Official North Korean Thread

N. Korea Urges South Evacuation, Warns of Nuclear War

North Korea on Tuesday urged foreigners living in South Korea to consider evacuating, saying there was a risk of "thermo-nuclear war" breaking out on the Korean peninsula.

The warning followed a similar evacuation advisory the North gave Friday to foreign embassies in Pyongyang, saying it could not ensure the safety of their personnel if war broke out.

"The situation on the Korean peninsula is heading for a thermo-nuclear war," said Tuesday's statement which was attributed to the North's Asia-Pacific Peace Committee.

"In the event of war, we don't want foreigners living in South Korea to get hurt," said the statement, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

It urged "all foreign organisations, companies and tourists to work out measures for evacuation".

After last week's embassy warning, most governments involved made it clear they had no immediate plans to withdraw personnel from their Pyongyang missions and some suggested the advisory was a ruse to fuel growing global anxiety over the current crisis on the Korean peninsula.


Source : Sapa-AFP /pk
Date : 09 Apr 2013 08:29
 
There is no risk of nuclear war. This idiot doesn't have a working nuke. They may have carried out 3 test blasts but that does not mean they can launch/drop a nuclear device warhead.

The only risk is North Korea doing something stupid (one of their infamous test launches that crosses through South Korean/Japanese airspace) that causes the South Koreans and/or the US to react and strike, with the result being a fairly short but devastating (for the North) war. The North does not have the resources to sustain a military campaign and China will not come flying in if the North is responsible for starting a war. They will be wiped out in short time.
 
thestaggy said:
There is no risk of nuclear war. This idiot doesn't have a working nuke. They may have carried out 3 test blasts but that does not mean they can launch/drop a nuclear device warhead.

The only risk is North Korea doing something stupid (one of their infamous test launches that crosses through South Korean/Japanese airspace) that causes the South Koreans and/or the US to react and strike, with the result being a fairly short but devastating (for the North) war. The North does not have the resources to sustain a military campaign and China will not come flying in if the North is responsible for starting a war. They will be wiped out in short time.
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I think they know that he does not have nuclear capable missiles.
What they are scared of is some kind of home made "dirty bomb" with a very low yield.
two or three of those could also be a radioactive nightmare.
 
SA 'monitoring situation' in North Korea

Government says it is concerned about the increasing tension in the Korean Peninsula but has not yet issued any travel advisories to South Africans.

Speaking at a briefing held at the OR Tambo building in Pretoria on Tuesday, Deputy Minister of International Relations Ebrahim Ebrahim, said the government was assessing the situation in the region.

“We are monitoring this situation very carefully. If there’s a need for South Africans to leave, we will give them all consular assistance to leave the country,” he said.

South Africans residing in South Korea have been asked to monitor the department of international relations's website for further updates.

“If the situation arises where we feel that there is a need for South African citizens to leave South Korea, we will inform them but at the moment I don’t think any country has asked their citizens to leave,” he said.

This comes after Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) issued a warning to foreign residents and institutions in neighbouring South Korea to evacuate the country.

According to reports, the DPKR’s Asia-Pacific Peace Committee warned of a “merciless” and “all-out” thermo-nuclear war.

The warning, which has largely been dismissed as rhetoric, is the latest in a series of threats made by the DPRK after the United States issued sanctions against it in response to its latest nuclear arms test.

The country had earlier issued a similar warning to diplomats based in the capital Pyongyang; the warning was largely ignored.

Meanwhile, Japan has deployed Patriot missiles in Tokyo to defend against possible air attacks from North Korea.

Nevertheless, Ebrahim said the South African government was “deeply concerned” by the heightened tensions in the Korean Peninsula and called on all sides not to aggravate the already tense situation.

“With reference to our own negotiated settlement in South Africa, we believe that peaceful reconciliation of conflict situations is best addressed through inclusive political dialogue. We believe that in the long-term, a political solution carries greater weight than a military solution – one may win the war, but lose the peace,” he said.

Ebrahim said that, while government recognises the rights of all members of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to legitimately develop nuclear energy for peaceful civilian purposes, it would continue to call on the DPRK to dismantle its nuclear weapons, return to the NPT and to open its facilities to the International Atomic Energy.

Game of chicken
Tom Wheeler, research associate at the South African Institute of International Affairs, said part of the reason for the increased rhetoric coming out of Pyongyang was North Korea’s dissatisfaction with a recent UN resolution condemning its missile tests.

