korea supports international sanctions against Syria because the regime's use of chemical weapons, if confirmed, could give the wrong signal to North Korea, he said.
A report by a UN Security Council panel of experts said in June that Pyongyang had continued to import and export items relevant to missile and nuclear programmes.
Source : Sapa-AFP /pk
Date : 05 Sep 2013 09:34
South Korea's defence ministry Thursday called for fresh attention to North Korean chemical weapons, suggesting such arms might have been traded between Pyongyang and Syria.
The warning comes amid international outrage over the Syrian regime's alleged use of chemical weapons against its own people.
"We believe there has been a chemical weapons connection between North Korea and Syria," Defence Ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok told reporters.
Any link between North Korea and the attacks in Syria could further isolate Pyongyang, which is prohibited from international sales of its weapons under UN sanctions for conducting nuclear and missile tests.
Suspicions over chemical weapons trade between Pyongyang and Damascus have been raised in the past.
Concerns have grown since South Korea intercepted a North Korean shipment of protective gear on a vessel sailing near the southern port of Busan in 2009, Kim said.
Later that year Greece also seized almost 14,000 suits that provide protection from chemical weapons on a North Korean ship they believed was headed to Syria.
"Protective gear related to chemical weapons was traded," Kim said, declining to disclose details.
Japan's Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported last month that North Korea tried to export gas masks to Syria this spring.
Acting on the tip from the United States, Turkey intercepted a vessel carrying rifles, pistols, ammunition and gas masks, it said.
The North is believed to have up to 5,000 tonnes of chemical weapons deliverable by artillery or missile, Kim said.
South Korea supports international sanctions against Syria because the regime's use of chemical weapons, if confirmed, could give the wrong signal to North Korea, he said.
A report by a UN Security Council panel of experts said in June that Pyongyang had continued to import and export items relevant to missile and nuclear programmes.
Source : Sapa-AFP /pk
Date : 05 Sep 2013 09:34
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
SKorea to parade North focused cruise missile
South Korea will show off a cruise missile capable of surgical strikes on the North Korean leadership when it stages a military parade in Seoul next month, the defence ministry said Wednesday.
The parade on October 1 marks the 65th anniversary of the founding of South Korea's armed forces and is held every five years.
Around 11,000 troops will take part along with picks from the South's military arsenal, including tanks, artillery and rockets and a fly-over involving air force helicopters and jet fighters, a ministry official said.
Also on display will be the Hyeonmu 3, an indigenously developed cruise missile that was first deployed on naval destroyers in November last year.
Two days after North Korea carried out its third nuclear test on February 12, the South's defence ministry called in the media for a video presentation of the Hyeonmu's capabilities.
"It is a precision-guided weapon that can identify and strike the office window of the North's command headquarters," ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok told reporters at the time.
The North's nuclear test triggered two months of heightened military tensions on the Korean peninsula that witnessed almost daily threats of strikes and counter-strikes.
The tensions have since eased and the two Koreas are currently making progress on resuming a series of suspended cross-border projects and programmes.
Yang Moo-Jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said South Korea should be wary of antagonising the North at such a sensitive time.
"In light of the current situation, a low-key event is more desirable than a large scale parade which is likely to irritate the North," Yang said.
But the event in Seoul will be nowhere near the scale of the mass display of military might the North put on in July to mark the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice.
Source : Sapa-AFP /pk
Date : 11 Sep 2013 08:36
South Korea will show off a cruise missile capable of surgical strikes on the North Korean leadership when it stages a military parade in Seoul next month, the defence ministry said Wednesday.
The parade on October 1 marks the 65th anniversary of the founding of South Korea's armed forces and is held every five years.
Around 11,000 troops will take part along with picks from the South's military arsenal, including tanks, artillery and rockets and a fly-over involving air force helicopters and jet fighters, a ministry official said.
Also on display will be the Hyeonmu 3, an indigenously developed cruise missile that was first deployed on naval destroyers in November last year.
Two days after North Korea carried out its third nuclear test on February 12, the South's defence ministry called in the media for a video presentation of the Hyeonmu's capabilities.
"It is a precision-guided weapon that can identify and strike the office window of the North's command headquarters," ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok told reporters at the time.
The North's nuclear test triggered two months of heightened military tensions on the Korean peninsula that witnessed almost daily threats of strikes and counter-strikes.
The tensions have since eased and the two Koreas are currently making progress on resuming a series of suspended cross-border projects and programmes.
Yang Moo-Jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said South Korea should be wary of antagonising the North at such a sensitive time.
