South Korea Vows ‘Enormous Retaliation’ After North’s Deadly Island Bombardment

Suriel
You found us my friend .
Warm welcome in the Mists
So nice to see you around .

Love from me


mudra

Thanks Mudra. It is good to be with you again. I look forward to our interesting posts. Now all is right in the Universe. Or at least in our Universe.

Suriel... you found us. I had hoped this was some more posturing by NK but even Japan is very worried and China is not happy.

Note: WWII

With the onset of World War II, numerous challenges confronted the American people. The government found it necessary to ration food, gas, and even clothing during that time. Americans were asked to conserve on everything. With not a single person unaffected by the war, rationing meant sacrifices for all.

In the spring of 1942, the Food Rationing Program was set into motion. Rationing would deeply affect the American way of life for most. The federal government needed to control supply and demand. Rationing was introduced to avoid public anger with shortages and not to allow only the wealthy to purchase commodities...

While some food items were scarce, others did not require rationing, and Americans adjusted accordingly. "Red Stamp" rationing covered all meats, butter, fat, and oils, and with some exceptions, cheese. Each person was allowed a certain amount of points weekly with expiration dates to consider. "Blue Stamp" rationing covered canned, bottled, frozen fruits and vegetables, plus juices and dry beans, and such processed foods as soups, baby food and ketchup. Ration stamps became a kind of currency with each family being issued a "War Ration Book." Each stamp authorized a purchase of rationed goods in the quantity and time designated, and the book guaranteed each family its fair share of goods made scarce, thanks to the war...

In addition to food, rationing encompassed clothing, shoes, coffee, gasoline, tires, and fuel oil. With each coupon book came specifications and deadlines...

Rationing resulted in one serious side effect: the black market, where people could buy rationed items on the sly, but at higher prices... For the most part, black marketeers dealt in clothing and liquor in Britain, and meat, sugar and gasoline in the United States...

After three years of rationing, World War II came to a welcome end. Rationing, however, did not end until 1946.
www.u-s-history.com

Suriel wrote:Thanks Mudra. It is good to be with you again. I look forward to our interesting posts. Now all is right in the Universe. Or at least in our Universe.

Bumpy road but just a ride.
I have no doubt we will make it to the other side of the veil.
Let's stay grounded in our Hearts.

Love from me
mudra

Hello Carol. It is also good to connect with you again.

Overall, I believe the general public does not want a war to escalate. But it seems the media is emphasizing the possible war in the headlines. I watched the video of the artillery attack from North Korea. It looked staged to me. Although if it was real, it is unfortunate for the few soldiers that lost their lives. It is the Holidays. What a better time to get something going right? The Dollar went up slightly from the attack. Obama is even playing basketball.

It is important to watch how China reacts. So far so good.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/8153231/Amateur-footage-of-North-Korea-attack-on-Yeonpyeong-island.html


560
315
TelegraphPlayer-8153231
9:30AM GMT 23 Nov 2010

The attack, which comes days after it emerged that North Korea was pressing ahead with its illegal nuclear programme, marks a serious further escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The incident is believed to have been sparked by South Korean military exercises in the area, which the North had objected to.

Officials said “dozens” of artillery rounds had landed on Yeonpyeong Island at in the Yellow Sea, 50 miles off the South’s northwest coast in an area close to a disputed sea border. Other reports suggested around 200 shells could have been fired in the attack which began at 2.34pm local time (7.34am GMT).

N. Korea deploys SA-2 surface-to-air missiles near Yellow Sea border
SEOUL, Nov. 28 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has deployed SA-2 surface-to-air missiles to its west coast near the Yellow Sea border with South Korea as U.S.-led naval drills got underway in a show of force against the North's deadly artillery attack on a South Korean island earlier last week, government sources said Sunday.

"(The missiles) appear to be targeting our fighter jets that fly near the Northern Limit Line (NLL)," the source said on customary condition of anonymity, referring to the Yellow Sea border.

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2010/11/28/0200000000AEN20101128000700315.HTML

Those on Yeonpyeong being allowed to leave shelters.

Yonhap quoting #ROK military says "signs" of fresh shelling detected on Yeonpyeong. #Koreas

We've now got reliable info that both surface-to-surface & surface-to-air missiles being readied in N. Korea on the west coast.

