North Korea says "prepare for War"

North Korea says 'prepare for war'


North Korea's leader placed his army on readiness to “annihilate the enemy”
on Friday as the regime officially renounced all non-aggression pacts with its
southern neighbour.










560
315
TelegraphPlayer_9917069






















By Julian Ryall, Tokyo, and
Malcolm Moore in Beijing

10:15AM GMT 08 Mar 2013

517 Comments




Kim Jong-un escalated his inflammatory response to a new round of United
Nations sanctions by ordering troops on the border with South Korea to prepare
for war.


But China, North
Korea’s only powerful ally, publicly urged “calm and restraint”.


Mr Kim chose a highly sensitive location for his address to North Korean
troops, visiting military positions facing the South Korean island of
Yeonpyeong, where a North Korean bombardment killed four people and wounded 19
in 2010.

Mr Kim “stressed the need for the soldiers to keep themselves fully ready to
go into action to annihilate the enemy”. The country’s official news agency
added that, if war broke out, he “instructed them to deal deadly blows at the
enemies”.



Related Articles

• 
  
  08 Mar 2013
  
• 
  China appeals for calm over North Korea
  threats
  08 Mar 2013
  
• 
  'Nuclear success has emboldened N Korea'
  
  08 Mar 2013
  
• 
  North Korea threatens to sever hotline to
  Seoul
  08 Mar 2013
  
• 
  N Korea warns of 'thermonuclear war' with US
  
  07 Mar 2013
  
• 
  North Korea: tough new sanctions
  07 Mar 2013
  

Mr Kim’s open talk of a new Korean war came after his regime threatened
America with a “pre-emptive” nuclear strike. The belligerence came in response
to the unanimous vote in the UN Security Council on Thursday to impose further
economic sanctions. These measures followed North Korea’s third test of a
nuclear bomb last month.

In addition, Mr Kim has ended the hot-line between North and South, which was
designed to defuse crises, and renounced various non-aggression pacts between
the two countries.

Despite all the posturing, experts believe that North Korea is highly
unlikely to start a war. South Korea benefits from a US security guarantee,
meaning that Mr Kim would almost certainly lose any conflict. North Korea has a
small nuclear arsenal, but it does not yet have an operational missile capable
of striking the US.

A spokesman for South Korea’s defence ministry pointed out: “If North Korea
attacks South Korea with a nuclear weapon, Kim Jong-un’s regime will perish from
the Earth.”

He added that “mankind would not forgive” the use of nuclear weapons “against
a free and democratic society”.

President Park Geun-hye, South Korea’s newly elected leader, described the
situation as “very grave”, adding that she would “deal strongly with North
Korea’s provocations”.

Daniel Pinkston, from the International Crisis Group in Seoul, said North
Korea’s objective was not to start a war but to coerce the US and other
countries to back down from the sanctions.

“It’s a game of brinkmanship and they keep ratcheting up the pressure in the
hope that the other side will cave in,” he said.

The biggest danger was that fighting could break out by accident as both
sides raised their alert level.

“Somewhere along the line, there could be a mistake,” he said.

China joined the US to vote in favour of the UN Resolution 2094, which
imposed the latest sanctions on North Korea.

The foreign ministry in Beijing on Friday urged “calm and restraint” from all
sides, adding: “The current situation on the peninsula is highly complex and
sensitive.”

China’s patience with North Korea appears to be wearing thin.

Zhang Liangui, a Korea expert at the Central Party School, which trains
communist cadres, said the fact that North Korea had chosen to press ahead
regardless of Chinese objections and international pressure “shows their
internal policy, and their policy to the outside world, is hardening”.

NORTH KOREA HAS SAID IT HAS ENTERED A STATE OF WAR AND HAS TOLD TROOPS TO PREPARE TO FIRE ON SOUTH KOREA.

What a dreadful state of affairs. I'm wondering what the US will do.

South Korea and the US have upgraded their military surveillance
status on the Korean Peninsula amid concerns Pyongyang is ready to fire up to
three missiles.

North Korea, which previously said it cannot guarantee the safety of foreign
embassy workers after today, is believed to have moved weaponry to its eastern
coast, facing Japan.

It has also warned foreigners living in South Korea to leave the country to
avoid being dragged into a "thermonuclear war".

One unnamed official told the Yonhap news agency: "There are clear signs that
the North could simultaneously fire off Musudan, Scud and Nodong missiles."

The South has also brought in extra intelligence officers.
North Korea has reportedly moved missile
launchers to the east coast
In a separate report, Yonhap said the Combined Forces Command had raised the
"Watchcon" status from three to two reflecting indications of a "vital
threat".

Watchcon 4 is in effect during normal peacetime, while Watchcon 3 reflects
indications of an important threat. Watchcon 1 is used in wartime.

However, in Seoul, a city of 10 million people, commuters were heading to work as normal.

North Korea has acknowledged it is planning to test-fire a missile.

In the Japanese capital Tokyo, Patriot missile batteries have been deployed
as a pre-emptive defence measure.
A tank is moved as South Korea's military
remains on alert
Sky's Mark Stone, reporting from South Korea, said: "The worry is that the
missile is as yet untested. It could malfunction. That is why Japan has deployed
Patriot missiles and why the American and South Korean forces have raised their
awareness level.

"Intelligence assets from America, Japan and South Korea will be working in
overdrive to spot the launch and track the trajectory.

