U.S., allies warn North Korea against 'provocative' moves

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his South Korean and Japanese counterparts warned North Korea against any "provocative" moves Sunday ahead of a possible new nuclear bomb test by Pyongyang.

In a round of calls Sunday, Kerry, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korea's Kim Sung-hwan all agreed the North must understand "that it will face significant consequences from the international community if it continues its provocative behavior," according to a summary of the calls from the U.S. State Department.Earlier Sunday, North Korea announced that its leader, Kim Jong Un, "has made an important decision" that would strengthen the country. The brief statement on the state-run news agency KCNA provided no details, but it said the decision was made at a meeting of the reclusive Stalinist state's Party Central Military Committee.

 Pyongyang threatens South Korea Region braces for North Korea nuke test Space race on Korean Peninsula

Across the Demilitarized Zone, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak called on his government to be prepared for a possible test. Lee paid a visit to the underground bunker that serves as the South's crisis management center, his press office reported.North Korea has conducted two previous nuclear tests, in 2006 and 2009, and proclaimed itself a "nuclear state" in 2012. U.S. officials told CNN last week that the North appeared to be ready test another nuclear device "at any time."

U.S. analysts believe the 2006 test had a yield of about 1 kiloton -- comparable to the explosive power of about 1,000 tons of TNT -- while the second was roughly 2 kilotons, National Intelligence Director James Clapper told a Senate committee in 2012.

By comparison, the bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 was roughly 15 kilotons.

The U.N. Security Council voted to tighten sanctions on Pyongyang in January, after the North launched a satellite aboard a long-range rocket in December.

The North Koreans responded by announcing they planned another nuclear test and more long-range rocket launches as part of a new phase of confrontation with the United States.

North Korea threatens to attack South Korea

North Korea has threatened to attack South Korea if Seoul joins a new round of tightened UN sanctions, as Washington unveils more of its own economic restrictions following Pyongyang's rocket launch last month.

In a third day of fiery rhetoric, North Korea directed its verbal onslaught at its neighbour on Friday, saying: "'Sanctions' mean a war and a declaration of war against us".

The reclusive country this week declared a boycott of all dialogue aimed at ending its nuclear programme and vowed to conduct more rocket and nuclear tests after the UN security council censured it for a long-range missile launch in December and expanded existing sanctions.

"If the puppet group of traitors takes a direct part in the UN 'sanctions', the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] will take strong physical counter-measures against it," North Korea's committee for the peaceful reunification of Korea said, referring to its neighbour.

The committee is Pyongyang's front for dealings with Seoul.

On Thursday, the US placed economic sanctions on two North Korean bank officials and a Hong Kong trading company that it accused of supporting Pyongyang's proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The company, Leader (Hong Kong) International Trading, was blacklisted by the United Nations on Wednesday.

Seoul has said it will look at whether there are any further sanctions it can implement alongside the US, but said the focus for now is to follow security council resolutions.

The resolution said the council "deplores the violations" by North Korea of its previous resolutions, which banned Pyongyang from conducting further ballistic missile and nuclear tests and from importing materials and technology for those programmes. It does not impose new sanctions on Pyongyang.

The US had wanted to punish North Korea for the rocket launch with a security council resolution that imposed new sanctions against Pyongyang, but China rejected that option. Beijing agreed to UN sanctions against Pyongyang after North Korea's 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests.

North Korea's rhetoric this week amounted to some of the angriest outbursts against the outside world since Kim Jong-un took over as leader after the death of his father, Kim Jong-il, in late 2011.

On Thursday, North Korea said it would carry out further rocket launches and a nuclear test, directing its ire at the US, a country it called its "sworn enemy".

The US defence secretary, Leon Panetta, said the comments were worrying.

"We are very concerned with North Korea's continuing provocative behaviour," he said at a Pentagon news conference. "We are fully prepared … to deal with any kind of provocation from the North Koreans. But I hope in the end that they determine that it is better to make a choice to become part of the international family."

North Korea is not believed to have the technology to deliver a nuclear warhead capable of hitting the continental US, although its December launch showed it had the capacity to deliver a rocket that could travel 6,200 miles (10,000km), potentially putting San Francisco in range, according to an intelligence assessment by South Korea.

Seoul and others who have been closely observing activities at North Korea's known nuclear test grounds believe Pyongyang is technically ready to go ahead with its third atomic trial and is awaiting the political decision of its leader.

North Korea's committee also declared on Friday that a landmark agreement it signed with South Korea in 1992 on eliminating nuclear weapons from the peninsula was invalid, repeating its long-standing accusation that Seoul was colluding with Washington.

The foreign ministry of China, North Korea's sole remaining major diplomatic and economic benefactor, repeated its call for calm on the peninsula at its daily briefing on Friday.

"The current situation on the Korea peninsula is complicated and sensitive," spokesman Hong Lei said. "We hope all relevant parties can see the big picture, maintain calm and restraint, further maintain contact and dialogue, and improve relations, while not taking actions to further complicate and escalate the situation."