DPRK reiterates threat to it back if territorial waters violated. USN says current exercise will not include live fire. #Koreas


http://twitter.com/W7VOA

South Korea cancels planned artillery drills on island

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/898250--south-korea-cancels-planned-artillery-drills-on-island?bn=1

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA—

South Korea’s military said Monday that new artillery drills planned for the front-line island targeted in last week’s deadly North Korean bombardment were postponed, hours after authorities on the island announced the exercises.

Similar live-fire manoeuvres by South Korean troops one week earlier triggered the North’s bombardment that decimated parts of Yeonpyeong Island, killed four people and drew return fire in a clash that set the region on edge.

The new drills originally planned for Tuesday could have had even higher stakes: South Korean and American warships are currently engaged in separate military exercises in nearby waters.

Officials at the Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters Monday that the latest drills were postponed, saying that the marine unit on the island mistakenly had announced the drills without getting approval from higher military authorities. They spoke on condition of anonymity, citing agency rules.

This is a good thing ...... Yes!

Micjer wrote:South Korea cancels planned artillery drills on island

This is a good thing ...... Yes!

Yes good move :)
Personnally I have a feeling nothing is going to take place over there.
Just gorillas showing their muscles behind the bars of their cages and trying to intimidate one another.
Well I hope I am right

Love from me
mudra

That was my first take on it as well mudra but it could have turned nasty and life was lost.

Carol wrote:That was my first take on it as well mudra but it could have turned nasty and life was lost.

Some years ago I realized " karma " disintegrates by embracing it .
In other words the less we fear the better the outcome.
Know , expose , face and at the same time let go .
Consciousness is driving the show .

Love from me
mudra

Indeed. And now with the Internet the entire world watches. I discovered long ago that transparancy tends to put one on better behavior.

North Korea’s Military Strength. No Pushovers!
Update on the tremendous N. Korean militairy force.

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread634350/pg1

Note: imo wars are won by determination.
The sheer belief in the cause one is fighting for.

Already in 1943, Martin Bormann - Hitler's 'successor to be' - set an operation at work, that would enable the Nazi Party's continuaton in case the war was lost. The Fourth Reich. Farrell's excellent book 'Nazi International' describes this process in detail.

The Nazi Party NEVER surrendered, ONLY the German Armed Forces signed the capatulation documents with the Allies.

I agree totally. So would Jim Marrs.

Like a sleeping volcano it is starting to awaken in the USA, especially. Freedoms are disappearing.

Perhaps the Foundation X is the chinese!

Haha. Answered my own post. Not according to this article.

The country should raise its gold holdings and its 1,054 tons of reserves are inadequate compared with the 8,133 tons held by the U.S. and 3,408 tons by Germany, Meng Qingfa, a researcher at the China Chamber of International Commerce, said on Oct. 27.

.Gold Imports by China Soar Almost Fivefold as Inflation Spurs Investment

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-02/china-gold-imports-jump-almost-fivefold-as-inflation-outlook-spurs-demand.html

I must admit the Chinese has been in my conscious awareness as of late as we have several guests from China who spend hours at Mists, along with a number of other guests from interesting places. Anyway, I would hope being the world power that they are that they would step in with with NK and deal with the situation in a positive manner for all concerned. With all the upcoming earth changes one would hope it would be of benefit to humankind to work together.

The collapse of Financial Institutions is also interesting to follow because one wonders how the financial world will look following an event like this. This is pretty major. If the nations of the planet decide to stick with currency, next, I expect future money to have strips or threads of precious metals (silver or gold) woven into them so folks know if paper money if of any value or just paper.

http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/seoul-threatens-to-bomb-north-korea-us-japan-launch-drills/19743027?icid=main%7Cnetscape%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk1%7C187981

Seoul Threatens to Bomb North; US, Japan Launch Drills

(Dec. 3) -- South Korea is vowing to bomb its northern rival if Pyongyang attacks again, and U.S. and Japanese forces are practicing for regional war in their biggest-ever joint military exercises.

