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Japan’s defense minister said the threat posed by North Korea has grown to an “unprecedented, critical and imminent level,” reflecting a rising sense of urgency over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program. Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told counterparts from South Korea and the U.S. at a gathering of defense ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations here that Japan supports the American position that “all options are on the table”-

North Korea has warned it will not be intimidated by Donald Trump's threats in an "unprecedented" letter sent to other countries. "If Trump thinks that he would bring the DPRK, a nuclear power, to its knees through nuclear war threat, it will be a big miscalculation and an expression of ignorance," the letter said. "Trump threatened to totally destroy the DPRK ... it is an extreme act of threatening to totally destroy the whole world." The document was published by the Sydney Morning Herald and has been verified by Australia's foreign ministry. Foreign minister Julie Bishop described the missive as...

An increasingly hostile relationship between the U.S. and North Korea has Americans considering a preemptive strike on the country—and many Republicans are all for it. About 46 percent of Republicans support a preemptive strike on North Korea today—compare that with just 42 percent of Republicans who say they don't support it, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll. When members of both major parties are surveyed, that question changes a lot. Only 16 percent of Democrats favor the idea of the U.S. making a preemptive strike on North Korea, while a whopping 77 percent of Democrats oppose it. Across both...

The House Homeland Security Committee heard expert testimony yesterday on the effects of a high-altitude nuclear detonation that could knock out the U.S. electrical grid for up to a year, resulting in the deaths of 90% of Americans. A nuclear attack from space would generate an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, that would "inflict devastating damage" on the U.S. Washington Examiner: In calling on the Pentagon and President Trump to move quickly to protect the grid, the experts testified that an explosion of a high-altitude nuclear bomb delivered by a missile or satellite "could be to shut down the U.S. electric...

Congress was warned Thursday that North Korea is capable of attacking the U.S. today with a nuclear EMP bomb that could indefinitely shut down the electric power grid and kill 90 percent of "all Americans" within a year. At a House hearing, experts said that North Korea could easily employ the "doomsday scenario" to turn parts of the U.S. to ashes. In calling on the Pentagon and President Trump to move quickly to protect the grid, the experts testified that an explosion of a high-altitude nuclear bomb delivered by a missile or satellite "could be to shut down the U.S....

This event occurred in the area of the previous North Korean Nuclear tests. The event has earthquake like characteristics, however, we cannot conclusively confirm at this time the nature (natural or human-made) of the event. The depth is poorly constrained and has been held to 5 km by the seismologist. The Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC) is the sole organization in the U.S. federal government whose mission is to detect and report technical data from foreign nuclear explosions.

Experts: North Korea Targeted U.S. Electric Power Companies by ANDREA MITCHELL and KEN DILANIAN WASHINGTON — The cybersecurity company FireEye says in a new report to private clients, obtained exclusively by NBC News, that hackers linked to North Korea recently targeted U.S. electric power companies with spearphishing emails. The emails used fake invitations to a fundraiser to target victims, FireEye said. A victim who downloaded the invitation attached to the email would also be downloading malware into his or her computer network, according to the FireEye report. The company did not dispute NBC's characterization of the report, but declined to...

DONALD Trump has held a meeting on the growing North Korea crisis in the White House's famous "situation room" along with the US Generals, reports say. Trump is reported to have held a briefing on North Korea at the White House along with US National Security Council. The situation room often hosts "war councils" during times of conflict, and was famously where Barack Obama monitored the mission to kill Osama bin Laden. Tensions between the US and North Korea have been worsening as Kim refuses to give up his quest for nuclear capable ICBMs. Yesterday, General James Mattis warned the...

South Korea is ready to deploy graphite bombs - also known as "blackout bombs" - that will paralyse North Korea's electrical power plants in the event of war breaking out on the peninsula. Blackout bombs were first used by the United States in Iraq in the 1990 Gulf War and work by releasing a cloud of extremely fine, chemically treated carbon filaments over electrical components. The filaments are so fine that they act like a cloud, but cause short circuits in electrical equipment. South Korea is actively looking to increase its defensive capabilities against the North and has been keen...

ritain is reportedly preparing for the possibility of war breaking out with North Korea as concerns rise that another provocative missile test could trigger a military response by the US. North Korea is being closely watched amid fears it could launch another long-range missile test on Tuesday to mark the anniversary of the founding of its ruling party. Bellicose rhetoric from Donald Trump has heightened tensions in the region in recent months, prompting British officials to draw up military plans for a response to a break out of hostilities, it was reported.

