North Korea threatens South with "final destruction" "WAR 'imminent"

[Kilika]

It may be that North Korea is being used to forward an agenda, but it does look like the world's governments are not particularly concerned.

As for the US military cuts, I think that's just pure politics as it's McCain and the Republicans that are war hawks, so no surprise Democrats are cutting the military like they claim they are. Thing is, all those military units can be back up and running in a few hours at most, so it's not that big a deal.

[Psalm 51:17]

DRUDGE REPORT: NUCLEAR WAR 'UNAVOIDABLE'
http://www.drudgereport.com/

North Korea states 'nuclear war is unavoidable' as it declares first target will be Japan
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/391376/North-Korea-states-nuclear-war-is-unavoidable-as-it-declares-first-target-will-be-Japan

NORTH KOREA has warned Japan that Tokyo would be the first target in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula, as it increased threats of an attack.

In a commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the communist country lashed out at Tokyo's standing orders to destroy any missile heading toward Japan, threatening such actions will result in a nuclear attack against the island nation.

If Japan executes its threat to shoot down any North Korean missile, such a “provocative” intervention would see Tokyo — an enormous conurbation of 30 million people — “consumed in nuclear flames”, KCNA warned.

“Japan is always in the cross-hairs of our revolutionary army and if Japan makes a slightest move, the spark of war will touch Japan first,” the report added.

An official at Japan’s defence ministry said that the country “will take every possible measure to respond to any scenario”, while the US Secretary of State John Kerry warned that a North Korean missile launch would be a “huge mistake”.

“The rhetoric that we are hearing from North Korea is simply unacceptable by any standards,” he told a news conference in Seoul alongside South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se.

“The United States, South Korea and the entire international community… are all united in the fact that North Korea will not be accepted as a nuclear power,” Kerry added.

However, the North has declared it is "confident of final victory" against its enemies.

"The enemies should know that it is the era of the great Marshal Kim Jong Un, leader of the most powerful country and invincible great Paektusan nation," KCNA stated.

"The DPRK has won victories in confrontation with the U.S. in spirit and is waging an all-out action with it, with confidence in final victory."

The torrent of war cries is seen outside Pyongyang as an effort to raise fears and pressure Seoul and Washington into changing their North Korea policies, and to show the North Korean people that their young leader is strong enough to stand up to powerful foes.

South Korea fears Pyongyang could launch now launch multiple missiles after weeks of threats, according to local reports.

Observers believe a launch is most likely in the build-up to Monday’s anniversary of the birth of late founder Kim Il-Sung, for which celebrations are already well under way in Pyongyang.

The Korean Peninsula has "been reduced to the biggest nuclear hotspot in the world", the North said in more fiery rhetoric today, "making the outbreak of a nuclear war on this land unavoidable."

The reclusive state is dedicated to "defending the sovereignty and dignity of the country with its own strike mode and means," it said.

"No force on earth can block the just cause of the army and people of the DPRK," the chilling message concluded.

[Kilika]

So they are going to fire a test missile over Japan, as I've seen mentioned will likely happen, and now claiming Japan is their first target for a nuclear strike? What part of that scenario makes them think Japan will wait to see if it's a test? And how do we even know who is really running North Korea? They could easily be the "bad cop" in the worldly delusion being used to justify stricter "security" etc. for the "good guys" of the western world.

Till somebody takes action, it's all rhetoric.

[Psalm 51:17]

^^ I was kind of thinking the same thing too(kind of, that is) - remember the whole "Cold War" stuff where over and over again, the USA was threatened with nuke attacks. Never happened, b/c it was part of the Hegelian Dialectic process. By the time Reagan and Gorbachev signed that "peace" treaty in the 80's, you could see them exchanging Freemasonic handshakes.(and Reagan at the time worked with the Pope to help "bring down communism")

Well, no one ain't seen anything yet!

Rev 13:11  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
Rev 13:12  And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
Rev 13:13  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
Rev 13:15  And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
Rev 13:16  And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Rev 13:17  And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Rev 13:18  Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

[Christian40]

And i believe that Harry Truman was a freemason as well who gave the go for the US to nuke Hiroshima and Nagasaki, doesn't this thing about North Korea wanting to nuke Japan make you think of WW2? Kim Jong Un is just as devil possessed as Truman was. i pray each day that there will be no war in the Koreas, i dont want to see war, i trust that God is in control of world history.

