Tag: North Korea

North Korea–The In And Out Meeting

Just recently the US and North Korea announced they would hold nuclear meetings after a long lull…

The talks were started after North Korea had another successful missile launch…this time from a sub off shore…

North Korea has confirmed that its latest missile launch involved a new kind of ballistic missile—and it’s one that has other countries very worried. Pyongyang says the missile launched early Wednesday was a Pukguksong-3 submarine-launched ballistic missile, which state news agency KCNA said “ushered in a new phase in containing the outside forces’ threat” to the country, reports Reuters. Analysts say that the missile, which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, was probably fired not from a submarine but from a barge built for an underwater launch, the AP reports. The final stage of testing for the medium-range missile will be a launch from a submarine, says Kyungnam University expert Kim Dong-yub.

Kim estimates that the missile, which was launched in vertical mode and flew 280 miles before landing in the Sea of Japan, could have flown up to 1,240 miles if launched on a standard trajectory. Analysts say the launch demonstrates that the country can now launch missiles far from its own territory—and missiles launched from submarines are harder to detect.

Was it coincidence that the missile incident took place just days before the talks were to begin?

My thought is,,,NO WAY!

So North Korea comes to the negotiation table with a new feather in their hat…

On to Sweden and the talks (comment here…as I was writing this post the talks began and ended)…..

American and North Korean officials met Saturday in Sweden to resume talks—and walked away only hours later, Reuters reports. “The negotiations have not fulfilled our expectation and finally broke off,” said Pyongyang’s top negotiator, Kim Myong Gil. “The US raised expectations by offering suggestions like a flexible approach, new method and creative solutions, but they have disappointed us greatly and dampened our enthusiasm for negotiation by bringing nothing to the negotiation table.” The US team gave no immediate comment, and its leader—US Special Representative for North Korea, Stephen Biegun—apparently went back to the US Embassy in Stockholm.

Many analysts expressed hope the new working-level nuclear talks would lead to a third summit, per the BBC. The first, in Singapore in 2018, led to a hazy denuclearization agreement, while the second, in Vietnam in February, prompted President Trump to walk out. The latest attempt follows a Thursday report that North Korea had fired yet another ballistic missile. Its eleventh in 2019, this one was launched from a platform at sea and is capable of carrying a nuclear weapon. Observers said the launch looked like an attempt to pressure Washington before the Sweden talks

This meeting sounds more like a pay back for the short Hanoi meeting with Kim just a few months ago.

How about you?

But do not worry according to the American people this meeting went well…..

North Korea said the meeting had broken down, because the US brought “nothing to the negotiation table”.

Officials from the two countries met in Sweden on Saturday, in the hope of breaking their stalemate.

This came just days after North Korea tested a new missile, in a significant advance on earlier tests.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-49947836

Seriously?  Dom we believe a group that his proven to lie whenever the mood comes over them….well you may believe…I think they are trying to make sirloin out of bullshit.

I Read, I Wrote You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Is That North Korea Again?

All the talk about Barr and Rudy and Trump and Ukraine and Biden has allowed a couple of important stories fall between the cracks…..and then there is North Korea and its missiles.

Japan seems to be in the bull’s eye for these missiles fired by North Korea and possibly fired from a submarine……

North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the sea Wednesday, South Korea’s military said, in a display of its expanding military capabilities hours after saying it would resume nuclear diplomacy with the US this weekend. South Korean officials said the missile was fired from North Korea’s eastern waters, suggesting it may have been submarine-launched. But South Korean defense officials won’t officially disclose whether the missile was fired from a submarine, a barge, or any other possible platform. North Korea having the ability to launch missiles from submarines would be alarming because such weapons are harder to detect in advance, the AP reports.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga earlier said the North fired two ballistic missiles from the country’s east coast, and one of them appeared to have landed inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, The North had not fired a weapon that reached inside Japan’s EEZ since Nov. 2017 at the height of an unusually provocative run in nuclear and missile tests.The launches, which were the North’s ninth round of weapons tests since late July, came hours after a senior North Korean diplomat said North Korea and the United States have agreed to resume working-level nuclear negotiations this weekend.

