Free Republic

… “The word and even the signature of the Americans cannot be relied upon, so negotiations with America are of no avail,” Khamenei said in a meeting with Foreign Ministry officials, adding that negotiations with Washington would be an “obvious mistake”, according to his official website. …

North Korea plans to implement a general amnesty next month before celebrating its 70th founding anniversary on Sept. 9, Pyongyang's media said Monday. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said that amnesty will be granted to those who were convicted of crimes against the country and people on the occasion of the North's 70th founding anniversary. The amnesty will take effect on Aug. 1, the report said, noting the cabinet and relevant organs will take practical measures to help the released people settle down to a normal working life.

Does Iran really want to nuke Israel? Is Israel stronger than Iran? A top security expert explains Israel ranked eighth most powerful country in the world North Korea expanded missile facility during talks with Trump, analysts say Pompeo downplays North Korea's rebuke of 'gangster-like' denuclearization demands North Korea reportedly extended an offer to Israel in 1999 to nix its agreements to sell missile technology to Iran and other enemy states that posed a threat to the Jewish state at the time - if Israel paid Pyongyang $1 billion in cash. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal published...

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly brought a CD with the Elton John song “Rocket Man” to give as a gift to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his visit to the country. Pompeo arrived in North Korea on Friday amid talks between the two countries over denuclearizing North Korea. Pompeo brought two gifts for Kim, including a letter from President Trump and the CD, according to The Chosun Ilbo, a top newspaper in South Korea. Last year, amid escalating rhetoric between the two countries, Trump repeatedly referred to Kim as “Rocket Man” and “Little Rocket Man.” A diplomatic...

Link only due to apparent copyright issues: http://www.themedialine.org/biztec/a-match-made-in-hi-tech-heaven-israel-and-south-korea/

Are the United States and North Korea headed for the ultimate of summer blockbusters: another nuclear showdown? At least for the moment, all sign point to a solid yes. And the American people need to take notice. Lost in the headlines over a fiery battle over immigration, a looming Supreme Court pick and Fourth of July cookout plans, a slow crisis is brewing on the Korean Peninsula once again. In what can only be described as a bombshell report, NBC News broke details of a shocking new U.S. intelligence assessment on North Korea’s nuclear program. According to multiple intelligence sources...

White House national security adviser John Bolton offered up new details on Sunday about the path toward the nuclear disarmament of North Korea and addressed a recent Washington Post report suggesting that the country plans to deceive the United States about its nuclear stockpile. On CBS's "Face the Nation," Bolton said North Korea's nuclear arsenal could be dismantled in a year if Pyongyang cooperates, adding that the program would require "full disclosure of all [of North Korea's] chemical and biological, nuclear programs, ballistic missile sites." "We have developed a program. I am sure that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will...

Even as North Korea engages in diplomacy with the US for denuclearization, US intelligence officials have spotted evidence that points to the communist nation’s unwillingness to fully dismantle its nuclear program while concealing key parts, the Washington Post said Sunday. The assessment contradicts US President Donald Trump’s remarks that “there is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea,” following a landmark summit with the North’s leader Kim Jong-un on June 12 in Singapore. The evidence collected aims to deceive the United States about the number of nuclear warheads in North Korea’s arsenal as well as the existence of undisclosed...

North Korea has increased its production of enriched uranium for nuclear weapons at secret sites in recent months, contrary to Donald Trump’s claims that it was “no longer a nuclear threat”, according to a new report. NBC News quoted more than a dozen US officials familiar with the intelligence assessments. Coming soon after satellite images showed rapid improvements being made to a North Korean nuclear research facility at Yongbyon, the developments will make it harder for Trump to claim that his summit with Kim Jong-un in Singapore this month was a success. Neither of the concessions the US president claimed...

The Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology Tuesday announced that it has developed the world’s first next generation seawater distillation technology that allows consumable water to be produced in low temperatures and under low pressure, which increases energy efficiency and production capacity. Additionally, the institution has set up the world’s largest seawater distillation plant. According to the institution, it developed a membrane distillation that only allows vapor to pass through while keeping the liquids contained. The vapor is compressed to create a liquid that can be consumed or used for industrial purposes such as irrigation by removing salt...