U.S. forces in Asia have been busy in the wake of North Korea's artillery bombardment of a southern island last week. Today's drills off Japan's coast include the USS George Washington, one of the world's largest nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, that's just back from similar drills in Korean waters earlier this week.

South Korean marines check a self-propelled surface-to-air missile system on Baengnyeong Island near the West Sea border with North Korea.

More than 44,000 Japanese and U.S. military personnel are taking part in the week-long war games, along with 40 Japanese ships and 20 American ones, plus hundreds of aircraft, the BBC reported. Japan's defense minister, Toshimi Kitazawa, said the drills were planned well in advance and "are not targeting a specific country," China's Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.

But in an unprecedented move, South Korean "observers" are on hand as well -- a sign of more regional coordination in efforts to deter Pyongyang. South Korea is also set to launch more live-fire drills on its own next week.

"If there are further provocations, we will definitely use aircraft to bomb North Korea," Kim Kwan-jin, a retired South Korean general, said at a parliamentary hearing today confirming him as the country's new defense minister, Reuters reported. He said he would not hesitate to authorize a bombing campaign of the North if Pyongyang attacks again.

There was no immediate response from North Korea.

But Pyongyang's sole ally in the region, China, criticized today's exercises, saying it's better to try to talk with Pyongyang than to threaten force. "Those who brandish weapons are seen to be justified, yet China is criticized for calling for talks. Is that justified?" China's foreign ministry said in a statement excerpted by Al-Jazeera.

WikiLeaks: China May Be Fed Up With North Korea

TAIPEI, Taiwan (Dec. 3) -- U.S. State Department cables made public by WikiLeaks appear to confirm what many suspected: China is just as fed up with North Korea as the U.S. and other countries, despite its reluctance to speak out publicly.

Beijing is seen as the only government with influence over an increasingly dangerous and unpredictable regime in Pyongyang. It has come under sharp pressure from the U.S. to take a harder line, but so far has appeared reluctant to do so.

continued... http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/wikileaks-china-may-be-fed-up-with-north-korea-too/19743018

Spiralling out of Control: The Risk of a New Korean War
by Gregory Elich
Global Research, December 4, 2010

An artillery duel between North and South Korean forces on November 23 has set in motion a series of events which threaten to spiral out of control.

On November 22, South Korea began its annual military exercise, involving including 70,000 troops, dozens of South Korean and U.S. warships and some 500 aircraft. The following day, South Korean artillery stationed on Yeonpyeong Island began a live ammunition drill, firing shells into the surrounding sea.

The island is situated quite near to the North Korean mainland, and lies in disputed waters. At the end of the Korean War in 1953, U.S. General Mark Clark unilaterally established the western sea border to North Korea's disadvantage. Rather than in a perpendicular line, the Northern Limit Line was drawn to curve sharply upwards, handing over islands and a prime fishing area to the South that would otherwise have gone to North Korea. The North, having had no say in the delineation of its sea border, has never recognized the Northern Limit Line. (1)

South Korean troops have been based on the island since the end of the Korean War. There is also a small fishing village in close proximity to the military base; unavoidably so, given that the island is less than three square miles in size.

In response to the South Korean announcement of an impending artillery drill, North Korea telephoned the South Korean military on the morning of November 23, urging them to cancel plans to fire shells into what the North regarded as its territorial waters. The North warned that if the drill proceeded, they would respond with a "resolute physical counter-strike." (2)

Nevertheless, the artillery drill proceeded and four hours later, North Korean artillery fired on the island. In the first round, 150 shells were shot, of which 60 hit the island. Then 20 more shells were fired in a second round. In all, four people on the island were killed and 18 wounded. (3)

The South Korean military telegraphed the North, asking them to cease, but to no avail. Then their artillery returned fire at the North, firing 80 shells. One shell directly hit a North Korean military barracks. Although many of the shells appeared to have inflicted little damage, an official at the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff noted, "Satellite images show our shells landed on a cluster of barracks in North Korea, so we presume there have been many casualties and considerable property damage." (4)

Facing a barrage of criticism from domestic hawks for having responded in too tepid a manner, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young resigned from his position. Yet the South Korean response probably could not have been increased significantly without risking a wider conflict.

