N. Korea Calls for Peace, Warns of "Nuclear Holocaust"

N. Korea Calls for Peace, Warns of "Nuclear Holocaust"
Tom Lasseter, McClatchy Newspapers: "North Korea on Saturday called for dialogue and peace on the Korean Peninsula in a state-issued New Year’s Day editorial, warning that a breakout of war with the South 'will bring nothing but a nuclear holocaust'.... While the statement also characterized South Korea’s government as a 'minion of war' beholden to 'pro-U.S. war hawks,' the document’s repeated calls for more cooperation suggest that the North might be moving, for now, away from a pattern of attacks against the South."
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N.Korea may stage atom test to boost heir: think-tank

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/NKorea_may_stage_atom_test_to_boost_heir_think-tank_999.html Seoul (AFP) Dec 24, 2010 North Korea may carry out another atomic test next year to bolster the status of leader-in-waiting Kim Jong-Un, a Seoul state think-tank said Friday, a day after the North threatened a nuclear attack. Tensions remain high on the peninsula a month after the North bombarded a South Korean border island and killed four people including civilians.
The North may stage a third test "to demonstrate Kim Jong-Un's military prowess, to improve plutonium-based nuclear weapons and ratchet up military tensions", the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security said.
A new test is needed to improve its plutonium-based bombs using data from the second test in May 2009, the institute, which is affiliated to the foreign ministry, said in a report.
The North has been working for decades to build plutonium-based weapons and last month also disclosed a new uranium enrichment complex -- a potential new way to make bombs.
The report said the North is likely to build up its atomic arsenal next year and might test a uranium-based weapon "to maximise the shock to the outside world".
While six-party nuclear disarmament talks may well resume next year, chances of any progress are slim, it said.
The North is thought to have enough plutonium for maybe six to eight weapons but it is not known whether it can fit them to missile warheads. Nevertheless, it frequently raises the prospect of nuclear war.
On Thursday the North vowed readiness for a "sacred war" using its nuclear weapons.
"The revolutionary armed forces... are getting fully prepared to launch a sacred war of justice of Korean style based on the nuclear deterrent at any time necessary to cope with the enemies' actions deliberately pushing the situation to the brink of a war," said armed forces minister Kim Yong-Chun.
The North accuses the South of provoking its November 23 bombardment of Yeonpyeong island, near the disputed Yellow Sea border, by holding a firing drill there.
The South Monday staged another drill on Yeonpyeong but the North did not follow through with threats of a new and deadlier attack.
On Thursday Seoul deployed tanks, artillery and jet fighters in a show of force on the mainland.
And the South's defence ministry announced Friday that a giant Christmas tree near the North Korean border would stay lit until January 8.
The move is likely to anger Pyongyang since the date marks the birthday of Jong-Un, youngest son of leader Kim Jong-Il. The communist North sees the tree topped with a glowing cross as a provocative propaganda symbol.
The ministry said it hoped to send "a message of peace to the North" and the timing was just a coincidence.
An international think-tank urged the two Koreas to accept international arbitration to redraw the flashpoint sea border and lessen the possibility of all-out war.
The International Crisis Group, like many other analysts and the Seoul government, said the North's attacks are linked to moves to install Jong-Un as eventual successor.
They are an apparent attempt "to give the inexperienced heir some appearance of military and strategic prowess", the ICG said in a report.
"They also signal to potential rivals among North Korean elites that Kim Jong-Il is willing to take on the South to promote his son and he would therefore have no problem confronting domestic opponents."
There is "a real danger" the North will continue its attacks, it said.
The South's military, accused of a feeble response to last month's attack, has vowed to hit back harder next time by using air power.
The North offered apparent nuclear concessions to US politician Bill Richardson, who ended a visit to Pyongyang this week.
Richardson said it agreed to readmit UN atomic inspectors and negotiate the sale of nuclear fuel rods to a third party.
The New Mexico governor said Thursday a resumption of six-nation talks -- grouping the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan -- could help prevent a new escalation of tensions.
If "they don't react militarily again to this recent drill, then maybe the time has come for the six-party talks," he told CNN, referring to the South Korean exercise staged Thursday.
The North's news agency blamed the United States for the "alarming developments" on the peninsula this year.
It said Washington had orchestrated clashes to test a new military alliance it was forging with Japan and South Korea "to hold hegemony in the Asia-Pacific".

