Free Republic

/begin my excerpts U.S.: N. Korea Injecting Fuel into a Missile, Readied For Launch in a Few Days Washington = Atsushi Okudera February 5, 2016 15:00 N. Korea, which issued notice to launch a satellite, which is a de-facto ballistic missile launch, have started to inject fuel into its rocket, which was revealed to Asahi Shimbun by a U.S. defense official. It is said to be "readied for launch as early as within a few days." It could be fired in the period starting at Feb. 8, which N. Korea had set. /end my excerpts

(5th LD) N. Korea tells U.N. agencies it will launch satellite between Feb. 8-25 2016/02/03 04:49   (ATTN: ADDS U.S. reaction) By Chang Jae-soon WASHINGTON/TOKYO/SEOUL, Feb. 2 (Yonhap) -- North Korea notified a U.N. maritime agency Tuesday that it will launch a satellite later this month, confirming widespread concern the communist nation is readying for a banned long-range rocket launch just weeks after its fourth nuclear test. The North said in a letter to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) that an "earth observation satellite" will be launched between Feb. 8-25. It also provided coordinates for three maritime areas where rocket...

The United States has backtracked somewhat on its previous assessment of North Korea's recent nuclear test, CNN reported Thursday. While Washington originally expressed skepticism over Pyongyang's claims that it tested a hydrogen bomb during the January 6 test, it now believes North Korea might have attempted to test components of a hydrogen bomb after further review and analysis of the latest intelligence information, officials told the news network. A U.S. official directly familiar with the latest assessment said there may have been a partial, failed test of some type of components associated with a hydrogen bomb. ...

Speculation mounts of imminent N. Korea rocket launch AFP By Thomas Watkins, with Hiroshi Hiyama in Tokyo Washington (AFP) - Speculation mounted Friday that North Korea is preparing a rocket or long-range missile launch to follow its recent nuclear test, with Japan reportedly ordering its military to shoot down any projectile that threatened its territory. With existing UN Security Council resolutions banning North Korea from the use of ballistic missile technology, any launch would be a further slap in the face of the international community which is struggling to find a united response to the January 6 nuclear test. Following...

North Korea may be readying long-range missile launch soon: Kyodo SEOUL | By Ju-min Park and Jack Kim North Korea may be preparing to launch a long-range missile as soon as within a week, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported early on Thursday, citing an unnamed Japanese government official. The official cited signs of possible preparations for a missile launch, based on analysis of satellite imagery of the North's Tongchang-ri missile test site on its west coast. The report came as U.N. Security Council members discuss fresh sanctions against the North after it conducted its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6....

World | Fri Jan 22, 2016 2:08am EST North Korea says detains U.S. student for 'hostile act' North Korea said on Friday it had detained a U.S. university student for committing a "hostile act" against the country who, if confirmed, would be the third western citizen known to be held currently in the isolated state. The North's state-run KCNA news agency said the person entered North Korea as a tourist and was "was caught committing a hostile act against the state," which it said was "tolerated and manipulated by the U.S. government". The Korean-language KCNA report said the detainee was...

DONALD TRUMP: Here's how I'd handle that 'madman' in North Korea Colin Campbell Jan. 6, 2016 Real-estate tycoon Donald Trump said Wednesday that the US should pressure China into getting North Korea under control. "It's something I've been talking about for a long time. You have this madman over there who probably would use it," Trump said during an interview on "Fox & Friends." "And nobody talks to him, other than of course Dennis Rodman," he said. "That's about it." Trump was referring to North Korea's supreme leader, Kim Jong Un, while addressing North Korea's announcement Tuesday night that it...

North Korea releases video of 'new' submarine-launched missile test Posted about 6 hours ago North Korea has released video footage of a purportedly new submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) test, three days after it claimed it had successfully tested its first hydrogen bomb. But South Korean media suggested the footage broadcast by state Korean Central TV was an edited compilation of the North's third SLBM test, conducted last month in the Sea of Japan, and a different ballistic missile test from 2014. The undated footage shows leader Kim Jong-un, on board a military vessel in a winter coat and a fedora...

(4th LD) S. Korea to resume propaganda broadcasts along border with N. Korea 2016/01/07 21:27 (ATTN: ADDS military's action in paras 8-10) SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea said Thursday that it will resume anti-Pyongyang broadcasts this week along the heavily fortified border with North Korea in retaliation of Pyongyang's claimed hydrogen bomb test. The anti-Pyongyang broadcasts will resume at noon on Friday, Cho Tae-yong, deputy chief of the presidential office of national security, told reporters. "The North's fourth nuclear test is a grave violation" of the August deal, Cho said, referring to a breakthrough deal that defused heightened...

If it's big news in North Korea, this is the woman who will deliver it She's mournfully announced the deaths of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. She's bombastically delivered news of North Korea's proudest achievements. And she was, until recently, mostly retired, having stepped aside to mentor the next generation of so-called television readers on North Korean television. But no newshound can truly ever quit the business, and so on Wednesday morning in Pyongyang, Ri Chun-hee slipped on her hanbok and stepped back into her anchor chair on the state-run Korean Central Television news channel, where she proudly boasted that...