During the drill, South Korean artillery on Yeonpyeong Island fired in a southward direction, away from the North Korean mainland, and this was not the first time that such drills had been conducted. North Korean forces could have made their point sufficiently by splashing some shells into the sea. Instead, they overreacted in a manner that manifested an inexcusable disregard for human life by targeting the island.

Why the North did so can best be explained by recent developments in relations between the two Koreas. This was, after all, the first artillery duel between the two nations in forty years, so something led to it.

President Lee Myung-bak of the conservative Grand National Party took office in February 2008, vowing to reverse the Sunshine Policy of warming relations with North Korea. The government of Lee's predecessor, Roh Moo-hyun, had signed several agreements on economic cooperation with North Korea, including joint mining operations in the North. Lee killed every one these agreements, ensuring that they would never be implemented. The railroad leading from the South to the North, which had just been reconnected under former President Roh, is now closed for good. That project had promised to benefit both Koreas, providing the South with a cheaper and more convenient route for shipping goods to China and Russia, and giving the North added income through user fees. South Korean tourist operations at Mt. Kumgang in the North are closed. Reunions of family members separated by the border have stopped. The only remaining remnant of the Sunshine Policy is the presence of South Korean firms operating at an industrial park in Kaesong, North Korea, and its days are probably numbered.

Then there was the incident in which the South Korean corvette Cheonan was sunk, in May of this year. In a stacked investigation, South Korea concluded that a North Korean submarine had targeted the vessel with a torpedo. The evidence, however, does not fully back that assertion and a Russian team's investigation determined that an accidental encounter with a sea mine was a more likely cause. (5) North Korea's repeated requests to participate in an investigation, or to at least view the evidence, were consistently rebuffed. Instead the Lee Administration utilized the incident to further sour relations between the two Koreas.

Perhaps most significantly, when Roh Moo-hyun was president of South Korea, emergency communication channels were established between the two Koreas, specifically for the purpose of opening dialogue and limiting or preventing armed conflicts whenever they arose or threatened to do so. On a number of occasions, those communication channels stopped potential conflicts before they either occurred or escalated. Those channels no longer exist, thanks to Lee's dismantling of agreements with North Korea, and as a result four South Koreans and an unknown number of North Koreans are now dead. (6)

That North Korea would feel threatened is not surprising. Its economy is crippled by the imposition of draconian Western sanctions, and the annual South Korean-U.S. military exercises are intended to intimidate. Furthermore, the rhetoric from Washington has been unremittingly hostile, and now with a more conservative government, so is South Korea's.

Nor is North Korea unaware of the fact that in February 2003, President Bush told Chinese President Jiang Zemin that if the nuclear issue could not be solved diplomatically, he would "have to consider a military strike against North Korea." (7) One month later, Bush ordered a fleet into the region, including the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. Six F-117 Stealth bombers were sent to South Korea, and nearly 50 fighters and bombers to Guam. The possibility of military action was on the table, Bush told a South Korean official. Due to the efforts of China and South Korea's progressive president at the time, Bush chose dialogue, albeit offset to a large degree by his imposition of further sanctions against North Korea. It has also certainly not gone unnoticed by North Korea that any halting diplomatic efforts have ceased altogether once President Obama took office. And with the pronounced deterioration in relations set in motion by President Lee Myung-bak, his administration has made it clear that he has no interest in diplomacy either.

Following the clash over Yeonpyeong, China called for dialogue and a reduction of tensions, sending envoys to both South and North Korea. It proposed that the six nations that had at one time participated in denuclearization talks, South and North Korea, the U.S., Japan, China and Russia, meet for emergency discussions "to exchange views on major issues of concern to the parties at present." The meetings would not be a resumption of talks on denuclearization, although China hoped that "they will create conditions for their resumption." Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei stated, "The starting point for China proposing emergency consultations is to ease the tensions on the Korean Peninsula and provide a platform of engagement and dialogue." (9)

The Chinese proposal should have been welcomed as the only sensible approach to the problem. But officials of the Obama Administration condemned China for being "irresponsible" by putting forth such a proposal. Instead, they urged China to get on board with the program of pressuring North Korea and further escalating tensions and the risk of war. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs snottily dismissed the proposal by saying that the U.S. and other nations "are not interested in stabilizing the region through a series of P.R. activities." (10)

