The North Korean army said Thursday it had final approval to launch "merciless" ...

[cfa]

The North Korean army said Thursday it had final approval to launch "merciless" military strikes on the United States.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia...26650.html

[sgd]

I seriously doubt the north koreans have any nuclear weapons lah

How can a country with only over 1 billion dollar economy already under huge financial burden of even trying to feed and maintain 1 million strong standing army still have resources to develop nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons program can cost upwards 3-4 billion a year.

you see the iranians they got fuel enrichment technology bought from north korea last year they announced they had reached 20% enrichment created a big hoo haa in the news got everybody worried including myself. Later I checked around and realised that to build nuclear weapons you need to enrich uranium to 90% purity and that will take long long time to enrich.

These people don't have nuclear weapons, they just talk cock only. they dug a big hole somewhere filled it with 20,000 tons of tnt and lit a match then took a seismic reading to show they did underground testing.

[cfa]

CNN News: North Korea warns 'Moment of Explosion' Nears (1 Hour Ago)



(CNN) -- North Korea stirred up fresh unease in Northeast Asia early Thursday, threatening attacks by a "smaller, lighter and diversified" nuclear force and warning, "The moment of explosion is approaching fast."

The new threat came after the North Koreans locked South Korean workers out of a joint factory complex and announced plans to restart a nuclear reactor it shut down five years ago. Meanwhile, the United States announced it was sending ballistic missile defenses to Guam, a Pacific territory that's home to U.S. naval and air bases.

"The moment of explosion is approaching fast. No one can say a war will break out in Korea or not and whether it will break out today or tomorrow," North Korea's state news agency KCNA declared in its latest broadside. "The responsibility for this grave situation entirely rests with the U.S. administration and military warmongers keen to encroach upon the DPRK's sovereignty and bring down its dignified social system with brigandish logic."

DPRK is short for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the official name for North Korea.

Most observers say the North is still years away from having the technology to deliver a nuclear warhead on a missile. U.S. officials have said they see no unusual military movements across the Demilitarized Zone that splits the Korean Peninsula, despite weeks of bombastic rhetoric from Pyongyang, and many analysts say the increasingly belligerent talk is aimed at cementing the authority of the country's young leader, Kim Jong Un.

But the North does have plenty of conventional military firepower, including medium-range ballistic missiles that can carry high explosives for hundreds of miles. And U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Wednesday that the North Korean threats to Guam, Hawaii and the U.S. mainland have to be taken seriously.

"It only takes being wrong once, and I don't want to be the secretary of defense who was wrong once," Hagel told an audience at Washington's National Defense University.

But Hagel also said there was still a "responsible" path for the North to take.

"I hope the North will ratchet this very dangerous rhetoric down," Hagel said. "There is a pathway that is responsible for the North to get on a path to peace working with their neighbors. There are many, many benefits to their people that could come. But they have got to be a responsible member of the world community, and you don't achieve that responsibility and peace and prosperity by making nuclear threats and taking very provocative actions."

Shows of force and flights of bombast

The United States has in turn made a show of its military strength in the annual drills, flying B-2 stealth bombers capable of carrying conventional or nuclear weapons, Cold War-era B-52s and F-22 Raptor stealth fighters over South Korea.

KCNA blamed the U.S. and its South Korean allies for the situation, however.

"We formally inform the White House and Pentagon that the ever-escalating U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK and its reckless nuclear threat will be smashed by the strong will of all the united service personnel and people and cutting-edge smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear strike means of the DPRK and that the merciless operation of its revolutionary armed forces in this regard has been finally examined and ratified," it said. "The U.S. had better ponder over the prevailing grave situation."

Caitlin Hayden, National Security Council spokeswoman, slammed North Korea's statement as "unhelpful and unconstructive."

"It is yet another offering in a long line of provocative statements that only serve to further isolate North Korea from the rest of the international community and undermine its goal of economic development. North Korea should stop its provocative threats and instead concentrate on abiding by its international obligations," she said.

Robert Carlin, a North Korea expert at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University in California, told CNN that the rhetoric is still "too hot. It needs to be cooled down." But he added, "If we say that we don't see any actions yet from them, I have to assume that the U.S. military still thinks the situation is under control."

OPINION: Why Kim Jong Un is not crazy

North Korea's Wednesday decision to prevent South Korean workers and managers from entering the Kaesong Industrial Complex, which sits on the North's side of the border but houses operations of scores of South Korean companies, is a tangible sign of the tensions between the two sides.

