Showing posts with label foal eagle. Show all posts

Friday, April 5, 2013

North Korea Gives Deadline Date of April 10th Leaving that as Possible Attack Date, Afraid of Possible Coup.

North Korea tells Brit diplomats to get out — then sets chilling April 10 deadline

Rocket ... North Korea parades its Musudan missiles through Pyongyang last year

By JACK LOSH

Published: 05th April 2013

ROGUE state North Korea today sparked fears that it could trigger a nuclear strike as early as next WEDNESDAY.

Crackpot Kim Jong-un’s regime today issued a chilling threat to British diplomats warning them to get out of Pyongyang.

Alarmingly the North Korean government said it would not be able to guarantee the safety of embassies from April 10.

Russian diplomats have also been advised to evacuate.

Today the Foreign Office added that it is “considering next steps” after the threat.

It is still unclear why next Wednesday has been set as a deadline – but it is sure to spark fears despot Kim Jong-un will launch an attack after that date.

This week South Korean workers employed in factories in the North were also told to leave by April 10.

The dramatic development came as North Korea moved a second missile to its east coast in a further threat to Japan, South Korea and US Pacific bases.

The rogue state has already transported a Musudan missile with a range of 1,800 miles (3,000km) to the same area.

Fears ... the compound housing the British, Swedish and German embassies

flickr

Today, a Foreign Office spokesman reportedly said: “We can confirm that the British Embassy in Pyongyang received a communication from the North Korean government this morning.

“It said that the North Korean government would be unable to guarantee the safety of embassies and international organisations in the country in the event of conflict from April 10.”

The Foreign Office today confirmed that it has “no immediate plans to withdraw our embassy” in Pyongyang and said it condemned the “provocation” by the North Korean government.

A spokesman went on: “The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has responsibilities under the Vienna convention to protect diplomatic missions, and we believe they have taken this step as part of their continuing rhetoric that the US poses a threat to them.”

The Foreign office declined to disclose how many staff are working in Pyongyang, but said no decision had yet been taken on whether to pull out. "We are considering next steps," the spokesman added.

Troops ... South Korean female army reservists raise their hands to adopt a resolution against North Korea

Pledge ... South Korea is currently
engaged in joint military exercises with the US

Two rockets have been loaded onto mobile launchers and hidden in special underground facilities on North Korea's east coast , according to a government official.

The official added: “The North is apparently intent on firing the missiles without prior warning.”

The range of the second missile is unknown though it is believed to be an inter-continental ballistic KN-08 missile, which is untested by the regime.

It came as a powerful 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck near the North Korean border in far-eastern Russia.

The epicenter of the quake, which struck at 1pm (GMT) was south-west of Vladivostok, around five miles from Russian border town Zarubino.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has pledged to tone down pronouncements about its military build-up after the crisis on the Korean peninsula threatens to spiral out of control.

In recent days, the US has flown two B-2 stealth bombers over South Korean and announced an expansion of missile defence systems in Alaska and Guam.

But rather than encouraging North Korea to back down, the US's military movements have prompted even greater threats and belligerent rhetoric from Pyongyang.

PYONGYANG move sees South Korea deploy two warships with missile-defence systems

Drills ... South Korean soldiers prepare
to fire a howitzer during a military exercise

On US official said: “Our actions thus far have had their intended effect: they've shown our deterrence capability and our willingness to defend South Korea.

“We always make adjustment and if going quiet for a short period of time gives the North Koreans space to dial back their rhetoric, fine.”

However, Washington still plans to forge ahead with joint military exercises with Seoul – including an amphibious assault drill – branded by the North as “rehearsal for invasion”.

The exercises codenamed Foal Eagle began on March 1 and will end on April 30.

Some US analysts expressed alarm over the intensity of the North’s threats. Centre for Strategic Studies senior adviser Victor Cha said: “The rhetoric is off the charts.”

But despite the North's threats to attack the US, David Cameron was today slammed for making the extraordinary claim yesterday that North Korea could strike Britain.

Young ... a South Korean soldier stands on a
military guard post near the demilitarised zone

Experts disputed his comments, saying North Korea does not have missiles that can reach Europe nor can mount nuclear warheads on them, sparking comparisons with the “sexed-up” dossier which Tony Blair used to justify the invasion of Iraq ten years ago.

North Korea: we can't keep you safe,

Pyongyang tells foreign embassies

North Korea has taken a further step to prepare for possible conflict, telling foreign embassies that their safety could not be guaranteed in the event of war.

By Malcolm Moore, Beijing, Julian Ryall in Tokyo and David Blair

6:13PM BST 05 Apr 2013

The significance of next Wednesday is unclear, although it has also been mentioned as a date for the possible closure of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, a facility inside the North where South Korean companies employ 53,000 people.

The foreign ministry on Friday gave ambassadors in Pyongyang until Wednesday to say if they needed help with closing their missions and evacuating staff.

Britain responded by saying there was "no immediate" plan to shut its embassy in North Korea.

^{On Friday North Korea released a video of Kim Jong-Un firing a handgun}

Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, has sparked a regional crisis by testing a nuclear weapon and then revoking the armistice with South Korea and threatening immediate attack.