[Psalm 51:17]

First off, SBC Prez Fred Luter should be much more concerned about all of the false prophets like Dallas Willard and Richard Foster, false teachers like Rick Warren and Billy Graham, ecumenicists/collectivists like Russell Moore being appointed to high level positions, and sodomites infiltrating the Southern Baptist Convention, b/c judgment must begin at the house of the Lord.

And besides, it was GOD who reigned his fury on Sodom and Gomorrah, and NOT some North Korea dictator.

http://allchristiannews.com/southern-baptist-convention-president-fred-luter-called-a-frightened-puppy-for-retracting-remarks-on-cnn/
Southern Baptist Convention President Fred Luter Called a “Frightened Puppy” for Retracting Remarks on CNN
4/11/13

Radio show host, Rick Wiles, has criticized Fred Luter, Southern Baptist Convention President, for going back on his own comments during an interview on Wiles show.  During the interview, Luter agreed with Wiles that maybe the moral downslide in America has something to do with North Korea’s nuclear threat, prophetically speaking.

Wiles said, “Poor pastor Luter, he wilted under the heat of CNN’s cameras.” Wiles went on to say that he thought that Luter had “tucked his tail between his legs like a frightened puppy,” after he withdrew the comments he made on Wiles show. He continued, “He made Joel Osteen look like the winner of the tough-man contest.”

In the interview with Wiles, Luter said that although he was no expert on prophecy, he would not be surprised if there was not a connection between the U.S. bickering about gay marriage in the U.S. Supreme Courts and the fact that Kim Jong-un, North Korean dictator, was making noise about going to war with the U.S.

Luter continued to point out that historically, Scripture had been proven right when the people who claim to be of God are breaking His laws. “I would not be surprised that at the time when we are debating same-sex marriage, at a time when we are debating whether or not we should have gays leading the Boy Scout movement, I don’t think it’s just a coincidence that we have a madman in Asia who is saying some of the things that he’s saying,” said Luter.

**So does that include YOU, Mr. Luter, who happens to be a member of the New Orleans RCC Archdiocese's INTERFAITH group?
http://endtimesandcurrentevents.freesmfhosting.com/index.php/topic,6030.0.html

During an interview with Anderson Cooper’s of CNN, Luter recanted his previous comments to Wiles and claimed that he had been misunderstood. He said that the views were Wiles’, not his own. Luter also said that while some of this could be true, he wasn’t entirely sure if Wiles was correct or not.

Uh, no, you said so right out of your mouth...


Wiles, now has his own ministry, but previously worked for the Christian Broadcasting Network and Trinity Broadcasting Network. He said that he doesn’t take back the words that he said to Luter and he still thinks the same way. You be the judge:  Is Fred Luter a coward for saying something and then backing down on national television?

[Kilika]

Is Fred Luter a coward for saying something and then backing down on national television?

Personally, I couldn't care less. Just more false prophet propaganda.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/14/17745795-japan-us-agree-north-korea-must-not-have-nuclear-weapons?lite
4/14/13
Japan, US agree North Korea must not have nuclear weapons

Japan and the United States cannot allow North Korea to possess nuclear weapons, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishia said Sunday after a meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry, according to Reuters.

Kerry is in Japan on a regional tour aimed at solidifying support for curbing North Korea's nuclear program.

Earlier, he was in Beijing – for the first time as secretary of state – where he sought to persuade President Xi Jinping to rein in North Korea, China's traditional ally, arguing that Pyongyang's erratic young leader, Kim Jong Un, is threatening the stability of the entire region.

Pyongyang has threatened for weeks to attack the United States, South Korea and Japan since new U.N. sanctions were imposed in response to its latest nuclear arms test in February, fuelling speculation of a new missile launch or nuclear test.

"China and the United States must together take steps in order to achieve the goal of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, and today we agreed to have further discussions, to bear down very quickly with great specificity on exactly how we will accomplish this goal," Kerry said Saturday before flying on to Japan, the last stop on his Asian tour.

more

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/456840/20130414/north-korea-threat-missile-launch-birthday-kim.htm
4/14/13
North Korea's Kim Jong-un missing in Public for Two Weeks

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has not been seen in public for the past two weeks sparking widespread speculation amid escalating tensions in the Korean Peninsula.
 
Unconfirmed reports which suggested a coup against the leader have been rubbished by experts in Seoul citing no unusual military movement in the country.