Not to worry…..remember those talks that the US and North Korea were having…….wait those talks broke down awhile back…..wait….good news they are back on again……..

North Korea and the US have agreed to resume nuclear negotiations on Saturday following a monthslong stalemate over withdrawal of sanctions in exchange for disarmament, a senior North Korean diplomat said Tuesday. Choe Son Hui, North Korea’s first vice minister of foreign affairs, said the two nations will have preliminary contact on Friday before holding working-level talks on Saturday, per the AP. In a statement from North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency, Choe expressed optimism over the meeting’s outcome but didn’t say where it would take place. “It is my expectation that the working-level negotiations would accelerate the positive development of the [North Korean]-US relations,” Choe said. Nuclear negotiations have been at a standstill for months following a February summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Those talks broke down after the US side rejected North Korean demands for broad sanctions relief in exchange for partially surrendering its nuclear capabilities. North Korea followed the summit with belligerent rhetoric and a slew of short-range weapons tests that were widely seen as an attempt to gain leverage ahead of a possible resumption of negotiations. North Korea says it will never unilaterally surrender its nuclear weapons and missiles and insists that US-led sanctions against it should be lifted first before any progress in negotiations. The Trump administration has vowed to maintain robust economic pressure until the North takes real steps toward fully and verifiably relinquishing its nuclear program. There are doubts about whether Kim would ever voluntarily deal away an arsenal he may see as his strongest guarantee of survival.

Not to worry…..Trump may get another photo op out of the deal….after all that is about all that is accomplished with these talks…..

Just before the 202w0 election would be a good time so it can be used as a campaign lie.

Be Smart!

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“Lego Ergo Scribo”

North Korea On My Mind

By now many people know just how pathetic our policies are when dealing with NK…..there have been one ‘summit’ and one failed ‘summit’….but Fearless leader does not see a problem with NK’s short range missiles…bet Japan does not see it the same as Trump….

I have written about the recent missile launches…..https://lobotero.com/2019/08/26/north-korea-missiles-and-other-stuff/

Looks like Trump is allowing NK to develop and test some ingenious weapons……

Clicking through a series of photo slides that depict recent North Korean missile tests, South Korean military defense expert Choi Kang reacts in a tone suggesting he’s both fearful and impressed.

“This is really imaginative or creative thinking of using missiles,” said Choi, a former director of South Korea’s National Security Council and now vice president of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, a prominent conservative think tank in Seoul.
Experts say the latest missile tests by Kim Jong Un’s regime show Pyongyang is, for the first time, actively using testing weapons to target weak points in the advanced missile defense system that protects the US, Japan and South Korea.
Before resuming ballistic missile testing in May, North Korea hadn’t test-fired any missiles since November 2017. That pause was a crucial factor in helping create the right conditions for the first meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June 2018.
 
Weapons tests and the promise of new talks with the US…..
North Korea launched two projectiles toward the sea on Tuesday, South Korea’s military said. The move came hours after the North offered to resume nuclear diplomacy with the United States but warned its dealings with Washington may end without new US proposals. The launches and demand for new proposals were apparently aimed at pressuring the US to make concessions when the North Korea-US talks restart, reports the AP. North Korea is widely believed to want the US to provide security guarantees and extensive relief from US-led sanctions in return for limited denuclearization steps. The North Korean projectiles fired from its South Phyongan province, which surrounds Pyongyang, flew about 205 miles across the country and in the direction of the waters off its east coast, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and Defense Ministry.
 
