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North Korea Restarts Nuclear Reactor and Threatens to Attack South
Seoul's participation in US-led ship searches 'equal to declaration of war'
The North Korea nuclear crisis deepened today after the regime reportedly restarted its main nuclear reactor and threatened to attack South Korea if it joined US-led inspections of vessels suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction.
Replicas of North Korea's Scud-B missile (C-background) and South Korean missiles are displayed at the Korean War Memorial in Seoul. The United States views North Korea's recent threats as "saber-rattling and bluster" that will only deepen the country's isolation from the world, the White House said Wednesday. (AFP/Jung Yeon-Je) In its most belligerent broadside yet in the standoff, North Korea warned that it would view as a declaration of war any participation by Seoul in the naval exercise, known as the Proliferation Security Initiative.
The state-controlled Korean Central News Agency quoted a North Korean army spokesman as saying: "Any hostile act against our peaceful vessels including search and seizure will be considered an unpardonable infringement on our sovereignty and we will immediately respond with a powerful military strike."
The statement added that the regime no longer considered itself bound by the armistice that ended the Korean war in 1953. The demarcation line separating north from south is among the most heavily fortified borders in the world.
The latest round of provocation comes amid reports that the north test-fired two more short-range missiles yesterday, bringing to five the number of rockets it has launched this week. A South Korean defence official said the north had fired two missiles on Monday, not three as reported in the media.
On Monday, North Korea enraged the US and irritated its allies China and Russia after conducting a nuclear weapons test, its second in three years.
The UN security council condemned the test and is reportedly considering adding to the sanctions agreed after Pyongyang detonated its first nuclear weapon in October 2006.
North-south tensions have been mounting since yesterday, when South Korea said it would assist the US in intercepting ships suspected of carrying missiles.
The north accused the US, a signatory of the armistice, of "dragging" the south into the naval inspections programme as part of its "hostile policy" against Pyongyang, adding that it could not guarantee the safety of South Korean and US naval vessels sailing near the disputed western Korean sea border.
The north appeared to have made good on a threat to restart its main nuclear reactor, which it had started to dismantle two years ago as part of a now ruined aid-for-disarmament deal reached at six-party talks in Beijing.
The regime walked away from the talks and threatened to resume plutonium production last month after the UN security council condemned its test-launch of a long-range ballistic missile on 5 April.
Chosun Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper, carried unconfirmed reports that US spy satellites had spotted steam rising from the north's main Yongbyon plant. The facility is capable of reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods used in the production of weapons-grade plutonium.
There were no signs that it had actually started extracting a new batch of plutonium, a process experts said could take up to a year.
Fears that the north's dormant nuclear weapons programme has been restarted were heightened by reports of sporadic activity at the Soviet-era plant in recent weeks, including sightings of vehicles carrying chemicals through its front gates.
North Korea is thought to possess between five and seven nuclear weapons and enough fuel rods to produce another bomb by the end of the year.
In Seoul, a military spokesman said the north had test-fired another three short-range missiles yesterday from a base near the east coast city of Hamhung into the Sea of Japan.
The most recent launches have been interpreted as a warning to the US not to attempt to collect radiation data from its coastline after the Pentagon sent a surveillance aircraft close to North Korean airspace on Monday.
Although the regime is believed to be some way off perfecting the technology to attach nuclear devices to its missiles, the flurry of military activity this week has increased the pressure on the UN to act quickly.
The 15-member security council condemned the test after emergency talks on Monday and is expected to meet again soon to discuss a new resolution that could include fresh sanctions.
While the world considered its response, North Korean military officials celebrated Monday's test at a sports stadium in Pyongyang. The KNCA quoted Choe Thae-bok, a high ranking party official, as saying that the test was intended to protect the country against "the US imperialists' unabated threat to mount a pre-emptive nuclear attack and [place] sanctions and pressure on it".
There was more rhetoric from the North Korean party newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, which said the country was "fully ready for battle" against the US and accused Barack Obama of "following in the footsteps of the previous Bush administration's reckless policy of militarily stifling North Korea".
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36 Comments so far
Show AllOh, where's that guy who called me insane for saying North Korea is a threat to South Korea now?
I don't know who said what but when a war is never ended both sides are always a threat to each other.
After treating them like we could push them around for over 50 years and never ending the Korean War, It sounds like they are ready to fight if their ships are boarded by South Korea.