Alongside a flurry of threats from North Korea, Kim's absence has set rumour mills rolling. One question being asked is whether Pyongyang has been forced to tone down its war rhetoric against the US and South Korea.

Kim was last seen in public on 1 April when he headed a parliamentary session. The leader has been missing in action for the last 15 days at a time when the country is set to mark the birth anniversary of his grandfather and former leader of North Korea Kim Il-sung.

It is widely speculated that North Korea will launch a ballistic missile to mark the occasion.

A source familiar with matter told the Seoul-based Yonhap news agency that Kim's absence is a "psychological warfare that could grab attention from South Korea and the United States".

Experts also believe that Pyongyang will not scale down its provocative posture against the US.

Meanwhile, North Korea's staunch ally China has pledged to work together with the US in a bid to restrain Pyongyang.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, who was in Beijing holding talks with top Chinese leaders, said the two largest economies are looking forward to peacefully defusing the tensions.

"To properly address the Korean nuclear issue serves the common interests of all parties. China will work with other relevant parties including the United States to play a constructive role," said Beijing's State Councillor Yang Jiechi.

Neither Washington nor Beijing has spelt out the steps the parties intend taking against North Korea if the situation turns worse.

Kerry, who earlier visited Seoul, is on the last leg of his Asia tour and will shortly visit Japan. Tokyo has also deployed several Patriot missiles to defend its territory in the wake of the North Korean threats.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/british-university-attacks-bbc-over-covert-north-korea-141125944.html
British university attacks BBC over covert North Korea trip
4/15/13

LONDON (Reuters) - A leading British university has criticised the BBC for arranging an academic trip to North Korea to make an undercover documentary, saying it had put students who were unaware of the plans in danger.

The London School of Economics (LSE) said three BBC journalists - including the respected reporter John Sweeney - joined a student society trip at the end of March, posing as tourists to make a film about the secretive state.

The university said the students had been told "a journalist" would accompany them, but it had not been made clear the BBC's aim was to use the visit to record an undercover film for "Panorama", a current affairs programme.

more

[Mark]

North Korea vows blitz attack on South warning 'retaliation will start without notice'
NORTH Korea's military has today issued a stark warning saying it will launch retaliation against South Korea without warning if "anti-North Korean" activities continue.

"The supreme command of the Korean People's Army Tuesday issued an ultimatum to the South Korean puppet group," Pyongyang's official news agency, KCNA, said.

Threatening that it would not give any advance notice before attacking South Korea, the North warned: "Our retaliatory action will start without any notice from now."

North Korea said it was responding to insults from the "puppet authorities" in the South, who yesterday held a rally against the North in Seoul.

Anti-North Korea protesters burnt effigies of past and present leaders of the secretive state while the North celebrated the 101st anniversary of its founder's birth.

Branding the rally a "monstrous criminal act," the North warned "all the service personnel and people of the DPRK are simmering with towering resentment" towards the South.

"Our retaliatory action will start without any notice from now as such thrice-cursed criminal act of hurting the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK is being openly committed in the heart of Seoul under the patronage of the puppet authorities."

"The DPRK's revolutionary armed forces will start immediately their just military actions to show how the service personnel and people of the DPRK value and protect the dignity of the supreme leadership."

"The military demonstration of the DPRK's revolutionary armed forces will be powerful sledge-hammer blows at all hostile forces hurting the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK."

The renewed threats came a day after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged the regime in Pyongyang to halt its nuclear program and tame its fiery rhetoric if it wants to hold talks.

However, today the North responded by saying "if the puppet authorities truly want dialogue and negotiations, they should apologize for all anti-DPRK hostile acts, big and small, and show the compatriots their will to stop all these acts in practice."

The Secretary of State's visit followed weeks of dramatic threats by Kim Jong Un's regime, including that of a nuclear strike on the United States and South Korea.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/392335/North-Korea-vows-blitz-attack-on-South-warning-retaliation-will-start-without-notice

[Christian40]

[Mark]

North Korea Sets Conditions for Return to Talks

North Korea on Thursday demanded the lifting of United Nations sanctions and an end to joint American-South Korean military exercises as preconditions for starting dialogue to defuse tension on the Korean Peninsula.

By making demands that both the United States and South Korea had no intention of accepting, North Korea signaled that it would not stand down anytime soon from a military standoff that has lasted for weeks.

