North Korea Puts Two U.S. Journalists On Trial

North Korea put two U.S. journalists on trial on Thursday on charges of illegally entering the state with “hostile intent”, in a case that could worsen tension with Washington after Pyongyang’s nuclear test last week.

The journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling of the U.S. media outlet Current TV, were taken into custody in March near the border between China and North Korea while working on a story. The TV network was co-founded by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.

North Korea’s KCNA news agency said in a one-sentence dispatch that the trial would begin at 0600 GMT (3 p.m. local time) at one of the country’s highest courts.

Experts say the pair could face a sentence of 10 years or more of hard labour in the reclusive state. They add a guilty verdict is almost certain in a North Korean justice system that protects the unquestioned rule of leader Kim Jong-il.

via North Korea puts two U.S. journalists on trial | Reuters.

Fears Mount North Korea Preparing To Attack The South

It was obvious that something was up when the Chinese scarpered. One day there were scores of their fishing boats hoovering up the valuable crabs from the richest of the fishing grounds in the Yellow Sea.

Overnight all but a handful were gone.

Anywhere else the locals would have been glad to have the crabs to themselves but this is no ordinary fishing ground. A few yards from here is the maritime boundary between South and North Korea. “The Chinese fish here because the North Koreans allow them,” a coastguard official said. “If they’ve gone it’s because they’ve had some kind of warning.”

An imminent missile launch into the sea? An armed incursion of North Korean ships? A full-scale invasion of Yeonpyeong, the small South Korean island hard up against the maritime boundary? Too much blood has already been shed in these waters for anyone to risk taking any chances, and for the past week South Korea has been dispatching reinforcements.

No one will discuss numbers for security reasons but sailors and marines, as well as members of the Sea Special Attack Team, the coastguard’s commando force, have been arriving to join the several hundred troops already on Yeonpyeong.

These waters, around the Northern Limit Line, have become the most tense and dangerous patch of sea in Asia.

The rest of the world is pondering what to do about North Korea’s underground test of a nuclear bomb eight days ago. Yesterday fresh reports emerged that the nation was transporting its most advanced missile, capable of reaching Alaska, to a launch site. David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, said that Britain and other members of the UN Security Council were drafting new sanctions against Pyongyang.

In South Korea the most pressing question is: what next? The nuclear test was just the most alarming in a series of growing North Korean provocations. In April the North launched a long-range rocket over the Pacific, and last week half-a-dozen short-range missiles were fired from launch sites across the country.

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North Korea Preparing For Test Of Long Range ICBM Missile ?

North Korea appears to be preparing for a long-range missile test, defying the U.N. Security Council whose members are negotiating a resolution to punish it for its recent nuclear test, Yonhap News Agency reported Saturday, quoting an informed intelligence source.

The source, asking not to be identified, said an object that appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile ICBM was recently spotted on a cargo train at an artillery research center near Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.

“We believe that the object is certainly an ICBM,” said the official, adding that its size is somewhat similar to the one the North fired into the Pacific on April 5.

North Korea is believed to have started moving the object to a missile launch pad in Musudan-ri on the country’s east coast, according to the official.

“The missile may be a modified version of a Taepodong-2 missile, which can travel over 4,000 km,” the official said. A Taepodong-2 missile is theoretically capable of reaching the western U.S.

“It usually takes about two months to set up a launch pad, but the process could be done in as little as two weeks, which means the North could launch a long-range missile as early as mid-June,” the source said.

The developments of what appears to be preparations for a missile launch follow Monday’s nuclear test, which drew the international community’s condemnation against North Korea. The test came less than two months after it fired a rocket that the U.S. and its allies say was a disguised form of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The remarks came shortly after a South Korean defense source in Singapore said some activities were spotted at a North Korean munitions factory used to build long-range missiles.

Some watchers speculate that North Korea may launch a missile at a time close to a summit set for June 16 between South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and his U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama.

“There is a possibility that North Korea may push the ‘fire’ button right before or after the South Korea-U.S. summit,” said a key diplomatic official at the presidential office, requesting to be unnamed.

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Russia Fears Korea Conflict Could Go Nuclear

Russia is taking precautionary security measures, including military ones, because it fears tensions over North Korea’s atomic test could descend into nuclear war, news agencies quoted an official as saying on Wednesday.

Interfax quoted an unnamed security source as saying that a stand-off triggered by Pyongyang’s nuclear test on Monday could affect the security of Russia’s far eastern regions, which border North Korea.

Provocation
Reports: N. Korea tests missiles, starts nuke plant / Associated Press
S. Korean newspaper says steam detected coming from nuclear facility at Pyongyang’s main plant, indicating North is reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods to harvest weapons-grade plutonium; country also test-fires another missile. Meanwhile, N. Korea warns of military action against South
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“The need has emerged for an appropriate package of precautionary measures,” the source said.

