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Posts Tagged ‘North Korea’

Russia and North Korea forge ‘year of friendship’ pariah alliance

March 12, 2015 Comments off

theguardian.com

Neighbouring regimes declare closer co-operation as Kremlin’s role in Ukraine conflict and Kim Jong-un’s pursuit of nuclear weapons deeply rankle with west

 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been invited to Russia as part of the two countries' 'year of friendship'.North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been invited to Russia as part of the two countries’ ‘year of friendship’. Photograph: KNS/AFP/Getty Images

Russia and North Korea have announced they will deepen economic and political ties under the banner of a “year of friendship” – a development that could further complicate the west’s attempts to deal with an increasingly belligerent Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un’s recalcitrant regime in Pyongyang.

The prospect of closer co-operation between Putin’s Kremlin and a pariah state with realistic nuclear ambitions will dismay the US, Britain and other countries hoping to pressure Pyongyang into ditching its ambitions to become a nuclear power, and to dissuade Russia from fuelling the

war in Ukraine.

North Korean state media said the two countries had agreed to make 2015 a “year of friendship” to mark the

Read more…

Categories: China, Russia Tags: , ,

White House report ignores life-or-death threat

August 17, 2013 1 comment

wnd.com

WASHINGTON – The White House, along with the Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, say that some 679 widespread power outages over the past 10 years have been due to the effects of severe weather on the U.S. electrical grid system.

The White House report, titled the “Economic Benefits of Increasing Electric Grid Resilience to Weather Outages,” said the cost of outages take various forms such as lost output and wages, spoiled inventory, delayed production, inconvenience and damage to the electric grid.

But left unaddressed is the potential impact that an electromagnetic pulse event would have.

In a just-published 28-page report, the White House said that severe weather has been the leading cause of power outages in the United States between 2003 and 2012, costing the U.S. economy up to $33 billion.

The report pointed out that the resilience of the U.S. electric grid system is integral to Read more…

Categories: electricty Tags: , , , , , ,

U.N. Experts to Investigate Cuban Arms Shipment to N. Korea

August 9, 2013 Comments off

nti.org

REUTERS/Carlos Jasso

An undeclared arms shipment found onboard a North Korean freighter will be investigated by a team of U.N. experts during a three-day trip, the Associated Press reported.

The Chong Chon Gang in mid-July was stopped en route to North Korea by Panamanian officials, who thought the ship might have been carrying drugs from Cuba. A search of the cargo resulted in the discovery of Soviet-era weaponry that was reportedly being transported to North Korea so that the Asian nation could overhaul the equipment before returning it to Cuba.

The U.N. team will consist of six members and is to arrive in Panama on August 13. An initial report will be Read more…

Categories: Cuba, North Korea Tags: , , , ,

North Korea upgrading rocket launch site, possibly with Iran’s help

February 15, 2013 Comments off

WASHINGTON — North Korea is upgrading one of its two major missile launch sites, apparently to handle much bigger rockets, and some design features suggest it is getting help from Iran, a U.S. research institute said Thursday.

A successful satellite launch in December and a nuclear test on Tuesday, both in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions, have intensified concern that North Korea is moving toward its goal of building a bomb small enough to be fitted on an intercontinental missile.

An analysis written for 38 North, the website of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, indicates that North Korea has made significant progress since October in constructing a new launch pad and other facilities at Tonghae, on the Read more…

Categories: Iran, North Korea Tags: , , , ,

Graphic: North Korea successfully tests 7 kiloton nuclear device

February 12, 2013 Comments off

telegraph.co.uk

Click to enlarge

North Korea has confirmed that it has carried out its third nuclear test, after international monitors detected seismic activity close to the nation’s nuclear test site.

The North Korean regime said it had “successfully” detonated a miniaturised nuclear device with “greater explosive force” in an underground test.

This is the third test by the secretive regime in the last ten years. The first test took place in 2006, and was estimated to have a yield of only one kiloton.

Today’s test is approximately seven times larger, and the miniaturised design of the device could enable it to fit on long range missiles currently under development.

