North Korea (Superthread)

[zipperhead_cop]

If I may suggest a possibility here: Perhaps these journalists use the same rule as these forums, that you do not use acronyms unless universally understood.

I look at the caption on the picture and see, for instance that they describe the Dodko but do not use naval identifier for it either.

The description before either ship corresponds to their naval identifier:

Dodko  is LPH 6111: LPH stands for Landing Platform Helicopter.

The Washington is CVN 73, meaning Aircraft-carrier (CV) Nuclear powered.

The use of N, for nuclear, is of importance for naval planning purposes and is used for all classes of ships to distinguish the nuclear ones from the non nuclear (for instance, SSK is a hunter-killer submarine, while a SSN is a Nuclear powered hunter-killer submarine.) In naval circles, knowing the type of propulsion (classic vs nuclear) permits planning taking into consideration issues of speed, need for resupply in fuel, range, maximum transit speeds etc. So it is important to know.

Awesome!  Thanks for the info, at least that makes sense. 
Now if we could just do something about that Hans Brix!!

 

[CougarKing]

Tragic:

Agence-France-Presse link

Drifting N.Korean mine kills S.Korean

30 minutes ago


SEOUL (AFP) - A North Korean mine which drifted along a river into the neighbouring South killed a man and badly injured another when it exploded, military officials said Sunday.

Several wooden box mines have been retrieved by South Korean soldiers and police, but it was not immediately clear how the mines ended up drifting into the South.


The explosion was reported shortly before midnight Saturday in a restricted border area in Yeoncheon, 60 kilometres (35 miles) northeast of Seoul, the defence ministry said.


A 48-year-old man died and a 25-year-old man was seriously injured.


"Han was killed by one of the North Korean wooden box mines which had drifted south along the border river," a ministry spokesman told AFP.


South Korean soldiers and police have retrieved 29 boxes of North Korean mines in their joint search which began on Friday along all streams connected to the Imjin River, he said, of which 18 boxes were empty.


Heavy rain has hit the northern part of the peninsula in recent weeks, swelling water levels. The North has discharged water from dams north of the river flowing to South Korea.


Last September six South Korean campers died when North Korea suddenly discharged dam water and created a flash flood.
(...)

 

[tomahawk6]

The weapons that we dont know about are the real concern. Of course as soon as they start firing their positions will be revealed. :camo:

North repositions artillery: sources

August 03, 2010
North Korea is repositioning its arsenal near the South Korean border in an attempt to make it more difficult for long-range artillery fire to inflict significant damage on its resources, according to intelligence sources.

The sources told the JoongAng Ilbo on Sunday that the North Korean military is relocating its long-range artillery fire, which is set up in mountain caves, from near the southern gate of the caves to the northern gate. The North is also building a protective cover over the facility, the sources said.

“Over several years, South Korea and the United States have prepared against the threat from North Korean long-range artillery fire,” said a military official. “As far as I know, the North Korean military is taking measures to improve the chances that its long-range artillery fire will survive [an attack from the South] by repositioning them inside the [caves].”

Another source said if artillery were relocated to the back of the caves, the South Korea-U.S. alliance would have trouble counterattacking a North Korean attack and hitting the North Korean long-range artillery fire with K9 (155-millimeter) artillery and a multiple launch rocket system.

Only a Joint Direct Attack Munition (a kind of smart bomb) or missiles dropped from a combat plane could destroy the long-range artillery fire moved to the rear, the second source said, adding that it would significantly limit the ways Seoul and Washington could respond to an attack.

The protective cover the North is setting up is meant to counter cluster bombs, the second source said. Cluster bombs are air-dropped weapons that eject a cluster of smaller bombs. The sources said the South Korean military is considering developing new weapons that could destroy this cover.

North Korea’s long-range artillery fire, either a 240-millimeter caliber multiple-launch rocket system or a 170-millimeter self-propelled artillery, claim an effective range of 55 to 65 kilometers (34 to 40 miles). According to the South Korean Defense White Paper and other military data, about 600 such North Korean munitions have been set up near the border, posing a significant threat to Seoul.

 

[CougarKing]

Agence-France Presse link

S.Korea warns N.Korea on eve of naval drill
34 minutes ago

SEOUL (AFP) - South Korea warned North Korea Wednesday it would not tolerate provocations during an upcoming naval exercise in the Yellow Sea, after Pyongyang threatened "strong physical retaliation" for the drill.