South Korea, too, rejected China's proposal. The U.S., South Korea, and Japan willfully misrepresented China's proposal as merely being a call for a resumption of the six-party talks on denuclearization. Domestic audiences were not hearing that the proposal's purpose was to prevent further conflict. Instead, Japan said that talks would be "impossible" under the circumstances, while a South Korean official said that President Lee "made it clear that now is not the time for discussing" six-party talks. (11) Indeed. Not when one's goal is to further inflame the situation. To further that objective, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is meeting with the foreign secretaries of South Korea and Japan to map out a common program in dealing with North Korea. (12) It goes without saying that dialogue with North Korea will not be part of that program.

President Lee has promised to take a much harder line on North Korea, and already the South has sent 400,000 propaganda leaflets across the border on balloons. (13) There has also been talk of resuming loudspeaker broadcasts across the border. The sending of leaflets was in violation of a 2004 agreement between the two sides to halt propaganda campaigns aimed at each other.

By the end of December, South Korea plans to hold another round of artillery drills on islands lying in disputed waters, including, dismayingly enough, Yeonpyeong Island. Nothing could be calculated to be more provoking under the circumstances. In preparation for the response to the drills that are expected from North Korea, island defenses are being beefed up. South Korea has added multiple rocket launchers, howitzers, missile systems and advanced precision-guided artillery to the Yeonpyeong arsenal. (14)

According to a South Korean official, "We decided to stage the same kind of fire drill as the one we carried out on the island on November 23 to display our determination." (15)

The new drills appear calculated to provoke a conflict, and this time South Korea is intent on an asymmetrical response. The military is revising its rules of engagement so as to jettison concerns about starting a wider conflict. If former Defense Minister Kim Tae-young is to believed, if there is another North Korean strike, then warships and fighter jets of both South Korea and the U.S. will launch attacks on the North. (16)

Incoming Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin is if anything even more determined to fan the flames of conflict into a wider conflagration. The South Korean military will immediately launch "psychological warfare," including, presumably, loudspeaker broadcasts across the border. The North has promised to target loudspeakers if they are put in operation, and that would in turn provide the pretext for the South Korean military to launch combat operations. If there is another exchange of fire with the North, Kim announced, "We will definitely air raid North Korea." All combat forces available would be mobilized, he promised. The newly minted rules of engagement are also going to permit "preemptive" strikes on North Korea based on the presumption of a possible attack. In other words, if North Korea fails to provide a pretext for military action, the Lee Administration can attack the North without provocation, if it chooses to do so. (17)

Lee Myung-bak has already achieved his dream of demolishing the Sunshine Policy. Relations between the two Koreas are at their lowest point since the end of military dictatorship in South Korea. Now he aims to deliberately trigger armed conflict in order to demonstrate "toughness," and not incidentally, drive the final nail into the coffin of the Sunshine Policy. Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin feels that the risk of war is low. "It will be difficult for North Korea to conduct a full-scale war because there are some elements of insecurity in the country, such as the national economy and power transfer." (18) Those may be arguments against North Korea's ability to successfully sustain a long-term war over the course of a year or two, but it seriously misreads the ability and will of the North Korean military to put up a determined fight. The extent of possible South Korean air strikes on the North is not clear, but anything other than an extremely limited and localized action is likely to trigger total war. And that is a war that the U.S. will inevitably be drawn into. Even presuming a quick defeat of the North (which would be unlikely), eighty percent of North Korea is mountainous, providing ideal terrain for North Korean forces to conduct guerrilla warfare. The U.S. could find itself involved in another failing military occupation. With both sides heavily armed, the consequences could be much worse for Koreans, and casualties could reach alarming totals. Four million Koreans died in the Korean War. Even one percent of that total in a new war would be unconscionable, and Lee Myung-bak is deluded if he believes he can ride the tiger of armed conflict and remain in control of the path it takes.

Notes
(1) For a map of the Northern Limit Line and Yeonpyeong's placement, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_the_shelling_of_Yeonpyeong.svg The blue line identifies the Northern Limit Line recognized by South Korea and the U.S., and the red line, the border as recognized by North Korea. Yeonpyeong Island is marked #1 on the map.