What would the USA do If its ships were boarded and searched?
Intense negotiations to end the Korean War are needed and also to realize that until the super powers dismantle there nukes all the rising nations will have more opportunities and reasons to join the Club.
Of course if we want another big war we can continue the cops of the world role and rob the people with this war economy and mind set.
"What would the USA do If its ships were boarded and searched?"
This, pretty much: http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/War_of_1812
So if you want a big war, board and search ships of the Nation.
Yes, the US must start taking the Non-Proliferation Treaty seriously, which called for it to work toward eliminating all its nuclear weapons in conjunction with the other nuclear powers. But of course the US has never seriously done that. It's interesting how the corporate media frames the story of North Korea's testing nukes. The story is run over and over and Pyongyang is depicted as a menacing threat to world peace. But when there is a story from a top UN official warning that the number of nations with nuclear weapons could increase significantly in the near future, the story is reported with nonchalance, as though relegated to a one-inch column on the back page. Yet nuclear proliferation is a big threat to people everywhere. And the US is directly responsible for leading the way to this kind of a world, by its continued refusal to seriously pursue disarmament, as the NPT mandates. No matter how much the corporate media intones the jingoistic rhetoric about North Korea, the US is still a far bigger threat to world peace than North Korea will ever be. Indeed, North Korea would probably not even be pursuing nuclear weapons were it not for the hegemonic policies of the U.S. Nukes for any nation are a deterrent to being invaded. And as, I believe it was Mohammed Al Bariday, said recently, we can be sure that the nuclear club is going to expand rapidly. As long as some nations insist on threatening the rest of the planet with nuclear weapons, and refusing to dismantle them, many nations will scramble to acquire these evil weapons. The nations that refuse to disarm are directly responsible for nuclear proliferation, in Korea and elsewhere.
You are so right on the " when war is never ended" but several aspects might be considered. The USA has thrived on war from its beginning. When they didn't have an enemy they made one up. Or. they meddled in the affairs of other nations, and 'created' their enemies. They are doing that this very moment in Afghanistan and Pakistan and Iraq and ---just about every where they go.
Now however, America may have 'painted itself into a corner'----and America just may be faced with a very abstract reality but one that has happened to other 'empires' in other times---------this could well be the 'begining of the end' for the USA---And they/you/them/all of America---should realize ----
1)America has presented it self as a world leader for most of the last 150 years(give or take) and instead of leading the world as a peaceful people, who lead by example; they lead by example as the bloodiest nation in the history of the world.
2)Instead of living the example of a peaceful people who kept their treaties/truces/promises, they did the opposite---and now---someone else is following the lead of the 'leader'. America has meddled in the affairs of other nations, all over the world, often supporting some of the bloodiest tyrants in history, then with a 'smirk'; turn on the tyrant when the situation changed.
3)America has made a practice now of electing to high office some of the most incompetent and unqualified as well as corrupt human beings on the planet, who have sold most of the economy to others of their "ilk" and ran the rest into danger of bankruptcy several times. While allowing those who are "most" unqualified to hold the highest offices with the most power, and then make excuses for them when they fail or are caught committing acts the Americans condemn others for.
4)The Americans could not stop N. Korea from attacking S. Korea even if they wanted to, they all of their resources tied up in other foolish endeavors brought about by their meddling in other nation's affairs. They created the Taliban, with the invasion of Afghanistan by Russia---but they called them "Freedom Fighters" then and now, those same "guys" are now "bad guys"---using the weapons they acquired from the Americans----on the Americans.
5) With the very clear inability to learn from their mistakes---America just may launch a "rescue" army if S. Korea is invaded---which most likely will cause the Chinese to call in "the paper" they hold on the USA---and then---the already shocked economy will shatter-----and the Americans will turn on themselves----and they will cease to be a threat ----or an example to anyone. If you take into consideration the last time the Americans 'turned on themselves'---the "Civil War"---(which certain factions are still fighting)--the Americans are capable of tremendous harm to themselves---the last time 'killing off' well over 10 percent of their estimated population; and that was before so many new 'weapons of mass destruction' manufactured and stored in staggering numbers---all over the country.
That would be a scene that no fiction writer has been able to depict, but is very possible---as well as plausible. There being a population of several million, "Apocalyptic/Evangelical/Waiting for Jesus" members of this very dysfunctional society, might just want to 'help the lord out' and start that 'Armegedon' they talk about "alot" ----well----the rest of the world would be in danger as well---and well you know----they most likely will want to step in and prevent the possibilities---and well----whichever way it happens---the USA may likely be experiencing ----ITS LAST DAYS--the 'world' cannot possibly tolerate them much longer.
