In ‘Tremendous’ Steps Toward Peace, North and South Korea Vow to End War and Pursue a Nuclear-Free Peninsula

In a historic meeting on Friday that sparked hope of lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula after decades of hostilities, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in embraced at the border village of Panmunjom and agreed to work toward bringing an official end to the Korean War and fully denuclearizing the peninsula.

“The two leaders agreed, through regular meetings and direct telephone conversations, to hold frequent and candid discussions on issues vital to the nation, to strengthen mutual trust, and to jointly endeavour to strengthen the positive momentum towards continuous advancement of inter-Korean relations,” reads the “Panmunjom Declaration,” a document signed by both leaders on Friday. “South and North Korea confirmed the common goal of realising, through complete denuclearisation, a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.”

As the monumental summit between the two nations progressed, videos of Kim and Moon embracing circulated on social media and were hailed by experts as truly heartening displays of diplomacy after months of heightened nuclear tensions—fueled in large part by the belligerent rhetoric of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Watch Moon and Kim shake hands and exchange greetings at the concrete border separating their nations:

#BREAKING: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un makes history with a brief walk into South Korea for an ice-breaking #KoreaSummit pic.twitter.com/hsa4IM7O2v

— Jeffs (@jeffs_araujo35) April 27, 2018

Kim Jong Un waves goodbye at the #InterKoreanSummit (accompanied, of course, by his now-famous jogging bodyguards) https://t.co/DQQJUt03lk pic.twitter.com/1LmK6pUN1c

— CNN (@CNN) April 27, 2018

Responding to the summit on Twitter, Christine Ahn, founder of the peace group Women Cross DMZ, wrote it is “deeply touching to watch Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae shake hands, cross together on both sides of the [demilitarized zone], and make peace and history!”

Other Korea experts echoed Ahn’s celebration of the historic meeting—which makes Kim the first North Korean leader to visit the South—arguing it is a crucial and genuine step toward peace that must be built upon, especially with “warmongers” occupying the highest levels of the American foreign policy establishment under Trump.

History is being made in the Peace House of Korea. Tremendous first steps toward peace in Korea. Let"s not allow the naysayers and Washington/Seoul warmongers to derail the momentum. #KoreaSummit #KimJongUn #MoonJaeIn https://t.co/cxV27YvUi4

— Subrata Ghoshroy (@s_ghoshroy) April 27, 2018

I was very moved by the scenes of Moon Jae In and Kim Jong Un together, in part because I know all my friends and comrades in Korea were watching with deep love and hopes for their country. We need to support Korea"s desire for peace as much as we are able. #KoreaSummit

— Tim Shorrock (@TimothyS) April 27, 2018

Kim and Moon’s summit on Friday come ahead of a possible meeting between the North Korean leader and Trump, who now has two men who have both supportedregime change in North Korea whispering in his ear—national security adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

A date for the Trump-Kim meeting has not yet been determined.

In a tweet on Friday, Trump—who has attempted to take credit for Kim’s moves toward diplomacy, even though experts argue the recent peace talks are due to the persistent efforts of the South Korean president—vaguely wrote, “Good things are happening, but only time will tell!”

Trump went on to add that “the United States, and all of its great people, should be very proud of what is now taking place in Korea,” but made no mention of the Korean people.

Never thought I"d see a tweet like this. But he should be thanking the Korean people and their leaders for this monumental agreement. Most of our leaders – particularly our thought leaders, pundits and "experts" – were dead set against this. You won"t hear mea culpas from them. https://t.co/LgV7QeCppe

— Tim Shorrock (@TimothyS) April 27, 2018

Via Common Dreams

Featured Image: (stephan)/Flickr

The post In ‘Tremendous’ Steps Toward Peace, North and South Korea Vow to End War and Pursue a Nuclear-Free Peninsula appeared first on Intellihub.

The CIA Director’s Secret Meeting With Kim Jong-Un: What You Need to Know

(ANTIMEDIA) — Mike Pompeo, current CIA director and U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, reportedly met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un over the Easter weekend, further indicating that the two countries are becoming increasingly serious about meeting later this year. The Washington Post broke the story about what was supposedly a top-secret meeting late Tuesday night. The Post noted […]

As War Drums Beat for Syria, Remember, Lies And Propaganda Started Nearly Every War In US History

To get around the obstacle of public opinion, the United States government has an extensive history of lying their way into war.

The post As War Drums Beat for Syria, Remember, Lies And Propaganda Started Nearly Every War In US History appeared first on The Free Thought Project.

As War Drums Beat for Syria, Remember, Lies And Propaganda Started Nearly Every War In US History

To get around the obstacle of public opinion, the United States government has an extensive history of lying their way into war.

The post As War Drums Beat for Syria, Remember, Lies And Propaganda Started Nearly Every War In US History appeared first on The Free Thought Project.

Mike Pence Is a F*cking A$*hole

(ANTIMEDIA Op-ed) U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is a fucking asshole — for more than one reason. Most Americans who aren’t also assholes have known about Mike Pence for while. He thinks you can “cure” gay people with therapy — as if being gay is a condition in need of a remedy. He thinks gayness can be “prayed away,” […]

Intelligence Contractor: CIA Director Says World War 3 Begins in ’12 Weeks’

An intelligence insider has just claimed that Director of CIA, Mike Pompeo told him to expect war with North Korea in 12 weeks, which would kick off WWIII.