But the fact that North Korea has recently begun responding to American and South Korean offers for dialogue, even though they came with steep preconditions, has raised cautious hopes among South Korean analysts that the North might be ready to wind down weeks of hostile rhetoric that at times appeared to bring the peninsula close to a point of conflict.

rest: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/19/world/asia/north-korea-tension.html?_r=0

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-moves-two-more-missile-launchers-report-035049930.html
North Korea moves two more missile launchers: report
4/20/13

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has moved two short-range missile launchers to its east coast, apparently indicating it is pushing ahead with preparations for a test launch, a South Korean news agency reported on Sunday. South Korea and its allies have been expecting some sort of North Korean missile launch during weeks of heightened hostility on the Korean peninsula. An unidentified South Korean military source told the South's Yonhap news agency that satellite imagery showed that North Korean forces had moved two mobile missile launchers for short-range Scud missiles to South Hamgyeong province. "The military is closely watching the North's latest preparations for a missile launch," the source said.

[Mark]

South Korea 'to withdraw staff' from Kaesong zone in North

South Korea says it is withdrawing its remaining workers from a jointly-run industrial complex in North Korea.

The announcement came from the unification minister shortly after Pyongyang rejected an offer of talks.

North Korea blocked access to the Kaesong zone - once a symbol of inter-Korean co-operation - earlier this month and later pulled its workers out.

The move followed weeks of high tension in the wake of North Korea's third nuclear test in February.

"Because our nationals remaining in the Kaesong industrial zone are experiencing greater difficulties due to the North's unjust actions, the government has come to the unavoidable decision to bring back all remaining personnel in order to protect their safety," Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said.

"North Korea must guarantee the safe return of our personnel and fully protect the assets of the companies with investment in Kaesong," he added.

He did not give a timescale for the withdrawal. A total of 175 South Korean workers are currently in the complex, which is home to South Korean factories staffed by North Korean workers.

The remaining South Koreans were believed to be running out of food and medicines, because the North had refused to allow fresh supplies in.

But an association representing the South Korean companies in Kaesong had earlier suggested staff could be reluctant to pull out, because they wanted to protect their assets from seizure.

In 2011 North Korea said it seized assets from Mount Kumgang, a mothballed tourism site run by the two countries.

South Korea called for talks on the issue on Thursday, asking for a response by noon on Friday. Pyongyang rejected the offer, saying the South Korean "ultimatum" risked exacerbating tensions.

'Litmus-test'
 
The Kaesong complex is the biggest contributor to inter-Korean trade and provides the North with much-needed hard currency.

The stoppage has also taken a heavy toll on South Korean firms, Yonhap news agency quoted South Korean President Park Geun-hye as saying.

The zone is seen as a litmus-test of relations between the two countries, and analysts consider such an extended shut-down to be a considerable setback.

In 2009 North Korean authorities briefly shut off entry to Kaesong industrial park after US-South Korean military drills, leaving hundreds of South Korean workers effectively trapped.

The current Kaesong ructions follow weeks of strong rhetoric from North Korea, which has been angered by tightened UN sanctions imposed after its 12 February nuclear test and by current joint US-South Korean military drills.

The past two months have seen unusually high tensions on the Peninsula, and while the rhetoric on both sides has softened slightly, the situation remains unresolved, the BBC's Lucy Williamson in Seoul reports.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22308808

[Mark]

North Korea withdraws missiles from launch site

Two North Korean Musudan missiles have been withdrawn from a launch site in the eastern part of the country and sent to a storage facility, a U.S. official confirmed Monday.
 
The United States had been worried about the prospects of the regime firing the missiles.
 
For weeks last month, North Korea dished out daily sabre-rattling threats aimed at South Korea and the United States.
 
The North's rhetoric intensified after the U.N. Security Council voted in March to slap tougher sanctions on the regime and amid U.S.-South Korean military drills in the region.

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/06/world/asia/nkorea-missiles-withdrawn/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

[Kilika]

"psyche!" , your turn! 

[Mark]

N. Korea Vows to Strike South Korean Islands

North Korea is once again threatening the United States and South Korea -- this time over joint naval drills taking place in the Yellow Sea.

The drills come ahead of a joint summit in Washington by the leaders of the two allies.

North Korea says it will hit back if any of the shells fall on its side of the disputed maritime border during scheduled South Korean-U.S. military drills. If the allies respond, Pyongyang vows to strike five South Korean islands.

