Free Republic

North Korea has threatened "indiscriminate" nuclear strikes against South Korea and the US if they push ahead with joint military drills.

Kim Jong-il is dead

Judy Woodruff did a piece on Sarah Palin and her book. Among the interview participants was National Review Contributing Editor David Frum. Frum said that Palin "got into a position of leadership by sending very powerful sexual signals." It was a highly edited segment and there was no follow up or elaboration. (Segment has not yet been posted online.)

/begin my translation Intelligence: 'Signs of Trouble in Kim Jong-il's Health' [JoongAng Ilbo] The day before (Christopher) Hill's visit... intelligence agency on alert The intelligence authorities are trying to verify the intelligence that something went wrong with Kim Jong-il (age: 65) on June 20, the day before the visit by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill. Intelligence sources in Seoul said on June 22, "We won't reveal the source but we picked up signs that Kim Jong-il's health is in trouble. S. Korea and U.S. intelligence are trying to find out if it is true." They also added,...

North Korea sets off an earthshaking explosion _ and claims it was nuclear. Was it? For scientists, that was not a quick and easy question to answer. *****Snip**** His agency estimated the North Korean blast at around 1 kiloton or less _ equivalent to the explosive force of 1,000 tons of TNT. For a nuclear device, that would be so weak that the French defense minister suggested that "there could have been a failure" with the North Korean reported test.

/begin my translation Kim Jong-il's brother-in-law injured but alive in a traffic accident Jang Sung-taek, Kim Jong-il's brother-in-law, reportedly had a traffic accident in Pyongyang last month. On Oct. 8, according to multiple sources on N. Korea, the accident occurred at a four-way crossing in front of N. Korean Military's Performance Theater, located in Moranbong District. Jang's Mercedes S600 sedan was hit from behind by a freight truck belonging to a foreign trade enterprise of N. Korean military. This crossing is connected to (N. Korea's) Arch of Triumph, Sujang-dong of Botong-gang District, Victory Memorial Museum, and Botong Gate. Jang's sedan...

Until tonight, I felt like the crazy little woodchuck's insane actions were like that of a child throwing a temper tantrum. My belief was that we should continue with BILATERAL talks with China, Russia, Japan, Korea, and North Korea. After all, why should the US do anything unilaterally, right? If the news I'm hearing out of Japan is correct, then my views have changed.

The Associated Press Thursday, June 22, 2006; 8:03 PM HONOLULU -- A Navy ship on Thursday intercepted a medium-range missile warhead above the earth's atmosphere off Hawaii in the latest test of the U.S. missile defense program, the military said. The Missile Defense Agency said the test had been scheduled for months and was not prompted by indications that North Korea was planning to test launch a long-range missile. The USS Shiloh detected a medium-range missile after it was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, then fired a Standard Missile-3 interceptor. The interceptor shot down the target...

/begin my excerptN. Koreans Ordered To Raise Their Flag At 2PM, and Listen to BroadcastN. Korean leadership ordered its citizen to raise their flag and listen to their (government) communique from TV in the evening, according to Sankei Shimbun (of Japan), quoting Japanese government sources. The paper said it is paying attention this development because it could be related to the launch of Taepodong-2. /end my excerpt

/begin my conversation"Phone Conversation of Kim Kyong-hee & Jong-nam Intercepted", Sankei in Japan Reports"North's succession intrigue intense.... even one hour conversation while drunk" Kim Kyong-hee(left,) (Kim Jong-il's sister,) and Kim Jong-nam(right,) (Kim Jong-il's eldest son) An intelligence agency of an E. Asian country has been successful in intercepting frequent phone conversations between Kim Jong-nam, Kim Jong-il's eldest son, and Kim Kyong-hee, Kim Jong-il's sister since early last year. They were international calls between Pyongyang and Beijing, according to May 1st issue of Sankei Shimbun(of Japan.) The paper reported that Kim Jong-nam blamed incompetent N. Korean security agencies for his arrest...

North Korea suggested Tuesday it had the ability to launch a pre-emptive attack on the United States, according to the North's official news agency. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said the North had built atomic weapons to counter the U.S. nuclear threat. "As we declared, our strong revolutionary might put in place all measures to counter possible U.S. pre-emptive strike," the spokesman said, according to the Korean Central News Agency. "Pre-emptive strike is not the monopoly of the United States." Last week, the communist country warned that it had the right to launch a pre-emptive strike, saying it would strengthen...

Don't Miss: Springtime for the Dear Leader March 15, 2006 · Okay, you've just escaped North Korea. You were held there for years in the gulag of prison camps. Your only crime? Listening to South Korean radio about the death of Kim Il Sung. But you're out now. You've made it to freedom. What do you do? Why, put on a musical, of course. Director Jung Sung San's musical, Yodok Story just opened in Seoul. It deals with rape, beatings, murder... great family fare, no?

What follows are the chief reasons why I support Zionism stated as briefly as possible. 1. Oppression of the Jews. The Jewish people are the most oppressed people in all History. Romans feeding Jews to the lions, pogroms in Russia & in Eastern Europe, the Spanish Inquisition, the Holocaust, anti-Semitic Palestinian terrorism, etc., all make this exceedingly clear. In proportion as the gentiles are so inclined to treat Jews in such a way, in that same proportion the feeling of equality and the existence of tolerance between Jews and gentiles are inconceivable. 2. Anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism This being the case,...

Being that everyone is entitled to a frivolous vanity every once in awhile, I have decided to dedicate mine to the beauty of the women of Free Republic. You ladies are beautiful in your mind, wit, and hearts. Many of you are also quite attractive physically as well. Here's your chance to post photos or make comments that will drive us male freepers wild.

North Korea's government is producing high-quality counterfeit $100 bills and is working with criminal groups in China to sell the fake U.S. money internationally, U.S. officials say. Some details of the production of what federal officials call "supernotes" were disclosed after arrests last month in several U.S. cities of people linked to a major Asian crime ring trafficking in fake money, arms, drugs and cigarettes. A senior Bush administration official said one of the 10 indictments in the case contains the first disclosure of the North Korean government's role in the counterfeiting.

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea announced on Friday the introduction of the Stalinist country's first credit card, but just how it would work was unclear. "The North East Asia Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has introduced (an) IC credit card ... in order to modernise its settlement business," the official Korean Central News Agency reported. "The IC card ensures the safety of the data registered in it. And it is impossible to counterfeit it so as to prevent money from being lost," KCNA said. "Six kinds of currencies can be deposited in a card at a time....