Free Republic

Ex-N.Korean Diplomat Says Pyongyang Will Drag Talks out By Kim Myong-song April 17, 2018 10:03 The former No. 2 man in the North Korean Embassy in London and now a vocal critic of the regime, has predicted Pyongyang will drag out talks about its nuclear program as long as possible while extracting concessions. Thae Yong-ho was quoted on Monday as saying that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un "will drag on for two to three years" without dismantling his nuclear weapons "while waiting for the U.S. president to be replaced." He was giving a lecture at the Mulmangcho Foundation, an organization...

Iranian leaders are threatening to restart the country's contested nuclear enrichment program in just a matter of days as the Trump administration and European allies scramble to address a range of flaws in the landmark nuclear accord ahead of a May deadline that could see the United States walk away from the accord, according to regional reports and administration insiders. The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization disclosed on Sunday that the Islamic Republic has maintained the ability to restart the full-scale enrichment of uranium—the key component in a nuclear weapon that was supposed to be removed from Iran as...

Some might say it’s paranoid to think about an asteroid hitting Earth and wiping us out. But the history of life on Earth shows at least 5 major extinctions. And at least one of them, about 65 million years ago, was caused by an asteroid. Preparing for an asteroid strike, or rather preparing to prevent one, is rational thinking at its finest. Especially now that we can see all the Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs) out there. The chances of any single asteroid striking Earth may be small, but collectively, with over 15,000 NEAs catalogued by NASA, it may be only...

North Korean nukes 'existential threat' to US: intel chief 13 February 2018 North Korea's nuclear program poses a potential "existential threat" to the United States, US Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said Tuesday. "The decision time is becoming ever closer in terms of how we respond to this," Coats said in remarks to the Senate Intelligence Committee. "Our goal is a peaceful settlement," he added. "We're using maximum pressure on North Korea in various ways." Asked about Pyongyang's nuclear program, Coats said "this is an existential threat, potentially to the United States, but also to North Korea." North Korean...

Kim Jong-un says he has a ‘nuclear launch button’ on his desk in threat to America KIM Jong-un has brought in the new year with an alarming escalation in his threats against the rest of the world. During a televised New Year’s Day speech, the dictator said the US would never be able to start a war with the rogue nation after it had developed the ability to hit all of the American mainland with its nuclear weapons. “The entire United States is within range of our nuclear weapons, and a nuclear button is always on my desk. This is...

McMaster: U.S. Must Be Prepared To 'Compel' Denuclearization Of North Korea White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster says that the United States "must be prepared, if necessary, to compel the denuclearization of North Korea." McMaster's comments, in an interview with the BBC that was posted on the Internet on December 19, were the latest indication that the United States is ready to use force at some point to remove the threat posed by Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs. Asked whether the United States is committed to a peaceful solution to the standoff with North Korea, McMaster said: "We're committed...

Asahi: N. Korean Official in Charge of Nuclear Facilities Purged Write : 2017-12-19 10:03:57 Update : 2017-12-19 10:39:51 A Japanese daily says that an official in charge of construction of North Korean nuclear facilities is believed to have been purged. Quoting a North Korean defector, Japan's Asahi Shimbun reported on Tuesday that the chief of Bureau 131 of the North's ruling Workers' Party might even have been executed. The paper said that the bureau chief was recently removed from the post and purged for allegedly leaking military secrets. Bureau 131 is known to be responsible for building the North's key...

/begin my excerpt China conducted the exercise of mock occupation of Yongbyon nuclear facilities near the end of last year In preparation for a sudden crisis in North Korea, a large-scale exercise with 100,000 troops was conducted S. Korea/U.S. agencies such as NIS, JCS, CIA, etc. gathered to assess satellite photos U.S. to secure plutonium, S. Korea to secure highly-enriched uranium (HEU) in the event of crisis It is revealed that China conducted a large-scale military exercise at the end of last year for taking over the nuclear facilities in Yongbyon in the event of a sudden crisis in North...

‘North Korea is a time bomb’: government advisers urge China to prepare for war The risk of conflict on the Korean peninsula is the highest its been in decades and Beijing must mobilise resources for fallout, observers say PUBLISHED : Saturday, 16 December, 2017, 10:03pm UPDATED : Saturday, 16 December, 2017, 11:26pm China must be ready for a war on the Korean peninsula, with the risk of conflict higher than ever before, Chinese government advisers and a retired senior military officer warned on Saturday. Beijing, once seen as Pyongyang’s key ally with sway over its neighbour, was losing control of...

Alaska urged to prepare for North Korean nuclear attack as residents told to have emergency stash of food and water The country will NOT attempt evacuations if North Korea fires a nuclear missile, emergency planners have warned - as families are urged to stock up with emergency rations Alaska is being urged to prepare for a North Korean nuclear attack - amid fears that a warhead 'could reach residents in 20 minutes'. The country will NOT attempt evacuations if maniac despot Kim Jong-un fires a nuclear missile, emergency planners have warned. Jeremy Zidek, from the state’s disaster planning team, urged...