"If, and only if, the missile threatens a landmass will it be shot down. The
sophisticated capability of the South Korean, American and Japanese defences
allow them to shoot down the missile in seconds.

"But the question then is what North Korea's reaction will be to having one
of their missiles shot down."

One South Korean lawmaker has claimed the country should consider developing
its own nuclear weapons in response to the North's threats.
The Japanese military are on stand-by to
defend Tokyo
Chung Mong-Joon, a billionaire businessman, claimed "that against nuclear
weapons, only nuclear weapons can hold the peace".

"It would send a clear warning that, by continuing its nuclear programme,
North Korea is releasing the nuclear genie in East Asia," he said.

South Korea said that findings of an investigation concluded the North was
responsible for a cyberattack last month, which affected nearly 50,000
computers, at broadcasters and banks. Seoul said all indications were that a
military-run spy agency was behind the attack.

In other developments, a Chinese border crossing with North Korea was
reportedly shut to tourist groups.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described the current level of tension in
the region as "very dangerous".

"A small incident caused by miscalculation or misjudgement may create an
uncontrollable situation," he said.

Fears of a missile strike came as G8 foreign ministers prepared to meet in
London to discuss North Korea's recent rhetoric.

Foreign Secretary William Hague has warned the country faced further
international sanctions if it did not engage in "realistic" talks.

"If they continue on this path ... they will end up with a broken country
that is isolated," he said.

:: Officials in the Japanese city of Yokohama mistakenly
sent out a tweet to 40,000 followers saying North Korea had launched a missile,
leaving blanks for the exact time.

They apologised saying: "We had the Tweet ready and waiting, but for an
unknown reason it was dispatched erroneously."
sky news report 10th April

North Korea's Missiles 'In Upright Position'


Reports that North Korean missiles have been put upright on
their launchers come as G8 foreign ministers discuss the crisis.


2:09pm UK,
Thursday 11 April 2013



Video: North Koreans blame the US for
the current tension
Enlarge


James Finnerty, who has traveled in North Korea, says
there is no sign of impending conflict in the country.

Video: James Finnerty has visited North
Korea as a tourist
Enlarge

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  By Mark Stone, in Seoul, South Korea
  
  
  A North Korean missile launcher has moved into the firing
  position with rockets facing skyward, Japanese media have said.
  
  
  The reports in the Kyodo news agency come as North Koreans celebrate the
  appointment of their leader Kim Jong-Un a year ago, and G8 foreign ministers
  discuss the crisis during a meeting in London.
  
  
  The Japanese government has been on high alert ahead of the expected
  test-firing of a medium-range missile by Pyongyang, deploying Patriot missile
  batteries in Tokyo as a defence measure.
  
  
  South Korean and US forces in the territory of Guam have announced an upgrade
  of their surveillance alert status.
  A patrol of North Korean soldiers along the
  banks of Yalu River
  
  Tokyo is "gathering a variety of information ... with a sense of tension",
  Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera was quoted as saying by Kyodo.
  
  
  Meanwhile, sources have told Sky News that the UK ambassador in Pyongyang has
  held meetings with North Korean Foreign Ministry officials within the past few
  days. The meetings point to the important diplomatic role that Britain is
  playing in resolving the crisis.
  
  
  The source told Sky News an "in-place advisor" in Pyongyang was very useful
  in helping to establish Pyongyang’s intentions.
  
  
  The US does not have an embassy in the North.
  
  
  At their meeting in London, foreign ministers of G8 countries - United
  States, Britain, Germany, Russia, France, Italy, Japan, and Canada – condemned
  "in the strongest possible terms" North Korea's development of nuclear weapons
  and ballistic missile technology.
  North Korea celebrates the appointment of Kim
  Jong-Un
  
  "If the DPRK conducts another missile launch or nuclear test we have
  committed ourselves to take further significant measures," British Foreign
  Secretary William Hague said, which includes toughening existing sanctions.
  
  
  North Korea is believed to have moved at least two Musudan missiles to its
  eastern coast.
  
  
  The untested missiles have a range of 3,500km (2,180 miles), and can cover
  any target in South Korea and Japan, and possibly even US military bases on the
  Pacific island of Guam.
  
  
  According to South Korean intelligence, North Korea has been moving multiple
  missiles in and out of a warehouse facility in an apparent bid to confuse
  foreign intelligence agencies.
  US-South Korean joint drills have angered
  Pyongyang
  
  At least five mobile launch vehicles have also been spotted swapping places
  and positions, the intelligence analysis cited by Yonhap news agency said.
  
  
  Missiles have been spotted at the Musudan-ri launch site and also around the
  town of Wonsan.
  
  
  Pyongyang has not announced plans to fire a missile, but has delivered
  increasingly belligerent rhetoric in recent weeks in anger over joint US-South
  Korean military exercises being conducted in the South through the end of
  April.
  
  
  Citing the tensions, Pyongyang has pulled more than 50,000 workers from the
  Kaesong industrial park it shares with South Korea - the only remaining symbol
  of economic cooperation between the nations.
  
  
  It has warned that "thermo-nuclear war" was imminent and urged foreign
  tourists and diplomats in South Korea to take cover.
  Patriot batteries have been deployed in
  Japan
  
  However, there has been no sign of diplomats leaving. The European Union said
  there was no need for member states to evacuate or relocate their diplomatic
  missions, but it called on North Korea to "refrain from further provocative
  declarations or action".
  
