N. Korea, on defensive after sanctions, makes nuclear threat
ASSOCIATED PRESS
People walked by a TV news program showing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Seoul today.
SEOUL » North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his military to be ready to launch nuclear strikes at any time, state media reported today, an escalation in rhetoric targeting Seoul and Washington that may not reflect the country’s actual nuclear capacity.
The threats are part of the authoritarian government’s ramped-up propaganda push to signal strength at home and abroad in the face of what it portrays as an effort by South Korea and the United States to overthrow its leadership.
In North Korea’s first official response to the U.N.’s recent adoption of harsh sanctions over its recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch, the North also warned today it will bolster its nuclear arsenal and make unspecified “strong and merciless physical” measures. A government statement called the U.N. sanctions the “most heinous international criminal act” aimed at isolating and stifling the country.
“The only way for defending the sovereignty of our nation and its right to existence under the present extreme situation is to bolster up nuclear force both in quality and quantity,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said, paraphrasing Kim. It said Kim stressed “the need to get the nuclear warheads deployed for national defense always on standby so as to be fired any moment.”
North Korea has threatened nuclear war in the past, but it is unclear just how advanced the country’s nuclear program really is. It is thought to have a handful of crude atomic bombs, but there is considerable outside debate about the state of its arsenal.
Most experts say it’s highly unlikely that North Korea currently has a reliable intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching U.S. shores, let alone the ability to arm it with a miniaturized nuclear warhead. But North Korea can probably place nuclear warheads on its shorter-range Scuds and its 1,300-kilometer-range Rodong missiles, which can strike targets in South Korea and Japan, said Lee Choon Geun, an analyst from South Korea’s state-funded Science and Technology Policy Institute. Other analysts, however, question this.
Don't miss out on what's happening!
Stay in touch with top news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It's FREE!
Kim issued the nuclear threat while guiding the test-firing of a new large-caliber multiple launch rocket system, in a likely reference to six short-range projectiles that Seoul says North Korea fired on Thursday.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry said the projectiles, fired from the eastern coastal town of Wonsan, flew about 100 to 150 kilometers (60 to 90 miles) and landed in the sea. Ministry officials said they couldn’t confirm whether they were fired by the weapons system referred to by the North Korean news agency. The report did not say when the test-firing occurred.
Thursday’s firings were seen as a “low-level” response to the U.N. sanctions, with North Korea unlikely to launch any major provocation until its landmark ruling Workers’ Party convention in May, according to Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.
The U.N. Security Council sanctions, the toughest of their kind in two decades, include mandatory inspections of cargo leaving and entering North Korea by land, sea or air; a ban on all sales or transfers of small arms and light weapons to the North; and the expulsion of North Korean diplomats who engage in “illicit activities.”
The North Korean statement described the sanctions as “nothing new” and “not that surprising.” Citizens of the capital, Pyongyang, interviewed by The Associated Press on Thursday said they believe their country can fight off any sanctions, in a reflection of official propaganda.
Recent commercial satellite imagery indicates new activity, possibly preparations for a rocket engine test, at a launch site where North Korea fired a long-range rocket on Feb. 6, according to an analysis by the North Korea-focused 38 North website.
In another development that will anger North Korea, South Korean and U.S. officials began formal talks today on deploying a sophisticated U.S. missile defense system in South Korea.
The deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, is opposed by North Korea, China and Russia. Opponents say the system could help U.S. radar spot missiles in other countries as well.
The U.S. and South Korea are to kick off large war games next week that North Korea says are preparations for an invasion. South Korea is also taking a much harder line meant to squeeze North Korea’s government.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye said Thursday she will cooperate with the international community in trying to end North Korean “tyranny that suppresses the freedom and human rights” of its own people. She recently warned of North Korea’s future collapse, and South Korea’s National Assembly passed a human rights bill that criticizes the North Korean government’s abysmal treatment of its citizens.
In January, North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test, which it claimed was a hydrogen bomb. Last month, it put a satellite into orbit with a long-range rocket that the United Nations and others saw as a cover for a test of banned ballistic missile technology.
Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report.
48 responses to “N. Korea, on defensive after sanctions, makes nuclear threat”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
So, stop the hype and the rationalizations, ad naseum–just invade and conquer! We all know that North Korea is the next battleground and profit center for the Military-Industrial-Complex (You know, the one Dwight David Eisenhower warned everyone about..).
But neither Ike nor anyone else at that time could have predicted the damage the EDUCATION-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX would do to our once competent, locally governed public school systems and the resultant harm that would befall children.
Agreed. You are a perfect example of how the education system is a failure.
You cannot research ANYTHING yourself.
You think that rape isn’t a crime.
You have zero understanding of business.
You have zero understanding of finance.
You have zero understanding of simple math.
I can go on, but we’ve all seen your posts to know that you’re the poster child of how the education industrial complex has failed.
Nuke em’.
As “The Donald “would say: Kim Jong Un is an “All Talk and No Action,Low Energy”BABY!!….To the People of North Korea.”Time to wake up”,before this baby causes more destruction to your country!
