increasing tensions on the Korean Peninsula

🇰🇵 DPRK has accused the USA of increasing tensions on the Korean Peninsula after the visit of American Defense Minister Lloyd Austin to South Korea. Armed forces of the Republic of Korea intend to use offensive capabilities to counter any threats.

It is worth noting that the USA on November 15 approved the delivery of missiles to South Korea worth $52.1 million, including:

➖ 42 AIM-9X Sidewinder Block II+ guided missiles;

➖ 10 AIM-9X Sidewinder Captive Air Training (CATM) guided missiles;

➖ пять блоков наведения AIM-9X Block II+ Sidewinder?

➖ three guidance blocks AIM-9X Sidewinder CATM (GU);

➖ additional equipment, spare parts, training.

Additionally, Washington announced the sale of the Seoul ZUR SM-6 Block I.

www.fotavgeia.blogspot.com

US-North Korea Talks Are Already Falling Apart.

US-North Korea Talks Are Already Falling Apart. Trump Is Blaming China.
Written by Jason Ditz

(ANTIWAR.COM) — In his first move to address the struggles resulting from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s North Korea visit, President Trump expressed confidence that Kim would continue to engage. At the same time, he suggested the problems in the talks might’ve been the result of China pressuring North Korea to change its position.

The Iranian-North Korean Nexus After the Singapore Summit

The Iranian-North Korean Nexus After the Singapore Summit
By Lt. Col. (res.) Dr. Dany ShohamJ

Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, photo via Wikimedia Commons

BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 887, July 9, 2018

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The summit that took place in Singapore in June 2018 between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un likely had a significant impact on the Pyongyang-Tehran nexus. Given the depth of strategic cooperation between the two countries, Iran can be expected to take steps to minimize any challenges that will be posed to that cooperation, either directly or indirectly, by the tentatively developing Pyongyang-Washington relationship.

Trump prolongs sanctions against North Korea for another year

Trump prolongs sanctions against North Korea for another year

Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump meet in Singapore, June 12 © Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
Despite a recent thaw in relations with Kim Jong-un, President Donald Trump is renewing US sanctions on North Korea for another year, justified by “an unusual and extraordinary” nuclear weapons threat.

why the two Koreas will probably never become one country again

Trump-Kim deal: why the two Koreas will probably never become one country again
Niki J.P. Alsford

R
Moon Jae-in meets Kim Jong-un on the Korean border. EPA/Korea Summit Press Pool

N. Korea threatens Guam with ‘salvo of missiles’ as US gears up for drills with Seoul

N. Korea threatens Guam with ‘salvo of missiles’ as US gears up for drills with Seoul
Get short URL

© KCNA / Reuters
In a new incendiary statement, Pyongyang promised to fire “a salvo of missiles” at the US territory of Guam, and keep its hands “closer to trigger” amid major US-South Korea drills involving B-1 bombers and a carrier strike group.

North Korea Foreign Minister On What Is Needed For Negotiations With US North Korea has endorsed the Sino-Russian double-freeze peace plan in all but name. Because Washington refuses to entertain the double-freeze, the US remains the biggest stumbling bloc to negotiations.

N

orth Korea’s Foreign Minister, Ri Yong-ho, has spoken exclusively to TASS on the occasion of the 69th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Pyongyang and Moscow.

Before taking questions, Ri Yong-ho, who recently delivered the DPRK’s speech before the General Assembly of the United Nations, addressed the current state of relations between his country and Russia:


Tomorrow, October 12, will mark the 69th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the DPRK and Russia and in this connection I would like to express the hope that friendship and cooperation between our peoples will be growing stronger and that the strategic importance of interaction will grow with the passage of time.
My country today is attaining a victory and acting as a worthy counterbalance to the United States, which refers to itself as the “only superpower.” I believe that having such a strong neighbor by its side quite agrees with Russia’s interests.

30.000 RPG για τον γενικό ξεσηκωμό των Κούρδων!

Εντοπίστηκε το μεγαλύτερο φορτίο όπλων στην Ιστορία: 30.000 RPG για τον γενικό ξεσηκωμό των Κούρδων!


Θρίλερ στο Σουέζ με φορτηγό πλοίο από την Β.Κορέα γεμάτο με 30.000 αντιαρματικά RPG και χιλιάδες πυραύλους ενέπλεξε , ΗΠΑ, Αίγυπτο, Ιράν και Β.Κορέα σε μια άκρως περίεργη υπόθεση. Πρόκειται για τη μεγαλύτερη κατάσχεση πυρομαχικών στην ιστορία!

