Free Republic

At pro-Palestinian Black Lives Matter rallies in New York and Washington, chants were heard calling for “Death to Israel,” “Death to America” and “From Gaza to Minnesota, globalize the Intifada!” Several hundred protesters attended the July 1 demonstration in Brooklyn dubbed as a “Day of Rage” event, set to coincide with the earliest date Israel could begin its plans to apply Israeli law over parts of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley. Speakers issued inflammatory rallying cries that ran the gamut from anti-Semitic and anti-American to just plain absurd. One pro-North Korea activist called for the end of the...

North Korea on Saturday reiterated it has no immediate plans to resume nuclear negotiations with the United States unless Washington discards what it describes as “hostile” polices toward Pyongyang. The statement by North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui came after President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, told reporters in New York Thursday that Trump might seek another summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as an “October surprise” ahead of the U.S. presidential election. South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who had lobbied hard to help set up the now-stalled negotiations between Washington and...

In his new tell-all book, former National Security Advisor John Bolton claims the threat from North Korea today is “absolutely greater” than it was in 2016. One of Bolton’s chief complaints about Trump’s actions over the past two years was that he “gave away” joint drills that were “critical” to defend South Korea. Bolton, like many in Washington, sees great value in these military exercises—but this is a flawed understanding of how deterrence works. It is not regular drills that ensure U.S. deterrence of North Korea, but the overall capacity of our muscular, comprehensive military power in comparison to the...

A statement from North Korea’s embassy in Moscow observing the 70th anniversary of the still-ongoing Korean War this weekend threatened a “sensational event” leading to the destruction of the United States. North Korea routinely threatened nuclear attacks on America for much of the past decade, peaking in intensity around 2016-2017. Pyongyang’s communist regime issued many of those threats in the form of videos simulating nuclear attacks on Washington, DC, and other major American cities. Following its most recent nuclear attack in September 2017, however, the United Nations approved of strict sanctions on North Korea that have crippled its economy and...

As if we didn’t have enough already going on in 2020, now we are facing the possibility that several regional wars may erupt. China and India had both been pouring troops into a disputed border region, and now there has been an incident where they were actually killing each other. On the Korean peninsula, North Korea just blew up “a joint liaison office” that it had used for talks with the South Korean government. And in the Middle East, Turkey is warning of grave consequences if Israel goes ahead with a plan to annex portions of Judea and Samaria. If...

North Korea announced Wednesday it would deploy troops to the Kaesong Industrial Zone and Mt. Kumgang tourist area, locations that were once the sites of joint economic ventures with South Korea, as Pyongyang continued to ratchet up tensions a day after it demolished an inter-Korean liaison office. The North will also reinstall guard posts that had been removed from the Demilitarized Zone and conduct military drills in border areas, according to a statement by a spokesman for the General Staff of the Korean People's Army "Civil police posts that had been withdrawn from the Demilitarized Zone under the north-south agreement...

North Korea has mysteriously locked down a major border city, a move reportedly connected to either the coronavirus — or a planned event for missing-again despot Kim Jong Un. The Hermit Kingdom — one of the few nations on Earth claiming to be coronavirus-free — barred entry earlier this month to Rason, a city of 20,000 that is a major hub for trade with Russia and China, sources told Radio Free Asia Tuesday. The notoriously secretive nation has refused to tell its citizens why the city was suddenly locked down, RFA said. Many fear that it could be a sign...

North Korea has axed its spy chief as well as the long-running head of Kim Jong Un’s security — signs of a major shakeup during the ongoing mystery over the dictator’s status. Jang Kil Song was ousted as head of the Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB), the North’s military intelligence agency, according to the Korea Herald, citing a report by South Korea’s Unification Ministry. The RGB is behind the Hermit Kingdom’s most high-profile attacks as well as spy missions, including those against the US, the report says.

President Donald Trump responded to reports about North Korean despot Kim Jong Un, reposting state media photos that purport to show Kim attending a ceremony at a fertilizer factory. “I, for one, am glad to see he is back, and well!” Trump wrote on Twitter. Kim’s attendance at the ribbon-cutting ceremony was the first public appearance he’s made in about three weeks, and it comes amid speculation about his health. Several news outlets in Asia had reported that Kim, 36, was brain dead or had died, although South Korean officials said he was alive and still in control of the...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North and South Korean troops exchanged fire along their tense border on Sunday, the South’s military said, blaming North Korean soldiers for targeting a guard post. The Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said in a statement that North Korean troops fired several bullets at a South Korean guard post inside the heavily fortified border. South Korea fired two rounds in response after issuing a warning broadcast, it said. MORE AT LINK

A year and a half into Donald Trump’s presidency, Henry Kissinger set out a theory. “I think Trump may be one of those figures in history who appears from time to time to mark the end of an era and to force it to give up its old pretences,” he told the Financial Times. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that he knows this, or that he is considering any great alternative. It could just be an accident.” A term has been coined to describe this notion: Ryan Evans of War on the Rocks calls them “Trumportunities.” It is the idea that,...

