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Korea

North Korea Claims Successful Hydrogen Bomb Test

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On Tuesday, North Korea claimed it had successfully tested its first hydrogen bomb.

They made the announcement about an hour after detection services around the world recorded a 5.1 seismic event off its northeast coast.

NYTimes reports:

“This is the self-defensive measure we have to take to defend our right to live in the face of the nuclear threats and blackmail by the United States and to guarantee the security of the Korean Peninsula,” a female North Korean announcer said, reading the statement on Central Television, the state-run network.

There is always some level of skepticism because of how isolated North Korea is.

However, if the claim is found to be accurate, this is its most significant threat to date.

NYTimes continues:

Outside analysts took the claim as the latest of several hard-to-verify assertions that the isolated country has made about its nuclear capabilities. But some also said that although North Korea did not yet have H-bomb capability, it might be developing and preparing to test a boosted fission bomb, more powerful than a traditional nuclear weapon.

Weapon designers can easily boost the destructive power of an atom bomb by putting at its core a small amount of tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen.

Lee Sang-cheol, the top nonproliferation official at the South Korean Defense Ministry, told a forum in Seoul last month that although Mr. Kim’s hydrogen bomb boasts might be propaganda for his domestic audience, there was a “high likelihood” that North Korea might have been developing such a boosted fission weapon.

And according to a paper obtained by the South Korean news agency Yonhap last week, the Chemical, Biological and Radiological Command of the South Korean military “did not rule out the possibility” of a boosted fission bomb test by the North, although it added it “does not believe it is yet capable of directly testing hydrogen bombs.”

The Associated Press reports:

The White House says the U.S. government’s early analysis of underground activity in North Korea “is not consistent” with that country’s claim of having conducted a successful hydrogen bomb test.

 

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These Eight Sketches of Life Inside a North Korean Prison Camp Will Leave You Terrified

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These chilling sketches depict life inside a North Korean prison camp. These haunting images show people being forced to stand for hours, people being forced to crawl on their hands and knees, and people being forced to feed off of rats and snakes.

The sketches included in the report, which come by way of Kim Kwang-il, a North Korean who claims he spent six years in a prison camp.

North Korean 'Pigeon Torture"
(Image source: United Nations)
North Korean Prison Torture
(Image source: United Nations)
Life in a North Korean prison camp
(Image source: United Nations)
North Korean prison camp transportation
(Image source: United Nations)
North Korean prison camp cell
(Image source: United Nations)
North Korean prisoners eating snakes and rats
(Image source: United Nations)
North Korean prisoners sleeping with rats
(image source: United Nations)
North Korean prisoners being forced to crawl
(Image source: United Nations)

 

Here is a copy of the UN report which further describes the sketches in detail:

North Korea Executes Uncle of Kim Jong-Un

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The uncle of Kim Jong Un, leader of North Korea, has been executed as a ‘traitor.’

Jang Song Thaek, uncle of North Korea leader Kim Jong Un
photo credit: AP/XINHUA (File photo from Aug. 14, 2012)

North Korean news is reporting that second in command, Jang Song Thaek has been purged for crimes that included faction-building, corruption, drug use and womanizing.

While all the details of this execution continue to come out, two things are on the minds of those on the Korean Peninsula: 1) it signals a turn in direction for the North, or 2) Kim Jong-Un is growing confident in his rule.

CNN reports:

For Jasper Kim, the founder of the Asia-Pacific Global Research Group, North Korea remains for analysts a “Rubik’s Cube that no one can solve.”

He said North Korea is a master at carefully choreographing the way it releases news events to cloak its real intentions. Nevertheless, he said a careful reading between the lines of North Korean new agency KCNA sometimes reveals glimpses of the state of the regime.

He said that far from asserting the leadership of Kim, recent events suggest that his position has been seriously eroded by the execution of his uncle.

“My guess is that these events happened some time ago and they are only now being released,” Kim told CNN. “The fact is that we don’t know what’s going on in North Korea but what we are seeing coming through on KCNA is very concerning.

“When you look at the language used in these KCNA reports it is particularly hawkish and it’s much more reflective of the military than it is of Kim Jong Un.

“Basically we are seeing the hardline faction reassert itself. For Kim Jong Un, Jang Song Thaek was the bridge between him and his father, and now he will have very little protection.”

 

South Korea Returned Artillery Fire Directed at North Korea

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During what is described as a disputed sea border, South Korea fired artillery rounds at North Korea after hearing explosions. This comes after both agreed they would try to revive talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. At some point, you think the North would quit these failed tactics of the past and just keep things quiet to get the help the people need. [Read more…] about South Korea Returned Artillery Fire Directed at North Korea

South Korea Says North Ready to Detonate Nuke

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Global Security Newswire | North Korea is prepared to detonate a third nuclear test device should its present efforts at diplomatic engagement prove unsuccessful, South Korea’s lead intelligence official said on Tuesday (see GSN, April 18).