"It's premature to make a judgment about whether the North Korean provocation cycle is going up, down or zigzagging," said Danny Russel, senior director for East Asia on Obama's National Security Council.
 
"Many analysts have anticipated that the North Korean provocation cycle would culminate in some sort of a grand fireworks display, and no one can rule that out," Russel said.

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/May/N-Korea-Vows-to-Strike-South-Korean-Islands/

[Kilika]

North Korea is like that yapping dog next door that just won't shut up! 

[Christian40]

North Korea is like that yapping dog next door that just won't shut up! 

Yet it is the media that is amplifying the noise

[Psalm 51:17]

North Korea is like that yapping dog next door that just won't shut up! 

Or your typical schoolyard bully that does nothing more than create fear.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Two-Koreas-in-1st-talks-in-over-2-years-without-argument-315899
Two Koreas in 1st talks in over 2 years 'without argument'

By REUTERS

06/09/2013 07:37

PAJU, South Korea- North and South Korea opened their first official talks in two years on Sunday at a border village "without argument", the South said, building on an easing in tensions from nearly daily threats two months ago of impending nuclear war.

The meeting in Pammunjon, where the armistice was signed in the 1950-53 Korean War, was taking place hours after U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed at a summit that the North had to abandon its nuclear program.

The hour-long morning session appeared to pave the way for ministerial-level discussions next Wednesday. Such a meeting would be the first such encounter in more than six years.

A spokesman for the South's Unification Ministry, said the two sides discussed technical issues for the ministerial meeting, including the venue and size of delegations.

[Mark]

North Korean ship with 'military cargo' held by Panama

Panama's president says his country has seized a North Korean-flagged ship carrying "undeclared military cargo". President Ricardo Martinelli told local media that the ship, which was sailing from Cuba, contained suspected "sophisticated missile equipment" ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23324170



South Korea blames North for cyberattack

 SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea is to blame for last month's cyberattacks on the websites of South Korean media companies and the president and prime minister's offices, a South Korean ...

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/07/16/korea-cyberattacks/2520017/

[Psalm 51:17]

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/dennis-rodman-says-he-met-north-korean-leader-kim-jong-un-again-090613
Rodman says he met Kim again
9/7/13

Retired NBA star Dennis Rodman left North Korea Saturday, professing his affection for autocratic leader Kim Jong Un and angrily rejecting calls to lobby for the release of imprisoned American citizen Kenneth Bae.

Despite earlier calling on Kim to set Bae free, Rodman said the Christian missionary's fate was none of his business.

"Guess what? That's not my job to ask about Kenneth Bae," Rodman told reporters upon arrival at the airport in China's capital, Beijing.

"Ask (President Barack) Obama about that. Ask Hillary Clinton," a visibly agitated Rodman shouted, referencing the former secretary of state.

Chomping an unlit cigar, the typically flamboyant Rodman displayed a stack of photos showing him hugging Kim, laughing and conversing with him over a meal, and the two of them watching a basketball game together.

The NBA Hall of Famer and five-time championship winner said the two had formed a close bond over the course of his two visits to the isolated communist dictatorship.

"He's my friend for life. I don't care what you guys think about him," Rodman said.

Wearing designer sunglasses and a stocking cap adorned with metallic spangles, Rodman quickly flashed with anger when asked about Bae, hurling obscene remarks back at reporters who quizzed him about the purpose of his trip. At one point, he had to be restrained by a member of his entourage before being bundled into a waiting car.

Rodman told The Associated Press as he was leaving his hotel in Pyongyang that Kim had spoken about his visiting again, and that Kim "really actually wants to change things."

He said Kim had encouraged Rodman when he goes back to the United States to "say some very good, positive, and very good things about this country, that's what we talked about a lot."

North Korea's official news agency, KCNA, said in a brief report that the two had "a cordial talk," and that Kim invited Rodman back again "any time."

The report said they watched a basketball game together, and Kim hosted a dinner for the sports star.

Rodman first met Kim — a basketball fan — during a visit in February to promote the sport and make a film. The two-time defensive player of the year has suggested "basketball diplomacy" could warm relations and has called Kim an "awesome guy."

The KCNA report did not mention Bae, an ethnic Korean US citizen who has been held in North Korea since last year.

Rodman once asked on his Twitter account for Kim to "do me a solid" and release Bae.