  
  Most observers say Pyongyang has no intention of starting a war that could
  bring its own destruction. But they have warned of the risks of miscalculation
  on the highly-militarised Korean peninsula.
  
  
  North Koreans were celebrating Mr Kim's appointment to first secretary of the
  Workers' Party a year ago.
  
  
  Mr Kim took up a slew of top titles in the months following the death of his
  father, Kim Jong-Il, in December 2011 - highlighting his family's grip on power
  in the reclusive nation.
  The G8 ministers are expected to issue a
  strongly-worded statement
  
  A flower show, art performances and public parties are scheduled over the
  next few days in the lead-up to the nation's biggest holiday, the April 15
  birthday of its founder Kim Il-Sung, grandfather of the current leader.
  
  
  The missiles' upright position on their launchers suggests a test-firing
  might be imminent, though in the past missiles have sat on their launchers for
  some days.
  
  
  A South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman said: "According to our advising
  group, North Korea uses red fuming nitric acid as its fuel for ballistic
  missiles, so they can be on standby up to more than two weeks for a lift-off
  after it is filled with fuel."
  
  
  The launch is expected to be a test, aimed at boosting Mr Kim's credentials
  at home and his image of a strong leader.
  

North Korea Nuclear Missile Test 'Imminent'


Intelligence suggests a North Korean missile test may
happen soon as the US Secretary of State heads to Seoul for crisis talks.


6:11am UK,
Friday 12 April 2013

An image released by North Korea last month

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  By Mark Stone, Asia Correspondent, In Seoul
  
  
  US Secretary of State John Kerry has arrived in the South Korean
  capital Seoul as tension mounts over a possible missile test by North Korea.
  
  
  The crisis on the Korean peninsula is bound to dominate talks between Mr
  Kerry and his South Korean counterpart, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se.
  
  
  Intelligence reports from the Japanese, South Koreans and Americans indicate
  that a North Korean missile test might be imminent, though there has been
  silence from the leadership in Pyongyang.
  
  
  The focus in the North Korean capital has been on a weekend of celebrations
  to mark a year in office for Kim Jong Un, which fell yesterday, and the
  anniversary of Mr Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il Song, the founder of the nation.
  
  
  "On the agenda for their talks would be the topics related to the security
  situation on the Korean Peninsula, how to cope with North Korea's threats and
  how to deter the North's provocations," foreign ministry spokesman Cho Tai-young
  said.
  
  
  The level of rhetoric to emerge from North Korea is unprecedented.
  A US agency believes that Kim Jong Un does
  have nuclear weapons
  
  Over several weeks, the regime has declared itself to be in a "state of war"
  with the South, announced that a mothballed nuclear site is to be reopened and
  threatened to carry out nuclear attacks against the US.
  
  
  Mr Kerry arrives in the region as confusion surfaced in Washington over the
  true status of North Korea’s nuclear capability.
  
  
  The broad consensus is that while Kim Jong Un does poses nuclear devices and
  has crossed the "nuclear threshold", he does not have the capability to launch a
  nuclear missile.
  
  
  However, at a congressional hearing on Thursday night, it emerged that one US
  government agency believes that Kim Jong Un does have nuclear weapons which
  could be placed inside a ballistic missile and fired.
  
  
  "[The] Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) assesses with moderate confidence
  the North currently has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic
  missiles, however the reliability will be low," said Republican US
  Representative Doug Lamborn, quoting from a March 2013 DIA report which was
  inadvertently labelled "unclassified".
  North Korea is celebrating a year in office
  for Kim Jong Un
  
  The Pentagon was quick to issue a written clarification on the matter.
  
  
  "In today's House Armed Services Committee hearing on the Department of
  Defence budget, a member of the committee read an unclassified passage in a
  classified report on North Korea's nuclear capabilities," Pentagon spokesman
  George Little said.
  
  
  "While I cannot speak to all the details of a report that is classified in
  its entirety, it would be inaccurate to suggest that the North Korean regime has
  fully tested, developed, or demonstrated the kinds of nuclear capabilities
  referenced in the passage."
  
  
  North Korea has said that it does possess advanced nuclear devices.
  
  
  This whole crisis stems from Pyongyang’s desire to pursue a nuclear programme
  which it says it needs to defend itself from "American aggression".
  
  
  By manufacturing this crisis, Kim Jong Un is likely to be demonstrating
  strength domestically and thus bolstering his legitimacy.
  
  
  Internationally, he is determined that his country is taken seriously as as a
  nuclear power.
  
  
  He would want an acceptance from the Americans that he is part of the
  ‘nuclear club’ as a pretext to any negotiations to end this crisis.
  

John Kerry visits China to press Beijing over N
Korea





The BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Beijing: "Threatened with
nuclear war, America is now looking to China to help defuse this crisis"

Continue
reading the main story

Korea crisis

• China's role
  
• Should we fear?
  
• Key figures
  
• Kerry's test
  

US Secretary of State John Kerry is
in Beijing to urge China's leaders to use their influence on North Korea to
reduce regional tensions.

Speaking to President Xi Jinping, Mr Kerry said the world was facing a
"critical time".

Mr Kerry's four-day tour of Asia comes amid speculation that North Korea is
preparing for a missile launch.

He has said that as the closest ally of Pyongyang China should "put some
teeth" into urging restraint.

A flurry of warlike statements from Pyongyang has prompted speculation that
it might launch a missile - possibly on 15 April, when the country marks the
101st birthday of the nation's founder and former leader, Kim Il-sung.