“We are not talking about stepping up military efforts but rather about measures in case a military conflict, perhaps with the use of nuclear weapons, flares up on the Korean Peninsula,” he added.

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North Korea Threatens Military Action Against South Korea

North Korea threatened military action in response to South Korea joining an anti-proliferation program and said it’s no longer bound by the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War.

South Korea’s actions are tantamount to a “declaration of war,” the North’s official said in a statement today. North Korea said it can’t guarantee the safety of ships passing through its western waters near the maritime border with the South.

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“We will regard any intervention, searches or other minor hostile acts against our peaceful ships as an intolerable violation of our sovereign rights and will counter with an immediate and forceful military strike,” the KCNA statement said.

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North Korea Test-Fires 2 Short-Range Missiles Off East Coast

A South Korean news agency is reporting that North Korea has test-fired two short-range missiles from an east coast launch pad.

The Yonhap news agency cites an unnamed government sources as saying the missiles have a range of about 80 miles (130 kilometers).

The reports says one was a surface-to-air missile and the other was a ground-to-ship missile. Both were fired Tuesday afternoon.

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North Korea Conducts Underground Nuclear Bomb Test

North Korea Conducts Underground Nuclear Bomb Test

Tremors from a 4.7 magnitude artificial earthquake were detected just before ten o’clock local time, after North Korea detonated a bomb in a bunker six miles underground.

The rogue state, which had previously tested a nuclear weapon in October 2006, boasted that its latest test was more powerful “in terms of its explosive power” and more technologically-advanced.

“We successfully conducted another underground nuclear test on May 25 as part of measures aimed at strengthening our self-defence nuclear deterrent in every way,” said the state-run North Korean news wire.

The test will “contribute to safeguarding our sovereignty and socialism and guaranteeing peace and safety on the Korean peninsula and the surrounding region,” it added.

The test site was around 230 miles north east of Pyongyang, according to the United States Geological Survey. The location is just a few miles from where North Korea tested its first nuclear device in 2006.

Yonhap, the South Korean news wire, also reported that a single ground-to-air missile, with a range of 80 miles, was fired from a launch site nearby just a few hours later. The rogue state is not thought to have yet developed a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, experts said.

Taro Aso, the Japanese prime minister, said he would set up a task force to handle the situation and seek an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss a plan of action.

The US, meanwhile, said it was not able to confirm the reports of a test, and was seeking “more information from its allies” before making a statement.

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Report: Pyongyang also test-fires short-range missile…

Korea military forms crisis team…

Japan says test ‘unacceptable’…

U.S. ‘gravely concerned’…

Britain: ‘Breach’ of UN resolutions…

Asian markets rattled…

North Korea to Restart Nuclear Weapons Plant

North Korea vowed Tuesday to bolster its nuclear deterrent and boycott six-party talks aimed at its denuclearization in protest of a U.N. Security Council statement condemning the country’s recent rocket launch.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it “resolutely condemns” the action by the United Nations, which it said “rampantly” infringes upon the country’s sovereignty and “severely debases” the people’s dignity.

“We have no choice but to further strengthen our nuclear deterrent to cope with additional military threats by hostile forces,” the statement said.

The statement also said that “six-party talks that we are taking part in are not necessary any more.”

Those negotiations, which also involve China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States, began in 2003 and have been aimed at achieving North Korea’s denuclearization.

The North also said it will restore nuclear facilities it has been disabling in line with an international disarmament-for-aid deal negotiated under the six-party process and resume operating them.

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North Korea Launches Rocket Despite Protests

North Korea has launched a rocket, despite international appeals not to go ahead.

Officials from Japan, South Korea and the US confirmed lift-off at 0230 GMT. The rocket appeared to have passed over Japan to the Pacific, Tokyo said.

North Korea says it is sending a satellite into orbit, but its neighbours suspect the launch could be a cover for a long-range missile test.

The US called it “provocative”, while Japan said it was “regrettable”.

The South Korean government said it would “deal firmly and resolutely” with Pyongyang.

The rocket blasted off just before midday on Sunday from the Musudan-ri launch pad in the north-east of North Korea.

“The projectile launched from North Korea today appears to have passed over towards the Pacific,” the Japanese prime minister’s office said in a statement.

The US State Department and South Korea’s presidential office also confirmed the launch.

Japan said it did not try to intercept the rocket, as it had indicated that it would if its territory was threatened.

North Korea’s neighbours say the launch violates United Nations resolutions.

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Report: North Korea Fueling Long Range Rocket

North Korea has begun fueling a long-range rocket for an impending launch, a news report said, as President Barack Obama warned the liftoff would be a “provocative act” that would generate a U.N. Security Council response.