S. Korea's first nuclear repository goes into operation

Nuclear-waste repository goes online in South Korea
Korea Radioactive Waste Management started up its nuclear-waste repository in Gyeongju, South Korea, by accepting the first load of intermediate-level waste from the Uljin plant. "The waste can be held safely in the temporary holding area until the underground facility is completed in late 2012," the company said. The Korea Herald (Seoul)/Yonhap News Agency (South Korea)

Was Obama’s Asian tour a formation of a new nuclear alliance? Analysis by Hasbullah Shafi'iy

The glaring geopolitical significance of Obama’s well-planned strategic Asian tour last month has been deliberately or otherwise ignored by the mainstream media. India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan. It cannot be by coincidence that these nations are encircling China (which has nuclear weapons) and secondly that they are all connected to a larger picture of nuclear alliances that are being formed. India is a nuclear power directly facing Pakistan, which is the only Muslim nation in the world that has nuclear weapons. Indonesia is the largest Muslim nation with strong ties with Pakistan and Iran. South Korea faces North Korea, which has nuclear weapons. North Korea is not only a strong political as well as military ally of Iran, but also strong bilateral trade ties with China too; and Japan is situated next to both North Korea and China and is crucial to the containment policy against Russia, which is a nuclear power as well. Has the United States begun a containment policy for China as well?

S.Korea to build 14 new nuclear reactors by 2024

Image via Wikipediahttp://www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/reports/SKorea_to_build_14_new_nuclear_reactors_by_2024_999.html Seoul (AFP) Dec 7, 2010 South Korea said Tuesday it plans to build 14 new nuclear reactors by 2024 to help meet growing energy needs and cut dependence on fossil fuel. South Korea, which currently has 20 operational nuclear reactors, will build 14 new facilities to make atomic power the biggest source of energy by 2024, state-run Korea Power Exchange said.
As a result, nuclear energy will provide 48.5 percent of the nation's energy consumption by the target year from the current 32 percent, KPE said in a long-term national energy development plan.
Coal is currently the biggest source of energy in South Korea that meets 42 percent of the nation's energy needs.
Renewable energy sources like solar and wind power will also provide 8.9 percent of the nation's energy needs by 2024 compared with the current 1.3 percent, it said.
Asia's fourth-largest economy imports 97 percent of its energy needs from overseas and has moved to cut dependence on fossil fuels and to diversify energy sources.
In October Seoul unveiled a five-year plan to spend 36 billion dollars developing renewable energy as its next economic growth engine, with a goal to become one of the world's five top players in the sector.

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U.S. Official: New North Korean Nuke Plant 'Provocative,' Defiant

U.S. officials have been aware of North Korea's efforts to go nuclear for years, but the latest report of a new highly sophisticated uranium enrichment plant is a "provocative act of defiance," a senior administration official told Fox News late Saturday.

The "stunning" show of sophistication by the North Koreans -- as witnessed by U.S. scientist Siegfried Hecker, a former director of the U.S. Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory who gets regularly glimpses of the North's secretive nuclear program -- has set off alarm bells in Washington.