(2) "Panmunjom Mission of KPA Sends Notice to U.S. Forces Side," KCNA (Pyongyang), November 25, 2010.

(3) "Military Under Fire for Response to N. Korean Attack," Chosun Ilbo (Seoul), November 25, 2010.

(4) "Military Suggests Counterfire Caused 'Many Casualties' in N. Korea," Yonhap (Seoul), December 2, 2010. Jung Sung-ki, "Satellite Image Shows Damages in NK Artillery Site," Korea Times (Seoul), December 2, 2010.

(5) http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=20367

(6) "Containment After N.Korea's Unacceptable Provocation," Hankyoreh (Seoul), November 24, 2010.

(7) Hwang Doo-hyong, "Bush Expresses Frustration at China's Reluctance to Dissuade N. Korea from Going Nuclear: Memoir," Yonhap (Seoul), November 10, 2010.

"Bush Admits He Considered a Military Strike Against North Korea," Korean Broadcasting System (Seoul), March 18, 2004. "Carl Vinson Strike Group CVN-70 'Gold Eagle'," www.globalsecurity.org Will Dunham, "U.S. Military Operations for N.Korea Fraught with Peril," Reuters, April 25, 2003.

(9) Kim Young-gyo, "China Calls for Emergency Talks on N. Korean Nukes," Yonhap (Seoul), November 28, 2010. "China Calls for Resumption of Dialogue, Negotiations for Korean Peninsula Situation," Xinhua (Beijing), November 30, 2010. "Chinese FM Talks with DPRK, ROK, U.S. Diplomats on Korean Peninsular Situation," Xinhua (Beijing), November 26, 2010.

(10) Helene Cooper and Sharon LaFraniere, "U.S. and South Korea Balk at Talks with North," New York Times, November 30, 2010.

(11) Hwang Joon bum and Park Min-hee, "Lee Administration Rejects Six-Party Talks Proposal," Hankyoreh (Seoul), November 29, 2010. Tania Branigan, "US Rejects Talks with North Korea," The Guardian (London), November 30, 2010.

(12) "Kim, Clinton Agree to Reject China's Proposal for Talks on N. Korea," Yonahp (Seoul), December 1, 2010.

(13) "S. Korea Sent Propaganda Leaflets to N. Korea After Artillery Attack," Yonhap (Seoul), November 26, 2010.

(14) Jung Sung-ki, "Seoul Plans Live-Fire Drill Next Week," Korea Times (Seoul), December 1, 2010. "New Defence Minister to Decide When to Stage Firing Drills in Yellow Sea," Yonhap (Seoul), December 3, 2010. "Tension Mounts as Firing Drill Planned," JoongAng Ilbo (Seoul), December 2, 2010.

(15) "S. Korea to Stage Fresh Firing Drill on Yeonpyeong Island," Chosun Ilbo (Seoul), November 30, 2010.

(16) Jung Sung-ki, "Seoul Vows Naval, Air Strikes on NK," Korea Times (Seoul), November 29, 2010.

(17) "Defense Minister Nominee Vows Air Strikes if Attacked by N. Korea," Yonhap (Seoul), December 3, 2010. Kim Kwang-tae, "SKorea Defense Nominee Vows Airstrikes on North," Associated Press, December 2, 2010. Song Sang-ho, "Kim Warns Air Strike on North Korea," Korea Herald (Seoul), December 3, 2010. Na Jeong-ju, "Defense Chief-Nominee Vows Air Strikes if Attacked," Korea Times (Seoul), December 3, 2010. Mark McDonald, "South Korean Outlines Muscular Military Postures," New York Times, December 3, 2010.

(18) "Defense Minister Nominee Vows Air Strikes if Attacked by N. Korea," Yonhap (Seoul), December 3, 2010.

Gregory Elich is on the Board of Directors of the Jasenovac Research Institute and on the Advisory Board of the Korea Truth Commission. He is the author of the book Strange Liberators: Militarism, Mayhem, and the Pursuit of Profit.

http://www.amazon.com/Strange-Liberators-Militarism-Mayhem-Pursuit/dp/1595265708

Gregory Elich is a frequent contributor to Global Research.