North Korea says Trump's tweets constitute an act of war

North Korea says Trump's tweets constitute an act of war; an expanded travel ban will go into effect next month; why NFL players protested during Sunday night football.
Vox Sentences is written by Ella Nilsen.

Amir Levy/Getty Images

The rhetoric between North Korea and the United States hit a scary new point today, as North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho equated President Trump’s recent tweets to a “declaration of war.” [Washington Post / Carol Morello]
Ri suggested that since the US was threatening his country, North Korea could conceivably shoot down US planes, even ones outside its airspace. [NYT / Rick Gladstone and David Sanger]

US Air Force B-1B bombers flew over waters east of North Korea

US Air Force B-1B bombers flew over waters east of North Korea in "demonstration of US resolve"

US fighter jets escorted B-1B bombers that flew near the eastern coast of North Korea. According to the Pentagon, the mission was a "clear message that the President has many options to defeat any threat." The planes apparently reached the northernmost point beyond the demilitarized zone that any US Air Force flight had reached in the 21st century.
Chelsea Mosery Birnbaum

Watch: US fighter jets escort B-1b bombers over North Korean coast

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On the Brink of Nuclear War

On the Brink of Nuclear War
Special Report: As nuclear war looms in Korea, the life-or-death question is whether President Trump and his team can somehow marshal the skill and strength of President Kennedy in the Cuban Missile Crisis, writes historian William R. Polk.

By William R. Polk

In the first part of this essay, I gave my interpretation of the background of the current confrontation in Korea. I argued that, while the past is the mother of the present, it has several fathers. What I remember is not necessarily what you remember; so, in this sense, the present also shapes or reshapes the past.

In my experience as a policy planner, I found that only by taking note of the perception of events as they are differently held by the participants could one understand or deal with present actions and ideas. I have tried to sketch out views of the past as we, the North Koreans and the South Koreans, differently view them in Part 1 of this essay.

WORLD WAR 3?

WORLD WAR 3? THE UNITED STATES AND NORTH KOREA STAND ON THE BRINK OF A NUCLEAR WAR
Most Americans have absolutely no idea what a military conflict with North Korea would mean
Michael Snyder | Economic Collapse -


After North Korea successfully tested a hydrogen bomb on Sunday, U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis warned that the United States is more than capable of “the total annihilation of a country”.

North Korea state TV called the test a “complete success”.

νorth Korea said it carried out its sixth nuclear test Sunday after boasting it had developed an advanced hydrogen bomb that possesses “great destructive power”.

SCMP TODAY: HK EDITION
North Korea state TV called the test a “complete success”.

Monitors measured a 6.3-magnitude tremor near its main testing site, which South Korean experts reportedly said was nearly 10 times more powerful than the 10-kiloton test carried out a year ago.

The explosion came just hours after the North claimed to have developed a hydrogen bomb that could be loaded onto the country’s new intercontinental ballistic missile.

The explosion came as the five BRICS nations hold their annual summit in Chinaunder the shadow of growing tensions on the Korean peninsula.

BRICS includes China, Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa.

Hydrogen bombs or H-bombs - also known as thermonuclear devices - are far more powerful than the relatively simple atomic weapons the North was believed to have tested so far.

Analysts’ initial estimates of the yield from Sunday’s test varied, ranging from 100 kilotons up to one megaton.

Η Βόρεια Κορέα θύμα της στροφής των ΗΠΑ στην Ασία

Η Βόρεια Κορέα θύμα της στροφής των ΗΠΑ στην Ασία
Του Λεωνίδα Βατικιώτη

«Η Πιονγκγιάνγκ έχει στείλει ένα σταθερό μήνυμα κατά τη διάρκεια των απ’ ευθείας συνομιλιών με τις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες, ότι είναι έτοιμη να αποδεχθεί μία συμφωνία να τερματίσει το πυρηνικό της πρόγραμμα, να το θέσει εξ ολοκλήρου στη διάθεση των επιθεωρητών της Διεθνούς Επιτροπής Ατομικής Ενέργειας και να συμφωνήσει σε μια συμφωνία ειρήνης διαρκείας που θα αντικαταστήσει την “προσωρινή” ανακωχή του 1953.