America Preparing "Bloody Nose" Military Attack On North Korea: Telegraph

While North Korea managed to once again drop off the list of immediate geopolitical concerns having kept relative quiet in recent weeks, without any notable provocations or ICBM launches, this may be changing soon, because according to the Telegraph, America is drawing up plans for a “bloody nose” military attack on North Korea to stop its nuclear weapons program. The UK newspaper"s sources claim that the White House has “dramatically” stepped up preparation for a military solution in recent months amid fears diplomacy is not working. As a result, one option currently under consideration is destroying a launch site before it is used by the regime for a new missile test. Stockpiles of weapons could also be targeted.

The explanation for what would be an act of war, is amusing: "The hope is that military force would show Kim Jong-un that America is “serious” about stopping further nuclear development and trigger negotiations." Well, yes: launching an offensive war does tend to confirm that one is indeed serious. The question is what will China, Russia and the rest of the all too serious world do in response.

“The Pentagon is trying to find options that would allow them to punch the North Koreans in the nose, get their attention and show that we’re serious", said one former US security official briefed on policy.

Some further details:

Donald Trump’s decision to bomb a Syrian government airfield earlier this year to defend America’s “red line” on chemical weapons use is seen as a blueprint.  Details have emerged after this newspaper talked to around a dozen current and former officials in America and Britain about policy towards North Korea.

 

The conversations show that the Trump administration is more willing to consider military options to end the conflict than widely assumed. 

And while it will hardly come as a major surprise, the Telegraph notes that it can be revealed that senior British diplomats fear America has already begun a “step by step” military build-up in the region that could escalate.

Alastair Morgan, the UK ambassador to North Korea, visited Washington DC for behind-closed-doors talks about forcing the regime to the negotiating table last month.  The UK is also urging Southeast Asian and African countries to expel some North Korean diplomats amid fears they are secretly financing the regime.

Meanwhile, in a continuation of a previous US demand, the Trump administration wants North Korean ships to be stopped and searched amid fears they are being used to get round UN sanctions.

The urgency behind the plan, and the pressure to act comes from the drop in estimated time it will take for North Korea to develop a missile that could hit America with nuclear weapons.

Just a few years ago it was believed the regime was a decade away from that point, but now the figure has dropped to as little as 18 months - though estimates vary.  Senior figures in the Trump administration have made clear in public that it would be unacceptable for North Korea to reach that position.  While Mr Trump has always said a “military option” is on the table, the administration"s focus has been on building economic and diplomatic pressure. 

 

But Mr Kim’s refusal to negotiate has left senior White House figures disillusioned with diplomacy and increasingly considering military avenues.  One British source who recently attended a briefing with H.R. McMaster, Mr Trump’s national security adviser, and other officials left feeling alarmed. 

 

“The Americans said deterrence doesn’t work against North Korea and negotiation doesn’t work,” the source said. 

 

“Those who heard them left with the impression that military action is very much an option they were considering seriously.”

Kori Schake, a former director of defense strategy at the White House’s National Security Council who served under George W Bush, said military action is a real possibility. "The White House very strongly believes that either North Korea will agree to give up its nuclear weapons or we will launch a preventative attack to destroy them,” she said.  "I would put the odds of them actually carrying that out at three in 10. Other policy experts say it is four in ten."

Still, war is not a guaranteed outcome. On one hand, British officials are continuing to urge their US counterparts to focus on diplomatic solutions and are looking to increase pressure on North Korea.

Separately, while the Trump administration is considering military options, the Telegraph concedes that "it is not a foregone conclusion that the US president will choose to go down that path.  There are major uncertainties about how Mr Kim would react if provoked and the regime already has missiles that could strike nearby countries including Japan and South Korea. "

Ultimately, and as we have said since early in 2017, the decision to attack North Korea will ultimately come down to whether the generals in Trump"s circle of confidence can and will overpower the diplomats:

Experts also say there is a split in the US administration with Mr Trump and Mr McMaster more willing to consider military action than Rex Tillerson, the secretary of state, and Jim Mattis, the defence secretary. 

The good news is that - for now at least - Trump no longer needs a major foreign diversion, especially after his biggest political victory of the year, with the passage of the GOP Tax Cut, which tangentially, may have also bought Kim Jong-Un a few additional quarters reprieve.

Meet The Team Building North Korea"s Nuclear Missiles

In recent years, North Korea has frustrated the US intelligence community, which has struggled to determine exactly how Kim Jong Un and his regime have managed to make so much progress, so quickly in their quest to develop a nuclear weapon capable of striking the Continental US.

The international community has authorized one round of sanctions after another, and yet they appear to have little impact on the country’s economy. If anything, these efforts have only served to strengthen the Kim’s grip on power by feeding the narrative - taught to every North Korean child - that the US is an evil, imperialist antagonist bent on subjugating the North.

While the exact means by which the North has managed to survive such immense international pressure remain a mystery, the New York Times has a theory: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has cultivated an aura of reverence and celebrity around the country’s nuclear scientists.

These celebrity scientists are known by nicknames like the “nuclear duo” and the “missile quartet”.