Continue reading the main story
Analysis


Celia Hatton BBC Beijing correspondent

---

This is John Kerry's first visit to China as secretary of state, but he
doesn't have the luxury of time to build a strong rapport with China's new
leaders. Instead, he will try to convince Chinese officials to use their
considerable economic leverage over North Korea to force the country to tone
down its nuclear threats.

Many of Mr Kerry's predecessors have attempted to achieve the same thing, but
it has been difficult to cajole Beijing into changing its long-standing policy
towards its historical ally, North Korea.

Chinese leaders will also have some demands of their own: some in Beijing
believe it is unfair for the US to place the burden for diffusing tensions in
East Asia squarely on China's shoulders. Instead, they argue Washington needs to
do more to make North Korea feel secure.

While visiting Seoul, Mr Kerry voiced his support for a future unified Korea
- one that would almost certainly spell the end to North Korea's current regime
and would presumably, be loyal to Washington. So far, that is a development that
neither Kim Jong-un nor China wish to see.

North Korea has reportedly moved at least two Musudan
ballistic missiles to its east coast, but on Saturday, South Korea's Yonhap news
agency quoted officials in Seoul as saying that no new movement of the mobile
launchers had been detected for two days.

Since the UN imposed fresh sanctions on North Korea in February, its
leadership has promised to restart a mothballed nuclear reactor, has shut an
emergency military hotline to South Korea, and has urged diplomatic staff to
leave, saying it cannot guarantee their safety.

The North says it has also been angered by joint US-South Korean military
exercises.

Though North Korean rhetoric has been more bellicose than usual, analysts say
it fits a long-standing pattern, and may be intended to boost the popularity of
Kim Jong-un, who came to power last year.
'Defuse this
tension'
After arriving in Beijing on Saturday and holding talks with his counterpart,
Wang Yi, Mr Kerry told Mr Xi the world was facing "a critical time with some
very challenging issues".

Among them were Korean tensions but also "the challenge of Iran and nuclear
weapons, Syria and the Middle East, and economies around the world that are in
need of a boost", he said.

He later said he and Mr Xi had had "constructive and forward-leaning" talks,
without giving further details, Reuters reports.

Mr Xi did not comment directly on North Korea or the content of his
discussions with Mr Kerry, but said the US-China was "at a new historical stage
and has got off to a good start".

China's Foreign Ministry repeated its call for peace and dialogue, Reuters
reports.

On Friday, during a visit to the South Korean capital, Seoul, Mr Kerry said
the US would protect itself and its allies, and that his talks in Beijing would
aim to "lay out a path that will defuse this tension".

Continue reading the main story
Musudan missile

• The Musudan, also known as the Nodong-B or the Taepodong-X, is an
  intermediate-range ballistic missile. Its likely targets are Okinawa, Japan, and
  US bases in the Pacific
  
• Range estimates differ dramatically. Israeli intelligence suggests 2,500km,
  while the US Missile Defense Agency estimates 3,200km; other sources put the
  upper limit at 4,000km
  
• These differences are due in large part to the fact that the missile has
  never been tested publicly, according to the Center for Nonproliferation
  Studies. Its payload is also unknown
  

• Missile defences in the region
  
• North Korea's missile
  programme
  

He said no country had a closer relationship with
Pyongyang than China.

Beijing, like Washington, wanted denuclearisation on the peninsula, he said,
adding: "If that's your policy, you've got to put some teeth into it."

He warned North Korea against any missile launch, saying it would be a
"provocation and unwanted act" which would further isolate North Korea and its
people who, he said "are desperate for food, not missile launches".

China is North Korea's only ally and major trading partner, but has grown
increasingly frustrated with its growing belligerence.

The BBC's Celia Hatton in Beijing said Mr Kerry will be pressuring China to
use its economic leverage to force its rebellious ally to tone down its
threats.

But in turn, China is pushing the US to do more to make North Korea feel
secure, says our correspondent.

In Seoul, Mr Kerry voiced his support for the vision of a reunified Korean
peninsula - so far a development neither Chinese nor Korean leadership want to
see, she adds.

Mr Kerry will continue his tour on Sunday by travelling to Tokyo.




North Korean television has been showing various celebrations
despite its increasingly bellicose rhetoric

Russia has also expressed growing concern over North Korea and said on Friday
that it had issued "an urgent appeal" to Pyongyang "to refrain from actions
which could lead to further escalation of tension".

Some estimates suggest that the missiles North Korea has moved to its east
coast could travel 4,000km (2,500 miles), although it is not believed that the
Musudan has been tested before.

That reach would put US bases on the Pacific island of Guam within range.


US officials including Mr Kerry have been playing down a leaked report from
the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) which warned there was "moderate"
confidence Pyongyang had developed the technology to mount a nuclear warhead on
a missile.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Pyongyang had "not demonstrated the
capability to deploy a nuclear-armed missile".

LSE: BBC N Korea Report Put Students At Risk


The London School of Economics claims the state broadcaster
put its students at risk while secretly filming in North Korea.


5:51am UK,
Sunday 14 April 2013



Video: LSE Anger At BBC Programme (file
image)
Enlarge

• 
  
  
  
  
  By Stephen Douglas, Sky News Reporter
  
  The London School of Economics says the BBC deceived its students
  and put them in serious danger while making a Panorama programme in North
  Korea.
  
