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N.Korea fires artillery for third day: Seoul officials AFP N.Korea fires artillery for third day: Seoul officials AFP – A border area of North Korea's west coast is seen from South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island in the … 15 mins ago SEOUL (AFP) – North Korea Friday fired artillery into the sea near its disputed border with South Korea for the third successive day, Seoul's military said. The communist state fired 20 shells between 7:50 am (2250 GMT Thursday) and 11:50 am," a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff told AFP. He said shells landed in the North's territory north...

(URGENT) N. Korea confirms artillery shooting in Yellow Sea, says firing will continue / no content yet /

/begin my translation N. Korean Tank Unit Engaged in Mock Attack on S. Korea While Kim Jong-il Watching N. Korean leader Kim Jong-il watched the training exercise by a battalion of 105th Tank Division(full name is longer,) according to the Jan. 5 report of N. Korea's Central TV. The pictures show such markings as "Honam Express Way" "Cholla Namdo" (mock S. Korean road signs.) The marking next to the tank says, "Central Express Way: Chunchon to Pusan 374km" Below two tanks passing by, there is another marking, barely legible, saying, "Honam Express Way..." /end my translation

2009/11/10 15:43 KST N. Korea demands apology from South over naval clash SEOUL, Nov. 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea demanded an apology from South Korea over a naval clash on the western sea border on Tuesday, calling the skirmish a "grave armed provocation" by the South that targeted a patrol boat on routine duty. "Today the north side let a patrol boat of the Navy of the KPA (Korean People's Army) on routine guard duty promptly go into action to confirm an unidentified object that intruded into the waters of its side," the North's Supreme Command of the KPA said...

An artwork is displayed at the Art Exhibition of Class Education at the Pyongyang International Culture Hall in Pyongyang on Wednesday. The Korean characters (left) read, "When we say we will do it, we will do it" (top), "The United States" (center) and "We do not make idle promises!" (bottom). /Reuters-KCNA

North Korea in 'early phase of all-out confrontation with US' North Korea has pledged to begin work "weaponising" plutonium to create another nuclear bomb as it delivered a furious response to a UN resolution ordering a fresh round of sanctions against the rogue Stalinist state. By Peter Foster in Beijing Published: 12:00PM BST 13 Jun 2009 The Yongbyon complex nuclear facility, some100 km (60 miles) north of Pyongyang, North Korea Photo: EPA The regime of the ailing dictator Kim Jong-il said it was now in the "early phase of all-out confrontation with the US" as it sought to raise tensions...

/begin my excerpts N. Korea (Recently) Made 3~4 ICBM's. Ammunition supply to its navy and shore artilleries in West Sea(Yellow Sea) doubled.. practicing blitz amphibious landing. N. Korea had produced 3~4 ICBM-class missiles(or rockets) by the end of last year. This implies that N. Korea could have one or two more long-range missiles in addition to the rocket launched last April, and the one now moved to the new Dongchang-ri test launch site. In a related development, N. Korea is said to have recently instructed its navy in West Sea(Yellow Sea) to more than double its ammunition supply, and its...

N. Korea warns U.S. troops against 'military provocation' SEOUL, Feb. 28 (Yonhap) -- North Korea warned Saturday that U.S. troops stationed in the South should stop what it called "provocative actions" along the military demarcation line, pledging to take stern action if its message goes unheeded. North Korean military officials notified their counterparts in the South, an English language statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, claiming that provocations by U.S. troops in the area are intensifying.

N.Korea Fires Artillery Near Border North Korean artillery forces staged an intensive firing exercise on Tuesday near the Northern Limit Line, the de-facto border in the West Sea, putting South Korean military authorities on high alert. According to the Defense Ministry, North Korean artillery batteries deployed in Haeju and on the Ongjin Peninsula fired dozens of shells into the West Sea in the morning and afternoon. Some residents on Yeonpyeong Island reported hearing the report of guns several times between 9 to 10 a.m. The ministry said the firing seems to be part of "routine winter exercises" and should not...

REVIEW & OUTLOOK FEBRUARY 20, 2009 Friend of Chris Connecticut's AG says Connecticut's senator is outside his jurisdiction. If you think Senator Chris Dodd was friendly with former Countrywide Financial CEO Angelo Mozilo, check out the bond the Connecticut lawmaker enjoys with Richard Blumenthal, the state's attorney general. While Mr. Dodd refuses to make public the details of his sweetheart loans from Countrywide, the state's chief lawyer not only won't investigate; he has taken to the airwaves to proclaim Mr. Dodd's innocence and even predict his re-election in 2010. Inappropriate doesn't begin to describe Mr. Blumenthal's appearance this week on...