They also occupy a unique place in the North Korea power structure: While Kim, 33, has executed scores of senior officials - including his own uncle - he has turned the scientists into public heros. So far, not one nuclear scientist has been punished by the regime.

“We have never heard of him killing scientists,” said Choi Hyun-kyoo, a senior researcher in South Korea who runs NK Tech, a database of North Korean scientific publications. “He is someone who understands that trial and error are part of doing science."

As a result of this, each of the six nuclear tests conducted since 2006 has been more powerful than the last, an incredible feat of engineering, considering the restraints.

Kim has elevated science as an ideal in the regime’s propaganda and put his fondness for scientists and engineers on prominent display across North Korea.

One of the carrots Kim has offered his prized scientists is a street called “Future Scientists Street”. Opened four years after Kim assumed power in 2011, the street is reportedly filled with gleaming towers for scientists, engineers and their families.

Kim also opened a sprawling complex shaped like an atom that showcases the nation’s achievements in nuclear science, and where decadent galas are held to celebrate the nuclear program’s progress.

There is little doubt what is behind Mr. Kim’s passion for science. In ubiquitous propaganda posters, North Korean rockets soar into space and crash into the United States Capitol.

After successful tests, scientists and engineers are honored with huge outdoor rallies.

While international sanctions prohibit the teaching of science with potential military applications to North Korean students, the regime has hit upon several clever strategies to import nuclear research from the outside world.

Also, the country still manages to send talented students abroad to study science in places like China, India and even Germany.

Kim wasn’t the first North Korean leader to adopt these special privileges for scientists. Indeed, his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, embraced science as he struggled to rebuild North Korea from the ruins of the Korean War. He embraced those trained in Japan when Korea was a Japanese colony and later sent hundreds of students to the Soviet Union, East Germany and other socialist states.

One of them was So Sang-guk, a nuclear scientist who emerged as a key figure in the nation’s nuclear program but seems to have retired.

However, since taking power, Kim Jong-un appears to have overseen a generational shift at the top of the weapons program, elevating a group of scientists and officials about whom little is known.

But now, analysts have identified six figures who have repeatedly appeared alongside Mr. Kim at key moments - four tied to missile development and two associated with nuclear tests.

Two members of the “missile quartet” are scientists, according to state media. Jang Chang-ha is 53 and president of the Academy of National Defense Science, and Jon Il-ho, 61, is commonly described as an “official in the field of scientific research.”

Ri Pyong-chol appears to be the quartet’s highest-ranking member. A former air force commander, he serves as first deputy director of the ruling Workers’ Party’s munitions industry department.

Kim Jong-sik, 49, first began appearing with Kim Jong-un in February 2016 and has an engineering background. His rise has coincided with an acceleration of test launches, but he and Ri did not attend last month’s launch.

Ri Hong-sop is the director of North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons Institute. He appears to be a key figure in the nuclear program.  

Hong Sung-mu, the other member of the “nuclear duo,” is a former chief engineer at the Yongbyon nuclear complex, the birthplace of the North’s nuclear weapons program.

But in perhaps one of the most significant trappings of the scientists’ status in North Korean society is the picture below, where several scientists can be seen sharing a cigarette with Kim - a major privilege considering Kim is revered like a God in North Korea.

After successful tests, sometimes Kim will even embrace his scientists, some of whom can be seen weeping. In another stunning image, Kim can be seen carrying one of the scientists on his back - a play on an old Korean tradition.

North Korea carried out its most powerful nuclear test yet back in September when it detonated what was estimated to be a 300 kiloton bomb. Despite indications that the North’s longtime test site at Punggye-ri is suffering from “tired mountain syndrome”, satellite imaging recently showed the North’s military is hard at work on a new tunnel located in a remote area of the test site...

...Suggesting that the North is already preparing to carry out what would be its seventh nuclear test.
 

After Shocking Tillerson Reversal, North Korea Agrees "It Is Important To Avoid War"

Just two weeks after North Korea once again put the world on nuclear war alert by launching its most advanced Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) to date - which experts believe could reach New York or D.C. with a nuclear payload - Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in surprising statements Tuesday indicated that the US would be willing to hold talks with North Korea without any preconditions. 

And it appears the North may have already responded to the overture: according to comments from UN political affairs chief Feltman crossing the Reuters wire on Tuesday evening:

• N.Korea agrees "it is important to avoid war. "


• We have left the door open for negotiations. 


• N.Korea did not offer any type of commitment to talks. 

USG Jeffrey Feltman calls his visit to #NorthKorea the first in-depth political exchange of views between the UN and Pyongyang in almost 8 years. He says the officials he met, including the FM & vice-FM, agreed this ""was only a beginning"" pic.twitter.com/7rtWKo6YrJ

— Melissa Kent (@KentUNCBC) December 13, 2017

In remarks given to the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington, Tillerson said, “We’re ready to talk anytime North Korea would like to talk and we’re ready to have the first meeting without preconditions." He stated his belief that it was "unrealistic" for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program before even coming to the table as they already have "too much invested in it." And it appears the statements are representative of a potential new course for the White House, as Tillerson added that President Trump "is very realistic about that as well."

"We are ready to talk anytime North Korea would like to talk. We are ready to have the first meeting without preconditions," Tillerson said. “Let’s just meet. We can talk about the weather if you want. We can talk about whether it’s going to be a square table or a round table if that’s what you’re excited about.” He added further, “And then we can begin to lay out a road map."