Former CIA Chief Warns of N. Korea’s Other Nuclear Weapon September 16, 2017 9:19 PM Jenny Lee​ /snip A: Probably not fully yet. But it doesn’t matter because they don’t need an intercontinental ballistic missile in order to attack directly the United States. They can do so with a satellite launch and [they] have nuclear weapons contained in the satellite that continues to circle the Earth a couple of times a day. ... So it does not take an intercontinental ballistic missile to reach the United States. You can do it fine with a weapon on a satellite. Q: You...

Being nice to Rocket Man hasn't worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won't fail.

Chinese regulators said on Thursday that North Korean companies in China, including those that have joint ventures with Chinese firms, must shut down within less than four months, a signal of growing tensions between the two countries over Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missiles programs. The move comes amid heavy pressure from the Trump administration, which has made the North Korean nuclear issue the cornerstone of its policy in Asia. President Trump and members of his administration have repeatedly signaled that the US depends on China to enforce international sanctions on North Korea in an effort to curb Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions....

This is the way a nuclear war begins. Simulations of a war on the Korean peninsula usually start with a relatively minor incident at the demilitarized zone between South Korea and its hostile northern neighbor, or a provocation that develops into a conventional war and then escalates. President Trump’s threatening posture toward North Korea — most recently exhibited at the United Nations, where he warned that the U.S. could “totally destroy” the country — has prompted military strategists to examine what would actually happen if a war broke out.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) introduced Monday the Nuclear Weapons Abolition and Economic and Energy Conversion Act of 2017 to mandate a U.S.-brokered international agreement that would see America's nuclear stockpile disabled and dismantled by 2024. “There is no greater threat to the future of our planet than nuclear war,” Norton said in a statement. “As we seek to eliminate North Korea’s march toward achieving long-range nuclear weapons, our nation, with the world’s largest nuclear arsenal, should lead by example by bringing nations together to begin negotiations on reducing our stockpiles of warheads and moving toward realizing a world without...

North Korea accuses US of declaring war, says can take countermeasures North Korea's foreign minister on Monday said President Donald Trump had declared war on North Korea and that Pyongyang reserves the right to take countermeasures, including shooting down U.S. strategic bombers even if they are not in the country's air space. "The whole world should clearly remember it was the U.S. who first declared war on our country," Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told reporters in New York. "Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to make countermeasures, including the right to...

(URGENT) N.K. FM says 'highest-level' actions in Kim's remarks may be H-bomb detonation in Pacific Headline only for now

THE US has military plans in place to combat North Korea, US Defence Secretary James 'Jim' Mattis has revealed amid escalating tensions over Kim Jong-un’s nuclear and missile advancements. It comes as North Korea test launched another missile over Japan on Friday following an earlier hydrogen bomb test which sparked a 6.3 magnitude earthquake. Mr Mattis said he and his South Korean counterpart had discussed the idea of introducing nuclear weapons to the Korean peninsula but would disclose any further details about the military plans. He added: “Yes there are. But I will not go into details.” Mr Mattis also...

A defector from North Korea has described the shocking brutality she witnessed from inside Kim Jong-un’s regime. Hee Yeon Lim described how the North Korean leader ordered executions of anyone who dared to cross him and alleged that he picks teenage girls to become his sex slaves. The daughter of an army colonel, Hee Yeon, 26, lived a privileged life in North Korean capital Pyongyang, where she was exposed to Jong-un’s reign of terror. Describing one occasion she saw 11 musicians brutally executed for making a pornographic video, she told The Mirror: “We were ordered to leave our classes by...

Imprisoned women in the communist nation of North Korea serving time for political crimes are raped, then later executed in a brutal fashion with their babies fed to dogs, according to a new report. Defectors of North Korea provided graphic testimony to South Korean newspaper Donga Ilbo about what prisoners face during their sentences, UPI reported Tuesday. The women are victims of sexual assault in prison camps at the hands of security guards who reportedly often trade sexual favors for less work while in camps, according to the report. NORTH KOREAN PRISONERS LOOK LIKE 'WALKING SKELETONS' IN KIM JONG UN'S...