In announcing a nuclear deal with Iran, President Barack Obama echoed many of the same sentiments of another Democratic president announcing a similar deal. On Oct. 21, 1994, President Bill Clinton announced the “Agreed Framework,” a deal negotiated with North Korea to end their pursuit of a nuclear weapon from the exact spot in the White House where President Obama announced his deal with Iran. Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2015/07/15/obama-echoes-bill-clintons-north-korea-nuclear-deal-announcement-video/#ixzz3wRYmcQqa

State media indicated Thursday that North Korea has added the hydrogen bomb to its arsenal, a development that, if true, would represent a major leap in its nuclear weapons capabilities. But outside observers were skeptical, saying that such an advance in the country's nuclear technology seemed unlikely. Analysts in recent years have believed that North Korea may have been working toward -- but didn't yet have the capability to produce -- a hydrogen, or thermonuclear, bomb. It can be hundreds of times more powerful than an atomic bomb....

(LEAD) White House condemns any violation of U.N. resolution, vows never to accept N.K. as nuclear state 2016/01/06 14:07 (ATTN: ADDS details, background, byline) By Chang Jae-soon WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (Yonhap) -- The White House said Tuesday that it cannot confirm North Korea's claims of a successful H-bomb test but condemns any violation of U.N. resolutions banning the communist nation from nuclear tests. It also said that the United States won't accept the North as a nuclear state. "We are aware of seismic activity on the Korean Peninsula in the vicinity of a known North Korean nuclear test site and...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea said Wednesday it had conducted a hydrogen bomb test, a defiant and surprising move that, if confirmed, would put Pyongyang a big step closer toward improving its still-limited nuclear arsenal. A television anchor read a typically propaganda-heavy statement on state TV that said North Korea had tested a "miniaturized" hydrogen bomb, elevating the country's "nuclear might to the next level" and providing it with a weapon to defend against the United States and its other enemies. The statement said the test was a "perfect success." The test, if confirmed by outside experts, will...

(LEAD) N. Korea says it has conducted hydrogen bomb test 2016/01/06 12:43 (ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; ADDS more info) SEOUL, Jan. 6 (Yonhap) -- North Korea announced Wednesday it has succeeded in conducting a hydrogen bomb test, hours after what seems to be an artificial earthquake was detected close to the North's nuclear test site. In a "special" announcement aired on the North's state television station, North Korea said it conducted an H-bomb test at 10:00 a.m. (Pyongyang Time).

5.1 magnitude quake detected close to North Korea nuclear test site by Agence France-Presse January 6, 2016 A 5.1 magnitude tremor was detected close to North Korea’s nuclear test site on Wednesday, triggering concerns that Pyongyang had conducted a fresh atomic explosion. The US Geological Survey said the epicentre of the quake was in the northeast of the country, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) northwest of Kilju city, placing it right next to the Punggye-ri nuclear test site.

Alcohol cited as cause in N Koreans' deaths Mon, 4 January 2016 Khouth Sophak Chakrya Two North Korean doctors died on Saturday from apparent alcohol poisoning in circumstances police initially deemed suspicious. Dr An Hyong Chan, 56, and Dr Rimun Chol, 50, died in the clinic that doubles as their home on Street 594 in Phnom Penh's Tuol Kork district, after an evening of eating and drinking with their wives and 10 other North Koreans, according to Boeung Kak II commune police chief Khan Khun Tith. "According to the autopsy report, the victims both died of a heart attack," he...

Sham parents and bogus homes - film exposes Kim Jong Un's fakery Tom Parfitt The Times December 30, 2015 10:19AM Scene from Under the Sun A documentary film has exposed the artifice and absurdity of life in North Korea, despite attempts by officials there and in Russia to suppress it. Under the Sun, made by the Russian director Vitaly Mansky, is to be released in cinemas in the United States and Germany next year. The film tells the story of an eight-year-old girl joining North Korea's Children's Union, a state-organised youth group, but includes footage showing that party handlers created...

North Korea leader Kim Jong-un's 'closest comrade' dies in car crash Kim Yang-gon, who handled the reclusive country’s ties with South Korea, died on Tuesday, state news agency reports Reuters in Seoul Tuesday 29 December 2015 23.28 GMT A senior North Korean ruling party official and a top aide to leader Kim Jong-un has died in a car crash, the state news agency reported on Wednesday, in the latest event to hit the close circle of deputies of the country’s leader. Kim Yang-gon, who was a secretary of the Workers’ party and the head of its United Front Department, the...

North Korean diplomat expelled from SA for rhino horn trafficking 2015-12-23 14:43 Julian Rademeyer, News24 Correspondent Pretoria - A high-ranking North Korean diplomat accused of abusing his diplomatic immunity and his embassy's diplomatic bag to smuggle rhino horn out of South Africa has been expelled from the country. News24 has learnt that Park Chol-jun - also identified in some news reports as Pak Chol Chun - quietly left the country on December 11. A spokesperson for the Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco), Nelson Kgwete, did not name Park, but confirmed on Tuesday that the department had been "informed...