America’s adversaries know there is “no worse enemy” than the United States under President Donald Trump’s leadership, assessed Sebastian Gorka, host of the America First radio show and former deputy assistant to the president, offering his remarks in an interview on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Saturday with host Matt Boyle. Gorka reflected on his work with Trump’s presidential transition team. “One of the first things we did on the official presidential transition team working for General Flynn, that great American patriot, and after the election, we were authorized — as transition teams are — to reach out to heads of state...

UN Security Council members are due to meet informally on Monday for a second round of negotiations on a Russian and Chinese proposal to lift a raft of sanctions on North Korea, a move that some diplomats say has little support. China and Russia are convening negotiations a day before North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's deadline for the United States to show flexibility in stalled talks aimed at getting Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons program. North Korea has warned the United States could receive an unwanted "Christmas gift" if it fails. A top White House official said...

U.S. officials are on high alert for signs of a possible missile launch from North Korea in the coming days that officials have referred to as a “Christmas gift.” A significant launch or nuclear test would raise the end of North Korea's self-imposed moratorium on missile launches and tests. It would also be a major blow to one of President Trump’s major foreign policy goals to get North Korea back to the negotiating table to eliminate its nuclear weapons. In this Dec. 16, 2019, photo, South Korean army soldiers stand guard at the Unification Bridge, which leads to the Panmunjom...

North Korea's recent test of its super-large multiple rocket launcher has not only proved the weapon system's improved "volley-firing" capabilities but also showed that North Korea's weapons development programs have proceeded steadily for the past two years, experts said Monday. On Nov. 28, North Korea conducted the test-firing of the super-large multiple launch rocket system for the fourth time this year following Aug. 24, Sept. 10 and Oct. 31 launches. All four tests involved two rockets fired from the weapon system, with the North succeeding to narrow down the firing interval from 17 minutes on Aug. 24 and 3 minutes...

Malarkey! Joe Biden has done it again! He stood before an audience and told a big whopper of a lie. This was even with his wife standing directly behind him! It’s time for Jill Biden and the Biden family to tell Joe his time is up. Joe Biden claims he has “spent a lot of time” with Kim Jong Un. That is FALSE Biden and Kim Jong Un have never met. Joe Biden claims has has "spent a lot of time" with Kim Jong Un. That is FALSE Biden and Kim Jong Un have never met. pic.twitter.com/evCJLqEdAz Trending: Who’s Joe...

In a region where the subtlest of signals sends shockwaves, this one looks like a tsunami. Talks between the US and South Korea broke down earlier today in a remarkable show of public acrimony, with the Trump administrationÂ’s negotiator accusing Seoul of acting in bad faith. At issue is the bill that the White House wants South Korea to pay for our military protection, which quintuples SeoulÂ’s current contribution: The United States broke off talks with South Korea on Tuesday over how to share the cost of the two nationsÂ’ military alliance, injecting fresh tension into the relationship over...

South Korean and U.S. officials broke off talks on Tuesday aimed at settling the cost burden for Seoul of hosting the U.S. military, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said, amid a public backlash over a U.S. demand for a sharp increase in the bill. Officials had resumed a planned two-day negotiation on Monday, trying to narrow a $4 billion gap in what they believe South Korea should contribute for the cost of stationing U.S. troops in the country for next year. “Our position is that it should be within the mutually acceptable Special Measures Agreement (SMA) framework that has been agreed...

South Korean and U.S. officials broke off talks on Tuesday aimed at settling the cost burden for Seoul of hosting the U.S. military, South Korea's Foreign Ministry said, amid a public backlash over a $5 billion U.S. demand for the bill. The breakdown in talks was a sharp and rare public disagreement in the 66-year alliance, with each side suggesting the other was not prepared to come to a fair and reasonable compromise on sharing the costs for hosting 28,500 U.S. troops as a deterrent to North Korea.

Iran, China, and Russia will hold in the coming weeks their first-ever joint war drills, which leaders say are meant to send a "message to the world" about increased military cooperation between the rogue countries. The commander of Iran's navy, Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi, said Wednesday that the Islamic Republic will team up with Moscow and Beijing within the next month to hold the mass war drills. "The joint wargame between Iran, Russia, and China, which will hopefully be conducted next month, carries the same message to the world, that these three countries have reached a meaningful strategic point in...