Earlier in the day the secretary of state said the administration was pleased with the "progress" so far in ramping up the "extreme" sanctions and diplomatic pressure on the isolated Communist nation, which has involved heightened UN sanctions and greater pressure from China as well. As evidence of the multi-national nature and effectiveness of the sanctions, Tiller said that over 22 countries have recalled their diplomats from Pyongyang, among them even nations like Mexico and Peru. 

He had also earlier referenced pressure through a regimen of US-South Korea military exercises in the region which the North sees as a threat, saying that, an “important part of our diplomatic success is that we have a strong military presence standing behind us so that if North Korea makes bad choices, we’re prepared.”

The timing of Tillerson"s potential overture is interesting: not only does it come two weeks after a missile launch that experts confirmed could reach much of the North American continent, but at a time when South Korea is feverishly preparing to host the upcoming Winter Olympic games in February 2018. 

Especially worrisome was Pyongyang"s recent November 28th ICBM launch was reported to have flown for 50 minutes on a very high trajectory reaching 4,500 km above the earth (more than ten times higher than the orbit of Nasa’s International Space Station) before coming down nearly 1,000 km from the launch site off the west coast of Japan. The test prompted the US Ambassador to China, Terry Branstad, to reiterate that Kim Jong Un"s provocative actions constitute “the biggest threat to humankind right now.”

Predictably, the US response has been to hold increased military exercises in the region with allies like Japan - as were conducted throughout Tuesday - though other world powers, Russia foremost among them, urged caution and restraint regarding heightened exercises which North Korea sees as saber rattling. However, even South Korea is now requesting that the US dial down its drills, as it worries its northern neighbor could maneuver to stir up trouble preceding or even during the Winter Olympics, set to be hosted in Pyeongchang County from February 9th through Feb 25th, followed by the Paralympic Winter Games. 

The site of the games is a mere 50 miles south of the heavily militarized border, making potential for a major incident as the global spotlight shines on the games an alarming possibility. According to reports, thousands of South Korean military and police personnel are conducting intense security drills preparing for scenarios ranging from bombings, to chemical weapons attacks, to hostage-taking situations. Some 5,000 military personnel are expected to be deployed to the games once they begin as Prime Minuster Lee Nak-yon vowed that the massive security show of force would ensure there are no “security loopholes.”

Meanwhile the South Korean government is reportedly urging the US to hold off on further regional military exercises and shows of force until after the games.

Furthermore, as we reported last night, the security drills come amid new reports that South Korea is asking the U.S. to put off staging two major military exercises until after the end of the Winter Paralympics in March. Those exercises infuriate the Pyongyang regime, which brands them a “rehearsal for war.”  No word yet whether the Pentagon will agree.

This comes amidst talk of what"s being called a "freeze-for-freeze" deal in which the North would agree to halt all missile launches and nuclear tests and in return the US would suspend all military exercises in the area. This is something both Moscow and Beijing are currently pushing hard for, and Tillerson"s remarks before the Atlantic Council today could signal that the White House is seriously considering the plan. 

At the very least, Tillerson"s statements open up a door at an opportune time in which all major powers invested in the region desire to see tensions relaxed, especially the South. His seemingly easygoing remarks, such as “Let’s just meet, we can talk about the weather if you want... so it is really about how do you begin the process of engagement" - appear to have provided just such an opening.

Time For Détente With North Korea

Authored by Robert McCoy via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

While the military and political environments on the Korean Peninsula have evolved, American policy towards the North has not changed since 1991

North Korea’s Hwasong-14 ICBM. Photo: KCNA via Reuters

The reality is North Korea has nuclear weapons – perhaps thermonuclear bombs – and they are probably miniaturized enough to fit atop its missiles, one of which will soon be, if not already, able to reach all parts of the continental United States.

Washington missed an opportunity for a preventive strike that would have stopped the North Korean nuclear effort – or at least seriously set it back – in 1994.

The decision to not take action was based on the advice of a former US president who believed that the United States would be able to successfully negotiate with Pyongyang.

And by relying upon diplomacy to deal with Pyongyang during that time, Washington has failed to get North Korea to cease developing nuclear weapons, and now to give them up.

The state of affairs can now be summarized as the three “no’s” of North Korea:

First, as Pyongyang has stated on many occasions, there will no negotiating away its nuclear weapons or missiles.

 

Second, there will be no collapse or internal revolution bringing down the Kim Jong Un regime.

 

And third, there will be no participation by North Korea in any reunification effort headed by South Korea – with or without any of Seoul’s allies.

No negotiations

With its nuclear and missile programs in their crowning stages, Pyongyang has absolutely no reason to negotiate with either Seoul or Washington. The goal of nuclear deterrence is finally in its grasp. As the North has often declared, its nuclear weapons and missiles are the only guarantors of its existence and they will not be given up.

Neither has Pyongyang indicated any interest in Beijing’s “freeze for freeze” proposal in which the North would stop developing its nuclear weapons and testing missiles in exchange for ceasing war games on the peninsula by Seoul and its allies. That is an unequal trade.

The North already has the ability to hold South Korea and much of Japan hostage to its conventional weapons. With the addition of nuclear weapons and longer-range missiles, the real target has been openly identified: the United States, as Pyongyang has asserted not only in the past but recently as well.