6) And they will have done it to themselves-----------
America, you most likely will be remembered as a horrible example to history.
Good Luck America, you really need it.
Well the world powers have been seeking our destrution from the begining, nothing has changed. I do not need your luck nor does America, we will still be standing when the world looks like a burnt match!
I was thinking the same thing.
America is not standing now; America is on its knees. Whether it is begging for 'mercy' or 'giving head' remains to be seen.
Since neither one of you were 'sharp' enough to see the sarcasm in the "good luck wish" it is typical of so many Americans----you wear your ignorance like a badge of accomplishment, and, shake your 'fist of defiance'----- even in the mirror.
Luck is for losers----how does that shoe fit?
America is a loser----
P.S.
Isn't the term TXProgressive (for Texas Progressive) an oxymoron?
North Korean vessels have been boarded and searched on the High seas before. I really do not understand the ratinale for such.
It was claimed they were selling weapons to other countries.
Apparently only the Permanent members of the Security council can sell weapons.
North Korea also has the right, as does any nation to test missiles or to have a space program.
I am no fan of the leader of that country as it one of the worst run in the world, but we should not be setting rules on countries that we are not prepared to follow ourselves.
Well put. And, the US is trying to decide whether and what "sanctions" to place against North Korea. The arrogance of this country is staggering. Maybe Iraq would like to place a few "sanctions" against the US. Perhaps even North Korea may wish to "sanction" the US. What will the US do if North Korea does attack South Korea? Can we spread the military thinner yet and "succeed"? North Korea would easily overrun our 37,000 troops in the south. The north has thousands and thousands of artillery pieces aimed at the south. The north has "the bomb". So. What are you going to do South Korea? What are you going to do US? Do we really want to start World War 3? I believe the neoconservatives, like Dick Cheney and Barack Obama, want to do exactly that.
EKATON......you are as crazy as a loon. Under the Clinton Administration, diplomacy had made major progress in satisfying the desires and needs of North Korea. Unfortunately, when George W. Bush and Dick GFY Cheney started their reign, that diplomacy stopped dead in the water and North Korea has been a growing threat ever since. The country is ruled by a mentally incompetent wild man and you think we should just sit back and ignore anything they do because we SHOULD NOT BE ARROGANT?????????? DAMN, MAN.....YOU ARE TRULY SCREWED! President Obama is not a neo-conservative but at least he has a little more sense about foreign policy than you do. If we still had Bush/Cheney, the bombs would be on the way over there now. Would that suit you?????? You need to chill and understand that North Korea is not a Canada or France or Russia.......it is a time-bomb with an idiot running the show. There is a difference buddy and you had better learn it.
Well said William! Ya know I'm a liberal and a strong believer in democratic socialism yet Its never stopped amazing me how so many liberals have become totally blinded by their hate for America and the right! I guess they all seem to think that if the USA just went away world peace would break out or something! This guy in charge of N.K. is just as evil and warped as Bush and Cheney while being completely nuts on top of it all.
You are confusing hate for actions of the government with love of country.
Thank you for the ad hominem attack. It was very helpful.
Am I concerned about yet another nuclear-armed nation on this planet? Damn right. Do I think the US is hypocritical on nuclear weapons? Damn right again. Until we take steps to remove the blight and constant danger of these weapons* from this Earth, none of us has any right to condemn others for wanting their own.
Korea marks the first loss for US forces after WWII...and we have not won one since!
(*which we are the first and only nation to use. And remember, we knowingly used them on civilian populations.)
Agreed. The U.S. has no moral standing on nuclear weapons until we lead the way in disarmament. And even then we have less than others, because of our use of them.
You people crying about the USA leading the way for disarmament have not been listening to the news lately I presume. There is a decided, honest, working effort to disarm all nuclear countries led by the United States and Russia. I would suggest that it is a bit premature to do away with our weapons totally with idiots like North Korea sitting on six nuclear weapons now!!! Use your damn heads!
I am aware of Obama's announcement, and I look forward to learning about the conference he has proposed hosting by the end of the year and I wish him good luck in achieving that goal.
And uh, we don't need tens of thousands of nukes to deal with North Korea, it is pretty small you know.