The JCS didn’t immediately say whether the weapons were ballistic missiles or rocket artillery. “More detailed analysis is needed to determine the exact specifications,” JCS spokesman Kim Joon-rak said. Tuesday’s launches were the eighth round of launches since late July and the first since Aug. 24. On Monday night, the North’s vice foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, said North Korea is willing to resume nuclear diplomacy in late September but that Washington must come to the negotiating table with acceptable new proposals. She said if the proposals don’t satisfy North Korea, dealings between the two countries may end. “We’ll see what happens,” President Trump responded. “In the meantime, we have our hostages back, we’re getting the remains of our great heroes back and we’ve had no nuclear testing for a long time.”
This foreign policy soap opera has not changed much since the first ‘summit’ then two had earlier.
 
But it is always interesting to see just how silly these events can become….
 
“Lego Ergo Scribo”

North Korea–Missiles And Other Stuff

For about a month now the North Koreans have rained missiles down into the Sea of Japan…..and yet our Supreme Leader tells us there is nothing to worry about or to see with these actions.

https://lobotero.com/2019/08/02/north-korea-a-missile-too-far/

https://lobotero.com/2019/08/13/north-korea-missiles-everywhere/

And yet again just a couple of days ago…..

The latest in a flurry of such test fires in recent months, both Japan and South Korea have reported that North Korea has fired a pair of rockets off their east coast on Saturday morning. The rockets landed in the sea, outside of Japan’s territorial water, and did no damage to anything.

Despite noting that nothing landed in their territorial waters, Japan was quick to caution ships to stay well clear of any debris from the rockets. The South Korean government would only say they are monitoring for additional launches.

These reports, and the fact that the rockets landed short of Japan, point to yet more short-range rocket testing. That has been virtually the entirety of North Korea’s recent tests, and US officials have shrugged them off as largely immaterial.

(antiwar.com)

His Majesty gets “beautiful letters” from Kim and yet Trump’s right hand Pompeo is not so popular with the North Koreans…..

North Korea’s foreign minister on Friday called US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a “poisonous plant of American diplomacy” and vowed to “shutter the absurd dream” that sanctions will force a change in Pyongyang. The North’s blistering rhetoric may dim the prospect for an early resumption of nuclear negotiations between the countries, the AP reports. A senior US diplomat said earlier this week that Washington was ready to restart the talks, a day after US and South Korean militaries ended routine drills that Pyongyang called an invasion rehearsal. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho made the comments to protest Pompeo’s remark in an interview with the Washington Examiner earlier this week that Washington will maintain crippling sanctions on North Korea unless it denuclearizes.

Ri said Pompeo is a “brazen” man because he “had begged for” North Korean denuclearization and improved bilateral ties when he visited Pyongyang and met leader Kim Jong Un several times. In April, North Korea demanded President Trump remove Pompeo from the nuclear negotiations. Ri said North Korea is ready for both dialogue and confrontation, but he warned that North Korea will try to remain “America’s biggest threat” if the US continues to confront the North with sanctions. South Korea, meanwhile, said it is terminating an intelligence-sharing deal with Japan that focused on classified information about North Korea, a surprise announcement that is likely to set back US efforts to bolster security cooperation in the region. Seoul attributed the decision to its bitter trade dispute with Japan.

Poison Plant?  Is that like a Noxious Weed?

There is other news from the Korean Peninsula than just the North Koreans…..

Appears the Japan is following in Trump’s demented shadow on trade….

South Korea said Thursday it is canceling an intelligence-sharing pact with Japan amid a bitter trade dispute, a surprise announcement that is likely to set back US efforts to bolster mutual security cooperation with two of its most important allies in the Asian region, per the AP. South Korea’s decision will further aggravate its relations with Japan, which are already at their lowest point since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1965. Japan colonized the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945. Many experts had predicted that South Korea would be unlikely to spike the 3-year-old intelligence-sharing deal for the sake of its relations with the United States. As the New York Times notes, the US pushed for the deal partly to keep a better eye on North Korea’s military activity.