"Our military will keep a close eye on our enemy, be ready under any circumstances during the training and will not tolerate any type of provocation," Rear Admiral Kim Kyung-Sik told a briefing.


A spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff told AFP separately that if the North fires at the South, "we will stage an immediate counter-attack".


The five-day anti-submarine drill starting Thursday is a response to the North's alleged torpedo attack in March on a South Korean warship, the Cheonan, which killed 46 sailors.


Military officials said 29 ships including a submarine and a destroyer, 50 fixed-wing aircraft and 4,500 army, navy, air force, marine and coastguard personnel would take part.


They said marines stationed on islands near the disputed Yellow Sea border with the North would stage live-fire exercises, but naval ships would stay far south of the line.


Kim said the exercise would be a legitimate defensive drill in the South's waters. Its aim was "to warn North Korea, and show our military capability to them, that future provocations will not be tolerated".

(...)

 

 

[CougarKing]

The DPRK at it again:

Associated Press link

NKorea seizes SKorean fishing boat amid tension

2 hours, 59 minutes ago


By Kwang-Tae Kim, The Associated Press
 
SEOUL, South Korea - North Korean authorities seized a South Korean fishing boat and its crew Sunday in waters off the divided peninsula's eastern coast, the South's coast guard said amid heightened tensions over the sinking of a southern navy ship.


Four South Korean and three Chinese fishermen were questioned for an alleged violation of the North's exclusive economic zone, South Korea's coast guard said in a statement. It said the fishing boat was being taken toward the North Korea's eastern port of Songjin.

A South Korean fisherman told South Korea via a satellite phone that his boat was being towed by a North Korean patrol, according to the coast guard.


The coast guard said it was not clear where exactly the 41-ton fishing boat was operating when it was seized. The boat departed South Korea's southeastern port of Pohang on Aug. 1 and was scheduled to return home on September 10.


South Korea called on the North to quickly return the fishing boat and its crew. However, the prospect of their quick return is being complicated because of tension over the March sinking of a South Korean warship off the western coast blamed on North Korea.


South Korea also conducted naval drills off the western coast, including areas near the two countries' disputed sea border. The exercises, which end Monday, were aimed at strengthening South Korea's ability to counter any North Korean provocations.


North Korea — which has denied involvement in the sinking — warned last week it would "counter the reckless naval firing projected by the group of traitors with strong physical retaliation" and advised civilian ships to stay away from the maritime border.


Maritime incidents involving fishing boats and other commercial vessels occur from time to time between the two Koreas. While most are resolved amicably, the rival navies engaged in three deadly skirmishes near their disputed western sea border in 1999, 2002 and November last year.


Last August, North Korea freed four South Korean fishermen after detaining them for a month for illegally entering North Korean waters.


Kim Yong-hyun, an expert on North Korean affairs at Seoul's Dongguk University, said the North may release the fishermen within a month after its investigation, since their boat appeared to have accidentally strayed into the North's waters.


"South Korea should use the issue as a lubricant to improve relations with North Korea by actively seeking their quick return," Kim said. He also noted that North Korea should quickly free the fishermen because a prolonged detention could worsen ties with South Korea at a time when the North may need food aid from the South.

 

[tomahawk6]

Odd that there would be 3 Chinese onboard a South Korean fishing craft.

 

[Old Sweat]

And that the ship with three Chinese on board would be the one seized by the North Koreans.

 

[zipperhead_cop]

If the idea is that it was a Chinese/SKor JFO to keep an eye on NKor, wouldn't that be REALLY ballsy?  Outting Chinese operatives would probably honk off thier bosses.  I was of the impression that NKor needs to keep China happy for a while, given their recent shenanigans. 

 

[midget-boyd91]

  I was of the impression that NKor needs to keep China happy for a while, given their recent shenanigans.

 
DPRK would like to keep China happy and China would like to keep DPRK in line.

 

[CougarKing]

Agence-France-Presse link

N.Korea fires artillery into sea as tensions rise
2 hours, 36 minutes ago


SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea fired an artillery barrage Monday into waters near the disputed inter-Korean sea border as tensions rose over a South Korean naval exercise and the seizure of one of a Seoul's fishing boats.
 
Batteries fired about 110 shells which all fell on the North's side of the Yellow Sea borderline, a spokesman for Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff told AFP.


The salvos began after the South's navy ended a five-day naval exercise south of the border, for which the North had threatened retaliation.


"Our navy was placed on high alert, closely watching the movement of North Korean troops," the spokesman said.