If idiots like the US are sitting on six-hundred nuclear weapons, I think idiots like North Korea sitting on six nuclear weapons is pretty fair. Let's remember that the US is the only perverted nation to ever have used a nuclear weapon against another, the greatest single terrorist act in the history of humanity.
And if you think the US is serious about disarmament, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.
I've heard the tired old "draw down" phrase but not a total disarming or even a cessation of building and selling uranium based weapons, and rebuilding the draw down level missles. Looking to Iraq as a modal, how is it we can't placate a crazy little leader of a bizzaro world country like N. Korea in a way other then with egregious levels of blood and money? Except for the oil and defense companies the cost benefit ratio is way out of whack in Iraq, to do the same in N. Korea, while continuing in Afghanistan/Pakistan/Iraq again/Iran(?)...well I guess(?) we have a crazy big leader in an "insano" country...
...plus, the last time an oil company was being sued for crimes like murder and rape as part of their research and development was just prior to the Iraq escalation; is this the start of another escalation of crazy to sweep the Shell Nigeria situation under the rug? Add a military strike by Israel on Iran and that should do it. Hmm...anyone with a more optimistic scenario out there?
I am a nuclear veteran (Operation Redwing, Bikini Atoll, 1956) and have seen the horror of nuclear war at first hand. I have spent the last fifty plus years working for nuclear disarmament and world peace as I have seen the alternative.
I was overjoyed when the US and the CCCP signed the Mutual Arms Reduction Treaty. Russian teams observed as we disassembled and destroyed our warheads and concreted in our missile silos. US teams were in Russia doing the same thing. It looked like we would finally put the nuclear dragon to rest. We had the Peaceful Uses of Space Treaty, the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. We had begun a new era of international cooperation.
Unfortunately, our Empire Builders of the last decades of the old and the first decade of the new century seem to thrive on war and confrontation. When all else fails, they can always count on stirring up North Korea.
Like Vietnam, We (the "West") divided up Korea. "They" got the North, "we" got the South.
North Korea is probably the last of the old order Communist states. It is rigid, paranoid, collective and poor. It was run for many years by one Stalinist style dictator.
South Korea has been a pseudo-democracy, filled with corruption and run by "elected" leaders, mainly put in power by us. We have profited greatly from South Korea.
Unbeknown to most people, the Korean war never ended. It is just in a state of truce. For many years, border incidents occurred which frequently cost some lives and increased tensions. Sort of like a school boy drawing a line in the dirt and "Double-dast-daring" the other kid to step across it. Then the other kid would dare the other one to step over the line to his side.
Sometimes that was as far as it would go, but sometimes there was a real dust-up.
Through a combination of sanctions plus a treaty to assist North Korea with its energy needs if it would abandon and dismantle its nuclear program, North Korea began to join the community of nations. Bush scrapped the treaty and left them on their own again, which no doubt gave great ammunition to the more fascist members of the government.
So, now we are back to square one, with North Korea having no reason to trust our word, or our actions. Should they break out again and head south, I suppose we would throw the entire might of our military into yet another war. If it goes nuclear, we can expect the consequences to arrive here within a few days, with its attendant cancers and deaths.
Of course, our "leaders" and the generals will all be safe in their filtered air bunkers while We the People of no particular importance wil be the ones suffering and dying.
China has been trying to moderate North Korea's actions, but in a confrontation, I have no idea whether they would stay neutral, or come in on the side of North Korea. The seeds of WW-III have been planted long ago and may be beginning to sprout.
As Einstein said many years ago, "I don't know what the weapons of World War Three will be, but World War Four will be fought with sticks and rocks."
"For many years, border incidents occurred which frequently cost some lives and increased tensions."
A friend from high school, many years ago, was shot and wounded in South Korea, just south of the demilitarized zone.
This is the best reason of many to stop building new nuclear power plants. They lead to the proliferation of nuclear weapons. How much insanity are we capable of? Apparently, it is limitless.
Donald Rumsfeld gave N. Korea and Pakistan nukes some years ago.
http://www.prisonplanet.com/050903nkorea.html
http://www.prisonplanet.com/042803nkorea.html
http://www.prisonplanet.com/022403nkorea.html
anybody here knows any Pro-North Korea, Stalinist news sites? Because i used to love Common Dreams Magazine, but this magazine is s*cking the big balls of Obama, the p*ssy of Hillary and the big c*ck of Clinton. They are an anti-North Korea Ronald-Reagan right-wing democrat magazine like the folks of Moveon.org and The Nation (The Nation) magazine.