In response to tighter United Nations sanctions and annual US-South Korean military exercises, Mr Kim has gone so far as to "authorise" a nuclear strike on America.

Washington has responded by bolstering its defences around the Pacific Island base of Guam and sending nuclear-capable B2 bombers over the Korean Peninsula.

But a Foreign Office spokesman made clear that Britain had not decided to close its embassy. London established diplomatic relations with North Korea in 2001, opening an embassy in Pyongyang which concentrates on nuclear proliferation and human rights. Michael Gifford, the current British ambassador, remains in North Korea.

Britain had not interpreted the communication from North Korea as a recommendation to leave, said the Foreign Office. The regime was simply pointing out that it "would be unable to guarantee the safety of Embassies and international organisations" in the "event of conflict".

There were more signs of escalation on Friday. The North Korean foreign ministry declared the question was "not whether, but when a war would break out" owing to the "increasing threat from the United States", according to Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency.

North Korea is understood to have moved a second long range missile to its east coast, which has been the location for previous test launches. The weapons are believed to be "Musudans", an untested model with a possible range of 2,000 to 2,500 miles - theoretically enough to strike Japan and Guam.

South Korea countered by deploying two destroyers equipped with the Aegis missile defence system. One warship will patrol the country's east coast and the other will protect the west, tasked with shooting down any hostile North Korean missiles.

Aegis is a sophisticated system combining radars with projectiles capable of destroying a missile in-flight. At a minimum, the warships would be able to track any North Korean missile launches and establish whether they are harmless test firings - or acts of war. "If the North fires off a missile, we will trace its trajectory," an official told Yonhap, the South Korean news agency.

However, Gen Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, said that North Korea's behaviour followed a familiar pattern of provocation and was unlikely to lead to war. Any such conflict would pit North Korea against the US, guaranteeing Mr Kim's defeat.

^{A Cuban Army anti-aircraft battery during the 1962 missile crisis (Reuters)}

As tensions rise, Mr Kim has stepped up his personal security, perhaps in fear of a military coup, a Japanese newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, reported. In particular, about 100 armoured vehicles have been deployed close to Mr Kim's official residence in Pyongyang, said the paper, quoting diplomatic sources.

"The situation inside North Korea is very unstable and the military are making a lot of complaints to their political leaders," said Toshimitsu Shigemura, an expert on North Korea at Wasaeda University in Tokyo. "The military needs tension with South Korea and the US to justify themselves and Kim is terrified of a coup."

Monday, April 1, 2013

Korean Peninsula. Foal Eagle 2013. China Mobilizing.

Navy moves ship off coast of Korean Peninsula, White House looks to 'reassure' allies

Published April 01, 2013

FoxNews.com

Dec. 5, 2010: The guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain approaches the aircraft carrier USS George Washington for a fueling at sea. (Navy)

The U.S. military has moved a Navy ship capable of intercepting missiles to waters off the coast of the Korean Peninsula, as threats from North Korea's Kim Jong Un escalate and the White House signals it wants to head off any potential conflict by flexing America's military might.

A U.S. defense official confirmed to Fox News that the Navy had moved the U.S. destroyer to a location near South Korea. The ship, the USS McCain, is equipped with the Aegis defense system and is capable of shooting down missiles. Officials initially misidentified the ship but later clarified the USS McCain had been dispatched.

The defense official said the decision is not part of the ongoing joint military exercise with South Korea but part of the Navy's general movements. The Navy had the same type of ship in this location as recently as December.

But, the positioning comes after the Pentagon dispatched two F-22 stealth fighter jets to South Korea to join Seoul forces in a training exercise, and after other demonstrations of U.S. capability last week.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Monday that Kim Jong Un's steadily escalating threats follow a "pattern," but one that must be taken seriously. He said the U.S. is now taking "prudent" measures to "reassure our allies, demonstrate our resolve to the North and reduce pressure on Seoul to take unilateral action."

This would include efforts to boost missile defense, last week's rare flight of B-2 bombers to South Korea and likely the decision Sunday to deploy F-22 Raptors to Osan Air Base in South Korea.

With analysts warning that the biggest threat from North Korea is that it could start a war by going too far and provoking South Korea, Carney suggested the shows of strength are aimed at deterring the North from crossing that line.

"We believe this has reduced the chance of miscalculation and provocation," Carney said of the B-2 flights and other actions.

Carney, though, said that despite the "harsh rhetoric" out of Pyongyang, the U.S. is not seeing changes to the country's "military posture," such as any "large-scale" mobilizations or positioning of forces.

"This pattern of bellicose rhetoric is not new, it is familiar," Carney said. "We take it very seriously, we take prudent measures in response to it."

The F-22 flight came after North Korea warned that the Korean Peninsula had entered "a state of war."

A Pentagon spokesman confirmed to Fox News that the F-22 Raptors were deployed to Osan Air Base in South Korea from Japan on Sunday to support ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills.

"This exercise has been planned for some time and is part of the air component of the Foal Eagle exercise," spokesman George Little told reporters Monday.