  It has asked the BBC to withdraw Panorama: North Korea Undercover, which is
  due to air on Monday night, and issue a full apology.
  
  The
  LSE said three people working for the BBC used a student trip as
  cover to get into North Korea, but the students were not told who they worked
  for.
  The LSE wants the programme
  pulled
  They were only told that "a journalist" would be accompanying them.
  
  The LSE said reporter John Sweeney also claimed to be one of their PhD
  students to gain entry to the secretive state.
  
  The director of the LSE, Professor Craig Calhoun, told Sky News that the BBC
  put the students at risk.
  
  "There were lies and deception from the outset, putting the students at risk
  and creates a serious future problem for those who go to do future research or
  student travel," he said.
  
  "There is an unwillingness to take responsibility for the risks they've
  caused."
  
  Two students on the trip and a parent of one of those who went to North Korea
  have also raised concerns about the actions of the BBC.
  
  In a statement, the broadcaster said: "We recognised that because it could
  increase the risks of the trip, the students should be told in advance that a
  journalist intended to travel with them, in order to enable the students to make
  their decision about whether they wanted to proceed.
  The BBC journalists secretly filmed in the
  rogue state
  "They were given this information, and were reminded of it again, in time to
  have been able to change their plans if they wanted to.
  
  "The students were all explicitly warned about the potential risks of
  travelling to North Korea with the journalist as part of their group.
  
  "This included a warning about the risk of arrest and detention and that they
  might not be allowed to return to North Korea in the future.
  
  "Transmission will go ahead as planned."
  
  The BBC confirmed to Sky News that the LSE is not mentioned in the
  programme.
  
• Related Stories
  
• North Korea: US Urges China To Help End Crisis
  
• North Korea: Defector Reveals Harrowing Escape
  

North Korea Rebuffs Talks As A 'Crafty Trick'


The reclusive nation dismisses the South's call for
negotiations, as the US and Japan discuss the mounting crisis.


11:26am UK,
Sunday 14 April 2013

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has threatened missile
strikes for weeks



US tourist Andrea Lee, who is on a group tour in
Pyongyang, says her perception is North Koreans do not hate Americans, do not
want war, but actually want peace.

Video: N Korea: Inside The Tourist
Bubble
Enlarge

• 
  
• 
  

North Korea has rejected the South's call to negotiate to resolve
the nuclear crisis, calling it a "crafty trick".


The development came as US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Japan for
the last leg of his four-day Asia tour aimed at reining in Pyongyang's nuclear
ambitions.


South Korea last week urged the North to discuss stalled operations at a
joint factory complex and other issues.


But an unidentified spokesman at the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification
of Korea said on Sunday that Pyongyang had no intention of talking with Seoul
unless it abandoned its confrontational posture.
John Kerry with Japan's foreign minister Fumio
Kishida

It came as Mr Kerry held meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and
also with Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, who said North Korea could not be
allowed to possess nuclear weapons.


Both countries reaffirmed their commitment deal with the threat posed by
North Korea - and talk to its leader Kim Jong-Un if he was prepared to stick to
previous agreements on its nuclear programme.


In the past few weeks, North Korea has declared itself to be in a "state of
war" with the South, announced that a mothballed nuclear site is to be reopened
and threatened to carry out nuclear attacks against the US.


Japan, separated by less than 1,000km (625 miles) of water and a frequent
target of Pyongyang's anger, is in easy range, and has deployed Patriot missiles
around Tokyo in anticipation of a missile launch by the North.
An anti-North Korea rally in Seoul on
Sunday

Speculation has been building since the North was reported to have loaded two
mid-range Musudan missiles on mobile launchers and hidden them in underground
facilities on its eastern coast.


The move last week prompted the US
to bring forward its drone deployment to Japan and send an unmanned
spy plane to its airbase in Misawa, in northern Japan.


The Musudan have never been tested but are believed to have a range of around
3,000km (1,860 miles), which could theoretically be pushed to 4,000km (2,485
miles).


That would cover any target in South Korea and Japan, and possibly even reach
US military bases located on the Pacific island of Guam - which Pyongyang has
threatened to strike.
US soldiers on a training exercise in
Yeoncheon, northeast of Seoul

In Seoul, Mr Kerry warned North Korea it would do everything within its means
to defend its allies - and that it would be making a "huge mistake" if it
launched one of its medium-range missiles during the current standoff.


Japan is a firm ally of the US, More than 35,000 US military personnel are
based across the islands.


Both nations share the view that the solution to the North Korean problem
lies with Beijing.


Sky's Alex Rossi, who is in Tokyo, said: "The message that the Secretary of
State will bring here to Tokyo is that the security alliance between Japan and
Washington is very much in tact, and the United States will do everything it can
to protect its ally.


"There is a feeling here of course that if North Korea does decide to do
something stupid, Japan may very well be in the firing line.
Female Korean soldiers on patrol in their high
heels

"Tomorrow is the birthday - the 101st anniversary of the birth of the
founding father of North Korea, Kim Il Sung - and it is possible that a
medium-range missile may be tested or used."


On Saturday, the
top US diplomat met China's leaders to persuade them to push North
Korea, whose sole main ally is Beijing, to scale back its belligerence and
return to the negotiating table over its suspected nuclear aims.


Both nations agreed to seek a peaceful resolution to the crisis and to work
together to ensure a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.


Tensions have soared on the Korean peninsula since December, when North Korea
test-launched a long-range rocket. In February, it conducted its third nuclear
test, which drew fresh UN sanctions.