Bae was arrested in November and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for what Pyongyang described as hostile acts against the state. Kim has the power to grant special pardons under the North's constitution.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/North-Korea-puts-army-on-alert-warns-US-of-horrible-disaster-328123
North Korea puts army on alert, warns US of 'horrible disaster'

By REUTERS

10/08/2013 02:58

SEOUL - North Korea said on Tuesday its military would be put on high alert and be ready to launch operations, stepping up tension after weeks of rhetoric directed against the United States and South Korea, who it accuses of instigating hostility.

Reclusive North Korea has often issued threats to attack the South and the United States but has rarely turned them into action. Such hostile rhetoric is widely seen as a means to perpetuate its domestic and international political agenda.

In the latest outburst, a spokesman for the North's military warned the United States of "disastrous consequences" for moving a group of ships, including an aircraft carrier, into a South Korean port.

"In this connection, the units of all services and army corps level of the KPA received an emergency order from its supreme command to reexamine the operation plans already ratified by it and keep themselves fully ready to promptly launch operations any time," the spokesman said, referring to the Korean People's Army (KPA).

"The US will be wholly accountable for the unexpected horrible disaster to be met by its imperialist aggression forces' nuclear strike means," the spokesman said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/n-korea-developing-electromagnetic-pulse-weapons-135357380.html
N.Korea developing 'electromagnetic pulse weapons'
11/4/13

Seoul (AFP) - South Korea's spy agency said Monday that North Korea was using Russian technology to develop electromagnetic pulse weapons aimed at paralysing military electronic equipment south of the border.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said in a report to parliament that the North had purchased Russian electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weaponry to develop its own versions.

EMP weapons are used to damage to electronic equipment. At higher energy levels, an EMP event can cause more widespread damage including to aircraft structures and other objects.

The spy agency also said the North's leader Kim Jong-Un sees cyberattacks as an all-purpose weapon along with nuclear weapons and missiles, according to lawmakers briefed by the NIS.

The North is trying to hack into smartphones and lure South Koreans into becoming informants, it said.

It has collected information on where South Korea stores chemical substances and oil reserves as well as details about subways, tunnels and train networks in major cities, it said.

The spy agency also said North Korean spies were operating in China and Japan to distribute pro-Pyongyang propaganda.

North Korea is believed to run an elite cyber warfare unit of 3,000 personnel.

A South Korean lawmaker, citing government data, said last month that the North had staged thousands of cyberattacks against the South in recent years, causing financial losses of around $805 million.

In addition to military institutions, the North's recent high-profile cyberattacks have targeted commercial banks, government agencies, TV broadcasters and media websites.

North Korea has denied any involvement in cyberattacks and accused Seoul of fabricating them to fan cross-border tension.

[Mark]

North Korea Threatens To Strike South ‘Without Notice’

Tensions between North and South Korea kicked up a notch after a threatening fax was sent from Pyongyang to Seoul on a special communications line between the two rival capitals.
 
In it, the North’s National Defense Commission warned it could strike “without notice,” reports South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.
 
The move came as conservative groups and North Korean defectors held rallies against Kim Jong-Un regime.
 
The protests were timed to coincide with the second anniversary of the death of his father, Kim Jong-Il.
 
The North Korean military condemned those rallies as an insult to the country’s “highest dignity.”
 
Kim Jong-Il recently ordered the execution of his uncle Jang Song-Thaek in order to consolidate his grip on power.
 
After the execution, South Korean President Park Geun-Hye ordered military leaders to revise plans to cope with the changing situation on the peninsula.
 
South Korea responded to the threat by sending its own message to Pyongyang vowing to “sternly react” to any provocation from the North.
 
http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/12/20/north-korea-threatens-to-strike-south-without-notice/

[Mark]

Chinese Troops Begin Drills in Region Bordering N. Korea

State-run Chinese media say around 100-thousand Chinese troops defending the border region with North Korea have begun winter exercises.
 
 Reports say the troops, which are managed by the Shenyang Military Region, are drilling to determine whether military equipment is operating properly in the cold weather. They also say the exercises of infantry and artillery units are being held to strengthen command and control capabilities.
 
 Shenyang is one of seven military regions in China, and it is known to be responsible for preparing for a contingency on the Korean Peninsula, such as a massive influx of North Korean escapees.
 
 The 39th Group Army of the Shenyang region also mobilized three thousand of its troops in the Baekdu Mountain area early last month following the execution of Kim Jong-un’s uncle.
 
