North Korea has likely amassed between 2,500 and 5,000 tons of chemical weapons, including extremely toxic nerve agents such as sarin, in recent years, according to estimates published in a joint report on Tuesday by the RAND Corporation and South Korea’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies, the website NK News reported.
Read More: Breitbart
The Pentagon addressed a report from North Korean state media that the country had tested a “tactical guided weapon” on Sunday, with the stated goal of boosting its nuclear fighting capability.
Read More: Fox News
In an emergency meeting early Friday morning, Mr. Kim was photographed signing an order directing rocket units on standby to strike the US and South Korean targets at any time. This was prompted after a nuclear-capable US B-2 stealth bomber was part of joint military drills with South Korea hours earlier. The photographs published by the state-run Rodong newspaper included one with a chart labeled “US mainland strike plan” with trajectories of missiles in the vicinity of Hawaii, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and Austin, Texas.
The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Mr. Kim as stating that: In the event of any “reckless” US provocation, North Korean forces should “mercilessly strike the US mainland … military bases in the Pacific, including Hawaii and Guam, and those in South Korea.”
Though North Korea has no proven ability strike the US mainland, Mr Kim said: “The time has come to settle accounts with the US imperialists.”
North Korea has continued in it’s anti-America rhetoric, today saying they will launch a preemptive strike against the US, as soon as March 11th. North Korea say that American drills in South Korea, due to begin on Monday, are provocation for such a move.
A spokesman for the North’s foreign ministry said: “Since the US is about to ignite a nuclear war, we will be exercising our right to preemptive nuclear attack against the headquarters of the aggressor in order to protect our supreme interest.”
Although it is believed North Korea has enough nuclear material to produce a crude nuclear device, it is not believed they have mastered the technology required to make a nuclear warhead capable of reaching the US.
A few hours after North Korea’s threat the UN security council ruled unanimously to impose tough new sanction on North Korea. The new sanctions are a response to the rogue states recent nuclear testing despite widespread international condemnation.
Susan Rice, US ambassador to the UN, said: “North Korea will achieve nothing by continued threats and provocations.
“These will only further isolate the country and its people and undermine efforts to promote peace in north east Asia.”
It is hoped the new sanctions will make it harder for North Korea to purchase the materials they need to advance their nuclear program.
North Korea’s official government website released a propaganda video showing a young man sleeping and having a dream. In his dream the man goes in a space shuttle and orbits the earth. The dream shows a missile being launched, similar to one the rogue state tested in December last year.
The dream then shows a unified Korea, and an image of the America flag. This is followed by images of a city like New York under attack.
“Somewhere in the United States, black clouds of smoke are billowing,” runs the caption across the screen.
“It seems that the nest of wickedness is ablaze with the fire started by itself,” it added.
The music in the background is “We Are the World”. The video ends with the young man waking up and with him concluding this dream will “surely come true”.
It is expected that North Korea will soon perform more nuclear tests, despite further UN sanctions imposed in December.
South Korean officials who studied debris from the rocket fired on December 12th have said that it appears North Korea now have the capability to fire rockets to the US West coast, 10,000km away.
“Based on our analysis and simulation, the missile is capable of flying more than 10,000 kilometres with a warhead of 500-600 kilograms,” a South Korean defence ministry official said.
What is still unclear is whether or not North Korea have the technology to allow them to fire a missile capable of surviving re-entry.
At a meeting at the UN in New York, a senior North Korean diplomat has said relations between North and South Korea are “totally bankrupt”, adding “a spark of fire could set off a thermonuclear war”.
His was the first public address to the UN since Kim Jong Un took power in North Korea, after the death of his father last December. Since that time relations between North and South have been tense. Earlier this year the US and South Korea conducted naval exercises off the coast of South Korea, a move seen as highly provocative by Pyongyang.
Pak Kil-yon, Pyongyang’s vice-foreign minster, was responding to the UN Security Council’s condemnation of North Korea’s failed ballistic missile launch in March, saying, that the excerise was a “legitimate and peaceful”, attempt to launch a satellite into space.
Pak, further attacked the US, saying, “Today, due to the continued US hostile policy towards the DPRK, the vicious cycle of confrontation and aggravation of tensions is an ongoing phenomenon on the Korean Peninsula, which has become the world’s most dangerous hot spot and where a spark of fire could set off a thermonuclear war,”
Reports from South Korea suggest the North is increasing military operations across the border, whilst the South is responding by sending more submarines to sea and is preparing for more large scale military operations.
Via The Telegraph
The hermit, stalinist state of North Korea saw the death of it’s leader Kim Jong-il this month. The 69 year old is believed to have died from a heart attack. Kim Jong-il was worshiped as a demi-god by the people, and was an all powerful leader. Opposition to his rule was met with brutal punishment, the harsh labour camps are places where people seldom leave.
Kim Jong-il succeed his father Kim il-Sung. Kim il-Song like his son is still revered like a god, and is called the “Eternal Leader”. North Koreans are completely cut off from the outside world. The people are fed a constant stream of propaganda which portrays the outside world, particularly America as evil, and themselves as a pure race, the envy of the world; there is no access to outside media whatsoever. The authorities tell the people they need to remain cut off so as to protect the purity of their blood. Both Kim il-Sung and Kim Jong-il have viewed Christians as one of the greatest enemies to the nation. North Korea was once a predominately Christian nation, with Pyongyang called the Jerusalem of the east. However, when Kim il-Sung took power he sought to eradicate the church. All Christians were rounded up and executed. Today any Christians found are sent to labour camps where they are tortured and eventually killed. A few testimonies have emerged from some who have secretly converted the Christianity from within the camps, and were later released before escaping to China, they tell of the terrible suffering of the tiny church within North Korea.
The general population do not fair much better, most are malnourished, and it is not uncommon to see people die of starvation by the roadside; whilst the ruling elite live in luxury.
Kim Jong- il is to be succeeded by his son Kim Jong-un. His official age is 29, but it is thought to be only 27, very little is known of him. It is therefore believed the powerful figures that surrounded his father will vie for position, and seek to control Kim Jong-un.
How this will play out is uncertain. What we do know, is as the nation starves, North Korea has invested in one of the largest armies in the world, and has nuclear weapons. An uneasy truce with South Korea could erupt at any time, as the paranoid North Korean government tend to act on the slightest act they deem as provocation. And the people have been told for decades that the West seeks to destroy them.