Archive

Posts Tagged ‘North Korea’

North Korea ‘Developing Kamikaze Drones’

February 6, 2012 Comments off

chosun.com

The North Korean military is developing unmanned “suicide” attack aircraft to target South Korean troops on the northwesternmost islands, a South Korean Army source claimed Sunday. The South Korean military in turn plans to procure all-weather unmanned tactical dirigibles capable of carrying out reconnaissance missions even in bad weather to deploy on the islands.

The source claimed the North is developing unmanned attack aircraft “using high-speed U.S. target drones imported from a Middle Eastern country.” This is presumed to be Syria.

A high-speed target drone is used as a target for testing surface-to-air missiles. The target drones the North imported are believed to be MQM-107D Streakers.

A Streaker target drone believed to be used by North Korea to develop an unmanned attack aircraft (left), and a dirigible South Korea plans to procure. A Streaker target drone believed to be used by North Korea to develop an unmanned attack aircraft (left), and a dirigible South Korea plans to procure.

The jet-powered Streakers can fly at up to 925 km/h with a fuselage 5.5 m long and a wingspan of 3 m. They are used by Read more…

Categories: military, North Korea Tags: , , , , ,

North Korea bulks up its military: report

January 6, 2012 1 comment

globalpost.com

OSAKA, Japan — North Korea doesn’t just do a nice line in belligerent rhetoric; it also has the military hardware to make life difficult for its enemy South Korea, according to a new report.

Just as the North risks economic collapse and starvation the regime has diverted funds to its 1.2 million-strong army and its nuclear weapons program, according to the Korea Economic Research Institute in Seoul.

It has also acquired a record number of tanks, warships and air defense artillery, the independent think-tank said in an unsettling report published this week.


“The depressing reality is it would not be entirely wrong to say North Korea’s military is stronger than the South’s based on updated data from 2011,” the institute said.

The best way for Seoul to deter a pre-emptive attack, it went on, is to make it clear that it is ready to Read more…

Categories: military, North Korea Tags: , ,

Russia, North Korea to Hold Joint Naval Exercises

September 14, 2011 2 comments

voanews

A Russian military spokesman says Russia and North Korea are to hold unprecedented joint naval exercises in 2012.

Lieutenant Colonel Igor Muginov told Russian media Tuesday that the bilateral maneuvers will take place next year and will focus on search and rescue operations.

The agreement was reached last month during a visit by North Korean leader Kim Jong Il with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Muginov did not give any further details on the drills.

The United Read more…

Categories: military, North Korea, Russia Tags: , , , ,

GPS Jammers In Action

September 13, 2011 1 comment

North Korean mobile jammers

September 13, 2011: The U.S. recently revealed that one of its RC-7C reconnaissance aircraft was forced to land last March 8th, after a North Korean GPS jammer disrupted the aircraft’s navigation system. All that had previously been revealed about this was that, from March 18th onwards, North Korea had been directing a GPS jamming signal across the border, and towards the southern capital, Seoul. The jamming signal could be detected up to a hundred kilometers south of the DMZ. The North Korea GPS jammers are based on Read more…
Categories: North Korea, Technology Tags: , , , , ,

North Korea Gets Military Trucks

August 25, 2011 2 comments

the-diplomat.com

North Korea purchased thousands of military vehicles from China that have been transported into the country over the course of the past month, according to the Chosun Ilbo.

The South Korean paper says that between 3,000 and 4,000 Chinese-made military trucks and jeeps entered North Korea last month, at a rate of about 100 a day, according to video clips obtained by the paper.

‘Analysis of the footage suggests the trucks were 6-ton trucks made by FAW Car Limited Company. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il visited the headquarters of this firm in Changchun, Jilin, during his visit to China in May,’ it reported. ‘The military jeeps were Read more…

Categories: China, North Korea Tags: , , , ,

Kim Jong-il visits Russia for talks with Dmitry Medvedev

August 24, 2011 Comments off

guardian.co.uk

Kim Jong-il's train in Ulan-Ude

Kim Jong-il’s train in Ulan-Ude. Photograph: Yonhap/EPA

Kim Jong-il has travelled by armoured train to eastern Siberia for a summit with the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev.