 A mobile battalion based in Dandong, Liaoning province also conducted a tactical drill late last month.

http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_In_detail.htm?No=100268

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26131487
12 February 2014 Last updated at 07:29 ET
North and South Korea hold rare high-level talks

North and South Korea have held their highest level talks in years, exploring ways to improve their tense relations.

Two rounds of meetings - requested by Pyongyang - took place at the border village of Panmunjom. More may follow.

There has been no word on how the talks went. Family reunions planned for this month were expected to be discussed, but the agenda was left open.

Pyongyang has threatened to cancel the reunions because of annual South Korea-US military exercises due in February.

China, Pyongyang's main ally, welcomed the talks, the highest-level meeting with the North and South have held since 2007.

The BBC's Lucy Williamson, who was at the border area, says the delegations appeared to greet each other cordially.

The two sides met for 90 minutes in the morning at South Korea's side of Panmunjom and then reconvened for three hours in the afternoon, after which the two chief delegates held one-to-one discussions.

South Korean officials say they were pleasantly surprised when North Korea's invitation arrived. It is the first time in more than six years, they say, that a meeting at this level has taken place. A similar attempt last year fell victim to a spat over protocol, but this time both sides appear more willing to talk.

The meeting comes after weeks of pointed diplomatic overtures by Pyongyang that have raised hopes in some quarters that the mood on the peninsula is changing.

But others point out that previous North Korean charm offensives have been followed by renewed confrontation, and that Pyongyang's new cordiality has come with a warning: that the joint military exercises scheduled to take place this month between the US and South Korea are incompatible with friendlier inter-Korean ties.

'Open mind'
 
South Korea's Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Kyou-hyun is leading Seoul's delegation at the Panmunjom talks.

Ahead of the meeting, Mr Kim said: "This is an opportunity to open a new era of the Korean peninsula.

"I would like to attend the meeting with 'open attitude and mind' to study the opportunity.

"We will make an effort to proceed with the separated families reunion event as agreed," he added.

North Korea's delegation is being headed by Won Tong-yon, a senior official specialising in inter-Korean ties, South Korean officials said.

In a news conference in Geneva on Tuesday, North Korea's ambassador to the UN, So Se-pyong, spoke of the need to terminate all hostile military actions, which he described as the main obstacles to peace.

He called for the US and South Korea to suspend their planned military exercises, describing them as "of a sinister and dangerous nature".

The two Koreas are due to hold reunions of families, divided by the partitioning of the Korean Peninsula at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, for five days from 20 February.

The last such reunions took place in 2010. But these reunions coincide with the start of the US-South Korea joint military drills - annual exercises that anger North Korea.

The drills last year led to a prolonged rise in tensions, as North Korea threatened pre-emptive nuclear strikes and withdrew its workers from a joint industrial zone.

Many in South Korea see Pyongyang's reaction as a test of its new approach, the BBC's Lucy Williamson in Seoul reports.

Last week Pyongyang threatened to cancel the family reunions, warning that "dialogue and exercises of war" could not go hand-in-hand.

More than the talks, the exercises are for many people the real test of whether Pyongyang's charm offensive is a sign of change, or simply a prelude to more confrontation, our correspondent says.

[Mark]

South Korea exchanges artillery with North Korea after live-fire drill ordered by Pyongyang dropped shells over border

    North Korea conducted live-fire drill at 12.15 (3.15am GMT), firing into disputed waters near a South Korean island
    Reclusive nation sent unusual 'warning fax' to South Korea before military practice, which alarmed officials
    When shots crossed border, South Korean military responded by firing back 300 rounds and scrambling F-15 jets
    Heated exchange happened during South's annual training with US, which North brands 'rehearsal for invasion'
    Residents of five border islands evacuated to shelters, in 2010 four islanders were killed by North Korea military
    Test-fire drills are normal for North Korea, but they usually don't issue warning ahead of time

South Korea has fired shells into North Korean waters after their rivals sent more than 100 rounds below the disputed sea boundary during a live-fire drill.

The heated artillery exchange was prompted by an unusual warning fax sent from the North to the South, informing them of their live-fire drill.

Though it is not unusual for the reclusive nation to practice at sea, South Korean officials were alarmed by the alert, which they claim 'indicates their hostile intention'.

It comes just days after Kim Jong Un's reclusive nation threatened to launch a 'new form' of nuclear power tests - and coincidentally during the annual South Korea-US military practice, which North Korea dubs a rehearsal for invasion.

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