No revolution

Despite the appalling conditions endured by average North Korean citizens, there are no indications that the regime itself is anything but stable. While citizens have every reason to be dissatisfied and unhappy, the conditions for a successful uprising simply do not exist.

There is no critical mass of would-be revolutionaries, but even if a sufficient number did exist, communication among citizens is restricted and monitored. And heavy surveillance by authorities further prevents any organization or coordination of a revolution.

Above all, there is such a lack of knowledge about how the regime functions that it would be an insurmountable challenge to overthrow the Kim dictatorship from the grass-roots level.

And while some citizens may be holding in their discontent, it is because they are well aware of what punishment awaits protesters: either summary execution or sentences to prison camps, which often enough are death sentences in slow motion.

No reunification

There are reasons why there will be no reunification of the two Koreas any time soon. To begin, there is no significant economic or political engagement with the North. No trust has been established for such endeavors to proceed, so engaging Pyongyang in commercial activities such as reopening the Kaesong Industrial Complex is thus premature.

Another condition necessary for reunification is for at least one of the two states contemplating reunification to be in crisis. If both nations are stable – and both appear to be – there is no motivation to change the status quo. Predictions that the North will collapse or experience a destabilizing insurrection has been shown to be nothing more than wishful thinking for decades.

There needs to be some power-sharing agreement, however that doesn’t exist today and there seems to be nothing like that in the works. Moreover, for such an arrangement to work, compromises that would either be unacceptable to either side or cumbersome to deal with – “one country, two systems” for example – would be required.

Finally, for any reunification attempt to succeed, there would have to be some third-party guarantor of the process to prevent outside interference and to look out for the interests of both North and South Korea. Finding such a state acceptable to all other nations in the region looks an impossible task.

Detente only option

Military options by Washington are not possible because of the intolerable collateral costs to South Korea – and quite possibly to Japan as well.

Unfortunately, as the past 25-plus years undeniably show, diplomacy has not worked. The reality is that Pyongyang has nuclear weapons, it has the means to deliver them, and it will continue to exist for the foreseeable future.

The US established successful détente first with Moscow and later with Beijing as those two countries developed their nuclear weapons and delivery systems.

The US learned how to coexist with two nuclear adversaries in the past, and now needs to do that with Pyongyang. Washington must revert to realistic diplomacy. There is no other acceptable choice.

"The Threat Is Real" - Millions In Tokyo Join Nuclear Strike Evacuation Drills

Earlier this week, Hawaii reportedly tested its system of nuclear sirens for the first time since the 1960s as the state’s governor warned that he was taking North Korea’s threats of nuclear annihilation extremely seriously. Today, the Telegraph is reporting that the paranoia has spread to Japan, where millions of Tokyo residents will participate in evacuation drills meant to simulate their response to North Korean nuclear strike.

And Tokyo isn’t the first city to conduct these types of large scale drills: Towns facing the Korean Peninsula have conducted similar drills in recent months.

The national and city governments are to carry out a series of exercises between January and March to prepare for a potential attack on Tokyo, the Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported, the first time that a major Japanese city will have carried out responses to a simulated attack.

 

Towns facing the Korean Peninsula have in recent months conducted similar drills, with residents instructed to seek shelter in response to sirens warning of an imminent missile strike.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called on local governments throughout the country to identify underground facilities or buildings that are sufficiently sturdy to withstand a missile attack and to designate those facilities as shelters.

Many ordinary Japanese believe the evacuation drills are an important precaution. One Tokyo resident said he participates because he believes that, if North Korea chose to attack, Tokyo would be the logical target.

"I believe the threat is very real and that war could break out at any time", said Ken Kato, a human rights campaigner who lives in Tokyo. Nearly 9.3 million people live in the city, with millions more travelling into the metropolis every day for work.

 

"I also believe that the average Japanese person does not want to think about the worst-case scenario because it is simply too unpleasant, but we cannot keep our heads in the sand any longer", he told The Telegraph.

 

"Evacuation drills are a sensible precaution that would help to minimize casualties, in much the same way as we practice what to do in the event of a major earthquake", he said.

 

"And if war did break out, then I think it is unfortunately inevitable that North Korea would target Tokyo", he added. "The US has a major military base at Yokota, to the west of the city, and its main naval base in the region is at Yokosuka, to the southwest. 

 

"It is hard to believe they would not want to strike those military concentrations," he said, adding that it is unlikely that the North Korean regime would be particularly concerned about casualties among civilians living nearby.

Last week, North Korea launched its ne Hwasong-15 ICBM, the country’s first missile test in more than two months. The missile’s peak height and flight time have led experts to suspect that it could probably strike anywhere on the Continental US – though perhaps not with the highest degree of accuracy.

Like the US, Japan is also at risk of an airburst – the detonation of a nuclear weapon far above the earth’s surface that could knock out the country’s power grid, indirectly killing hundreds of thousands of people.

In "Largest-Ever" Military Drill, US Orders 16,000 Troops, 230 Jets To Simulate War With North Korea

Just days after Pyongyang launched its most advanced ICBM, one which experts warned has the potential to hit a target anywhere on the territory of the United States, North Korea said the U.S. is “begging” for a nuclear war by planning the “largest-ever” joint aerial drill with South Korea just after concluding an exercise with nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, Bloomberg reported.