But unusually prickly comments in Chinese state media on Friday hinted at Beijing's exasperation.

"It seems that North Korea does not appreciate China's efforts," said the Global Times in an editorial, a sister publication of the official People's Daily. "Just let North Korea be 'angry' … China hopes for a stable peninsula, but it's not the end of the world if there's trouble there. This should be the baseline of China's position."

North Korea says a new nuclear test will be part of fight against U.S.

new nuclear test will be part of fight against U.S.

North Korea says a new nuclear test will be part of fight against U.S.

North Korea said Thursday that it plans to carry out a new nuclear test and further long-range rocket launches, all of which it said are a part of a new phase of confrontation with the United States.

The North's National Defense Commission said the moves would feed into an "upcoming all-out action" that would target the United States, "the sworn enemy of the Korean people."

Carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, the defense commission statement followed a United Nations Security Council resolution on Tuesday that condemned North Korea's recent rocket launch and expanded existing sanctions.

North Korea, which often issues bellicose statements in its state media, said Thursday that it rejected all Security Council resolutions concerning it.

It described this week's resolution as "the most dangerous phase of the hostile policy toward the DPRK," using the abbreviated version of its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Just before the North sent out its hostile statement, a U.S. State Department official was telling reporters in Seoul that Washington hoped that Pyongyang wouldn't carry out another nuclear test.

"It would be a mistake and a missed opportunity if they were to do it," said Glyn Davies, the U.S. special envoy on North Korea. "This is not a moment to increase tension on the Korean peninsula."

North Korea has carried out two previous nuclear tests, in 2006 and 2009.

N Korea 'to boost nuclear programme' after UN sanctions

North Korea says it will boost its military power and "nuclear deterrence" programme after the UN imposed new sanctions over a rocket launch.

North Korea also ruled out any further nuclear talks.

The country would "take physical actions" to strengthen its military force, the state news agency KCNA said.

The UN Security Council approved new sanctions over the December test launch of what it said was a long-range missile banned by UN resolutions.

article source: BBC.co.uk

Google's Schmidt starts North Korea trip

A controversial private trip to North Korea by Google Chairman Eric Schmidt and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson got underway Monday, according to media reports.

Despite intense media interest over the past week, few details of the trip -- which is taking place despite objections from the U.S. State Department -- were known.

But broadcasters in South Korea reported the delegation flew from Beijing to North Korea on Monday, and photographers spotted Schmidt and Richardson at Beijing International Airport.

Sources told CNN last week that the trip is a "private humanitarian visit." It is thought that Richardson's objective will be to try and negotiate the release of an American prisoner who was captured last month in North Korea.

A brief statement released by Richardson over the weekend confirmed the pair would be joined by adviser Tony Namkung and Jared Cohen, a former State Department official who now works at Google.

The statement also said the group will hold a news conference in Beijing on Thursday, presumably to mark the trip's conclusion.

Asked last week about the trip, a representative of the State Department said the trip was ill-timed.

"Frankly we don't think the timing of this is particularly helpful, but they are private citizens and they are making their own decisions," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters. "They are well aware of our views."

Richardson has visited North Korea numerous times since 1994. Former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter have also traveled to Pyongyang in the past three years, successfully freeing American prisoners in both instances.

New North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has expressed a desire to increase the country's technological and industrial standing in the world. Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) has been expanding its presence throughout Asia in recent years but it has run into problems in China due to censorship concerns. It is unclear if Schmidt will meet Kim during his visit.

In a statement issued last week, a spokeswoman for Google said the company does not comment on "personal travel."

North Korea’s Latest Guessing Game: Did First Lady Have a Baby?

SEOUL, South Korea – Experts on North Korea have long studied photos of  the country’s leaders trying to interpret the significance in the slightest change of body language, pose or position of hierarchy.

That intense scrutiny has now been turned on the wife of Kim Jong-Un in a celebrity-like guessing game about whether she had been pregnant and may have given birth. Or whether she simply gained weight and lost it again.

North Korea’s first lady Ri Sul-Ju is believed to already have one child.

The secretive North Korean government has not confirmed any of these speculations.

The rumor mill started when North Korea’s Central News Agency released photos taken on Oct. 29 at a musical performance. Ri was wearing a long yellow knit jacket with a feminine bow on her stomach and the little tummy bump has raised questions: did she gain weight or is she pregnant?

It was difficult to tell but taking into account her fashion statement during the summer and fall of last year sporting vivid colored fit dresses and high-heel pumps, the loose cut jacket caught the eyes of North Korea watchers.

The next appearance by the first lady was on Dec. 17 at a memorial ceremony for Kim’s late-father Kim Jong-Il who died of a heart attack on 2011. She was wearing the Korean traditional black funeral costume. The form of the dress itself is supposed to be wide below the chest, but her swollen face and what looked like a tummy bump got the rumor swirling.

Then came the recent photo taken on New Year’s Day, back to her signature Chanel-style round -neck pink jacket and skirt and a visibly slimmer waistline.

The buzz in Seoul is still split: birth, weight problem, or could have been just the form of the dresses.