Mr. Erdogan clearly has big dreams. He made a deal during the summer with Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation to build three nuclear power plants. Since 2001 the government has declined to further invest in its dilapidated conventional power system, which is largely dependent on importing natural gas, as the supplier of nation’s electricity. The system is inadequate. The $20 billion deal with Moscow, in the works since 2010, would build the Akkuyu nuclear power plant — Turkey’s first nuclear plant ever — which is planned to be operational in 2023. Turkey is only the latest country to make a...

(2nd LD) Spy agency raises possibility of additional N. Korean nuke, missile tests 2017/11/02 SEOUL, Nov. 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's spy agency on Thursday raised the possibility of additional North Korean nuclear and missile tests, saying Pyongyang would continuously push to develop "miniaturized, diversified" warheads. During a parliamentary audit, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) also said that Pyongyang could likely begin the work of reprocessing spent fuel rods at its main nuclear complex in Yongbyon late this year. "The North will carry out additional nuclear tests and continue to push for the development of miniaturized, diversified nuclear warheads," the...

If North Korea Is Preparing for Nuclear War, All of Asia Needs Nuclear Weapons, Says Henry Kissinger By Carlos Ballesteros On 10/29/17 at 6:32 PM In a recent interview with The New York Times, former Secretary of State and Cold War strategist Henry R. Kissinger warned that East Asia is racing towards nuclear proliferation.

Trump calls for ‘tip-top shape’ nukes, NK claims ‘balance of power’ with US By Choi He-suk Published : Oct 12, 2017 - 16:23 Updated : Oct 12, 2017 - 16:23 US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that he is “stronger and tougher” on North Korea than others, while Pyongyang’s top diplomat claimed that the regime was nearing a “balance of power” with the US. Speaking to reporters following his meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House, Trump said that he would have the US nuclear arsenal in “tip-top shape” and denied reports that he wanted...

‘China has a great responsibility in N.K. nuke,’ says Chinese scholar Posted October. 10, 2017 08:10, Updated October. 10, 2017 09:28 “China cannot say it does not have a responsibility (in North Korea’s nuclear issues),” said Wang Yizhou, Deputy Dean of the School of International Studies at Peking University, in a recent interview with the Dong-A Ilbo. “The Chinese government needs to clearly acknowledge that we have a great responsibility (in Pyongyang’s nuclear issues) as well as important interests (in the Korean Peninsula),” the international relations expert added. “(Therefore,) Pressure on the North should be raised to a level where...

Trump: military option for North Korea not preferred, but would be 'devastating' Steve Holland, Idrees Ali 2017/10/08 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump warned North Korea on Tuesday that any U.S. military option would be “devastating” for Pyongyang, but said the use of force was not Washington’s first option to deal with the country’s ballistic and nuclear weapons program. “We are totally prepared for the second option, not a preferred option,” Trump said at a White House news conference, referring to military force. “But if we take that option, it will be devastating, I can tell you that, devastating for...

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...

HIGHLIGHTS o The short-range weapons meant to be used early in a conventional conflict with India are at a risk of landing up with terrorists. o According to the report, Pakistan has stored its nuclear forces at nine different locations across the country. o The report adds that Pakistan has a rapidly expanding nuclear arsenal of 130-140 warheads. o Pakistani military personnel stand beside a Shaheen III surface-to-surface ballistic missile. (Representative image/Reuters) NEW DELHI: Pakistan PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi last week yet again flaunted+ his country's tactical or nonstrategic nuclear weapons, saying they were meant to deter the Indian Army's...

/begin my translation N. Korea Revealed the Video of Assembling of Hydrogen Bomb Warhead and Probably the Shaking of Punggye-ri (Site) (Seoul=Yonhap News) On Sept. 10, N. Korea released a video of celebration for nuclear scientists and engineers who participated in their 6th nuclear test. The video contained a segment showing a video clip on the screen in the background (wall) of stage which showed scientists assembling what appears to be a hydrogen bomb warhead. The screen showed the exploding nuclear warhead followed by the scene in which N. Korean technicians wearing protective suits were assembling an object suspected to...

Britain’s Telegraph newspaper is reporting that U.K. officials fear that Iran or Russia may have helped North Korea’s “sudden advancement” in the development of nuclear weapons. The paper on September 10 said the British Foreign Office is investigating whether “current and former nuclear states” helped Pyongyang develop nuclear weapons capable of being mounted on missiles. “Iran is top of the list of countries suspected of giving some form of assistance, while Russia is also in the spotlight,” the paper reported. Unidentified senior officials told the newspaper it was “not credible” that North Korea's scientists alone could have accomplished the nuclear...