“Should the Korean peninsula and the world be embroiled in the crucible of nuclear war because of the reckless nuclear war mania of the U.S., the U.S. will have to accept full responsibility for it,” North Korea’s state-run KCNA said Saturday, citing a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The statement came after Yonhap News reported that six U.S. Raptor stealth fighters planes arrived in South Korea on Saturday for a joint air drill named "Vigilant Ace 18" scheduled for Dec. 4 to 8. The F-22s flew into South Korea together in a show of force. The stealth fighters, however, were just a small part of the upcoming show of force: according to local media, some 230 aircraft and up to 16,000 soldiers and airmen are taking part in the drill, which is one of the biggest ever of its kind.

As part of "Vigilant Ace", US and South Korean forces will be rehearsing for a full-scale war with North Korea, with Yonhap noting that "allies plan to stage simulated attacks on mock North Korean nuclear and missile targets."

Despite Pyongyang"s harsh rhetoric, US commanders have downplayed the drill – claiming it is “regular” and not a direct response to North Korea.

According to the WSJ, at least 230 US and Southg Korean warplanes will take part, alongside 12,000 US troops from the Air Force, Marines and Navy and airmen with another 4,000 expected to represent Seoul." The drill, which lasts from December 4 until December 8, will see aircraft flying over eight airbases in across the Korean Peninsula.

US warplanes including fighters and bombers often blast over the Korean Peninsula

The stars of the drill will be the state-of-the-art F-35 Lightning IIs and F-22 Raptors leading the US’s wing. Both fighter jets outmatch anything in North Korea’s arsenal and could win most of the war against Kim by themselves.

F-35s can fly at speeds of 1,200mph and are capable of carrying nuclear bombs and bunker busters.

 

Meanwhile, the F-22 can hit speeds of up to 1,500 mph and are armed with Vulcan miniguns and Sidewinder missiles.

Commenting on the historic exercise, the US military said that "Vigilant Ace 18 highlights the longstanding military partnership, commitment and enduring friendship between two nations. It is designed to ensure peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, and reaffirms the U.S. commitment to stability in the Northeast Asia region."

F-22s will be dispatched to take part in Vigilant Ace

In reality, it will likely provoke North Korea into yet another ICBM launch.  To be sure, while the Kim regime traditionally rages over the drills on its border, claiming they are rehearsals for invasion, although it may well be right: US forces have been flooding into the Pacific this year with warships, warplanes, missiles and the army all on standby.

Vigilant Ace comes after Donald Trump warned he would “take care” of North Korea following the missile test.

Meanwhile, showing no signs of de-escalation, North Korea has tested dozens of missiles this year, and claimed its nukes can now hit the US. Kim is also feared to be readying the dreaded Juche Bird missile – a live nuke fired out into the heart of the Pacific.

Pat Buchanan Explains "Little Rocket Man"s Risky Game"

Authored by Patrick Buchanan via Buchanan.org,

In the morning darkness of Wednesday, Kim Jong Un launched an ICBM that rose almost 2,800 miles into the sky before falling into the Sea of Japan.

North Korea now has the proven ability to hit Washington, D.C.

Unproven still is whether Kim can put a miniaturized nuclear warhead atop that missile, which could be fired with precision, and survive the severe vibrations of re-entry. More tests and more time are needed for that.

Thus, U.S. markets brushed off the news of Kim’s Hwasong-15 missile and roared to record heights on Wednesday and Thursday.

President Donald Trump took it less well.

“Little Rocket Man” is one “sick puppy,” he told an audience in Missouri.

U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley told the Security Council that “if war comes … the North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed.”

She then warned Xi Jinping that “if China does not halt the oil shipments” to North Korea, “we can take the oil situation into our own hands.”

Is Haley talking about bombing pipelines in North Korea — or China?

The rage of the president and bluster of Haley reflect a painful reality: As inhumane and ruthless as the 33-year-old dictator of North Korea is, he is playing the highest stakes poker game on the planet, against the world’s superpower, and playing it remarkably well.

Reason: Kim may understand us better than we do him, which is why he seems less hesitant to invite the risks of a war he cannot win.

While a Korean War II might well end with annihilation of the North’s army and Kim’s regime, it would almost surely result in untold thousands of dead South Koreans and Americans.

And Kim knows that the more American lives he can put at risk, with nuclear-tipped missiles, the less likely the Americans are to want to fight him.

His calculation has thus far proven correct.

As long as he does not push the envelope too far, and force Trump to choose war rather than living with a North Korea that could rain nuclear rockets on the U.S., Kim may win the confrontation.

Why? Because the concessions Kim is demanding are not beyond the utterly unacceptable.

What does Kim want?

Initially, he wants a halt to U.S.-South Korean military exercises, which he sees as a potential prelude to a surprise attack. He wants an end to sanctions, U.S. recognition of his regime, and acceptance of his status as a nuclear weapons state. Down the road, he wants a U.S. withdrawal of all forces from South Korea and international aid.

Earlier administrations — Clinton, Bush II, Obama — have seen many of these demands as negotiable. And accepting some or even all of them would entail no grave peril to U.S. national security or vital interests.

They would entail, however, a serious loss of face.