There certainly are many similarities between Trump and the Supreme Leader
Or? Maybe even Socialist Bernie Sanders. Now that is what i call “Similarities”.
Democratic Socialist.
What ever happened to Hope and Change, and the whole world will love us? Aren’t Obama and the Democrats supposed to be the diplomacy experts? Now Hillary wants to take over all the diplomatic bungling that she and Obama worked hard to produce, your vote does matter, careful how you vote.
This is not about just the United States. N.Korea has a dictator that is about as stable as Trump is. If any country gets in his face, he retaliates by idle threats to devestate them. The UN issued the sanctions and now this idiot of a leader thinks he is going to end the free world in an instant; good luck moron. You have every missle, long range aircraft, foot soldier, etc. ready and more than willing to put an end to your ridiculousness!
Your selection for the next admin, and their stated plan for North Korea are?
HAHAHAHAHA. You think the complainers have an actual plan?
When was the last time ANY of the peanut gallery offered a realistic alternative? They are purely here to complain. Nothing more. Every challenge like the one you made has been met with silence on alternatives.
Gotta pity their coworkers (if they have jobs). Someone who purely complains and never offers solutions is one of the worst types of coworkers.
Plan?? In order to understand their “Actual Plan” you need to first visits the various GOP presidential web sites! And yes! they do have solutions. Don’t be afraid of the Republicans ,they can even help “lefties”such as yourself…. Check it out …you may have a different opinion of the GOP.Hopefully a positive one,but then again,for you….i doubt it!
Have you heard? even Hard Democrats are flocking to the polls to vote for “The Donald”. Ha!ha!ha!
MoiLee, I don’t mean to answer for Choyd. Just as an fyi, I have voted for both republicans and democrats at all levels of local and federal government including the president. So, while I do consider myself a democrat, I’m not afraid to vote for someone on the other side of the fence. That being said, would you mind providing us a link or further explaining, which specific plans you advocate as having the potential for being successful. Especially since the problem hasn’t been solved since the 1950s.
MoiLee, I don’t see a single solution you offered.
Which leads me back to my original point.
advertiser1, it’s responses like MoiLee’s as to why I have such open contempt for so many here.
Anyone who’s looked at those websites knows there is no plan. Donald’s “healthcare” page is a total joke that is actually in conflict with both Republican majorities in the House and Senate. And it does nothing to move us away from the old system of rampant insurance dollar theft.
Yo! Choyd!
Open contempt seems to be your unvarying response. The again if one only has a hammer in his tool box, soon everything begins to resemble a nail.
Considering how you Thos flip flop on issues and how you ran from the effective tax rate discussion, I have nothing but contempt for you Mr “Rape is Not a Crime.
how about draw a red line in the sand like Obama does; then do nothing and watch it turn pink
That’s functionally what Bush and Clinton did. Like it or not, the US has very little power over North Korea.
That doesn’t answer the questions, which republican candidate, and what plan.
@ choyd & advertiser1 The foremost responsibility of the US government is to protect its citizens. If you have an adversary like the leader of N Korea who is delusional and has repeatedly threatened to nuke his enemies, you do not adopt a policy of appeasement. You eliminate him much like the Israelis do with their enemies. That solution may not appeal to you but would you prefer to defer such action at the expense of N Korean nuke or EMP targeted at the USA. Take your pick.
d, thank you for the response. While I don’t agree, and I will assume that most on both sides of the fence would also believe that open war is not an option (as evidenced by both past republican and democratic presidents and houses), at least you took a stand.
d, I’m also interested in how you arrived at your conclusion related to the Israelis. I do agree that often times they quickly respond with military action, but I am unaware of them being in a current state of open warfare. I guess, skirmishes, yes, but open warfare, no. And at this point in time, given the fact that Palestinians continue to fight, how could you say that policy is successful?
d_bullfighter, first of all, that would require another war and likely huge amounts of destruction in South Korea. Second, you completely failed to provide an actual alternative. Which is amusingly par for the course here. Complain and then offer nothing. Third, the Israelis are making their problems worse by refusing to agree to land swaps. The Israeli method of going about their problems ensures that their problems will never get solved and they are only saddling their great grand children with the same issues they face today. How is that something we should emulate? Fourth, an EMP necessary to do what the crack jobs claim, would require a nuclear weapon large that nothing would be left anyways.
Want to try again? Or have you had enough failure for the day?
advertiser1, Israel is institutionalizing its problems by engaging in a votes for welfare scheme that ensures that the ultra orthodox will never support any form of real peace. No information fools don’t understand how Israel is essentially bleeding its taxpayers to keep a few people in power that ensure that their great grandchildren will be dying over the same issues they have now. Anyone who thinks we should emulate Israel has no idea what’s going on over there.
d_bullfighter, one last question.
Why would North Korea actually use a weapon when the obvious outcome is the end of the regime?