Read more ....http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/11/21/official-new-north-korean-nuke-plant-provocative-defiant/

More News On North Korea's Nuclear Program

Scientist: NKorea built uranium enriching facility -- Yahoo News/AP
N.Korea showed US scientist new nuclear plant -- Yahoo News/AFP
North Koreans Unveil Vast New Plant for Nuclear Use -- New York Times
North Korea's 'Stunning' Secret Nuclear Plant -- SKY News
North Korea in New Nuclear Claims -- Wall Street Journal
U.S. alerts Asian capitals to possible North Korean uranium enrichment program -- Washington Post
U.S. envoy in Asia amid new North Korea nuclear concern -- Reuters
U.S. Envoy Bosworth Visits Asia Amid Signs North Korea Chases Nuclear Goal -- Bloomberg
Mullen: NKorea report shows belligerent behavior -- AP
North Korea centrifuges confirm U.S. concerns: U.S. military -- Reuters
Factbox: North Korea's nuclear program -- Reuters

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Alleged North Korean Reactor Flouts U.N., South Says

If North Korea is indeed constructing a light-water nuclear reactor, it would be in contravention to U.N. Security Council resolutions prohibiting the aspiring nuclear power from any nuclear work, South Korea's top diplomat said yesterday (see GSN, Nov. 15).
South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan said to journalists,"that would be running counter to U.N. resolutions and it is obvious that it wouldn't be conducive to the current situation," the Yonhap News Agency reported.
Siegfried Hecker, a former head of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, this week said the North was building the experimental reactor at its Yongbyon nuclear complex. Hecker was returning from a trip to the isolated state when he made the remarks.
Kim said additional time is required to probe Hecker's report as the Stalinist state has no background in constructing light-water reactors.
He also disputed Pyongyang's repeated assertion that it has the right to develop civilian atomic power, saying the North gave up that right when it withdrew from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 2003 (Yonhap News Agency I, Nov. 15).
Responding to the light-water reactor report, the U.S. State Department yesterday again called on Pyongyang to demonstrate its commitment to denuclearization, Yonhap reported.
"We expect North Korea to live up to its international obligations," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. "As it does, we are prepared to have conversations with North Korea about its long-term requirements. But first and foremost, North Korea has to live up to its stated commitment" (Hwang Doo-hyong, Yonhap News Agency II, Nov. 15).
The Obama administration has refused calls to return to the stalled six-nation talks -- which also involve China, Japan, the two Koreas, and Russia -- until Pyongyang shows it is sincere about nuclear disarmament. Washington fears a repeat performance from the North whereby Pyongyang takes some limited steps toward denuclearization only to reverse course once it has extracted some international concessions.
North Korea pulled out of nuclear negotiations in April 2009 and one month later detonated its second nuclear test device. That action earned it heightened U.N. Security Council sanctions that are thought to have left the already impoverished nation badly weakened.
Meanwhile, North Korea's state-controlled media yesterday announced former U.S. State Department official Morton Abramowitz had traveled to Pyongyang with a retinue of U.S. experts on North Korea. No further information was provided, Yonhap reported (Yonhap News Agency III, Nov. 15).
http://www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw_20101116_4622.php

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South Korea, U.S. to Discuss Extended Deterrence from GSN Daily News

http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20101112_4772.php

The United States and South Korea are set to hold talks before year's end on issues tied to extended nuclear deterrence and a ballistic missile shield, the Asahi Shimbun reported today (see GSN, April 21).
The discussions would fall under the Extended Deterrence Policy Committee that Seoul and Washington "agreed to institutionalize" in October, according to a joint statement. Senior-level South Korean and U.S. defense officials are expected to determine the group's format and issues it would address.
South Korean defense insiders said their government would begin by requesting that the two nations swap intelligence tied to North Korea's nuclear arms work (see GSN, Nov. 11). The South would also like to talk about potential North Korean nuclear proliferation and how to react if attacked with various kinds of nuclear strikes, the sources said.
While Washington has stated its nuclear umbrella covers Japan and South Korea, concrete military details about what that would mean in the event of a nuclear assault have not yet been laid out (see GSN, Oct. 12). The United States has held off on providing specifics over worries that such information could anger China and give Pyongyang further grounds to continue its nuclear weapons work.
Seoul, though, has been urging talks about the nuclear umbrella to address public worries regarding the ramifications of future drawdowns of U.S. soldiers stationed on the Korean Peninsula.
The Obama administration might now be willing to provide these deterrence specifics because Washington "may have become worried that if it did not make a virtual guarantee of its nuclear umbrella, (South Korea) might have decided to embark on its own nuclear weapons development," a South Korean source said (Yoshihiro Makino, Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 12).