Mr Kerry said there had been enough confrontational language on North Korea
and he did not want to get into a cycle of threats and counter-threats with the
reclusive nation.

China breaking UN sanctions to support North Korea


As John Kerry arrives in Beijing, China continues to flout United Nations
sanctions in order to prop up Kim Jong-un's regime, The Sunday Telegraph can
reveal.








U.S. Secretary of State John
Kerry, left, speaks with China's Premier Li Keqiang during a meeting at the
Zhongnanhai compound in Beijing. Photo:
AP





By Malcolm Moore, Dandong

8:00PM BST 13 Apr 2013

222 Comments




There was never any clue from the outside that a cheap apartment on the 16th
floor of a tower block in the Chinese city of Dandong was in fact North Korea's
lifeline to the outside world.


But for nearly a decade, 1602 Huiyou Gardens was the Chinese office of an
organisation described by American investigators as a "key financial node in
North Korea's weapons of mass destruction apparatus".


Since it founded its Chinese branch in 2004, the Kwangson Bank, otherwise
known as the Foreign Trade Bank, helped channel billions of pounds of valuable
foreign currency to Pyongyang, money that was used to finance North Korea's
nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles programmes.


So when the Chinese authorities shut down the branch office last month, 10
days after the United Nations Security Council imposed fresh sanctions on North
Korea, it seemed a clear sign that Beijing had finally lost patience with Kim
Jong-un's truculent, unpredictable, and increasingly belligerent regime.



"It is a big hit for North Korea! China is implementing the UN Security
Council resolution," wrote one Chinese government-owned newspaper in Hong Kong.




Related Articles

• 
  North Korea rejects talks with South
  
  14 Apr 2013
  
• 
  North Korea: Seoul in the shadow of
  aggression
  14 Apr 2013
  
• 
  China agrees to help America to defuse North
  Korea nuclear crisis
  13 Apr 2013
  
• 
  John Kerry arrives in China on mission to
  pressure North Korea
  13 Apr 2013
  
• 
  Analysis: China's limited options to tame unruly
  North Korea
  12 Apr 2013
  
• 
  A bomb is one thing, a warhead is another
  
  12 Apr 2013
  

Several visits last week confirmed that the branch office, conveniently close
to the North Korean consulate, was indeed deserted. Neighbours professed
amazement that the axis of evil had been just next door.

Meanwhile, at least two of China's big state-owned banks were ordered to shut
down their own accounts with Kwangson, whose imposing Soviet-style offices are
in the heart of the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, next to Kim Il-sung Square.


Dandong, a grimy city of nearly 800,000 people that is separated from North
Korea by the Yalu river, is Pyongyang's only major link to the outside world.


Full of smugglers, spies and military officers it often feels as if the
normal rules do not apply in this shady border town.

Around 70 per cent of the £4 billion of annual trade between North Korea and
China flows through the city, and there is, perhaps, another £6.5 billion of
black-market trade.

A key oil pipeline here provides the rogue state with 80 per cent of its fuel
needs, and China, which is Pyongyang's only remaining ally, demands a high price
for the privilege.

Dandong has also traditionally been the channel for the valuable foreign
currency that North Korean leaders spend to acquire the imports they personally
covet. Their shopping list includes luxury food and fine wine, Apple iMacs for
Kim Jong-un, 30, as well as Chinese-built missile launchers and components for
their nuclear arsenal.

But with tensions on the Korean peninsula at their highest for years, it is
widely being suggested that the cosy relationship between China and North Korea
is unravelling.

"No one should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into
chaos for selfish gains," said Xi Jinping, the new Chinese president, in
comments seen as a sharp rebuke to Pyongyang.

If China really were to cool its relationship with its neighbour, this could
dramatically change the situation on the peninsula. Indeed, without China's
support throughout its entire existence, North Korea's regime might have
collapsed long ago.

"China's attitude towards North Korea has changed unprecedentedly since
February," said Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin
University, adding that a decision last week to halt Chinese tourism across the
border at Dandong was another clear signal of displeasure from Beijing to
Pyongyang.

Bonnie Glaser, of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in
Washington, said: "The Chinese expected Kim Jong-un, who was brought up in the
West, would come in and make some economic reforms - and, as a young man, would
show some respect for his elders and for the people giving him food. But he has
been nothing but defiant."

She also said that a high-ranking Chinese military officer and the head of a
major Chinese think tank had both told her last week that China was "taking
action" against the North.

When Kim Jong-Un took over after the death of his father Kim Jong-il in late
2011, Beijing had expected him to follow the Chinese model of reforming the
economy while keeping the political system under firm control.

But North Korean officials have fretted that embracing capitalism would not
only undermine the ideology that keeps them in power, but also grant China
dangerously unfettered access to their market.

In Dandong, Chinese frustration with the North's intransigence is palpable.
Billions of renminbi (or yuan, or hundreds of millions of pounds) have been
poured into a joint economic zone that has now stalled.

The skeleton of what would have been a giant suspension bridge between the
two countries stands forlornly at the site. Dozens of Chinese built skyscrapers,
in anticipation of a boom, are empty and now, apparently, sinking into the soggy
river banks.