North Korea says it will send a communications satellite into orbit on a multistage rocket sometime from Saturday to Wednesday. The U.S., South Korea and Japan think the reclusive country is using the launch to test long-range missile technology, and they’ve warned the move would violate a Security Council resolution banning it from ballistic activity.

CNN television reported on its Web site — seen Thursday in Seoul — that Pyongyang has begun the fueling. The report, citing an unidentified senior U.S. military official, said the move indicates final preparations for the launch. Experts say the missile can be fired about three to four days after fueling begins.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry said it was aware of the report but declined to comment.

At a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in London, Obama denounced the planned launch as “a provocative act” and a breach of the U.N. resolution, a senior administration official told a background briefing, according to the White House Web site.

“He also made clear that we will respond in the event of a launch. The U.N. Security Council is the natural venue for a response since this would be a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions,” the official said.

Obama also discussed North Korea with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, the White House said.

The issue is expected to be a key topic at Obama’s summit with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday. Lee has sought to drum up support from world leaders in London for punishing its neighbor if the launch goes forward.

via Report: North Korea fuels its long-range rocket for launch | World | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle.

Spy Agencies Believe North Korea Has Nuke Warheads

Intelligence agencies have information that North Korea has assembled several nuclear warheads for its medium-range Rodong missiles capable of targeting Japan, an analyst said Tuesday.

Daniel Pinkston, senior analyst with the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, said the agencies believe that probably five to eight warheads have been assembled.

“Intelligence agencies believe the North Koreans have assembled nuclear warheads for Rodong missiles, which are stored at underground facilities near the Rodong missile bases,” Pinkston told AFP.

“It might be right, it might be wrong — but if others believe it is true, it has implications for the psychological aspects of deterrence,” he said, describing the assessment as “quite significant.”

Pinkston declined to identify his sources and said they had not shared their own sources with him.

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North Korea Moves Rocket To Launchpad

North Korea is loading a Taepodong rocket in anticipation of the launch of a communications satellite next month, US officials said.

Regional powers, however, worry that the claim is a cover for the launch of a long-range missile capable of reaching Alaska. In 1998 North Korea faked a satellite launch to cloak a missile development test.

The US National Intelligence Director, Dennis Blair, said this month that all the indications were that Pyongyang would, in fact, launch a satellite. South Korea, America and Japan have urged North Korea to refrain from going ahead with the launch, expected to take place between April 4 and 8, calling it a violation of a UN Security Council resolution barring the country from ballistic activity.

In 2006 North Korea launched a Taepodong2 long-range missile that blew up less than a minute into fl

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North Korea Holds US Reporters

North Korean soldiers have detained at least one Korean-American journalist near the North’s border with China, South Korean media say.

YTN TV channel quotes a South Korean official as saying two reporters were held after being asked to stop filming. Other reports say one female journalist was arrested. It is not yet clear who the journalists were working for. The reports come amid heightened tension between the US and North Korea.

The North has angered the US by planning a missile launch for April as part of its space communications programme. The US believes the launch is intended to test a rocket that could potentially carry a warhead as far as US territory.

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North Korea Warns Intercepting Satellite Will Prompt Retaliation

UPDATE: North Korea put its troops on alert and cut the last hot line to Seoul on Monday as the American and South Korean militaries began joint maneuvers. The communist regime warned that even the slightest provocation could trigger war.

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North Korea warned Monday that any move to intercept what it calls a satellite launch and what other countries suspect may be a missile test-firing would result in a counterstrike against the countries trying to stop it.

“We will retaliate (over) any act of intercepting our satellite for peaceful purposes with prompt counterstrikes by the most powerful military means,” the official Korean Central News Agency quoted a spokesman of the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army as saying.

If countries such as the United States, Japan or South Korea try to intercept the launch, the North Korean military will carry out “a just retaliatory strike operation not only against all the interceptor means involved but against the strongholds” of the countries, it said.

“Shooting our satellite for peaceful purposes will precisely mean a war,” it added.

North Korea earlier announced it is preparing to put a communications satellite into space, but outside observers suspect it may in fact be a test-firing of a long-range ballistic missile.

The United States, Japan and South Korea have said that even if Pyongyang calls the launch a missile test, it would violate existing U.N. Security Council resolutions.

The same North Korean statement said the country’s military will cut off communications with its South Korean counterparts during the U.S.- South Korean exercises for the duration of the exercises beginning Monday.

A separate, more rare statement by the KPA’s Supreme Command was quoted by the KCNA as saying that its soldiers are under orders to be “fully combat-ready” during U.S.-South Korean military exercises beginning Monday.

The North’s armed forces have been ordered to “deal merciless retaliatory blows” should there be any intrusion “into the sky and land and seas of the DPRK even an inch.”

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