S. Korea to strike back if N. Korea provokes armed clash: defense minister By Sam Kim SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea would sternly respond to any preemptive attack by North Korea on South Korean warships along the disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea by striking back at the North's military installations from which the attack originates, Seoul's defense chief said Friday. "We will clearly respond to any preemptive artillery or missile attack by North Korea," Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee said at a parliamentary hearing. Lee made the remarks after a ruling party lawmaker asked how the South...

The North deploys artillery on coast of the Yellow Sea Seoul developing countermeasures to contend with the potential new threat February 14, 2009 South Korea’s military has recently upgraded its manuals to counter increased threats by North Korea’s coastal artillery systems on the western side of the peninsula, military sources said yesterday. “Coastal artillery pieces are normally hidden in caves, but the North’s military has recently brought them outside along the western coastal line,” a South Korean military source said. Although Park Sung-woo, public affairs chief of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said such activity could prove to be...

North Korea scraps all accords with South By Jonathan Thatcher 1 hr 51 mins ago SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea said on Friday it was scrapping all accords with the South, the latest in a series of verbal attacks on its neighbor that analysts say are more aimed at grabbing the attention of new U.S. President Barack Obama. One analyst said the latest rise in tension increased the chances of a military clash on the heavily armed border that has divided the two Koreas for more than half a century. "There is neither way to improve (relations) nor hope to...

North Korea vows to redraw sea boundary Published: Jan. 17, 2009 at 2:45 PM SEOUL, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- North Korea Saturday vowed to "shatter" South Korea's military in an attempt to redraw the inter-Korean boundary in the Yellow Sea. North Korea maintains the boundary line should be moved further south of where it was unilaterally drawn by U.S.-led forces at the end of the Korea War in 1953, Yonhap News Agency reported Saturday. "Our revolutionary armed forces are compelled to take an all-out confrontational posture to shatter them," a spokesman for the North Korean military said of South Korea's...

N. Korean Navy warns of naval clash in Yellow Sea By Lee Joon-seung SEOUL, Oct. 9 (Yonhap) -- The North Korean Navy warned Thursday that repeated violations of its water by South Korean warships is raising the possibility of a clash in the Yellow Sea. The announcement by the Navy Command carried by the (North) Korea Central news Agency, said it will deal firmly with any violations of its sovereignty.

8. While negotiations between the Georgian and Abkhaz sides remained stalemated, a combination of developments brought about a dangerous dynamic in the situation around Abkhazia, Georgia. One month after the decision of the Russian Federation to withdraw from the 1996 Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) restrictions on Abkhazia, Georgia (see S/2008/219, para. 14), on 16 April the President of the Russian Federation issued an instruction authorizing direct relations with the Abkhaz and South Ossetian de facto authorities in a number of fields. The Russian Federation stated that the decision was aimed at supporting Russian citizens and the local population and...

April 21, 2008 Russian jet 'shoots down' Georgian spy plane Georgia today accused Russia of an “unprovoked act of aggression” after a Russian jet allegedly shot down an unmanned Georgian reconnaissance plane, Alexi Mostrous writes. Officials in Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, released video footage which they said showed a MiG-29 fighter launching a missile at the Georgian plane as it flew over the country’s breakaway Abkhazia region. The allegation - dismissed as “nonsense” by Moscow - is likely to aggravate tensions between the countries, which are locked in a standoff over Georgia’s ambitions to join NATO and Moscow's support for Abkhaz...

USFK's top commander says Kim Jong-il should beware joint marine force SEOUL, Nov. 12 (Yonhap) -- The top commander of U.S. troops here has issued tough warnings that if North Korea attacks South Korea, its leader will have sleepless nights worrying that U.S. and South Korean marines might show up in his bedroom. "(North Korean leader) Kim Jong-il should have trouble sleeping at night wondering if he attacks the South, will American Marines and the ROK Marines -- the Ghost Catchers -- show up in his bedroom," U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. B.B. Bell said in a speech at an...

By VANESSA GERA, Associated Press Writer Sun May 28, 7:26 AM ET KRAKOW, Poland - Poland's chief rabbi, Michael Schudrich, was punched and sprayed with what appeared to be pepper spray by an unidentified man in downtown Warsaw, but escaped without injuries from what police said may have been an anti-Semitic attack.

MIAMI -- British music producer Adam Kidron says he just wanted to honor the millions of immigrants seeking a better life in the U.S. when he came up with the idea of a Spanish-language version of the national anthem. The initial version of Nuestro Himno, or Our Anthem comes out Friday and features artists such as Wyclef Jean, hip-hop star Pitbull and Puerto Rican singers Carlos Ponce and Olga Tanon. Some Internet bloggers and others are infuriated by the thought of The Star-Spangled Banner sung in a language other than English, and the version of the song has already been...