The North's seizure Sunday of a South Korean fishing boat in the Sea of Japan (East Sea), on the other, eastern side of the peninsula, has further inflamed tensions.


South Korea's largest anti-submarine exercise yet was a show of force after Seoul accused its neighbour of torpedoing a South Korean warship in March near the contested border.


The North, which denies staging the attack that killed 46 sailors, had warned of "strong physical retaliation" against the navy drill which it described as a preparation for invasion.


The border drawn by UN forces after the 1950-53 war was the scene of deadly naval battles in 1999 and 2002 and a firefight last November which left a North Korean boat in flames.


Some analysts believe the alleged torpedo attack was in revenge for the November clash.


Earlier Monday Seoul urged Pyongyang to free the 41-ton squid fishing boat and its crew as soon as possible.


It was unclear whether the weekend seizure was a response to the naval drill, or just an attempt to curb alleged illegal fishing.

(...)

 

[CougarKing]

A "master plan" ( >) for reunification...with a "unification tax" ?

Chosun link

Lee Lays Out 3-Stage Master Plan for Reunification

President Lee Myung-bak in a speech on Sunday marking the 65th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese rule proposed a three-staged method of reunification with North Korea and the introduction of a "unification tax" to prepare for the massive cost.

"Today, inter-Korean relations demand a new paradigm," Lee said. "The two of us need to overcome the current state of division and proceed with the goal of peaceful reunification." The comments mark a shift from policies aimed at maintaining stability to active steps toward reunification.

"We long for the common prosperity and peace of both the South and the North, which will lead to reunification, and this is the right way to achieve the genuine liberation of the nation," he said. He urged North Korea to face reality and make a choice for change.

President Lee Myung-bak and leading political figures celebrate the 65th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule in central Seoul on Sunday. The three-stage plan would start with a "peace community" that assures security on the peninsula including a denuclearized North, followed by the creation of an "economic community" developing the North's economy through exchanges, and eventually the full integration. His proposal of the "unification tax" was seen as a way of taking active steps toward those goals.

There have been two broad theories of reunification. One is the so-called Sunshine Policy of gradual reunification proposed by former President Kim Dae-jung and favored by progressives. Proponents of the Sunshine Policy believe sudden reunification stemming from regime collapse in North Korea or other unexpected causes would entail tremendous social and financial costs for South Korea. They therefore favor reunification further down the road after the two Koreas narrow their economic differences and acclimatize to each other's societies.

In contrast, conservatives say such an approach would only prolong North Korea's autocratic regime and warn that the South must prepare for a sudden regime collapse in the North. Some even say South Korea should pressure North Korea in order to trigger regime collapse. 

Lee's speech leans to the conservative approach, as is evident from his mention of the "need to overcome the current state of division," the establishment of a "peace community" and the shouldering of reunification costs, apparently in preparation for sudden changes in North Korea.

Evidently concerned about conveying such a strong message, Cheong Wa Dae issued a customary supplementary gloss of the presidential statement explaining that the unification tax and other measures were not designed specifically with a potential North Korean regime collapse in mind.

Lee's speech is expected to lead to a major debate in South Korea over how to deal with the North. At a press conference in Washington D.C. in 2008, Lee said reunification in the name of democracy is the "ultimate goal." He added it is important for the North and South to coexist in peace. Since then the North has severed ties with the South and stepped up military provocations. One close aide to Lee said, "The fact that the president, who is fully aware of repercussions, has raised the issue again at the start of the second half of his term reflects his determination."

 

[a_majoor]

If this is really the goal of the South (and it may well be), then they will also have to be prepared to move much faster than the Americans or Chinese in the event of the collapse of the DPRK (either internal or one they engineer) in order to make "Greater Korea" their own state and not a beachhead for the Americans in Asia nor a lever for the Chinese to force the Americans out of Asia.

I still think Robert Kaplan has the best prediction of the endgame in the article When North Korea Falls.

 

[CougarKing]

BBC link

North Korean plane crashes in China
18 August 10 05:25 ET


A North Korean aircraft, which may be a fighter jet, has crashed in China near the country's shared border, say Chinese and South Korean reports.

It is believed the pilot, who was killed, may have been trying to defect to Russia, according to unnamed intelligence sources cited by Yonhap.

The crash happened on Tuesday afternoon in Fushun county, Liaoning province.

Defections are common but an attempt by plane is highly unusual and would be a source of embarrassment for Pyongyang.