In addition, he said, the DPKR’s leader Kim Jong-Un is still trying to prove his mettle to the country’s people and it is influential military forces.

Wheeler said that although many suspected the North Koreans were bluffing, it would be foolish to ignore the threats of war.

“The problem that we’re all faced with is that you don’t dare disregard it, you’ve got to take it seriously but at the same time not expect anything to happen,” he said.

Expat population unknown
It is unclear how many South Africans are currently in South Korea but the country is recognised as a popular work and travel destination.

“There is a sizable expatriate community, mainly teaching English and other things,” said department of international relations' spokesperson Nelson Kgwete.

According to Kgwete there is no existing database of South Africans abroad that government can use to locate expats in an emergency.

“Except for documentation from home affairs, there is no reliable database that we can use. Even home affairs’ data is not reliable because it doesn’t tell you whether those people are there at the moment. It can only tell you which people have got visas,” he said.

The department has called on South Africans who are travelling overseas to use the registration of South Africans abroad service, which will allow officials to contact them to offer urgent advice about natural disasters or civil unrest.

Kgwete said that while government had not been called on to assist South Africans in conflict-hit countries in recent years, it had in the past assisted South Africans who had been displaced or stranded in transit because of natural disasters, including the 2011 tsunami in Japan and Hurricane Sandy, which struck New York City late last year.

“There’s no law that compels you to register but we highly recommend South Africans register because you never know when you might need it,” said Kgwete.
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they probably going to launch a missile and it's going to land *plop* into the ocean. and that's all that's going to happen.
 
Celine said:
they probably going to launch a missile and it's going to land *plop* into the ocean. and that's all that's going to happen.
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The problem with this is due to the very aggressive posturing of the North, if that missile crosses South Korean airspace on its way to the ocean it may result in a reaction from the South Koreans/US.

[US Senator Lindsey] Graham said, “I could see a major war happening if the North Koreans overplay their hand this time because the public in South Korea, the United States, and, I think, the whole region is fed up with this guy,” Graham said.

By “this guy,” Graham meant new North Korean leader Kim Jung Un who has been making bellicose threats against the United States in recent days.

Graham said “my biggest fear” is a conflict sparked by the North Korea regime and its misunderstanding of the new thinking in South Korea. The South Koreans, he said, are “not going to put up with this anymore. If there were a South Korean naval vessel sunk this year, any time soon, or shelling of a South Korean island by North Korea, I think the new president of South Korea would be compelled to act. I think the North Koreans are overplaying their hand.”
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http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_new...north-korean-regime-overplaying-its-hand?lite
 
Ex N. Korean Spy says that Kim is Struggling to Control the Military

A former North Korean spy who bombed a South Korean airliner said Wednesday that the North's leader Kim Jong-Un is struggling to control his military and using war talk to shore up support.

Kim Hyun-Hee, who said she was ordered by Jong-Un's father Kim Jong-Il to bomb the airliner in 1987 killing 115 people, said she believes the son is still trying to establish himself following his father's death in December 2011.

"Kim Jong-Un is too young and too inexperienced," she told Australia's ABC television in an exclusive interview from Seoul, where she lives at an undisclosed location surrounded by bodyguards.

"He's struggling to gain complete control over the military and to win their loyalty. That's why he's doing so many visits to military bases, to firm up support."

The North has been turning up the rhetoric for weeks and on Tuesday reiterated a warning that the Korean peninsula was headed for "thermo-nuclear" war, advising foreigners to consider leaving South Korea.

Kim Hyun-Hee told ABC there was method in the North Koreans' madness in threatening thermo-nuclear war.

"North Korea is using its nuclear programme to keep its people in line and to push South Korea and the United States for concessions," said Kim, who was captured after boarding the doomed 1987 plane in Baghdad.

She got off during a stopover in the Gulf, leaving a time bomb in an overhead compartment, but was arrested with another agent when they tried to leave Bahrain using fake Japanese passports.

Both immediately swallowed cyanide capsules. The man died almost instantly but Kim survived and was brought to Seoul, where she confessed and was eventually pardoned.

Kim published a book entitled "Tears of My Soul" describing her training at a North Korean spy school, and donated the proceeds to families of victims of the bombing.

She married one of her security guards and now lives in Seoul, still fearful that North Korean assassins could strike at any time, ABC said.


Source : Sapa-AFP /pk
Date : 10 Apr 2013 09:55
 
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