Border Patrol

China mobilizing troops, jets near Korea

BY: Bill Gertz
April 1, 2013 2:30 pm

China has placed military forces on heightened alert in the northeastern part of the country as tensions mount on the Korean peninsula following recent threats by Pyongyang to attack, U.S. officials said.

Reports from the region reveal the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) recently increased its military posture in response to the heightened tensions, specifically North Korea’s declaration of a “state of war” and threats to conduct missile attacks against the United States and South Korea.

According to the officials, the PLA has stepped up military mobilization in the border region with North Korea since mid-March, including troop movements and warplane activity.

China’s navy also conducted live-firing naval drills by warships in the Yellow Sea that were set to end Monday near the Korean peninsula, in apparent support of North Korea, which was angered by ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills that are set to continue throughout April.

North Korea, meanwhile, is mobilizing missile forces, including road-mobile short- and medium-range missiles, according to officials familiar with satellite imagery of missile bases.

The missile activity is believed to be North Korea’s response to the ongoing U.S.-South Korean military exercises that last week included highly publicized flights by two B-2 strategic nuclear bombers near North Korean territory as part of annual military exercises.

North Korea’s government announced last week that since March 26 its missile and artillery forces have been placed on the highest alert status.

Specifically, Nodong medium-range missiles and their mobile launchers were spotted in satellite imagery, the officials said.

There are also indications North Korea will soon conduct a flight test of its new KN-08 road-mobile ICBM or its intermediate-range Musudan mobile missile. Test preparations had been detected in the past, the officials said.

A military provocation by North Korean forces against the South is not expected while the current war games are underway in South Korea, officials said.

However, the situation remains dangerous as hostilities could break out as a result of a miscalculation. South Korea’s government has said it would respond to any North Korean military provocation with force.

The Chinese military activities near North Korea were detected in Jilin Province, and intelligence reports from the area on March 19 indicated that PLA forces were ordered to go to “Level One” alert status, the highest level of readiness.

Large groups of soldiers were seen on the streets in Ji’an, a city in Jilin, amid reports that the PLA had been ordered to combat readiness status.

PLA heavy armored vehicles, including tanks and armored personnel carriers, were reported moving near the Yalu River that separates China from North Korea.

The troops were part of the 190th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, stationed in Benxi, in Liaoning Province. The movements are believed to be related to increased tensions in Korea.

Additionally, PLA troops and military vehicles were seen near Baishan, in Jilin province, around March 21.

Low-flying PLA air force jets, believed to be fighters, also were heard and seen at several border locations in China, including Yanji and Yanbian in Jilin, Kuancheng, in Hebei province, and Dandong, in Liaoning province.

Chinese forces along the border responded to some unknown event in North Korea near Siniju on March 21 that involved Chinese fighter jets flying over the area.

The officials said the Chinese military activities appear to be based on concerns about a new outbreak of conflict between North Korea and South Korea and the United States.

China’s military maintains a long-standing defense treaty with the North that obligates China to defend North Korea in the event it is attacked. The last time Chinese forces backed Pyongyang was during the Korean War when tens of thousands of Chinese “volunteers” drove south into the peninsula.

Chinese military spokesmen frequently refer to their relations with the Korean People’s Army, as the North Korean military is called, as ties “as close as lips and teeth.”

Other reports from China indicate that the heightened tensions have led to a disruption of trade between China and North Korea along the border between the two countries.

One sign of slowed commerce between China and North Korea was a Chinese Internet report from a restaurant owner in Dandong, China, a border city, who said commerce between the two countries was disrupted following North Korea’s Feb. 12 underground nuclear test.

Since that time, it has been more difficult for the goods from North Korea to reach China because the North Korean Customs Office closed frequently as a result of increased Chinese inspections of North Korean goods.

U.S. officials and private analysts said the slowdown may be a sign of Beijing’s displeasure at the North Korean nuclear test.

China also held up exports of crude oil to North Korea in February, according to customs data reviewed by Reuters news agency. The agency said in areport that it was the first time deliveries of oil were cut since early 2007.

However, in a sign of continuing close relations, the government of Jilin province announced March 27 that it plans to modernize railway links to North Korea to bolster cross-border economic and trade ties.

The China Tumen-North Korea Rajin Railway and China Tumen-North Korea Chongjin Railway will be upgraded under the Jilin government plan, China’s official Global Times reported.

Additionally, the Chinese plan to set up a special highway passenger line to connect Tumen to North Korea over the next several years.

Other reports from the region stated that North Korean cities in the northern part of the country were placed on “combat” alert and have conducted evacuation drills, officials said.

The drills have been carried out in three-day to five-day intervals when power and water supplies were suspended as part of the exercises.

Chinese citizens living in border cities in China also reported hearing air-raid sirens as part of the exercises, officials said.

U.S. officials say China’s main fear for its fraternal communist client regime in North Korea is a collapse of order that leads to large-scale refugee flows into China.

Reports from inside North Korea also revealed that North Korean soldiers have been issued bread, instant noodles, sausages, milk, and dried fish that appeared to be supplied by the United Nations as aid meant for the civilian population.

Issues On Call

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