North Korea puts rocket units on alert to 'attack US'

@Brook. Lol That is why I posted the pic. High heals are not really combat boots.

@Carol. I agree these are dramatic times. Thanks for all of your posts and information. It is important that we are kept up to date on all activities.

My post was to point out that we should remember that there is always another side to the story and we must look at both for the truth.

This NK leader is very strange, but for the media to imply that it is all his fault, is not totally accurate. I am sure that it is partially a retalitary move and also a "look at me" move.

If we had a tiger in a cage and refused to feed it, would not it get aggressive when approached.

I just pray that this all gets resolved. For people to think that the US should just go in and turn the country to glass is mighty small thinking. Do they not realize that other countries will get behind NK and the environmental damage would be worldwide, not just over NK.

Fashion statement? Indeed. Are they tourists (models) or soldiers?

I agree with you Micjer about looking at this from both sides. I'm not afriad of all the posturing on the different sides but am concerned of someone doing something unintentially or intentionally stupid. On another forum someone pointed out that last night on CNN they had military experts explaining why the U.S. does NOT want to go to war with North Korea. They explained to the public that if we did hit them then we would have to go in with ground troops to recover the hidden WMD. They said we would need more troops than we have essentially.

Meanwhile CNN just reported that North Korea raises missile 'into upright firing position'.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/11/world/asia/koreas-tensions/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Why North Korea worries Dick Cheney
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/11/opinion/navarrette-north-korea/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Developments in and around North Korea are so worrisome that they appear to have frightened Dick Cheney. The 72-year-old former vice president stopped by to visit with GOP lawmakers Tuesday and wound up talking about unpredictable, and perhaps unstable, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. According to sources present at the meeting, Cheney offered this blunt assessment of the crisis in the Korean peninsula: "We're in deep doo doo."

Oh, that's just terrific. It's spring, and the cherry blossoms are in full bloom in the nation's capital. And so naturally our thoughts turn to... the threat of thermonuclear war?

We interrupt the politically driven debates in Washington over gun control and immigration control to bring you an important message about a world leader who may be out-of-control.

Welcome to the North Korean missile crisis. subtitled: The Missiles of April.

It's time to think the unthinkable. In fact, if you live in Hawaii, Guam, the Pacific Islands or, as I do, on the West Coast of the United States -- or, for that matter, anywhere else within range of this bad neighborhood -- it's probably long past time.

Just this week, CNN reported this:

"The Obama administration now calculates it is likely North Korea may test fire mobile ballistic missiles at any time based on the most recent U.S. intelligence showing it is likely the North Koreans have completed all launch preparations."

And this:

The official confirmed that U.S. satellites are monitoring the Korean peninsula and 'the belief is that the missiles have received their liquid fuel and are ready for launch.'"

And, a day later, it followed up with this:

"Countries in northeast Asia remained on edge Wednesday amid warnings from U.S. and South Korean officials that North Korea could carry out a missile test at any time."

Hagel: N. Korea nears 'dangerous line' World awaits North Korea's next move

Japan has deployed missile defense systems around Tokyo, some Chinese tour groups have canceled visits to North Korea and U.S. radars and satellites are trained on an area of the Korean east coast where Kim Jong Un's regime is believed to have prepared mobile ballistic missiles for a possible test launch.

Adm. Samuel J. Locklear, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, didn't mince words when -- in remarks at a Senate Armed Services hearing this week -- he characterized the crisis as "a clear and direct threat to U.S. national security and regional peace and stability."

OK, Pyongyang, you have America's attention -- and, for that matter, the world's. What are you going to do now? Think very carefully about how you answer that question.

read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/11/opinion/navarrette-north-korea/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Micjer wrote:@Brook. Lol That is why I posted the pic. High heals are not really combat boots.

Military issued.....