China has a repatriation agreement with North Korea, which could explain why the pilot may have been trying to reach Russia, the report added.

North Korea has a military airbase in Sinuiju, near the border with China.

China's state media confirmed an unidentified small plane had crashed and that it may belong to North Korea.

An investigation into the cause of the crash was under way, Xinhua reported.

Soviet-era jet

Photographs of the wreckage reportedly taken by a local resident and posted on the internet showed North Korea's insignia on the plane's fuselage.

Military experts said the plane appeared to be a Soviet-era fighter jet, which were used during the 1950-53 Korean War.

A report in Hong Kong's Ming Pao newspaper said that a second pilot had bailed out but gave no information on his whereabouts. It conflicts with the South Korean report of only one pilot on board.

Technically, North and South Korea remain at war although a ceasefire agreement ended fighting in 1953.

Their border is the most heavily militarised zone in the world.

 

[a_majoor]

Applying enough pressure to brittle regimes will crush them like eggshells; the only problem is are we willing to clean up the mess made? I suspect that if (huge hypothetical here) the United States or an alliance were to take steps such as suggested here, not only would the DPRK fold up and blow away, but many other hostile regimes would become remarkably restrained and compliant overnight after a show of strength. Remember how quiet the Middle East became for a year after OIF? Few others stuck their heads up either, until they were satisfied that the United States was fully occupied in Iraq and unwilling to take on more challenges at the time.

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/targeting-north-korea-let’s-think-like-a-kim/?print=1

Targeting North Korea: Let’s Think Like a Kim
Posted By Gordon G. Chang On August 17, 2010 @ 10:42 am In Asia, Koreas, World News | 12 Comments

On Monday, the United States and South Korea began the 11-day Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise. The ongoing drill, “one of the largest joint staff-directed theatre exercises in the world,” is an annual event. This year it involves 86,000 troops. It is, not coincidentally, taking place at the same time 400,000 of the South’s officials and government employees are participating in an anti-terrorism exercise.

Moreover, it has only been a week since Seoul wrapped up its most extensive anti-submarine drill and 19 days after the end of joint naval maneuvers in the Sea of Japan by the American and South Korean navies. The two allies, obviously, are intensifying their preparations for war.

As they should. The North Koreans, in March, torpedoed the Cheonan and killed 46 South Korean sailors on the frigate. Since then, Pyongyang has snatched [1] a South Korean fishing boat with its crew of seven and been hurling invective toward the South.  For instance, on Sunday the North Korean military promised to inflict [2] the “severest punishment no one has ever met in the world” for the Ulchi Freedom Guardian drill.

Of course, we know the North Koreans have no intention of initiating hostilities at this moment. For one thing, they always issue bellicose statements whenever the Americans and South Koreans participate in military drills, even though they are defensive in nature. And, as a shrewd aggressor, Kim Jong Il, the North’s wily leader, would not think of committing an act of violence when his adversaries have deployed so many military assets on or near the Korean peninsula.

Yet we also know that, in the near future, Chairman Kim will order his forces to kill South Koreans — and possibly Americans as well. Why? First, he and his dad, Kim Il Sung, have established a pattern of wanton events. Among other things, they grabbed the Navy’s Pueblo in international waters and tortured the crew, shot down an unarmed Navy reconnaissance plane and killed 31 aviators — the largest loss of U.S. servicemen in a single incident in the Cold War — bombed the South Korean cabinet in Burma, shot down a South Korean civilian airliner, and regularly attacked targets in the South.

Moreover, creating incidents is good politics at home — it rallies members of the regime and demonstrates Kim’s power to ordinary citizens. And murder — let’s call Kim’s acts by their proper name — has convinced weak American and South Korean leaders to provide assistance to the regime. Washington and Seoul have, if the truth be told, paid Mr. Kim to refrain from slaughtering their citizens and soldiers.

This dynamic — horrible incidents, followed by acts of resolve, and then payment of rewards — continues. No one outside North Korea likes it, but no one wants to risk war with the Kim family regime. How do we finally break this iron cycle?

Here’s a suggestion: Let’s think like a Kim. Kim commits minor acts of aggression because he knows he can get away with them.  Case in point: He sinks the Cheonan, and two things happen. The president of the Security Council reads a statement, and then Seoul and Washington conduct military drills. Kim, who is not adversely affected by either of these moves, knows we will not start a war to avenge his acts of murder.