National Intelligence Service head Won Sei-hoon told South Korean lawmakers that “another atomic test is always possible as (North Korea) has various nuclear test sites and construction of (new) sites is under way,” Agence France-Presse reported.

“I believe North Korea will use military action such as nuclear and missile (tests) to turn the tables if its current tack of dialogue fails,” Won said.

News reports in February indicated the North was excavating a minimum of two new tunnels at the site of its previous two nuclear tests, which were conducted in 2006 and 2009.

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North Korea Threatens South Korea; Again

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Tensions on the Korean Penninsula continue as North Korea offers new threats toward its neighbor to the south, again. And as always, when there is little to no attention being given to Kim Jong-Ill, he puts himself in the spotlight.

Saying that if South Korea continues to hold joint military drills during the next few days with the United States, there would be “merciless counteraction.” This comes as the North accuses South Korean activists of sending balloons with leaflets and DVDs that criticize the communist government.

Certainly, this doesn’t help the idea of unification as the last year of events have kept tensions high.

Rising Korean Tensions

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A few days ago, the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, was hit with artillery from its neighbor North Korea. Which resulted in the deaths of two South Korean soldiers and two civilians. This attack was seen as a demonstration against the joint military exercise between the US and South Korea staged in the Yellow Sea.

However, it appears that there could be more to it. You see, there is a regime change that will soon take place in the North. This is more likely that it is the doing of the incoming regime as a test to see if the military will follow new command. Especially when state controlled Korean Central News Agency responded Friday saying, “The situation on the Korean peninsula is inching closer to the brink of war.”

A war that neither party, including China or Japan, would invite. Seeing as China is seen as an ally to North Korea, they would be a definite thorn at the side of US support to the South. A showdown that could be devastating to the US naval fleet.

How so? Despite the fact that the US has the most advanced systems, they are still vulnerable. With the nuclear-powered US carrier, the USS George Washington, with more than 6000 sailors and 75 fighter jets aboard, and being in the backyard of the Chinese, its loss would be a catastrophic loss. After all, the Chinese have proven their ability to roam the seas undetected.

Do you remember the contrail that was in question the other week? Many top analysts claim it was a missile from a Chinese submarine. However, the Chinese would position themselves, you could wager they are already in position on both sides of the peninsula. With two Chinese fishing patrol ships spotted by the Japanese coast guard off a group of islands, you can bet they are positioned for an attack on either direction.

But, there are heavy propositions for talks coming from China as it is their latest move to calm tensions. Wu Dawei, Chinese special representative for the Korean Peninsula affairs said, “The Chinese side, after careful deliberation, proposes emergency consultations among the heads of delegation to the Six-Party Talks in early December in Beijing to exchange views on major issues of concern to the parties at present.”

North Korean Artillary Hits South Korean Island

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Dozens of North Korean artillary shells have hit a South Korean island in what it says is retaliation against South Korea for firing first. While South Korea’s defense ministry official, Lee Hong-ki says “This is an intentional and planned attack… and it is clearly in violation of the armistice.”

FoxNews reports:

North Korea fired artillery barrages onto a South Korean island near their disputed border Tuesday, setting buildings alight and prompting South Korea to return fire and scramble fighter jets. At least one South Korean marine was killed and 13 wounded, the military said.

The firing came amid South Korean military drills in the area. North Korea’s military had sent a message to South Korea’s armed forces early Tuesday to demand that the drills stop, but the South continued them, said an official at South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

During the drills, South Korean marines on the island shot artillery toward southern waters, away from North Korea, the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of military rules.

The skirmish also came amid high tension over North Korea’s claim that it has a new uranium enrichment facility and just six weeks after North Korean leader Kim Jong Il unveiled his youngest son Kim Jong Un as his heir apparent.

The artillery barrages struck the small South Korean-held island of Yeonpyeong, which houses military installations and a small civilian population in an area that has been the focus of two previous deadly battles between the Koreas.

One South Korean marine was killed, three were seriously wounded and 10 slightly wounded, a Joint Chiefs of Staff official said. Island residents were escaping to about 20 shelters in the island and sporadic shelling was continuing, the JCS said.

South Korea responded by firing K-9 155mm self-propelled howitzer, but the JCS official declined to say whether North Korean territory was hit.

YTN TV said several houses were on fire and shells were still falling on the island, which is about 75 miles (120 kilometers) west of the coast. The station broadcast pictures of thick columns of black smoke rising from the island, which has a population of 1,200 to 1,300. Screams and chaotic shouts could be heard on the video.