The North Korean leader arrived in Ulan-Ude, the capital of Buryatia, a Buddhist province near Lake Baikal, Russian news agencies reported. Kim’s motorcade left town in the direction of Turka, a picturesque village on the shores of Baikal.

The Yonhap news agency said the Medvedev-Kim summit was expected to take place on Wednesday.

The talks could focus on a deal for a pipeline that would stream Russian natural gas through the North’s territory to the South. South Korean media said the North could earn up to $100m a year.

There were signs that preparations were being made for Read more…

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

U.S., South Korea Begin Drills; North Warns of War

August 17, 2011 Comments off

defensenews

SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea and the United States launched a massive joint military exercise on Aug. 16, prompting the North to condemn the maneuvers as provocative and warn that war could erupt.

The two allies have described the 10-day Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise as defensive and routine, but the North habitually terms such joint drills a rehearsal for invasion and launches its own counter-exercises.

“The exercise started this morning,” a spokesman of the U.S.-South Korea Combined Forces Command (CFC) told AFP, referring to the annual computer-assisted simulation command-post exercise.

All of CFC’s major units are taking part, involving more than Read more…

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

North Korea’s New Friend?

August 15, 2011 Comments off

Diplomat

A rare visit by a North Korean official to Cambodia raises the faint prospect of more engagement with Southeast Asia. But ties with Phnom Penh are complicated.

The North Korean mission to Cambodia sits on a major thoroughfare in the capital Phnom Penh, in the shadow of a lavish mansion belonging to the country’s Prime Minister Hun Sen. There are usually few signs of life behind the tinted windows of the pale pink embassy building, which only rarely admits visitors. Last month, however, the mission hosted a delegationfrom Pyongyang led by North Korean Deputy Trade Minister Ri Myong San. The official visit was relatively innocuous – Ri spoke with Cambodian officials about the expansion of economic ties – but the rare public appearance of a North Korean official underscored the curious friendship between Cambodia and the reclusive communist regime.The unique relationship between the two countries dates back to 1965, when Indonesian President Sukarno introduced North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung to Cambodia’s mercurial Prince Norodom Sihanouk at a non-aligned summit in Jakarta. At first glance, the Read more…
Categories: Cambodia, North Korea Tags: , ,

North Korea poised for nuclear weapon test next year

August 15, 2011 Comments off

theaustralian

NORTH Korea will conduct another nuclear weapons test within 12 months, according to senior US sources with access to Washington’s intelligence assessments.

This will bring much closer the day when North Korean nuclear weapons could threaten Australia. And it could trigger explosive reactions in northeast Asia.

The senior US sources believe the test could come sooner rather than later, although next year is regarded as the most likely.

“2012 is an auspicious year from the North Korean point of view,” said one senior American.

“It’s an election year in the US and an election year in in South Korea. And the North Koreans have publicly declared their desire to be a fully functional nuclear weapons state by 2012.”

For most of the past decade, sources say, North Korea has been systematically involved in nuclear proliferation.

At a meeting in 2003, senior North Koreans told representatives of the Read more…

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

China puts pressure on Japan, sends navy fleet to North Korea

August 5, 2011 Comments off

indiatimes

BEIJING: China has put Japan under immense pressure by sending a navy fleet to neighboring North Korea, and accusing Tokyo of issuing misleading statement about Beijing’s military threat.

The fleet includes a missile frigate ” Luoyang“, which landed in Wanson in Democratic People’s Republic of Korea or North Korea on Thursday. It also includes a training ship. Tokyo has for long been worried about close military relationship between China and North Korea.

The move came immediately after Japan warned that China’s naval forces were likely to increase activities around its waters. The two countries have been involved in bickering over ownership of parts of the East China Sea.

Tokyo’s issued a white paper discussing military threat posed by an increasingly aggressive China. Tokyo is particularly worried because China is close to launching its first aircraft carrier, which might be put afloat in seas close to Japan.

The white paper said China’s defense budget has shot up Read more…

Categories: China, North Korea Tags: , , , ,