Acceptance of such demands by the United States would be a triumph for Kim, validating his risky nuclear strategy, and a diplomatic defeat for the United States.

Little Rocket Man would have bested The Donald.

Moreover, the credibility of the U.S. deterrent would be called into question. South Korea and Japan could be expected to consider their own deterrents, out of fear the U.S. would never truly put its homeland at risk, but would cut a deal at their expense.

We would hear again the cries of “Munich” and the shade of Neville Chamberlain would be called forth for ritual denunciation.

Yet it is a time for truth: Our demand for “denuclearization of the Korean peninsula,” is not going to be met, absent a U.S. war and occupation of North Korea.

Kim saw how Bush II, when it served U.S. interests, pulled out of our 30-year-old ABM treaty with Moscow. He saw how, after he gave up all his WMD to reach an accommodation with the West, Moammar Gadhafi was attacked by NATO and ended up being lynched.

He can see how much Americans honor nuclear treaties they sign by observing universal GOP howls to kill the Iranian nuclear deal and bring about “regime change” in Tehran, despite Iran letting U.N. inspectors roam the country to show they have no nuclear weapons program.

For America’s post-Cold War enemies, the lesson is clear:

Give up your WMD, and you wind up like Gadhafi and Saddam Hussein.

 

Build nuclear weapons that can threaten Americans, and you get respect.

Kim Jong Un would be a fool to give up his missiles and nukes, and while the man is many things, a fool is not one of them.

We are nearing a point where the choice is between a war with North Korea in which thousands would die, or confirming that the U.S. is not willing to put its homeland at risk to keep Kim from keeping what he already has — nuclear weapons and missiles to deliver them.

Satellite Photos Show North Korea Preparing Another Missile Launch

North Korea carried out its first missile test in more than two months earlier this week, ending the longest stretch of calm since President Trump took office. But according to satellite images exclusively obtained by Fox News, the North Korean military is already constructing another launch pad at the Panghyon Airbase in North Pyongyang - the same site where it carried out its July 4 launch of an ICBM.

This suggests that the North is already preparing for its next missile test.

Analysts at Image Sat International spotted the construction just days after the rogue nation launched an ICBM that North Korea claimed was powerful enough to carry a “super-heavy nuclear warhead” that could strike the “mainland of the U.S."

According to the ImageSat analysts, who are closely following North Korean military activity, this is “the first time that they have decided to rebuild a site that they have used before."

The photos, dated Nov. 23 and 24, appear to show the development of another launch pad just a few yards away from the one used during the July 4 Hwasong-14 ICBM launch, as well as a newly renovated access road.

Constructed in the 1980s, the Panghyon site is North Korea"s primary aircraft production, repair, and research facility.

The satellite images also show the construction of an aircraft hangar, as well as airplanes being moved and stored in hangers on the tarmac.

With the recent launch of another ICBM and the construction of additional launching pads, North Korea continues to defy the US-led world outrage over its nuclear program and is determined to bring it to completion.

The Hwasong-15 rocket tested by the North Tuesday was themost powerful of the three ICBMs tested by the Kim regime so far. Furthermore, the mobile night launch appeared aimed at testing new capabilities and demonstrating that Pyongyang would be able to strike back to any attempt at a preventative strike against the regime. The missile"s peak height and record flight time also helped confirm the Pentagon"s worst fears: The North now possesses the capability to strike nearly any target on the continental US.

US And South Korea To Conduct Massive Air Force Exercise Aimed At North Korea

Via TheAntiMedia.org,

The U.S. and South Korea announced Friday they will conduct a massive air force exercise over the Korean Peninsula next month as a notable show of force targeting North Korea - despite warnings that the Trump administration’s decision earlier this week to add North Korea to the United States’ list of state sponsors of terrorism could further provoke the isolated country.

Six F-22 Raptor stealth fighters—which are among the world’s most advanced warplanes—will be sent to South Korea for the drill, a U.S. Air Force spokesman told AFP, which reports:

The massive five-day annual exercise comes as Washington pushes what President Donald Trump has called a “maximum pressure campaign” against Pyongyang over its nuclear program.

 

The exercise, named Vigilant Ace, starts on December 4 with 12,000 U.S. personnel and an unspecified number of South Korean airmen flying more than 230 aircraft at eight U.S. and South Korean military bases.

Reuters reports that U.S. Marine Corps and Navy troops will also participate in the exercise.

Although the drill is conducted annually, it comes as U.S. President Donald Trump continues to antagonize North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on the world stage.

As Common Dreams reported this week, after Trump designated North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism on Monday, the North Korean Central News Agency called the decision a “serious provocation,” and warned that “our army and people are full of rage and anger toward the heinous gangsters” who made the decision.

Concerns about the escalating conflict, and the Trump administration’s vocal opposition to engaging in diplomatic discussions with North Korea, continue to rise in the U.S. as well as among North Korea’s neighbors, particularly South Korea.

When Trump visited Asia earlier this month, South Koreans greeted him with massive protests - denouncing him as a “war-threatening, weapons salesman” - while Pyongyang claimed the president “begged for war” during his trip.

"This Is A Big Problem" - North Korea Nuclear Test Site Headed For A Devastating Collapse

A group of Chinese scientists have joined their North American peers in warning that North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear site could be on the verge of a dangerous collapse that could send a dangerous bloom of radiation floating over the border into Northern China.

