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| China-Japan-Koreas | |
| Norks Twin Nuclear Threats | |
| 2010-11-20 | |
| North Korea appears to be weighing two options: conducting a third nuclear test or building a light-water nuclear reactor. Japanese media on Thursday quoted a Japanese government official as saying North Korea appears to be "preparing for a nuclear test" by building a new shaft at its test facility in Punggye-ri. "This is clearly visible through satellite images. It would not be surprising if North Korea conducts a nuclear test at any time," he said. Jack Pritchard, the president of the Korea Economic Institute in Washington who visited Pyongyang earlier this month, said Tuesday that a North Korean official he met in Yongbyon said the North was building a 100 MW light-water reactor. But based on these developments alone it is difficult to say what North Korea is planning. A Cheong Wa Dae official said, "North Korea is up to something, but we don't expect anything to happen right now." Judging from the depth of the shaft that has been dug so far, it will apparently take three to six more months before a nuclear test can be conducted, while the light-water nuclear reactor is slated for completion in 2012. North Korea has a history of turning to its nuclear option whenever it faces adverse conditions. At the moment the regime's top priority is to consolidate the grip on power of Kim's son and heir Jong-un. "It's highly likely that North Korea will use its nuclear program, which symbolizes the 'Songun' or military-first doctrine, to bolster Kim Jong-un's status," said a South Korean intelligence official. Seoul is watching out for a third nuclear test. But skeptics say North Korea would not put China in such an awkward situation at a time when Beijing's influence on the North has increased following the sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan.
After formally announcing Kim Jong-un's position as heir to the leadership on Sept. 29, the North's chief representative to the UN Pak Kil-yon vowed the country will strengthen its "nuclear deterrent." South Korean authorities appear far less concerned about the light-water reactor. "It's not easy to build a light-water reactor," said Suh Kune-yull, a professor at the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Seoul National University. "It would be difficult for North Korea to build one from scratch unless it manages to steal the necessary technology from overseas." Many experts think the reactor may be a Potemkin village. During the late 1990s, North Korea dug a massive underground tunnel in Kumchang-ri near Yongbyon, and the U.S. raised suspicions that it was building a large underground nuclear facility and met with North Korean officials in New York in February of 1999. U.S. investigators traveled to North Korea in May the same year to inspect the installation but found only empty caves. North Korea nonetheless received hundreds of thousands of tons of food aid. That is why experts think North Korea is using the light-water reactor threat to boost its leverage ahead of a possible resumption of six-party nuclear talks. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #4 We said BS (somehow doesn't sound right....) but well said. There does seem to be something of pattern, same time each year concerning victuals. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-11-20 19:59 |
| #3 My first military flap for rapid deployment came in 69 during a flare up with these mopes, and they have been playing the one-trick pony card of threatening and rattling the west every year or so to get goodies. Ignore them and they threaten, appease them and they never stop grasping for more, and always cheat and counterfeit and abuse every international protocol to sustain the leadership and the army. Their people are inches shorter now due to chronic multigenerational malnutrition, and we keep buying the BS. STOP talking to the asshats and stop feeding them and sink their damn smuggling ships and watch how quickly they actually fold. If they do unleash their "sea of fire" it will horrific and short and over with a mix of US airpower/seapower and SKOR infantry and armor winning the day. We have sustained these slimeballs with appeasement long enough. All they ever do with the food is feed the army.... yet after 60 years we keep looking for a pony in the horseshit.... |
| Posted by: NoMoreBS 2010-11-20 19:49 |
| #2 They were not "empty caves" they are mine shafts, and there is gappage and steps should be taken now. |
| Posted by: Zombie Hillary Lover 2010-11-20 16:23 |
| #1 DPRK + CHINA versies * WMF > XINHUA: JAPANESE NEWS MEDIAS REPORT VIA RUSSIAN INTEL SOURCE THAT RUSSIA"S PACIFIC FLEET PLANS TO BUILD A LARGE SUBMARINE, NAVAL PORT IN FORMER JAPANESE KURILS. Otorofu Bay = Crown Bay, aka where Imperial Japan's "PEARL HARBOR STRIKING FORCE" set off to bomb the USN in Hawaii. JIM BELUSHI > D *** NG IT, WAS IT OVER WHEN THE GERMANS BOMBED PEARL HARBOR ... + IT TAINT OVER NOW! KEEP-JAPAN-OUT, versus "KEEPING-CHINA-IN", i.e. blocked from NORPAC + RUSS FAR EAST. * SAME > MASSIVE JAPANESE OPPOSITION TO CHINA-JAPAN "DAOYUS/SENKAKUS" ISLANDS DISPUTE BLOCKS INFAMOUS SALE OF 1.5 MILYUHN SQUARE METERS OF SOVEREIGN JAPANESE SOIL TO CHINA IN BANDAI-CHO, NIIGATA CITY. Proposed Chinese Consulate. Twas infamous because the LOCAL GOVT. repor allegedly offered to sell to Beijing widout asking or discussing first wid TOKYO??? * SAME > THE US QUIETLY PREPARES TO BETRAY JAPAN: POST-SURRENDER/1945 JAPAN LOST ITS SOVEREIGNTY OVER THE FOUR KURILS ISLANDS + 1/2 OF SAKKHALIN, THE US HISTORICALLY FAILED REPEATEDLY TO FORCE COLD WAR STALINIST, SOVIET RUSSIA TO RETURN THE FORMER JAPANESE TERRITORIES TO JAPAN UNDER THE TERMS OF THE YALTA AGREEMENT. JAPAN SHOULD NOT RELY ON THE USA FOR ITS NUCLEAR SECURITY, PROTECTION OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY. ------------ RUSSIA > has repor agreed to help build a LARGE MODERN SHIPYARD in VIETNAM, ostensibly as part of Vietnam's purchase of ADVANCED RUSS-DESIGNED "KILO" SUBMARINES. Once again, unless something changes, it appears that BEIJING = CHINA will NOT fulfill its Manifest Destiny either as a GLOBAL SUPERPOWER NOR AS "SOLE" GEOPOL SUCCESSOR TO THE US. It will remain a MAJOR REGIONAL = LAND POWER ONLY, + prolly won't achieve its desired Manifest Destiny until some time after Year 2100. OOOOOOOOO, YOU JUST KNOW DATS NOT GOOD FOR THE CHOW MEIN! |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-11-20 00:28 |