"In light of the current situation, a low-key event is more desirable than a large scale parade which is likely to irritate the North," Yang said.
But the event in Seoul will be nowhere near the scale of the mass display of military might the North put on in July to mark the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice.
Source : Sapa-AFP /pk
Date : 11 Sep 2013 08:36
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
Two Koreas agree to open Kaesong Zone next week
North and South Korea agreed Wednesday to reopen their Kaesong joint industrial park next week, five months after it was shut during soaring military tensions.
Following a marathon negotiation session that went through the night, the two sides set a date of September 16 for restarting the shuttered complex, the South's Unification Ministry said.
South Korean firms in Kaesong, which lies 10 kilometres (six miles) over the border in North Korea, will be allowed to resume operations after a trial run on Monday, the ministry said.
The agreement came at a second round of talks between a newly created Kaesong joint committee that began Tuesday morning and stretched through the night.
Established in 2004 as a rare symbol of inter-Korean cooperation, Kaesong had come through a number of crises on the Korean peninsula unscathed.
But in April, as tensions escalated following the North's third nuclear test, Pyongyang effectively shut down operations by withdrawing the 53,000 North Korean workers employed at the 123 South Korean plants.
The two Koreas agreed last month to work together to resume operations at the zone, which is an important source of hard currency for the cash-strapped regime in Pyongyang.
As part of the deal, the North accepted the South's demand that Kaesong be opened to foreign investors -- a move seen by Seoul as a guarantee against the North shutting the complex down again in the future.
Wednesday's agreement included plans to host a road show for foreign investors at Kaesong in October.
Source : Sapa-AFP /nsm
Date : 11 Sep 2013 01:31
North and South Korea agreed Wednesday to reopen their Kaesong joint industrial park next week, five months after it was shut during soaring military tensions.
Following a marathon negotiation session that went through the night, the two sides set a date of September 16 for restarting the shuttered complex, the South's Unification Ministry said.
South Korean firms in Kaesong, which lies 10 kilometres (six miles) over the border in North Korea, will be allowed to resume operations after a trial run on Monday, the ministry said.
The agreement came at a second round of talks between a newly created Kaesong joint committee that began Tuesday morning and stretched through the night.
Established in 2004 as a rare symbol of inter-Korean cooperation, Kaesong had come through a number of crises on the Korean peninsula unscathed.
But in April, as tensions escalated following the North's third nuclear test, Pyongyang effectively shut down operations by withdrawing the 53,000 North Korean workers employed at the 123 South Korean plants.
The two Koreas agreed last month to work together to resume operations at the zone, which is an important source of hard currency for the cash-strapped regime in Pyongyang.
As part of the deal, the North accepted the South's demand that Kaesong be opened to foreign investors -- a move seen by Seoul as a guarantee against the North shutting the complex down again in the future.
Wednesday's agreement included plans to host a road show for foreign investors at Kaesong in October.
Source : Sapa-AFP /nsm
Date : 11 Sep 2013 01:31
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
NKorea Restarts Plutonium Reactor: Institute
North Korea appears to have restarted a reactor that produces plutonium, making good on threats to boost its stockpile of nuclear weapons, a US think tank said Wednesday.
Satellite imagery taken on August 31 shows white steam coming out of a building next to the five-megawatt plutonium reactor at Yongbyon, the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University said.
The image shows that North Korea "appears to have put the reactor into operation," researchers Nick Hansen and Jeffrey Lewis wrote on the institute's blog, 38 North.
The reactor "is capable of producing six kilograms of plutonium a year that can be used by Pyongyang to slowly increase the size of its nuclear weapons stockpile," it said.
North Korea had declared in April that it would restart all facilities at Yongbyon to "bolster the nuclear armed force both in quality and quantity."
The pledge came at a period of high international tension over North Korea, which defiantly carried out a third nuclear test in February and threatened to attack the United States over its reaction.
Tensions have since eased somewhat, but the United States has been skeptical of resuming talks with North Korea without proof that Kim Jong-Un's regime is committed to ending its nuclear program.
North Korea had shut down its Yongbyon reactor in July 2007 under a six-nation aid-for-disarmament deal and publicly knocked down its cooling tower to demonstrate its commitment.
The reactor was the totalitarian state's sole way of producing plutonium, which it used to conduct its first two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
Foreign governments and experts have not been able to conclude whether North Korea again used plutonium in its February test, but the regime is known to be working to produce uranium to offer a second way to a bomb.
Source : Sapa-AFP /nsm
Date : 12 Sep 2013 01:03
North Korea appears to have restarted a reactor that produces plutonium, making good on threats to boost its stockpile of nuclear weapons, a US think tank said Wednesday.