WASHINGTON - The Trump administration is asking U.S. allies around the world to lower their level of oil imports from Iran to zero by November 4th of this year, a senior U.S. Official said on Tuesday. The official added that the administration isn't planning to produce any waivers that will exclude certain countries or companies from this requirement. "We are pushing allies to cut oil imports to zero by November," the senior official said. "We view this as one of our top national security priorities." Talks on this demand have been ongoing for recent weeks, but the senior official said...

President Donald Trump attacked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday, saying the New York Democrat was wrong when he criticized the president's historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as "all hat and no cattle." "Thank you Chuck, but are you sure you got that right? No more nuclear testing or rockets flying all over the place, blew up launch sites," the president wrote on Twitter. "Hostages already back, hero remains coming home & much more!" Schumer, in a speech on the Senate floor on Wednesday, questioned just what the U.S. gained from the summit. “The summit...

North Korean strongman Kim Jong-un’s latest visit to Beijing this week cannot obscure the fact that China, once the primary conduit between Washington and Pyongyang, is at risk of being largely left on the outside. The White House has eroded China’s leverage by establishing a direct telephone link — a virtual hotline — to Mr. Kim. In fact, U.S. President Donald Trump, by directly engaging Pyongyang over a nuclear and peace deal, has effectively cut out the middleman, China. Beijing, which values North Korea as a strategic buffer against the U.S. military presence in South Korea, has reason to be...

It’s not far-fetched to consider ‘The Art of the Deal’ applied to North Korea’s allegedly vast rare earth resources. This may not be about condos on North Korean beaches after all. Arguably, the heart of the matter in the Trump administration’s embrace of Kim Jong-un has everything to do with one of the largest deposits of rare earth elements (REEs) in the world, located only 150 km northwest of Pyongyang and potentially worth billions of US dollars. All the implements of 21st century technology-driven everyday life rely on the chemical and physical properties of 17 precious elements on the periodic...

One week after the high-profile meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Americans are generally satisfied with what was accomplished in the summit between the leaders, according to a CNN poll conducted by SSRS that was released on Tuesday. Just over half -- 52% -- were satisfied with how the meeting went, with 36% saying they were dissatisfied. Eighty-five percent of Republicans were happy after the summit, with 52% of independents, and 28% of Democrats saying the same. Over a third say the outcome of the summit was a major achievement for the US, with...

Russian gas giant Gazprom has resumed talks with South Korea over a decade-old idea to build a gas pipeline from Russia’s Far East to South Korea through North Korea, Vitaly Markelov, Deputy Chairman of Gazprom’s Management Committee, said on Friday. “To date, the political situation has been somewhat different, and the South Korean side has asked Gazprom to resume the project, and a series of talks has been held on this issue, and these talks are continuing." “The ideas behind the pipeline look very difficult to implement, especially given the complex political-military context continuing on the Korean peninsula, and the...

Walking along Michigan Avenue the other day, my 8-year-old nephew who is visiting from Georgia noticed the shiny glass building towering over the Chicago River. “Look, it says Trump!” he shouted. “What do you know about Trump?” I asked. “Do you like him?” “Yeah,” he answered without hesitation. “He’s our president. He keeps us safe.” Granted, my nephew comes from a small town in a red state that gave Donald Trump 50 percent of the vote against Hillary Clinton’s 45 percent. It is quite possible that he has managed to escape much of the Trump disdain that is displayed so...

There is no visible indication that North Korea has begun dismantling missile launch sites as reportedly promised, according to satellite imagery shared by 38 North. The program, hosted by the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, analyzed and posted imagery of the known locations of North Korea’s missile launch facilities on Thursday and Friday. According to the analysis, 38 North reported that it could not identify “any activity associated with the dismantlement” at any testing sites. There are six known launch and engine testing facilities as well as two eject test stands scattered throughout North Korea. "Of these...

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday criticized a joint diplomatic statement released a few hours before from President Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un as lacking detail and giving Kim too much room to back out. Schumer said by meeting with Kim, Trump has given “a brutal and repressive dictatorship the international legitimacy it has long craved.” “It is best not to dive in head first and hope for the best but rather to work slowly, transparently and verifiably to build trust and lock in concessions,” Schumer warned. Schumer argued the agreement lacks detail on achieving...

The White House said Tuesday that the U.S. military would continue to train with its South Korean counterparts and conduct military drills — but not large-scale, joint exercises — in a clarification of an offer by President Donald Trump to North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un.