Yet despite their frustration with Pyongyang, however, investigations in
Dandong by The Sunday Telegraph last week suggest that the Chinese still
prefer the devil they know. North Korea, even with its endless bluster and war
threats, remains a country with which it can work, and represents a crucial
buffer against what China sees as an American attempt to "encircle" it. If the
regime collapsed, China would either be forced to take over the running of the
country, or risk the possibility that it is subsumed into South Korea, bringing
pro-western forces right to the Chinese border.

Which is why, on a single morning last week at the main branch of the Bank of
Dandong, 11 people had no difficulty in transferring money from within China to
the capital of North Korea despite the new UN sanctions.

While Kwangson bank may have lost its branch office, it is now possible
instead to send money through this smaller local, but still state-run, bank.


Inside the branch, Wu Junhong, an assistant to the manager, held up a
completed transfer slip. "Look," she said, "We just sent across €15,000 to
Pyongyang - it's that easy.

"It takes one day, and you can send as much money as you like, there is no
upper limit. And we offer five different currency options: dollars, euros, yen,
Korean won and Chinese yuan."

Ms Wu added that it was also still possible to transfer money from other
banks in the city, but that the cash would be rerouted through the Bank of
Dandong.

"You can use an account anywhere to send money to North Korea. It will just
take you slightly longer and they will charge you for it."

Before the raid that closed the Kwangson Bank's office last month, account
holders are said by some to have been tipped off, enabling them to come to
withdraw their money in advance before it was frozen.

Wang Yuangang, a Chinese businessman in Dandong with a Kwangson account, said
the closure had only been "an inconvenience".

"I only had a tiny bit of money in the account," he said. "Of course my
business has been affected by what is going on, but not because there have been
any sudden changes. It is only because the development of the economy has been
very slow on the Korean side."

Despite China's public protestations, trade from Dandong continues to
flourish. Each day, scores of lorries queue up outside the city's customs house
to transport grain, fertiliser and containers of goods into North Korea. And the
city remains a magnet for rich North Koreans.

"They buy everything as soon as it is released," said a young salesman at a
store selling Apple products. "They buy the most expensive and best items. Some
customers will come in and buy 40 or 50 iPhone 5s or iPads to take back with
them."

The Chinese are also accused of turning a blind eye to sanctions against what
is now the North Korean economy's only money-earning export - weapons. The
country still produces ageing Soviet-era technology that finds black market
buyers in some of the more bankrupt African nations, but much of it gets
intercepted during routine inspections of North Korean ships.

During one interception in South African port of Durban in 2010, however,
officials discovered North Korean tank parts and other military equipment,
apparently bound for the Congo, that had been loaded behind sacks of rice in the
port of Dalian in north-east China. Diplomats said it was suspicious that the
parts were not spotted by Chinese customs agents - and believe that such illicit
trade may still be going on.

"One of the main effects of the UN sanctions regime has been to authorise
weapons seizures, but that will remain a largely ineffective measure until the
Chinese implement it," said a former Western diplomat.

And although the newest round of United Nations sanctions specifically ban
the sale to North Koreans of luxury items including jewellery, gemstones, and
pearls, the shops that line Qi Jing street in Dandong reported a brisk trade
with customers from across the nearby border.

"We sell them necklaces like this one," said a saleswoman at China Gold,
pointing to a delicate floral filigree, studded with gems and priced at the
equivalent of £3,600. "The North Koreans who come here are usually government
officials or businessmen and they are really rich."

Indeed, while few people have even heard of the sanctions in Dandong, even
fewer seem to care about them.

At the Bank of Dandong, Mrs Wu laughed at the suggestion that the sanctions
might have stopped the flow of money. "How is that possible?" she asked.

"Business is still going on. We have lots of people every day."



Additional reporting: Colin Freeman

North Korea Brands US An 'Enemy' Of The State


A North Korean ambassador attacks the US, as the reclusive
nation marks its founder's birthday amid fears of a missile launch.


2:47pm UK,
Monday 15 April 2013



Video: Missile Fears On N Korea
Birthday
Enlarge

• 
  
  North Korea marks the 101st birthday of its late founder Kim Il Sung with
  celebrations in the capital Pyongyang.
  
  1 of 6
  
• 
  
  Kim Jung Un watched the celebrations in the capital Pyongyang.
  
  2 of 6
  
• 
  
  Tens of thousands of people celebrated the unveiling of new statues of Kim Il
  Sung and the son who succeeded him Kim Jong Il.
  
  3 of 6
  
• 
  
  
  
  4 of 6
  
• 
  
  
  
  5 of 6
  
• 
  
  
  
  6 of 6
  

PreviousNext
Gallery: North Korea's Birthday
Celebrations
Enlarge

• 
  
  
  
  
  North Korea has attacked the United States and rebuffed fresh
  calls from its only ally China to give up its nuclear programme.
  
  
  As the sun set on Pyongyaang after a day of peaceful, nationwide colourful
  festivities celebrating the 101st anniversary of the birth of its founding
  father Kim Il Sung, the threat of a missile launch remained as its ambassador to
  China continued its aggressive rhetoric.
  Ji Jae-ryong looks at photo albums on display
  at an exhibition in Beijing
  
  Ji Jae-ryong used the opening of an exhibition marking the event on Monday in
  Beijing to brand the US an "enemy" of the state and to boast of North Korea's
  might as a "nuclear state and military power".
  
  
  "Currently, enemy powers such as the United States are exerting unprecedented
  military and political suppression on our country," he said.
  