Satellite imagery taken on August 31 shows white steam coming out of a building next to the five-megawatt plutonium reactor at Yongbyon, the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University said.
The image shows that North Korea "appears to have put the reactor into operation," researchers Nick Hansen and Jeffrey Lewis wrote on the institute's blog, 38 North.
The reactor "is capable of producing six kilograms of plutonium a year that can be used by Pyongyang to slowly increase the size of its nuclear weapons stockpile," it said.
North Korea had declared in April that it would restart all facilities at Yongbyon to "bolster the nuclear armed force both in quality and quantity."
The pledge came at a period of high international tension over North Korea, which defiantly carried out a third nuclear test in February and threatened to attack the United States over its reaction.
Tensions have since eased somewhat, but the United States has been skeptical of resuming talks with North Korea without proof that Kim Jong-Un's regime is committed to ending its nuclear program.
North Korea had shut down its Yongbyon reactor in July 2007 under a six-nation aid-for-disarmament deal and publicly knocked down its cooling tower to demonstrate its commitment.
The reactor was the totalitarian state's sole way of producing plutonium, which it used to conduct its first two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
Foreign governments and experts have not been able to conclude whether North Korea again used plutonium in its February test, but the regime is known to be working to produce uranium to offer a second way to a bomb.
Source : Sapa-AFP /nsm
Date : 12 Sep 2013 01:03
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
Obama Patience with North Korea Backfiring
US President Barack Obama's policy of patience with North Korea over its nuclear weapons is failing to pay off as it moves forward with its programme and grows emboldened, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said on Thursday.
The IISS warned that Obama's insistence on waiting for Pyongyang to kickstart efforts to re-engage with the international community had so far yielded little.
"So far, strategic patience has not succeeded in bringing about change in North Korea," the London-based group concluded in its annual review of world affairs.
"Pyongyang is instead moving further away from the denuclearisation pledge and closer to projecting nuclear power over long ranges," it said.
The IISS review coincided with reports -- based on new satellite pictures -- that North Korea had restarted operations at the Yongbyon plutonium reactor that it shut down in 2007.
Russia said on Thursday that it too believed North Korea was conducting work at the Yongbyon complex, and warned that the ageing facility was in such a "nightmarish state" it could cause a disaster.
"It is obvious that some works are being conducted, and for a long time at that. According to some signs, steps were indeed being taken to relaunch it," the Interfax news agency quoted a diplomatic source as saying.
The source said that Russia did not have definite information that Pyongyang had restarted the plutonium reactor at Yongbyon, as US analysts have suggested based on the satellite imagery, but warned of dire consequences if this happened.
"Our main concern is linked to a very likely man-made disaster as a consequence. The reactor is in a nightmarish state, it is a design dating back to the 1950s," the source said.
"For the Korean peninsula this could entail terrible consequences, if not a man-made catastrophe."
Source : Sapa-AFP /pk
Date : 12 Sep 2013 11:48
US President Barack Obama's policy of patience with North Korea over its nuclear weapons is failing to pay off as it moves forward with its programme and grows emboldened, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said on Thursday.
The IISS warned that Obama's insistence on waiting for Pyongyang to kickstart efforts to re-engage with the international community had so far yielded little.
"So far, strategic patience has not succeeded in bringing about change in North Korea," the London-based group concluded in its annual review of world affairs.
"Pyongyang is instead moving further away from the denuclearisation pledge and closer to projecting nuclear power over long ranges," it said.
The IISS review coincided with reports -- based on new satellite pictures -- that North Korea had restarted operations at the Yongbyon plutonium reactor that it shut down in 2007.
Russia said on Thursday that it too believed North Korea was conducting work at the Yongbyon complex, and warned that the ageing facility was in such a "nightmarish state" it could cause a disaster.
"It is obvious that some works are being conducted, and for a long time at that. According to some signs, steps were indeed being taken to relaunch it," the Interfax news agency quoted a diplomatic source as saying.
The source said that Russia did not have definite information that Pyongyang had restarted the plutonium reactor at Yongbyon, as US analysts have suggested based on the satellite imagery, but warned of dire consequences if this happened.
"Our main concern is linked to a very likely man-made disaster as a consequence. The reactor is in a nightmarish state, it is a design dating back to the 1950s," the source said.
"For the Korean peninsula this could entail terrible consequences, if not a man-made catastrophe."
Source : Sapa-AFP /pk
Date : 12 Sep 2013 11:48