There's the Korean Central News Agency. http://www.kcna.co.jp/
They're always good for a laugh. Be warned, they make the MSM over here look by comparison like vigilant watchdogs of state abuses.
hey, why don't just you tell us how you really feel?
A person can be "Anti-North Korea" w/o having a hatred for the North Korean people.
Just start the fucking world war so I can start butchering overlord pigs.
Like Reverend Wright likes to say, America's chickens are coming home to roost.
Get ready to invest in the stock market. Israel will bomb Iran or North Korea will do something crazy to send the market tumbling making for great buys. Oh wait...Common Dreamers don't invest in the stock market. That's for capitalist pigs!
I am beginning to understand the progressive mindset...
1 The USA is very bad.
2 Israel and Jews will be brought up in any topic, no matter how unrelated to Israel and Jews the topic is.
3 Obscenity and disgusting sexual innuendo apparently are used when more cogent arguments are not available.
4 If the US threatens another nation, that means the US is bad.
5 If a rogue state run by a maniac (N Korea) threatens the US, the US must be at fault.
6 If a rogue state run by a maniac (N Korea) threatens other countries (S Korea and Japan), then the US must be at fault.
Did I miss anything? Oh, yeah, the USA is very very bad. And we should not worry about nukes in the hands of Kim Jong Ir, he will use them responsibly.
Liberdade “Did I miss anything?”
Yep, you missed a few...
7. Support the spreading of nuclear weapons. (Starting by allowing a nuclear Iran and a nuclear N. Korea, even if it means triggering a new nuclear arms race.)
8. Support gay’s right in the USA. Ignore gay’s right in the Middle East. (I failed to see a single discussion about countries that execute people whose only crime is being homosexual.)
9. Support ethnic cleansing, war crimes, crimes against humanity and in some cases even a nuclear holocaust, as long as the victims are Jews who live in Israel. (In one case, someone was even willing to sacrifice all the Palestinians just to see the Jews exterminated.)
10. Draw comparisons between Israel to Nazi Germany. (Or to S. Africa’s Apartheid)
11. Any display of evidence that prove them wrong, will be answered by unsupported accusations of racism and genocidism.
The only objection I have is your usage of the word “progressive,” to describe these people.
N Korea(DPRK), like S Korea(ROK), is half a state. As I can recall it was a local resistance fighter, Kim il-Sung, who was appointed as the prime minister in 1948 when the state was formed. Kim's efforts to unify the Koreas in 1950 were thwarted by US and UK forces (to keep the corporate gangsters in power) with a terrific loss of civilian life (No Gun Ri e.g.). The Koreas have been overrun by foreign armies so many times in their history that it's no wonder that trust is lacking. Their current separation is an artifact left over from WWII. I always admonish the Korean ESL children that I mentor to return home and work to unify their homeland. Maybe some day it will happen. GOP willing.
[There is another country, founded in 1948, that has behaved far, far worse than the Koreas. Of course that one has had massive support from the US to carry on it's neverending atrocities.]
Did you miss anything else? Turn off your TV and read history.
Let your EGO die and try being human - who knows, you might like it.
Humbaba: “Kim's efforts to unify the Koreas in 1950”
Translation: negotiations ended when the North Korean Army invaded the South on June 25, 1950.
Humbaba: “US and UK forces (to keep the corporate gangsters in power)”
Translation: “Under the aegis of the United Nations, nations allied with the United States intervened on behalf of South Korea”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_War
Humbaba: “There is another country, founded in 1948, that has behaved far, far worse than the Koreas”
Translation: Israel is the greatest evil on this planet. If only Israel will somehow magically disappear, everything will be sunshine and roses.
Liberdade -- the overwhelming majority of people describing themselves as 'progressive' in ongoing public opinion polls such as Zogby, Quayle, and Roper, plus most progressives opining on sites like Common Dreams, readily admit that N. Korea is a meta nutcase state well beyond the pale of the worst of the west's pseudo-democratic, capital-oligarchic states.
Don't get too puffed-up against the US progressive viewpoint in general, just because a few errant nuts, implicitly posting as progressives here, sound not much different than N. Korea's Dear Leader himself.
It would be factually wrong of you to do so.