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The US and Korea


RomaVicta

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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...
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North Korea's newest missile has a striking resemblance to an advanced Russian design, according to experts analyzing images from a test of the weapon on Saturday morning.

The missile, which North Korea describes as a "tactical guided weapon," appears superficially to be nearly identical to Russia's Iskander missile — a highly accurate short-range weapon capable of striking targets more than 150 miles away.

Such a system has the potential to challenge missile defenses in South Korea and further escalate tensions in the region. It also shows that North Korea is developing new weapons systems, even as President Trump expresses optimism about a future deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Nevertheless, the new missile does appear to be more advanced than some of North Korea's previous designs. Unlike the North's longer-range missiles, this new short-range missile appears to be solid-fueled, Hanham says. That means the fuel is already in the rocket before it leaves its fortified shelter. It can launch quickly with very little warning, Hanham explains.

Moreover, if it is an Iskander-like missile, this new weapon will fly at altitudes that will make it hard to intercept, according to Michael Elleman, a physicist and senior fellow for missile defense at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. The Iskander flies at an altitude of roughly 30 miles, Elleman says, too high for U.S. Patriot surface-to-air missile interceptors, but too low for THAAD, a system capable of intercepting longer-range missiles.

Assuming the North Korean version operates in a similar way to the Iskander, "it poses a serious challenge to theater missile defense," Elleman says.

https://www.npr.org/2019/05/08/721135496/north-koreas-newest-missile-appears-similar-to-advanced-russian-design

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  • 3 weeks later...

Here's a longer article of the post above:

By Hyonhee Shin and Joyce Lee

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea executed its nuclear envoy to the United States as part of a purge of officials who steered negotiations for a failed summit between leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump, a South Korean newspaper said on Friday.

Kim Hyok Chol was executed in March at Mirim Airport in Pyongyang, along with four foreign ministry officials after they were charged with spying for the United States, the Chosun Ilbo reported, citing an unidentified source with knowledge of the situation.

"He was accused of spying for the United States for poorly reporting on the negotiations without properly grasping U.S. intentions," the source was quoted as saying.

The February summit in Vietnam's capital Hanoi, the second between Kim and Trump, failed to reach a deal because of conflicts over U.S. calls for complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and North Korean demands for sanctions relief.

Reuters was unable to independently confirm the report. Previously, North Korean officials have been executed or purged only to reappear with a new title, according to media reports.

A spokeswoman at South Korea's Unification Ministry declined to comment. An official at the presidential Blue House in Seoul said it was inappropriate to comment on an unverified report.

The United States is attempting to check on the reports of the envoy's execution, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during his visit to Berlin on Friday

When asked about reports of a "shakeup" of Kim Jong Un's negotiating team in a May 5 interview with ABC News, Pompeo said it did appear that his future counterpart would be somebody else "but we don't know that for sure."

A diplomatic source told Reuters there were signs Kim Hyok Chol and other officials were punished, but there was no evidence they were executed and they may have been sent to a labor camp for re-education.

The newspaper reported that other officials had been punished, but not executed.

Kim Yong Chol, Kim Jong Un's right-hand man and the counterpart to Pompeo before the Hanoi summit, had been sent to a labor and reeducation camp in Jagang Province near the Chinese border, the Chosun Ilbo reported.

Officials who worked with Kim Yong Chol have been out of the public eye since the summit, while seasoned diplomats who appeared to have been sidelined, including vice foreign minister Choe Son Hui, were seen returning to the spotlight.

A South Korean lawmaker told Reuters in April that Kim Yong Chol had been removed from a key party post.

RISE AND FALL

Kim Hyok Chol was seen as a rising star when he was appointed to spearhead working-level talks with U.S. nuclear envoy Stephen Biegun weeks before the Hanoi summit.

However, little was known about his expertise or his role in the talks. The four executed alongside him included diplomats working on relations with Vietnam, the Chosun report said.

"This is a man who might provide some tactical advice to the leader but is otherwise a message bearer with little negotiating or policymaking latitude," said Michael Madden, a North Korea leadership expert at the Washington-based Stimson Center.

"Instead, they put in someone like Kim Hyok Chol to insulate Choe Son Hui and more substantive diplomatic personnel, to a certain degree he is expendable and his superiors are not."