So let’s recognize that Kim won’t start hostilities if we retaliate with small steps that injure his regime. He knows that a general conflict on the Korean peninsula will destroy his state. So he won’t start one if he has any hope of continuing his family’s rule.  This situation gives us considerable room for maneuver.

To stop his acts of killing, we have to make him hurt. For example, after the sinking of the Cheonan, Seoul could have closed down the Kaesong industrial zone, which is just north of the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas. There, about 120 South Korean businesses employ around 44,000 North Korean workers. That, by itself, would deprive Kim of a substantial source of funding because Pyongyang skims a large portion of the wages.

Similarly, we can cut off North Korea’s access to the international financial system. The Bush administration did just that in September 2005 when it declared Banco Delta Asia, a bank Kim used in Macau, to be a “primary money laundering concern.” As such, no financial institution would do business with it. And as a result, North Korea, for two years, had to use its diplomats to ferry cash in bulging suitcases around the world. And, lo and behold, Kim Jong Il did not start a war even though the U.S. Treasury Department crippled his government.

Washington, in the wake of the Cheonan incident, has announced [3] a new set of financial sanctions, but they are too narrowly crafted. Why not expand them and really injure Kim? This would be a particularly good time to do that because he is in failing health and preoccupied by the internal opposition to his efforts to install his 27-year-old son, Kim Jong Un, on the throne.

Similarly, we can ring the waters around the North with frigates and begin inspecting all cargoes on the high seas. Similarly, we should search every plane leaving North Korea when they land in countries friendly to us. Kim has been exporting nuclear technologies to Iran and Syria, so we need to stop him in any event.

Kim will not start a war if we employ the same tactics against him that he uses against us. And if we do not change our approach toward his aggressive regime, we know one thing: the killing of Americans and South Koreans will continue.

Article printed from Pajamas Media: http://pajamasmedia.com

URL to article: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/targeting-north-korea-let%e2%80%99s-think-like-a-kim/

URLs in this post:

[1] snatched: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/08/08/south.korea.fishing.boat/index.html
[2] inflict: http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/dprk/2010/dprk-100815-kcna01.htm
[3] announced: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/07/21/clinton-impose-new-sanctions-defiant-north-korea-stop-nuclear-proliferation/

 

[CougarKing]

North Korea unveils a "new" MBT:

Chosun link

N.Korea Unveils New Battle Tank

Intelligence authorities are analyzing footage of a new battle tank shown on North Korean state TV recently. So far the existence of the "Pokpung" (Storm) had only been a rumor.

A South Korean military source on Monday said the Pokpung appears to be an improved version of the North Korean Army's previous model "Chonma" (Flying Horse) in terms of firepower and maneuverability.

The Pokpung tank is also known as the M-2002, as it is presumed to have been rolled out in 2002.

Armed with a 125 mm or 115 mm gun, the Pokpung appears to be a drastically improved version of the former Soviet Union's T-62 tank, the latest issue of Defense Science & Technology Information, a magazine published by the Defense Ministry says.


It seems to be more heavily armed with a 14.5 mm KPV anti-aircraft machine gun, which is more powerful than the 12.7 mm machine gun mounted on older tanks. Also equipped with a laser range finder and an infrared searchlight, the tank is presumed to have a higher accuracy as it has a more modern fire control system than earlier models.

The magazine said that the Pokpung has been built at the Ryu Kyong-su Tank Factory since it was developed in the 1990s. How many of the tanks have been deployed warfare-ready is not known, but they are said to have been deployed only at an elite tank unit.

The North Korean Army has about 3,900 tanks, much more than the South Korean Army's 2,300, but they are believed to perform much more poorly.

 

[CougarKing]

When I first read this, I initially thought that maybe these troops were being moved in to prevent a power struggle.

Agence-France-Presse link

S.Korea detects 'massive' N.Korea troop deployment

54 minutes ago

SEOUL (AFP) - South Korea has detected a "massive" deployment of North Korean troops and arms near the capital Pyongyang, Seoul's defence ministry said Tuesday.

The large number of soldiers, armoured vehicles and artillery have been stationed near the communist state's capital since July 12, the ministry said in a report to parliament.

The deployment appears to be related to political events such as a meeting of key communist party delegates next month and the party's 65th anniversary on October 10, a ministry spokesman told AFP.


"The massive deployment of troops could be designed to show their military power at home and abroad, or for security," he said.


North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has not publicly appointed an eventual successor, but his youngest son, Kim Jong-Un, is widely believed to be being groomed to take over from his ailing 68-year-old father.