As we’ve previously reported, China has stepped up its radiation monitoring on the border after detecting unsettling seismic activity surrounding the test site. Two weeks ago, a team of American scientists warned that the mountain above Pyungge-ri appeared to be suffering from “tired mountain syndrome” - a phenomenon commonly observed around Soviet Nuclear test sites.

And now in an effort to dissuade the North from carrying out another potentially destabilizing test, the South China Morning Post is reporting that a team of Chinese geologists warned their North Korean counterparts of a potentially catastrophic collapse of an underground nuclear test site on China’s doorstep during a briefing in Beijing last month.

A day after North Korea said it detonated a hydrogen bomb at the Punggye-ri facility on Sept. 3, a senior Chinese nuclear scientist warned North Korea that future tests could blow the top off the mountain, causing a massive collapse with radiation bleeding from cracks or holes in the mountainside.

Meanwhile, a researcher studying the radioactive risk from the North Korean nuclear programme at Peking University said China could no longer tolerate another land-based explosion.

“China cannot sit and wait until the site implodes. Our instruments can detect nuclear fallout when it arrives, but it will be too late by then. There will be public panic and anger at the government for not taking action,” the researcher said.

“Maybe the North Koreans themselves have realised that the site cannot take another blow. If they still want to do it, they have to do it somewhere else.”

This could be one reason why the North hasn’t moved forward with another test, like it has repeatedly threatened to do, since then, even as North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho announced at the United Nations that Pyongyang might consider detonating a “most powerful” hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean.

The Sept. 20 briefing covered a range of issues but North Korea’s nuclear tests topped the concerns for the Chinese government, according to Zhai Mingguo, a senior Chinese geologist who helped organise the meeting.

“This is a big, sophisticated problem requiring multiple, systematic approaches. Our [meeting] is only a part of [the efforts],” he said.

The North Korea delegation was headed by Lee Doh-sik, director of the Geological Research Institute at the State Academy of Sciences.

“He is a top government geologist in North Korea, but he is not involved in the nuclear weapons programme,” said Professor Peng Peng, one of the Chinese geologists who met the delegation.

The atmosphere was reserved but friendly, according to several scientists who attended the meeting.

North Korea has conducted five of the six nuclear tests it has carried out since 2006 at Punggye-ri. The most recent blast set off low level tremors and dangerous landslides that alarmed scientists observing the site.

Should the mountain collapse, the radiation released could threaten the entire hemisphere. It could even become a global threat.

“The fallout can spread to an entire hemisphere,” said Lan Xiaoqing, an associate researcher at the Centre for Monsoon System Research at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics in Beijing.
 

USS Ronald Reagan Joins South Korean Navy For Latest Round Of "War Games"

North Korea swiftly quashed hopes for a détente with the US and its regional allies earlier this week when a government spokesman said there would be no sit-down between US and North Korean diplomats at a non-proliferation conference in Moscow this week.

Now that the North – presumably taking its ques from President Donald Trump who earlier this month ridiculed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s attempts at backchanneling – has refused to participate in talks, tensions between the two nuclear-armed powers have escalated to absurd new heights.

Making matters worse, Russian media reported earlier this week that Pyongyang is preparing to test a ballistic missile capable of reaching the west coast of the US. And in a move that alarmed the international community, about a Deputy UN Envoy Kim In Ryong told a UN General Assembly committee the situation on the Korean peninsula had reached a touch-and-go point and a nuclear war could break out at any moment.

Apparently, the rising tensions have only emboldened the US, Japan and South Korea to carry out more provocative war games this week, eliciting howls of condemnation from North Korea.

But this time, US and South Korean fighter jets will be accompanied by the USS Ronald Reagan, a 100,000-ton nuclear powered aircraft carrier which has been patrolling the waters east of the Korean peninsula on Thursday in a show of sea and air power designed to warn off North Korea from any military action. But as China and Russia have repeatedly warned, its presence will only exacerbate tensions between the North and the US, increasing the chances of a military conflict, Reuters reported.

The US Navy’s biggest warship in Asia – sporting a crew of 5,000 sailors - sailed around 100 miles (160.93 km) this week, launching almost 90 F-18 Super Hornet sorties from its deck.

The Ronald Reagan is conducting drills with the South Korean navy involving 40 warships deployed in a line stretching from the Yellow Sea west of the peninsula into the Sea of Japan.

“The dangerous and aggressive behavior by North Korea concerns everybody in the world,” Rear Admiral Marc Dalton, commander of the Reagan’s strike group, said in the carrier’s hangar as war planes taxied on the flight deck above.

North Korea has slammed the warship gathering as a “rehearsal for war.”

As the standoff with the North enters its ninth month, the US, Japan and South Korea are meeting to discuss a possible diplomatic resolution to the war of words. On Sunday, Trump changed his mind – something he"s done a lot lately - and ordered Tillerson to try and revive backchannel talks with the North. Washington has not ruled out the eventual possibility of direct talks with the North to resolve the stand-off, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan said on Tuesday.

But who’s to say whether another missile test, or, worse, another nuclear test, won"t again change the president"s mind, leading to a resumption of the threatening rhetoric that has so alarmed the North?