The penalized members of Kim Yong Chol's team included Kim Song Hye, who led the preparations, and Sin Hye Yong, a newly elevated interpreter for the Hanoi summit. They were said to have been detained in a camp for political prisoners, the newspaper said.

The diplomatic source said Kim Song Hye's punishment seemed inevitable because she was a "prime author" of the North's plan to secure sanctions relief in return for dismantling the Yongbyon main nuclear complex.

The idea was rejected by the United States which demanded a comprehensive roadmap for denuclearization.

Kim Song Hye had also worked closely with Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader's younger sister and a senior party official whom Kim Song Hye accompanied to South Korea for the Winter Olympics last year.

Kim Yo Jong was also lying low, the paper reported, citing an unidentified South Korean government official.

Madden, however, said Kim Yo Jong's status was unchanged as Kim Jong Un's top aide, citing her attendance at key party meetings in April and appearance in state media reports.

Sin Hye Yong was charged with making critical interpretation mistakes that included missing an unspecified "last-minute offer" the North Korean leader supposedly made as Trump was about to walk out, Chosun reported.

'TWO-FACED'

North Korea's official party mouthpiece Rodong Sinmun warned on Thursday that "two-faced" officials would face the "stern judgment of the revolution".

"It is an anti-Party, anti-revolutionary act to pretend to be revering the leader in front of him when you actually dream of something else," it said in a commentary.

Hong Min, a senior fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, said it was possible Kim Hyok Chol and other officials faced some penalty but further verification was needed.

"Executing or completely removing people like him would send a very bad signal to the United States because he was the public face of the talks and it could indicate they are negating all they have discussed," Hong said.

https://news.yahoo.com/north-koreas-kim-jong-un-230019893.html

LOL, love the last line, among many others here... it's really bad to kill people because, well, it hurts negotiations and stuff.

 
 
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LOL, love the last line, among many others here... it's really bad to kill people because, well, it hurts negotiations and stuff.



Go back to your HRC will never be President Thread and writing shitty weather forecasts, Franke.

Your God Emperor Trump literally praised KJU last week by shitting on Biden. When I see those two old white dudes wearing the “I’d rather be Russian than a Democrat” I honestly think of you and Anastasia butt-fucking each other into oblivion.
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  • 4 weeks later...

PBS NewsHour just closed with breaking news that Trump will stop in S. Korea on his way back from Japan for a meeting with Kim Jong Un at the demilitarized zone. I'm sure he'll be well prepared and will accomplish a lot. Like maybe getting more of Un's staffers killed. 

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When this thread started, some of us said that Trump was just going to normalize NK as a legitimate nuclear nation and pretend that he had solved everything.   Others said that Trump had brought Kim to his knees with tough talk and sanctions and that Kim would have to cut a deal to denuclearize or face riots from starving North Koreans within six months. 

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1 hour ago, Bama Chick said:

Bolton getting pushed out by Kremlin Barbie and Tucker Fucking Carlson is the only good thing about this whole clownshow.

Enjoy Mongolia, you mustachioed garbage can.

I'm not sure if those pieces of shit having more power than that piece of shit is anything to celebrate. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

This is what happens, Larry.

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North Korea warned Tuesday that negotiations with the United States could falter and that its nuclear and missile tests might resume if the U.S. and South Korea move forward with planned military exercises.

https://www.npr.org/2019/07/16/742129952/irate-over-military-exercises-north-korea-threatens-to-resume-nuclear-missile-te

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  • 2 weeks later...
23 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

Oh, fun!

 

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According to North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the launches were "personally organized" by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "as part of the power demonstration to send a solemn warning to the South Korea"............"do not let orange man cross border again. He clog toilet then leave without washing hands"

 

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3 minutes ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

Wait, just a few months after he declared the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula as solved the Norks have added 12 nukes? i'm not sure how to handle this information.

What seems to work for Republicans is "lolz the libs must be so upset to see North Korea add a bunch of nukes as Trump legitimizes their government for nothing in exchange!!" 

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Wouldn't it be hilarious if Trump saw this and thought:

"Hmm, firing off a couple of missiles to get what you want. You know, he's an impressive guy, Un. Get me a general on the line...General! Launch a couple of nukes in Sweden's direction! I want A$AP back...Huh, Russia might think we're attacking them?  Don't worry about that. Putin and I are close friends."

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