Neither Japan nor the US has responded to the move. South Korea’s presidential office said it decided to terminate the intelligence deal because Japan’s recent decision to downgrade South Korea’s trade status caused a “grave” change in security cooperation between the countries. In recent weeks, Japan has imposed stricter controls on exports to South Korea of three chemicals essential for manufacturing semiconductors and display screens—key export items for South Korea—and decided to remove South Korea from a list of countries granted preferential trade status. South Korea accuses Japan of weaponizing trade to punish it over a separate dispute linked to Japan’s brutal colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. Japan denies that, saying its steps were taken because of unspecified security concerns.

Has our president started a new “age of mercantilism”?  (Do I need to explain the term?)

 

North Korea…Missiles Everywhere

Two summits with Kim and a little has changed….Kim got to be on the international stage just like he always wanted and Trump get a photo op that solves NOTHING.

But Kim is now a global figure……thanx to Trump

There’s no question that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is in full control of his nation. But a recent change to how he’s being formally described in the North Korean Constitution may allow him even more diplomatic leverage as he steps with increasing confidence onto the world stage for negotiations over his powerful weapons program.

Despite a flurry of unprecedented summits between Kim and the world powers that surround him, the outcome of that crucial diplomacy is very much in question amid currently deadlocked nuclear disarmament talks and an outburst of North Korean weapons tests in recent weeks.

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2019/08/12/north_korea_boosts_kims_rising_status_as_global_statesman_114660.html

Missiles have been flying out of North Korea for the last two weeks……

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday (Aug 10) that Kim Jong Un told him North Korea was ready to resume talks on its nuclear and missile programme as soon as US-South Korea military exercises ended.

North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range missiles on Saturday, South Korea said, in a “show of force” against the military exercises.

More missile launches are highly probable, as the North Korean military is conducting its own summer drills, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/north-korea-fires-two-projectiles-into-sea-off-eastern-coast-yonhap

A point of agreement between Kim and Trump are those military drills conducted with South Korea……

In comments to reporters on Friday, President Trump said he agrees with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un in his opposition to the major US-South Korea war games, saying he’s also “never been a fan” of the war games, because “I don’t like paying for it.”

This makes some sense in that President Trump was quick to agree to halt such joint exercises in Korea during peace talks when the process began. However, there is no indication such talks have been planned.

That was apparently part of the subject of Kim Jong Un’s letter to Trump, objecting to the exercises, which North Korea sees as simulated invasions. In acknowledging Kim’s position, Trump did not indicate if he was going to make any changes to policy.

(antiwar.com)

Looks like His Majesty has recieved another “beautiful letter” from his bromance,,,,,

President Trump has reported on Friday that he received a “very beautiful letter” from North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, saying he believes it is possible that the two of them could meet again, but not saying when such a meeting might happen.

Trump did not provide details on the letter, or the possibility of talks. The two last met on June 30 and agreed to further meetings. There has since then been no indication any such talks have bee planned.

Recently, North Korea has badly criticized the US over planned wargames, and has fired short-range missiles several times. Trump emphasized that he does not consider those missile firings to be a violation of any of North Korea’s pledges.

(antiwar.com)

This is what passes for foreign policy under the Trump White House…..any other time it would be mocked and dismissed….but these days it is front page news.

All the summits and all the “beautiful letters” will accomplish one thing…..North Korea will remain a nuclear state.

The president’s willingness to talk with North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un deserves praise, despite complaints from the warmongering Right and partisan Left. However, his demand for instant and complete denuclearization was never realistic.

Alas, negotiations in which the president placed so much hope have ground to a halt. Most recently, North Korean diplomats skipped the ASEAN summit, where Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had expected to meet with North Korean foreign minister Ri Yong-ho. Said Pompeo: “We stand ready to continue our diplomatic conversation with the North Koreans,” but, he added, “I regret that it looks like I’m not going to have an opportunity to do that while I’m here in Bangkok.”