April 11, 2013 – NORTH KOREA - North Korea has raised at least one missile into its upright firing position, feeding concerns that a launch is imminent, a U.S. official told CNN Thursday. This comes as the world continued to keep watch for a possible missile launch by the secretive government, and a day before U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to arrive in the region. In the latest daily tough talk from the North, a government agency is quoted by the state-run media as saying that “war can break out any moment.” The South Koreans — who’ve heard the cross-border bombast before — are taking the swagger in stride. Washington regards much of the North’s saber rattling as bluster. At the same time, both countries and their allies aren’t taking any chances as the daily clamor of threats from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s government shows no sign of letting up. North Korea’s “actions and their words have not helped defuse a combustible situation,” U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said, and the United States “is fully prepared to deal with any contingency.” After the raising of the missile Wednesday, it was not clear to U.S. officials why the North Korean government did not proceed with the firing. The U.S. official cautioned that the raising of the missile could have been just a trial run to ensure the equipment works or an effort to “mess” with the United States and the allies that are watching for a launch at any time. The official declined to specify what type of intelligence led the United States to conclude the medium-range missile — a Musudan — was in a firing position. The Musudan is an untested weapon that South Korea says has a range as far as 3,500 kilometers (2,175 miles). It could reach as far as Guam, a Western Pacific territory that is home to U.S. naval and air bases, and where the United States recently said it was placing missile defense systems. The United States and South Korean militaries have been monitoring the movements of mobile ballistic missiles on the east coast of North Korea. Japan has deployed defense systems, as it has done before North Korean launches in the past, in case any test-fired missile flies near its territory. The mood in South Korea? ‘Very ordinary’ Life is generally continuing as normal in the region, despite the North’s barrage of recent threats, which have included warnings to foreigners on the peninsula about their safety in the event of conflict, South Koreans, who have experienced decades of North Korean rage and posturing — and occasional localized attacks — have gone about their daily business without alarm. “South Korea has been living under such threats from the past, and we are always prepared for it,” South Korean Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae told CNN Wednesday. He called the current climate “a very ordinary situation.” -CNN

Someone is watching the events on earth like people watch really long soap operas, where the next part is written as they go along...

It's a pity that North Korea has not got a long range missile to reach a certain Rogue state in the Middle East ........ that controls AIPAC....... North Korea could do a favour to the USA . No ?

On Drudge Report this morning. Profoundly depressing.

April 12, 2013 – NORTH KOREA – North Korea has warned Japan that Tokyo would be the first target in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula, as it increased threats of an attack. In a commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the communist country lashed out at Tokyo’s standing orders to destroy any missile heading toward Japan, threatening such actions will result in a nuclear attack against the island nation. If Japan executes its threat to shoot down any North Korean missile, such a “provocative” intervention would see Tokyo — an enormous conurbation of 30 million people — “consumed in nuclear flames,” KCNA warned. “Japan is always in the cross-hairs of our revolutionary army and if Japan makes a slightest move, the spark of war will touch Japan first,” the report added. An official at Japan’s defense ministry said that the country “will take every possible measure to respond to any scenario,” while the US Secretary of State John Kerry warned that a North Korean missile launch would be a “huge mistake. The rhetoric that we are hearing from North Korea is simply unacceptable by any standards,” he told a news conference in Seoul alongside South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se. “The United States, South Korea and the entire international community… are all united in the fact that North Korea will not be accepted as a nuclear power,” Kerry added. Japan is always in the cross-hairs of our revolutionary army. However, the North has declared it is “confident of final victory” against its enemies. “The enemies should know that it is the era of the great Marshal Kim Jong Un, leader of the most powerful country and invincible great Paektusan nation,” KCNA stated. “The DPRK has won victories in confrontation with the U.S. in spirit and is waging an all-out action with it, with confidence in final victory.” The torrent of war cries is seen outside Pyongyang as an effort to raise fears and pressure Seoul and Washington into changing their North Korea policies, and to show the North Korean people that their young leader is strong enough to stand up to powerful foes. South Korea fears Pyongyang could launch now launch multiple missiles after weeks of threats, according to local reports. Observers believe a launch is most likely in the build-up to Monday’s anniversary of the birth of late founder Kim Il-Sung, for which celebrations are already well under way in Pyongyang. The Korean Peninsula has “been reduced to the biggest nuclear hotspot in the world,” the North said in more fiery rhetoric today, “making the outbreak of a nuclear war on this land unavoidable.” The reclusive state is dedicated to “defending the sovereignty and dignity of the country with its own strike mode and means,” it said. “No force on earth can block the just cause of the army and people of the DPRK,” the chilling message concluded. –Express



"North Korea warned Japan Friday that Tokyo would be the first target in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula if it continues to maintain its hostile posture," reports South Korea's Yonhap News Agency this morning in America, by way of a report from the DPRK's state-run Korean Central News Agency. "Japan always remains a target of the DPRK's revolutionary armed forces. Once Japan makes even a slight provocation against the DPRK, the former will be hard hit before any others," the report adds.

