Posted on 09/24/2004 1:18:46 AM PDT by HAL9000
SEOUL, Sept. 24 (Yonhap) -- The United States has found indications that North Korea may be preparing for a missile engine-combustion test, a high-level diplomatic source said Friday."As far as I know, the U.S. has detected signs of North Korea conducting activities related to running a missile engine," the source said on condition of anonymity. "The U.S. sees this as a threatening sign, but its position is that it isn't shaken at all."
The source did not provide any further details.
North Korea is said to have carried out a missile engine-combustion test in May at its missile complex in Musudan-ri in the northern part of the country.
The fresh revelation came a day after Japan said it is preparing for the possibility of the North test-firing a missile with the capability to strike most of Japan.
Japanese officials said intelligence indicates active movements of missile units around multiple Rodong missile launch sites in the North. The Rodong missiles have a range of up to 1,300 kilometers, a distance that covers most of Japan, except the southernmost island of Okinawa.
On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said he also saw such intelligence and "has some indications of activity," but added that he cannot "be sure what it means."
Powell also called on Pyongyang not to make such an attempt, saying it would be "very unfortunate."
In 1998, North Korea sent shock waves through the region by test-firing a missile that flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean. It has since been suspected of developing longer-range missiles.
North Korea's missile development has been regarded as a major threat to regional security, on top of its recent suspected nuclear weapons drive.
Pyongyang declared a moratorium on missile tests in September 1999 and in May 2001 extended it to 2003.
In a historic summit with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in September 2002, and again in May this year, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il promised to continue to keep the moratorium.
South Korea said it also detected brisk movements of missile units in the North, but downplayed their significance, saying the activities could be part of its annual training exercises.
And in other news, a S.K. Co. ships a BOATLOAD of WMD materials to N.K. via red Chinese Communists...
The trouble with an insane dictator is that these "training exercises" could turn live within seconds. Whenever U.S. forces have massive training exercises, NK always matches them. It would be interesting to know if that's what's happening here. If not, this is a politcal message or the beginning of a first strike. Kim has to know he gains nothing by waiting for the U.S. to take action at a time of our choosing, and he ought to be getting the idea by now that President Bush is intent on dismantling the "Axis of Evil".
Are you serious? I didn't see that.
China is the head of World Communist/Muhammadan terror!
Asia Pacific South Korean Company Accused of Exporting Nerve Gas Components to North Korea
VOA News
24 Sep 2004, 05:44 UTC
Government officials in Seoul say a South Korean company exported to North Korea more than 100 tons of a toxic chemical that can be used to make deadly nerve gas.
South Korea's Commerce Ministry says the company sold 107 tons of sodium cyanide last year to a Chinese firm, which in turn shipped the chemical to North Korea.
South Korea did not identify the parties involved in the shipments, but said the head of the South Korean firm was given a suspended prison term for violating South Korean trade laws.
Sodium cyanide can be used to make sarin nerve gas, but is normally used to create fertilizers.
U.S. and South Korean officials say North Korea has a large stockpile of chemical weapons.
http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=95004®ion=2
JAPAN DISPELS N KOREAN THREAT
24.9.2004. 15:55:45
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A missile test purportedly being prepared in North Korea is part of a routine military drill and does not pose an imminent threat, Japanese authorities have said.
"We believe the moves are something like drills," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said, adding that Japan nevertheless "needs to be on constant alert for defence purposes."
His comment came a day after South Korean military officials said data collected jointly with US satellites and spy planes suggested North Korea may be preparing to test-fire a missile capable of hitting cities in Japan.
Intelligence revealed a strengthening of troops around missile sites, which subsequently put Japan on alert.
Japanese and US officials have since played down the significance of the troop movements, and expressed confidence that the North would adhere to the Pyongyang declaration.
Japan said it would discuss the troop build-up with North Korea during bilateral talks in Beijing this weekend, which were scheduled to cover other matters.
Pyongyang stunned the world in August 1998 by test-launching over Japan a Taepodong-1 missile with a range of up to 2,000 kilometres, claiming it was a satellite launch.
The developments come amid recent rhetoric from Pyongyang that it might refuse to take part in six-nation talks later this month aimed at ending its nuclear weapons development.
North Korea has also accused the US of double standards, citing South Korea’s recent shock revelation that it carried out its own nuclear experiments to enrich uranium and extract plutonium some years ago.
Both enriched uranium and plutonium can be used to manufacture atomic bombs, but South Korea said its experiments were purely academic.
Meanwhile, South Korean authorities have revealed that more than 100 tonnes of a toxic chemical that can be used to make deadly nerve gas were exported to North Korea by a South Korean businessman via China.
South Korean authorities said the businessman exported 107 tonnes of sodium cyanide between June and September last year to an importer in China, near the North Korean border.
The Chinese company re-exported the shipment to a North Korean trading firm, without government approval.
Sodium cyanide is used to produce herbicides and in metal industries, but can also be used to make nerve gas and is therefore subject to export control in South Korea.
Authorities were also checking a report that a Malaysian company exported 40 tonnes of the same chemical to North Korea last month.
SOURCE: World News
107 tons. Sounds like a lot of nerve agent, unless it was used in their booming agriculture or industrial economy. They gain nothing by waiting.
I'm in prayer more lately than usual...my spirit hurts for the lost in this world. The clock is running out...we need to thin the world herd of islamocommies fast. But we might have to eliminate the ACLU under RICO statutes before anything effectual can really be done...unless we just wait around and 'react'...in a day where you might not get the chance to respond before it's too damn late.
Take heart. The left is waning. Just like the terrorists in Falluja are fervently warring up a dead end, the American Left is shouting its last hurrah. They are so far from the average American, this election will further erode their power.
In the big picture, no foreign power can take us on. The resiliency of our citizens, the magnitude of our industrial capacity, the superiority of our technology, would all combine in a moment of desperate need to restore our ability to defeat any threat, no matter the size. I'm not saying we will never take another serious hit. Instead, that when that hit comes, its over. This is like 1939. A few of us get it. The rest will in a couple of years.
The only way we lose is a combination of inner evil-doers combined with external evil-doers. Haven't we learned from the DemocRATs in America that Communists will say or do anything to fight for their incrementalist agenda to be employed? The goal of the world is to remove 1)Jews, 2)Christians and 3)America - which ensures 1 and 2.
'We believe they're something like drills...' Okay, no problem. Japan shouldn't lose any sleep over this. (Good grief.)
I agree. Dangerous times, indeed, and we may take another bad hit, but then it will be over. Our enemies are done for. We are so far ahead technologically that the rest of the world will never catch up.
I don't think the inner evil doers are going to have full run of this country until the rapture. They can do whatever they like with it then. But until that time, there are way too many good people in this country for them to mislead, now that the old media is dying and truth is available. This country is trending right big time because in spite of the vocal minority, most Americans have morals and love their country.
As to the rest of the world and their goals: they can go to hell.
Very good. However, I remember a similar type of momentum back in '94, but we blew it. Let's not do that again! lo
l
There is a direct relationship between freedom and technology. That's why countries under islamic law might as well still be living caves, and our only competition, technology-wise, comes from Japan. (this is simplifying things a bit, but it is late.) As long as we maintain our freedom and individual responsibility for our fates, they never will catch up. If we succumb (which I don't think we will) to the left, we're flat out done for.
The American thing to do is buy stock in companies that will profit from a sustained war effort in about ten countries. Short the alphabet networks. Buy Lockheed on margin.
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