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/accept-reality-north-korea-will-remain-nuclear-state-72296

All this “news” around North Korea will do two things…..keep Trump in the news and provide the media with some dandy photo ops.

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Closing Thoughts–06Aug19

Some good news from the Korean War….more than two dozen MIAs have been identified by the remains returned by North Korea….

Defense Department officials have identified 25 more missing service members from the cases of remains turned over by North Korean officials last year, a major advance for dozens of families who have waited decades for closure in the deaths of their loved ones.

The identifications were first announced by Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday afternoon and later confirmed by officials at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency during their annual briefing to families of the Korean War, held in Washington.

On Friday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the news “A promise kept from the agreement between (North Korean) Chairman Kim (Jong Un) and President Donald Trump … to return all of our fallen heroes.”

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2019/08/02/more-than-two-dozen-missing-korean-war-troops-just-identified-from-returned-remains/

This excellent news for the families of these fallen heroes….may they now get the closure that they have waited so long to obtain.

This is one of the few positive things to come out of the dealings with Kim and North Korea…..these families deserved to know the fate of their loved ones.

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

North Korea–A Missile Too Far?

His Majesty Trump and the Beloved Supreme Leader of DPRK have been passing niceties for over a year….and all that time NK continues its research and its missile launches……like a few days ago….

North Korea on Wednesday fired several unidentified projectiles off its east coast, South Korea’s military said, less than a week after the North launched two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea. Observers say the launches were aimed at ramping up pressure on the United States to make concessions as the two countries are struggling to resume diplomacy on the North’s nuclear weapons program. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement the latest launches were done from the North’s northeastern area. It said South Korea’s military is monitoring for possible additional launches by North Korea, the AP reports. It wasn’t immediately known exactly what North Korea fired or how far the projectiles flew.

The launches came six days after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles that Seoul officials say flew 370 miles before landing off the North’s east coast. North Korea’s state media said leader Kim Jong Un supervised a test of a new missile Thursday designed to deliver “solemn warning” to South Korea over its purchase of high-tech US-made fighter jets and its plans to conduct military drills that Pyongyang sees as an invasion rehearsal. South Korea’s military said the flight data of the weapon launched Thursday showed similarities to the Russian-made Iskander, a short-range, nuclear-capable missile. A North Korean version could likely reach all of South Korea—and the 28,500 US forces stationed there—and would be extremely hard to intercept.

This is a problem that the UN felt it needed to address….

Britain, Germany and France have asked the United Nations Security Council to meet behind closed-doors on Thursday on North Korea’s latest missile launches, diplomats said.

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles early on Wednesday, the South Korean military said, only days after Pyongyang launched two similar missiles intended to pressure South Korea and the United States to stop upcoming military drills.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres believed the missile launches were “just another reminder of the importance of restarting talks on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

(reuters.com)

It is important enough for the UN to want some action and/or explanation…..but the action was not considered a threat to the US and Trump…..

The guided rockets flew about 250 km, and John Bolton says that they in no way violated Kim Jong Un’s pledge to the US to test launches. North Korea says the rockets were tested to confirm their usability.

Bolton clarified that the US would only consider ICBM tests a problem, and that certainly wouldn’t impact these rockets. This is also in keeping with Trump not being outraged by past short-range missile tests.

North Korea’s state media says that the rocket systems would be of major use in the event of a ground war. This is clearly once again aimed at South Korea, not the US. North Korea has been trying to develop rockets to shore up their forces, which historically are heavily reliant on artillery.

And yet Iran launches a few missiles and the Trump DoD and Bolton lose their small minds and predict catastrophic results unless the US acts against Iran……just saying.

Is a third summit so politically important that Trump and his minions will overlook everything short of a nuke strike on one of our allies?

Oh By The Way….NK has set off even more missiles as of yesterday….but not to worry they are not important….maybe Trump should tell Japan that….what a dunce!

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“Lego Ergo Scribo”