That's pretty scary, especially since things had been calming down for a few days there — and especially considering the Pentagon can't even make up its mind about what, exactly, Pyongyang's nuclear capabilities look like right now. And there are red-tipped missiles at flower shows in Pyongyang. But there's sort of a loophole in today's news. Notice how the warning reads: "if it" — as in Japan — "continues to maintain its hostile posture." What the North Korean propaganda machine appears to be referring to is Tuesday's action out of Japan, when it set up a slew of interceptor missiles in Tokyo as a precaution against North Korea's declarations of war. And there have been plenty of precautionary measures from around the globe of late after what Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday called "unacceptable" rhetoric from the all too excitable Kim dynasty.

Friday, April 12, the US raised its nuclear alert status to DEFCON 3, Condition Yellow (out of 5 levels), stating “There are currently no imminent nuclear threats against the United States at this time, however the situation is considered fluid and can change rapidly.” Many believe that North Korea will launch their test missile on or about April 15. Japan has instructed its armed forces to shoot down any North Korean missile that heads toward its territory.

Contrary to comments from the White House Thursday, the Pentagon reported that “North Korea probably has nuclear weapons that can be mounted on ballistic missiles.” This is a very significant admission by the United States and a dangerous change to the Korean situation.

China has mobilized its military and is massing near the border with North Korea. This step was taken after North Korea placed a mid-range Musudan missile ready to launch on its east coast and its “dedication of more facilities at the Yongbon complex to nuclear weapons work.”

According to some sources in Washington, the Chinese military mobilization is not directed at deterring Pyongyang but as support for North Korea’s steps.

N. Korean spy says N. Korea's attitude is: You're gonna die and I'm gonna die. War will breakout because NK is trying to force the US into concessions and we all know the US likely won't concede.

CNN Video: http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t3#/video/world/2013/04/11/tsr-dnt-todd-north-korea-fmr-spy-who-defected.cnn

China's position is "consistent and clear cut," Yang said. "China is firmly committed to upholding peace and stability and advancing the denuclearization process on the peninsula." Beijing will work with its international partners to help restart the stalled six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program and hold it accountable to its international agreements, he said. 'Mutual respect'

Meeting earlier with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Kerry said there were "enormously challenging issues" in front of the two nations."I look forward to having that conversation with you today ... (to) define for both of us what the model relationship should be and how two great powers, China and the United States, can work effectively to solve problems," he said.

Wang said he hoped the two nations could work together to handle sensitive issues with "mutual respect."

Kerry landed in Beijing after leaving Seoul, South Korea, where he pledged unbending U.S. military support against any attack from the North.

Secretary of State John Kerry and China's top diplomat agree nuclear weapons must be removed from Korean peninsula as Kerry visits Beijing in hopes to bolster support in negotiating with the totalitarian nation.Secretary of State John Kerry and China’s top diplomat agreed Saturday that nuclear weapons must be removed from the Korean peninsula -- amid North Korean’s heighten rhetoric about missile testing and its nuclear programs.

The agreement came as Kerry visited Beijing in an attempt to get China to join the United States in negotiating with the isolate, totalitarian nation and stabilize the region.The talks began with Kerry going to China's Great Hall of the People and telling President Xi Jinping that he looked forward to talking about the Korean situation. He later met Premier Li Keqiang and other top communist party figures. Kerry's visit to Beijing comes a day after he participated in talks with South Korean officials in Seoul and warned North Korean leader Kim Jong Un not to test fire a missile.

"If Kim Jong Un decides to launch a missile, whether it's across the Sea of Japan or some other direction, he will be choosing willfully to ignore the entire international community," Kerry told reporters.

Kerry's trip marks his first foray to the Asia-Pacific as America's top diplomat, spearheading the effort to "pivot" U.S. power away from Europe and the Middle East and toward the world's most populous region and fulcrum of economic growth.

The immediate crisis: a North Korean test of a mid-range missile with a range of up to 2,500 miles that the U.S. believes could happen any day. The long-term problem: a nuclear program that may soon -- or already -- include the capability to deliver a warhead on a missile.

China is the only country with significant leverage over North Korea, a regime that like few in the world actually cherishes its isolation.

The Chinese have dramatically boosted trade ties with their neighbors and maintain close military relations some six decades after they fought side by side in the Korean War. They provide the North with most of its fuel and much of its food aid.

But Beijing, which values stability in its region above all else, clearly has different priorities than Washington.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/04/13/kerry-to-press-china-on-north-korea-amid-missile-test-concerns/#ixzz2QMONOZmI

BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States said on Saturday that China had agreed to help rid North Korea of its nuclear capability by peaceful means, but Beijing made no specific commitment in public to pressure its long-time ally to change its ways.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met China's top leaders in a bid to persuade them to push reclusive North Korea, whose main diplomatic supporter is Beijing, to scale back its belligerence and, eventually, return to nuclear talks.