Tell me why Kim Ill Un would willingly commit suicide. I don’t expect you to answer. Because no information armchair generals who can’t even find North Korea on the map never do.
choyd – I did offer an alternative to take out the N Korean leader. If you don’t agree that’s your prerogative. If you prefer to possibly sacrifice the safety and well-being of American lives based on your opinion that’s also your prerogative. Your comment demonstrates your ignorance as apparently you don’t know what an EMP is. EMP is an acronym for electromagnetic pulse which is a short high burst of electromagnetic energy which can be delivered via missile over the continental USA (or anywhere). When detonated at a certain altitude the gamma rays from the nuclear blast destroys anything electronic and anything connected to the electrical grid. From such an altitude it doesn’t destroy land/buildings or kills people, it just knocks society back into the dark ages with no electricity. That is why it is dangerous to allow N Korea to continue developing their ballistic and nuclear capabilities as they could either nuke the USA/Hawaii or simple explode an EMP over the atmosphere.
Regarding your land swap comment, again you are either ignorant or have a short memory. The 2000 Camp David Summit resulted in a rejection by Arafat of Israel’s proposal to give up a significant portion of the West Bank in order for the Palestinians to form their own State. It’s fine to submit your comments, but at least make some effort to inform yourself.
Good One Thos!!About Choyd’s Tool box .Maybe he visited Mr.Roberts neighborhood…Wanna be friend! I love it! Even though you may point him in the Right direction.He always ends up going to the LEFT. Ha!ha!ha! Just like Ad1 “All talk and No action low energy guys.Who says:”Do you mind providing us with a link” What’s wrong w/you ??don’t you use Google ?Haaaaaaaaaa!Funny guys!too funny
advertiser1 – the Israeli action I referred to was their policy of drone missiles targeted at the leadership of their enemies often times when their intelligence confirms that their target is traveling in a car and a drone strike ensues. No open warfare but surgical strikes. When their enemies have openly and repeatedly declared that Israel has no right to exist, then I would think that their options at that point are pretty limited.
d, Got it. Do you think that a surgical strike at DPNK would lead to that open war? Especially one targeting the big boy.
While we might be able to get away with these actions in Iraq or other similarly situated countries, I would think that a county such as DPNK with China would illicit an entirely different response.
choyd- you asked “Why would North Korea actually use a weapon when the obvious outcome is the end of the regime?”
Simple answer is that if you understood N Korea you would know that Kim Jong-un’s grandfather and father demanded that they be worshiped as God in that country. Kim Jong-un also fancies himself as God or at least having god-like powers. You and I would call him delusional. Kim Jong-un believes his own lie and believes he regime will never be destroyed. That’s why he is not afraid to carry out his threats because he truly believes he will prevail.
that is a good point advertiser1 – up until recently, China’s friendly relationship with N Korea would have posed substantial risk in carrying out any military action upon N Korea or its leader. However that has apparently changed as China has recently come out in the open as denouncing N Korea’s nuclear build up in very blunt language which conveys the seriousness of China’s stance. This is very recent news which you can verify through various sources on the net.
d_bullfighter, if you actually read what I wrote, I already pointed out that to generate an EMP that large would require a huge nuke so large nothing would be left anyways.
So your point is moot. We already know that electrical lines massively dampen any EMP. The starfish test showed that even Hawaii’s small grid reduced the impact. The hundreds of thousands of miles of electrical lines in the US mainland would render an EMP largely moot.
Second, why didn’t Un’s father use a nuke under your asinine assumptions? They’ve had them for over a decade. If you actually believe your nonsense, why didn’t his father use them?
Furthermore, you don’t seem to understand what Israel is doing in the West Bank, nor do you understand that Abbas is not Arafat.
Tell me why we should emulate a votes for welfare scheme in the US on the level that Israel has done. Which apparently MoiLee think is a conservative idea….Shows how little he knows.
A better question would be …Whats your selection???
Let me make it even more clear….Who are you endorsing advertiser1???
Why, I’m responding to Maipono’s comment.
North Korea will change when the PRC politburo decides it has had enough with its eastern petulant pet monkey. Until then, short of a nuclear war or the North Korean military throwing a coup, nothing will change, regardless of who we elect.
No information crank yankers who claim otherwise simply do not understand the situation.
Funny, you appear to think that North Korea’s behavior is suddenly a new problem, rather than stemming back from the fall of the USSR.
Thanks to all for some very interesting responses, you guys and gals are the best!
This perp should not be walking this Earth. He is not a leader by any means. Most if not all of the Country is starving because he’s eating all the food.
The Chicoms had better get their bratty neighbor under control if they wish to maintain that buffer zone between them and South Korea.
While the fate of North Korea lies in the PRC’s hands, the mainland Chinese haven’t been “Communist” in decades.
Bring it on Kim Chee III … Bring it on … let’s play !!!!!
The only people in N. Korea that are smiling are in that picture.
and they are drugged.
Who cares? His missiles would go flaccid way before their targets, just like he does every night with his boyfriend.