Some analysts say Kim Jong-Il will probably designate the son as his political heir at the September meeting, the third such gathering since the communist state was founded in 1948.


It is seen as the most important party event since 1980, when a convention of all-party members made public Kim Jong-Il's status as the eventual successor to his father, and founding president, Kim Il-Sung.


Kim Jong-Il took over from his father in 1994.


South Korea's spy chief said in June that the leader's poor health was driving him to speed up preparations for a handover and that Jong-Un was taking a greater role in policymaking and often accompanied his father on inspection tours.

 

[CougarKing]

Reuters link

North Korea's Kim not seen heading for retirement yet

Sun Aug 29, 4:05 AM


By Jack Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's ruling party holds its biggest meeting in 30 years early next month to pick a new leadership and likely anoint an heir to the dynasty as Kim Jong-il's health deteriorates.


Kim, suspected of suffering a stroke in 2008, is believed to have accelerated succession plans, but analysts say the meeting of the Workers' Party won't send its supreme leader into retirement just yet.


The decision by the powerful Political Bureau of the party Central Committee in June to call September's meeting indicated it will be a watershed, and that it will involve a major reshuffle of its officials for the first time in decades.


The big question is whether Kim's youngest son, Jong-un, will be given an official title and how it will rank in seniority. Additionally, North Korea watchers will be monitoring to see what positions his backers get.

"I think what will happen is Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un will begin a joint leadership system in 2012, and until then, the son will hold a key position but one that is not as public," said Yang Moo-jin of the University of North Korean Studies.

Experts say North Korea, hit by sanctions punishing it for its nuclear weapons programme, could adopt a collective leadership when Kim dies with his son identified as figurehead leader but real power held by a group of officials from the ruling Workers' Party and the military.


The meeting takes place at a time of great hardship for the impoverished North as it tries to work around the sanctions and accomplish something to show for its pledge to become a "powerful and prosperous" nation by 2012.


By all accounts, the North's coffers are hopelessly low in cash and heavy rains this year have hit food production that even in a good year falls a million tonnes short of the amount needed to feed its 23 million people.


The meeting in early September comes amid a flurry of diplomatic activity in the region, home to the world's second- and third-largest economies and a massive arms build-up straddling the Korean peninsula military border.


Kim this week was on his second visit to China in a few months, a trip observers say was probably designed to let Beijing know of the North's planned father-to-son power transition process.


At around the same time, North Korea expressed a willingness to return to nuclear disarmament talks, which have been in limbo since 2008 when North Korea walked out and said they were finished. China has hosted the on-again-off-again talks since they began in 2003.


THIRD GENERATION


Speculation over who will succeed as the third generation of leader to the world's first communist dynasty has grown with Kim's noticeable decline in health.


South Korea, China, the United States and Japan will all be watching for clues as to how the transfer of power proceeds in the country with a military-first policy and enough fissile material for at least six to eight nuclear weapons.


With North and South still technically at war, having only signed an armistice in 1953, regional powers are anxious to know what changes are afoot and who will command the country's nearly 1.2 million troops and another 7.7 million in the reserves.


Founded on October 10, 1945, the Workers' Party of Korea has been the pinnacle of power in the North, the source of the go-it-alone Juche ideology, a mix of Marxism and ultra-nationalism preached by Kim's father and state founder, Kim Il-sung.


Kim Jong-il rules as the party's general secretary on top of his role as chairman of the National Defense Commission. His grooming as a future leader began at the party level three decades ago when he was given a formal role at a convention.

There has been barely a handful of sessions of the solemn national convention since the party's founding. But each was a milestone in the evolution of the state from a revolutionary movement fighting Japan's colonial rule to a reclusive regime that has stoked regional tensions with armed provocations and pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.

 

[Edward Campbell]

See here for some comments on China and North Korea.

 

[Edward Campbell]

South Korea does a little sabre rattling of it own.

Photo: JO YONG-HAK/REUTERS
South Korean Marine Corps' amphibious vehicles and the Navy's Landing Platform Helicopter (LPH) ship Dokdo (behind) take part in a mock landing operation in the sea off Incheon, west of Seoul. The operation marked the 60th anniversary of the U.S.-led United Nations troops' Incheon Landing Operations during the 1950-1953 Korean War.

Reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act from the Globe and Mail.

 

[George Wallace]

The first thing to come to mind when I looked at that photo was:  "Oh my God!  The North Koreans have created a Donut Bomb."