  
  "But we have unswervingly demonstrated the power of a nuclear state and a
  military power, and firmly maintained peace and stability on the peninsula, and
  even in Northeast Asia and the whole world.
  
  
  "And that is because we embrace comrade Kim Jong-Un as the top leader of our
  party and military," he said, referring to the North's unpredictable young new
  leader.
  
  
  "As long as we follow the lead of comrade Kim Jong-Un, we are bound to obtain
  the great success of socialism," he added.
  North Koreans bow to statues of their former
  leaders
  
  There has been fears North Korea might use the national holiday to
  demonstrate its military capability.
  
  
  Tens of thousands of people gathered in the capital Pyongyang to celebrate
  the unveiling of new statues of Kim Il Sung and the son who succeeded him, Kim
  Jong Il.
  
  
  But there were concerns North Korea may launch a medium-range ballistic
  missile as the Communist state has made a habit of linking high-profile military
  tests with key dates in its calendar.
  
  
  The centenary of Kim's birth last year was preceded by a long-range rocket
  test that ended in failure.
  
  
  Earlier, Kim's grandson and current dynastic leader Kim Jong-Un visited the
  Pyongyang mausoleum to pay "high tribute in humblest reverence" where his
  grandfather's body lies embalmed, the official Korean Central News Agency
  said.
  
  
  He also visited the embalmed body of his father, who died in December
  2011.
  Athletes from 16 nations were cheered into Kim
  Il Sung Stadium
  
  And despite North Korea's warnings that the threat of war on the Korean
  Peninsula is so high it cannot guarantee the safety of foreign residents, it
  hosted athletes from around the world for its biggest international marathon yet
  ahead of the celebrations.
  
  
  After racing through Pyongyang, athletes from 16 nations including hundreds
  of North Korean runners were cheered into Kim Il Sung Stadium by tens of
  thousands of spectators.
  
  
  North Korea's official media said the 26th Mangyongdae Prize Marathon was
  larger than previous years and that enthusiasm was "high among local marathoners
  and their coaches as never before".
  
  
  After the race, competitors then filled a performance hall for a gala concert
  featuring ethnic Korean performers brought in from China, Russia and Japan as
  part of the birthday events.
  
  
  "The feeling is like, I came last year already, the situation is the same,"
  said Taiwan runner Chang Chia-che, who finished 15th.
  South Koreans burn effigies of the North's
  past and present leaders
  
  Tourists too were invited to join in the birthday celebrations. Hannah
  Barraclough, who is a tour guide with the Koryo Group travel agency, told
  Sky News there was no sense of a nation on a war-footing.
  
  
  "When we come here we are treated very well - they take the role of host very
  seriously," she said.
  
  
  The Korean peninsula has been in a state of heightened military tension since
  the North carried out its third nuclear test in February.
  
  
  Incensed by fresh UN sanctions and joint South Korea-US military exercises,
  Pyongyang has spent weeks issuing blistering threats of missile strikes and
  nuclear war.
  
  
  US Secretary of State John Kerry, in Japan on the last leg of an Asian tour
  dominated by the crisis, said the US was prepared to talk to North Korea if it
  took "meaningful steps" towards peace.
  
  
  "The United States remains open to authentic and credible negotiations on
  denuclearisation, but the burden is on Pyongyang," he said. "North Korea must
  take meaningful steps to show it will honour commitments it has already
  made."
  
• Related Stories
  

=============================
The US insists North Korea should not have Nuclear capability and North Korea insists it will not enter into negotiations until the West
including the US accept it has nuclear capabilities....stalemate .

North Korea demands end to sanctions before talks with US


North Korea has said it will only engage in renewed dialogue with the United
States about disarmament if U.N sanctions against the country are dropped.








North Korean soldiers chat as
they stand guard on the river bank of the North Korean town of
Sinuiju Photo:
AP





By Tom Phillips in Shanghai

3:49AM BST 18 Apr 2013




The sanctions resolutions by the U.N. Security Council that were fabricated
with unjust reasons must be withdrawn,” senior military leaders in North Korea
announced through the state-run KCNA news agency.


“If the United States and the puppet South have the slightest desire to avoid
the sledge-hammer blow of our army and the people ... and truly wish dialogue
and negotiations, they must make the resolute decision,” the statement, from the
National Defense Commission, added.


North Korea’s military also demanded guarantees that the United States would
refrain from engaging in what it called “nuclear war practice”.


The demands came a day after South Korea’s president, Park Geun-hye, called
on foreign ambassadors in Seoul to address Pyongyang “with one voice.”



“We must break the vicious cycle of threat and provocation leading to
negotiation and support, and then again threat and provocation leading to more
negotiation and more support,” she reportedly said.



Related Articles

• 
  Kim Jong-un honours grandfather
  17 Apr 2013
  
• 
  US helicopter crashes near N Korea
  16 Apr 2013
  
• 
  N Koreans mark founder's birthday with flowers
  and music
  15 Apr 2013
  
• 
  How to visit North Korea
  15 Apr 2013
  

Tensions on the Korean peninsula have been escalating since February 12, when
North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test.

On Tuesday, North Korea warned its southern neighbour that the country was
now “simmering with towering resentment” towards Seoul.

“Our retaliatory action will start without any notice,” KCNA reported.

Those threats came after the US Secretary of State John Kerry warned that
China was fast losing patience with its neighbour’s “provocations.”

“North Korea has a long-time association and a strong relationship with
China,” he said. But China is not happy with what is happening now. There is no
question about that.”