North Korea tested a three stage rocket last year which has the potential for reaching the far west coast of the US.

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North Korea threatens new nuclear test ‘aimed’ at US

January 24, 2013 Comments off

csmonitor.com

Two days after the United Nations condemned North Korea with further sanctions for its December rocket launch, the secretive country vowed to respond with a nuclear weapons test aimed at its “enemy,” the United States.

The United Nations Security Council – including North Korea’s closest ally and biggest trading partner, China – voted unanimously on Tuesday to strengthen sanctions against North Korea for its Dec. 12 long-range rocket launch, which violated previous agreements with the UN.

When the launch took place last month, North Korea stated its intentions were Read more…

Categories: North Korea, United States Tags: , , , , ,

Russian Planes Spotted over Japanese Destroyer

April 11, 2012 Comments off

en.ria.ru

 

Two Russian anti-submarine aircraft have flown over a Japanese destroyer preparing to shoot down a North Korean rocket if it passes over Japan’s territory, a Japanese TV channel reported on Wednesday, citing the country’s Defense Ministry.

According to the ministry, the Il-38 planes were seen on Tuesday off the south-west coast of the largest Japanese island of Honshu, where the destroyer is currently based. The ministry said that Japanese fighters accompanied the IL-38s during their flight.

The NHK TV channel suggested that the Russian planes had been collecting information on the multi-purpose combat system Aegis which is installed on the destroyer. Russian patrol aircrafts have been spotted performing reconnaissance missions, without Read more…

Categories: Japan, North Korea, Russia Tags: , , ,

North Korea Displays Rocket Ahead Of Launch; Japan Roll Out Missile Defences

April 9, 2012 Comments off

North Korea is preparing a long-range rocket for launch, defying international warnings against violating a ban on missile activity.

Pyongyang said last month it would launch what it claims is an observation satellite, the Kwangmyongsong-3 (Shining Star), using a three-stage rocket during celebrations for the 100th anniversary of North Korean founder Kim Il-Sung’s birth.


Experts say the launch of the Unha-3 (Milky Way 3) rocket, which is Read more…

Categories: Japan, North Korea Tags: , , , , ,

North Korean Nuclear Work Poses Greater Threat Than Iran, Amano Says

March 12, 2012 Comments off

GSN

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano on Saturday said he believes the threat posed by Iran’s atomic activities is eclipsed by the dangers of North Korea’s known nuclear-weapon efforts, Kyodo News reported (see GSN, March 9).

The North’s development of nuclear weapons, which includes two nuclear tests to date, is a “threat to East Asia,” the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said.

“The problem (with North Korea) is serious and its impact on the world is larger” than Iran, Amano said. His organization and a number of governments around the world worry that Iran is seeking a nuclear-weapon capability; Tehran maintains that its atomic development program is strictly peaceful (see related GSN story, today).

The veteran Japanese diplomat said he hopes to dispatch IAEA monitors to North Korea to verify implementation of a recently agreed-to shutdown of Read more…

Categories: Iran, North Korea, nuclear technology Tags: , , , ,

N. Korea says it is ready for both dialogue and war

February 27, 2012 Comments off

yonhapnews

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) visits a unit under the Command of the Korean People's Army 4th Corps stationed in the southwestern sector of North Korea, in this undated picture released by the North's KCNA in Pyongyang February 26. KCNA/REUTERS

SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Yonhap) — North Korea said Monday it is fully ready for both dialogue and war as South Korea and the United States kicked off joint military drills that Pyongyang claims are rehearsals for a northward invasion.

The Key Resolve, which will last through March 9, involves about 200,000 South Korean troops and 2,900 U.S. troops, according to the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command.

Separately, the two allies plan to hold the Foal Eagle joint military exercise from March 1 to April 30.

South Korea and the U.S. regularly hold military exercises to bolster their readiness against a possible North Korean invasion. Seoul and Washington say the exercises are defensive in nature.

However, the North, which has a track record of military provocations against South Korea, routinely condemns the military drills in the South as precursors for an invasion.

“The big exercises for Read more…

Categories: North Korea Tags: , , , , ,