SOURCE: http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22252

U.S. and allies urge China to rein in North Korea

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6B50KX20101206


China must do more to rein in North Korea's belligerence, the United States and its chief Asian allies said on Monday after Beijing warned tensions could "spin out of control."
In a show of support for South Korea after the North's shelling of one of its islands killed four people on November 23, Admiral Mike Mullen, the top U.S. military officer, is set to leave to meet security officials in Seoul.

In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held talks with her Japanese and South Korean counterparts, saying all three shared grave concerns over "provocative attacks from North Korea" and putting the onus on China to take action.

"China, as a vital partner in maintaining regional stability, a country with unique and strong ties with North Korea, and chair of the six-party talks, has a special role to play in helping to shape North Korea's behavior," Clinton told a joint news conference.

Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara said all three countries hoped for more cooperation from Beijing and Moscow, which have appeared less eager to get tough with Pyongyang.

"China has an important role to play, and I think this perspective is shared by Russia," he said

War Is Over...if you want it. J. Lennon

N. Korea's Minisubmarines Equipped with Torpedos Discovered in North's Nampo

It has been found that North Korea has been running mini-submarines equipped with torpedos suggesting that the reclusive regime is planning more torpedo strikes.
According to South Korean intelligence sources satellite imagery have featured 4-meter-long torpedo launch tubes attached to North Korea minisubmarines facilitated in North Korea's westernmost naval base of Nampo.

They added that the North has also been holding exercises with the new submarines aimed against South Korean vessels. in July and recently while South Korean and US were holding joint exercises.

DEC 07, 2010

http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=109993&code=Ne2&category=2



Tokyo Shimbun: N. Korea Might Attack South Korea Again Within This Year

VOD SERVICE
North Korea could carry out another attack on South Korea before the end of the year.

This is according to Japan's Tokyo Shimbun on Thursday, which quoted a well-informed source on North Korea. It reported that a high-ranking official at Pyeongyang's espionage agency said there will be another shelling attack, targeting Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds the South Korean capital of Seoul, this month.

http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=109839&code=Ne2&category=2

South Korea says reunification with North not long off
By FOSTER KLUG and KIM KWANG-TAE
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- South Korea's president has declared that the reunification of Korea is drawing near - a surprising statement at a time of soaring tensions on the divided peninsula.

While a single Korea is the stated goal of both the communist North and the democratic South, it has seemed a faraway dream this year, which saw an alleged North Korean attack on a South Korean warship, an announcement by Pyongyang that it is expanding its nuclear programs and, most recently, the shelling of a South Korean island two weeks ago.

In the wake of the Nov. 23 artillery assault on the South's Yeonpyeong Island, both sides have raised the temperature on the peninsula by trading angry barbs and threats of retribution. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has not shied away from tough rhetoric, as he looked to deflect criticism that his military's response to the shelling was too weak.

On Friday, North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun stoked tensions further, accusing South Korea and the U.S. of pursuing a policy of hostility and confrontation and reiterating that Pyongyang needs its nuclear program to fend them off.

"We once again feel convinced that we have made the right choice in strengthening our defenses with the nuclear deterrent," he said, according to an interview with the Russian news agency Interfax.

Still, twice this week, during a trip to Malaysia, Lee has expressed optimism that reunification is not long off.

"North Korea now remains one of the most belligerent nations in the world," Lee said in the interview published Friday in The Star, a Malaysian newspaper. But, he added, it's a "fact that the two Koreas will have to coexist peacefully and, in the end, realize reunification."

In a speech Thursday night, Lee made similar remarks, saying that North Koreans have become increasingly aware that the South is better off. He did not elaborate on how their knowledge has expanded, but he said it was "an important change that no one can stop."

"Reunification is drawing near," Lee said, according to the president's website.

He also called on China to urge ally Pyongyang to embrace the same economic openness that has led millions of Chinese out of poverty - and said that North Korean economic independence was the key to reunification.