North Korea secretly imports Russian oil through Singapore, says defector

North Korea secretly imports Russian oil through Singapore, says defector
 JOSEPH FITSANAKIS

The government of North Korea uses intermediary firms in Singapore to import thousands of tons of Russian oil each year, according to a senior North Korean defector who has spoken publicly for the first time since his defection. Ri Jong-ho was a senior official in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea under its previous leader, the late Kim Jong-il. He rose through the ranks of the Workers’ Party of Korea and was directly mentored by Kim, who personally appointed him to a post in Bureau 39. The powerful body is in charge of securing much-needed foreign currency for Pyongyang —often through illegal activities— and partly funds the personal accounts of the ruling Kim dynasty.

Ο λύκος της Πιονγκγιάνγκ

Ο λύκος της Πιονγκγιάνγκ Πώς ο Kim Jong Un μοιάζει με Διευθύνοντα Σύμβουλο εταιρείας
David Kang

Οι Δυτικοί σχολιαστές αντιμετωπίζουν συχνά την βορειοκορεατική κυβέρνηση του Kim Jong Un [1] ως ανέκδοτο. Σε ιδιωτικές συνομιλίες έχω ακούσει αξιωματούχους των ΗΠΑ και στρατιωτικούς ηγέτες περιστασιακά να αναφέρονται σε αυτόν ως το «παχύ αγόρι», ο «νεαρός playboy» και ο «περίγελος». Η πρεσβευτής στον ΟΗΕ, Nikki Haley, μέχρι που αναρωτήθηκε δημόσια εάν είναι τρελός [2]. Ωστόσο, το να κατακρίνεται ο ηγέτης της Βόρειας Κορέας είναι λάθος όχι επειδή είναι αγένεια αλλά επειδή υποτιμά τις ικανότητές του. Ο Κιμ δεν είναι βλαξ. Το να αντιμετωπίζεται ως τέτοιος παρερμηνεύει την απειλή που θέτει η Βόρεια Κορέα και ο ηγέτης της -ένα ιδιαίτερα σοβαρό λάθος σήμερα, καθώς οι εντάσεις μεταξύ Πιονγιάνγκ και Ουάσινγκτον αυξάνονται σε τακτική βάση.



Ο Kim Jong Un χαιρετά συμμετέχοντες στο έκτο συνέδριο της Ένωσης Δημοκρατικών Γυναικών της Κορέας, τον Νοέμβριο του 2016. KCNA / REUTERS

«Η Β. Κορέα ίσως έχει επανεπεξεργαστεί περισσότερο πλουτώνιο από ό,τι πιστευόταν»

«Η Β. Κορέα ίσως έχει επανεπεξεργαστεί περισσότερο πλουτώνιο από ό,τι πιστευόταν»


Θερμικές απεικονίσεις του σημαντικότερου ραδιοχημικού εργαστηρίου της Βόρειας Κορέας υποδεικνύουν ότι η Βόρεια Κορέα ίσως έχει επανεπεξεργαστεί πολύ περισσότερο πλουτώνιο από ό,τι πιστευόταν μέχρι τώρα και να είναι σε θέση να το χρησιμοποιήσει για να μεγεθύνει το πυρηνικό της οπλοστάσιο, επισημαίνει αμερικανικό ινστιτούτο μελετών.

North Korea and the USA: Two countries separated by the same attitude

North Korea and the USA: Two countries separated by the same attitude
ADAM GARRIE
While both North Korea and the USA have exhibited a "Fu*k you" attitude to the wider world, North Korea's attitude is a symptom of a war which technically continues to this day. America by contrast has no justifiable excuse for its attitude nor its behaviour.

China and Russia have long urged North Korea to put its weapons programme on hold and come to the negotiating table. This was reiterated yesterday at the joint meeting between the Presidents of Russia and China.

Trump Diplomacy: Settling North Korea “With Gas and With Bomb”?

Trump Diplomacy: Settling North Korea “With Gas and With Bomb”?
By Prof. Louis René Beres

Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump, image by Revent via Wikimedia Commons

A US attack on North Korea would be catastrophic — but the US might still do it

A US attack on North Korea would be catastrophic — but the US might still do it
Alex Lockie
This image made from video of an undated still image broadcast in a news bulletin by North Korea's KRT on Monday, May 15, 2017, shows leader Kim Jong Un at what was said to be a missile test site at an undisclosed location in North Korea. KRT via AP Video