Visiting Beijing for the first time as secretary of state, Kerry has made no secret of his desire to see China take a more active stance towards North Korea, which in recent weeks has threatened nuclear war against the United States and South Korea.

Kerry and China's top diplomat, State Councillor Yang Jiechi, said both countries supported the goal of denuclearizing the Korean peninsula. "We are able, the United States and China, to underscore our joint commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula in a peaceful manner," Kerry told reporters, sitting next to Yang at a state guesthouse in western Beijing.

But North Korea has repeatedly said it will not abandon nuclear weapons which it described on Friday as its "treasured" guarantor of security.
Yang said China's stance on maintaining peace and stability on the peninsula was clear and consistent, repeating phrasing used by the Foreign Ministry since the crisis began.

"We maintain that the issue should be handled and resolved peacefully through dialogue and consultation. To properly address the Korea nuclear issue serves the common interests of all parties. It is also the shared responsibility of all parties," he said, speaking through an interpreter.

"China will work with other relevant parties, including the United States, to play a constructive role in promoting the six-party talks and balanced implementation of the goals set out in the September 19 joint statement of 2005." more at link above...

Thought this was interesting.

A Chicago teacher goes to NK. Watching BBC tv in the hotel room, it shows the main square full of tanks and show of force. Meanwhile he looks out his hotel window to the very square, and children are roller skating.

Life seems normal.


International TV broadcasters have been repeatedly showing tanks trundling through Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square in a demonstration of North Korean national power.

But when Patrick Thornquist, a Chicago teacher visiting the North Korean capital at the end of last week, arrived in the square, he was surprised by what he saw. This iconic square — Pyongyang’s political, military and symbolic heart — was full of children rollerblading and shouting with joy.

One of leader Kim Jong Un’s contributions to the nation has been building roller-skating parks and promoting entertainment facilities. And Thornquist was struck by the fact that, on watching the news later that day, it was still featuring footage of tanks.

“It was definitely interesting to see tanks on BBC in the hotel, as if that was that day, when we’d been in that square a couple of hours earlier and nothing like that was happening,” he says.

I found this stunning. While one can extrapolate that even if children were skating in the square their intrepid leader could be behind the scenes (or underground, as it were) like a pudgy Dr. Evil setting inexorable doom into motion, the point made by Mr. Thornquist speaks volumes about just how manipulative the media can be in reporting the story. Of course, it’s possible the BBC is an unwitting dupe in this chicanery, but, nonetheless, it makes it clear that … not much is clear.

Here is the article.

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/04/11/north-korean-hoax-tourists-find-children-skating-while-media-shows-tanks-in-the-square/

April 18, 2013 – NORTH KOREA – The North Korean regime would be committing “suicide” if Pyongyang decides to use nuclear weapons, former U.S. secretary of state said Thursday. “…if we think those weapons are about to be used, the North Koreans will be held to account and we have capacity to destroy their regime,” Colin Powell told reporters on the sidelines of an economic conference in Moscow. However one shouldn’t get “hysterical” about such possibility, said Mr. Powell, who was the 65th United States Secretary of State under President George W. Bush. “I don’t think they have a weapon that is deliverable, nuclear weapon that is deliverable.” Speaking after a panel session on prospects for the 21st century, Mr. Powell said North Korea has no economic future and the world is waiting to help the North Koreans who are now “at the mercy” of their leader Kim Jong Un. “I just hope that sooner or later they will realize there’s a better world waiting for the people of North Korea,” Mr. Powell said, adding he hopes that China will help moving North Koreans to this conclusion. North Korea, which had recently issued several threats of military attacks on the U.S. and South Korea, recently rejected Seoul’s call for dialogue saying that any talks would only take place after the removal of sanctions imposed on it for its nuclear weapons program and the end of military drills in the South. North Korea staged a long-range missile test in December and a nuclear weapons test in February, both of which resulted in fresh United Nations sanctions for the breach of resolutions imposed on the North for its weapons program. The North is particularly angry about annual joint military exercises in the South that run through the end of April. Pyongyang rails against the drills each year, but has stepped up its verbal response this year, warning that the exercises could trigger a nuclear war. It has threatened to stage a counterattack on the South or U.S. bases in the region. -WSJ