Lee didn't give a specific timeframe for the reunification of Korea, which was divided after the end of Japanese rule and officially remains in a state of war because the Koreas' 1950-53 conflict ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

It wasn't clear why Lee was making a push for reunification now. South Korean leaders often call for a peaceful reunification with the North. There is in Seoul, however, a wariness of the huge social and economic costs associated with absorbing the impoverished North.

North Korea also has called repeatedly for reunification, but it imagines integration under its authoritarian political system. It has shown no sign that it would allow any reunification that results in its absorption by the richer South.

It was long assumed that China, the North's main ally, would also pose an obstacle to reunification under Seoul's rule. But a recently leaked U.S. diplomatic cable recounts a conversation between the U.S. ambassador in Seoul and a high-ranking South Korean official, who told the American that China has largely resigned itself to such an integration.

Beijing "would be comfortable with a reunified Korea controlled by Seoul and anchored to the U.S. in a `benign alliance' as long as Korea was not hostile toward China," the official is quoted as saying in the cabled published by WikiLeaks.

Economic opportunities in a reunified Korea could further induce Chinese acquiescence, but China would be unlikely to accept the presence of U.S. troops north of the demilitarized zone that currently forms the North-South border, the South Korean official said, according to the cable.

In August, Lee said South Korea should prepare for reunification by studying the possibility of adopting a reunification tax aimed at raising money for the costs of integration.

Lee proposed a three-stage reunification process in which the two Koreas would first form a "peace community" involving denuclearization of the peninsula, then an "economic community" for cross-border economic integration, and eventually a "community of the Korean nation" with no institutional barriers between them.

Paik Hak-soon, an analyst at the private Sejong Institute think tank near Seoul, said the Koreas should follow the German model of reunification. But, he said, that model is "nearly impossible when tensions are rising."

Germans in the west largely footed the bill for the reunification of the two sides after the collapse of communism, bringing the overall infrastructure of the former East Germany up to a standard similar to that in the west. A tax first levied in 1991 has gone to improve roads, schools and other essentials in the east.

Reunification through the German model could cause enormous burdens, but it could also bring economic benefits, said Yoon Deok-min, an analyst at the state-run Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security in Seoul.

The North has abundant natural resources and a relatively well-educated and cheap labor force.

Already, the South is tapping into those resources at Kaesong, a joint industrial park in the North where South Korean-run factories employ North Korean workers. The park, an important symbol of inter-Korean cooperation, has continued to operate despite the current tensions.

In The Star interview, Lee said North Korea should "open its doors for economic growth as Beijing has done. I hope China will actively encourage the North to choose the same route that it has taken."

"Ultimately, the foundation for reunification will be laid when North Korea becomes economically independent," Lee said.


http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_KOREAS_CLASH?SITE=ALOPE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Hey..some sensible move on its way.
Much better than a war
Thanks Clearwater .

Love from me
mudra

NKorea threatens SKorea with nuclear war

By HYUNG-JIN KIM
The Associated Press
Monday, December 13, 2010; 2:53 AM
SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea warned Monday that U.S.-South Korean cooperation could bring a nuclear war to the region, as the South began artillery drills amid lingering tension nearly three weeks after the North's deadly shelling of a South Korean island.

The South's naval live-fire drills are scheduled to run Monday through Friday at 27 sites. The regularly scheduled exercises are getting special attention following a North Korean artillery attack on front-line Yeonpyeong Island that killed two South Korean marines and two civilians.

The Nov. 23 artillery barrage, the North's first assault to target a civilian area since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, began after the North said South Korea first fired artillery toward its territorial waters. South Korea says it fired shells southward, not toward North Korea, as part of routine exercises.

After the attack, South Korea staged joint military drills with the United States and also pushed ahead with more artillery exercises, despite the North's warning that they would aggravate tension.

A South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff officer tried to play down the significance of this week's drills, saying they are part of routine military exercises and would not occur near the disputed western Korean sea border where last month's attack took place. The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of office policy, gave no further details.

North Korea, however, lashed out at Seoul, accusing South Korea of collaborating with the United States and Japan to ratchet up pressure on Pyongyang.

That cooperation "is nothing but treachery escalating the tension between the North and the South and bringing the dark clouds of a nuclear war to hang over the Korean peninsula," Pyongyang's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

continued at link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/13/AR2010121300133.html