North Korea has demanded the withdrawal of South Korean workers by April 10 from the complex, South Korean semi-official news agency Yonhap said Thursday. But South Korea's ministry of unification denied the report.

It's a move that could end up hurting Pyongyang financially, since Kaesong is considered to be an important source of hard currency for Kim's government. More than 50,000 North Koreans work in the zone, producing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of goods each year.

Those workers earn on average $134 a month, of which North Korean authorities take about 45% in various taxes.

The North had threatened over the weekend to shut down the industrial complex. North Korea has yet to grant permission for South Koreans to enter the complex, South Korea's ministry of unification said Thursday. The nearly 800 South Koreans remaining inside the complex are still able to leave, the ministry said.

[sgd]

A lot of the more senior and powerful elite in NK expect to see their new younger leader in the role of provider continue to provide for the elite provide for the army at the same time show he's tough and hard on traditional enemies.

Two of their biggest customers for bootleg nuclear tech, syria now burning and iran embargoed, so who else in the news today has secret nuclear weapons program that might also be in the market for such tech? Are they nearly broke?

So just trying to come from a position of strength by making a lot of problems shoot missile here there create drama to make US come to the table but US ignoring them because they have seen this too often already. I think nato 7th Fleet just waiting for someone to misfire. But I don't think he is crazy do you?

富不过三代 I wonder who will get him first the Americans or his own people.

[godjira1]

This guy is just nuts. He is playing with fire - does he really think if he launches a nuclear weapon into united states and it lands and kills a few million people there will be a north korea left?

Pyongyang will be a radioactive piece of glass.

[greengiraffe]

I heard over Love 972 this morning featuring a laughable grave reality in North Korea - peasants are adviced to collect their own shits as fertilisers for agricultural purposes.

For a hermit country like North Korea, there is no chance of verifying the news but noone on earth will bother with North Korea - after being cut off since the end of the Korea war in 1954.

Personally, anything that is detrimental from North Korea will be accidental. Using a simple example, this is a hooligan driving a high powered modified car that is probably 30 years old. He will not cause harm to anyone if he drives carefully but if he dares to test the proclaim limit of his superb machine, then he could possibly cause harm as a result of accident waiting to happen. Its as simple as that.

An impoverished country cannot engage in a prolong war as they do not have any stamina to last beyond a few days. Resources rich Iraq also collapsed within few days of a feared chemical war fare. North Korea - try harder.

[LionFlyer]

To tell the truth, the only chance where the North Koreans can inflict significant damage and have a remote chance to gain the initiative is to obtain strategic and tactical surprise when launching an attack.

The fact that they are announcing their intentions tells me they want attention, not to start a war.

[CityFarmer]

One of my mentor told me the following

"the toughest opponents are not the street smart, but are the stupid. You are almost sure no lose-lose outcome with street smart opponents, but you never know it with stupid ones."

I hope NK never commits a stupid move with its new "leader".

[greengiraffe]

One of my mentor told me the following

"the toughest opponents are not the street smart, but are the stupid. You are almost sure no lose-lose outcome with street smart opponents, but you never know it with stupid ones."

I hope NK never commits a stupid move with its new "leader".

the dog that barks seldom bite but the salient one is the fiercest.

why worry about everything that is known. its the unknown that is the scariest.

Online Love972 spoke to a Seoul resident this morning and lady being interviewed said that everything is as usual since S Koreans have been living on the edge since the end of Korean war in 1954.

Life goes on. If you want to strike your enemy you will not inform them in advance. Tactically its a silly war tactic.

[kbl]

One of my mentor told me the following

"the toughest opponents are not the street smart, but are the stupid. You are almost sure no lose-lose outcome with street smart opponents, but you never know it with stupid ones."

I hope NK never commits a stupid move with its new "leader".

the dog that barks seldom bite but the salient one is the fiercest.

why worry about everything that is known. its the unknown that is the scariest.

Online Love972 spoke to a Seoul resident this morning and lady being interviewed said that everything is as usual since S Koreans have been living on the edge since the end of Korean war in 1954.

Life goes on. If you want to strike your enemy you will not inform them in advance. Tactically its a silly war tactic.

becareful of disaster prone 11th -

September, 11th = World Trade Center Crash
January, 11th = Haiti Earthquake
March, 11th = Japan Earthquake