South Korea favors short-range missiles

South Korea favors short-range missiles

South Korea said it favors a joint U.S-Korean missile defense system rather than the United States-led plan involving the purchase of longer range missiles. South Korea's anti-missile system, under the Korea Air Missile Defense program, is designed to protect the south from short-range missiles fired by North Korea while the U.S. system uses missiles to protect against medium- and long-range ballistic missile threats.
"South Korea and the U.S. will discuss intelligence sharing and operation of means regarding the missile defense system so as to protect the Korean Peninsula from the threats of North Korean nuclear weapons and its weapons of mass destruction at the Extended Deterrence Policy Committee," the ministry said in a statement.
"This does not mean that we will join the U.S. missile defense system. This means we will strengthen cooperation with the U.S. Forces Korea in the sharing of intelligence and operation of available assets to effectively respond to threats from North Korean ballistic missiles."
North Korea has short-range Scud and Rodong missiles with a range of around 850 miles and is thought to be developing longer-range Taepodong missiles that could reach the United States. The Taepodong-2, which on paper has the ability to reach the nearest Alaskan shore, was test-launched in 2006 but blew up after a flight of less than a minute.
Seoul has been careful about choosing its missile defense options for fear of antagonizing China, a staunch ally of North Korea. Any decision to acquire longer range missiles that also could reach Chinese cities might seriously ramp up military tensions in the region.

South Korean Reprocessing Bid Under Discussion from GSN Daily News

The United States and South Korea are in "very technical" discussions on Seoul's bid for authorization under a new nuclear cooperation treaty to reprocess spent nuclear fuel, a senior Obama administration official said yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 26).
"Let me just say that that's an issue of ongoing diplomacy between the two sides, very technical," the Yonhap News Agency quoted U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell as saying. "We're working closely to ensure that there is an understanding of what expectations are, not only to the United States, but other authorities associated with this going forward."
The two allies' decades-old atomic trade deal, due to expire in March 2014, prohibits South Korea from reprocessing used plutonium or enriching uranium -- two processes that can be used to generate weapon material as well as fuel for civilian use. South Korea has vied for the right under a new agreement to use pyroprocessing techniques -- an experimental system that advocates say is more resistant to proliferation as it keeps the plutonium combined with other materials.
Washington and Seoul "discussed a proposed joint study of nuclear power reactor spent fuel disposition options, including pyroprocessing," the State Department said. "They agreed that technical experts would meet soon to work out the scope of the study and the venue and schedule for completing it.
"Both sides expect the new agreement to ensure the continuance and further development of the robust bilateral cooperation they have enjoyed in atomic energy for more than fifty years, as well as to further contribute to the strengthening of their alliance by enhancing cooperation in nuclear research and development, industry and commerce in the future," the department's statement adds (Hwang Doo-hyong Yonhap News Agency, Oct. 26).
http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20101027_9694.php

South Korea Says No to Joint Missile Defense With U.S.

from GSN Daily News

South Korea's Defense Ministry on Saturday said it did not presently intend to participate in a U.S.-headed system for missile defense, the Korea Herald reported (see GSN, June 7).
The ministry, however, said it would look to deepen collaboration between the U.S. program and the Korea Air Missile Defense effort in order to more effectively counter the danger posed by North Korea (see GSN, Oct. 22).
Seoul's antimissile system is structured to safeguard the South from short-range missiles fired by its neighbor while the U.S. system is chiefly designed to protect against medium- and long-range ballistic missile threats.
"South Korea and the U.S. will discuss intelligence sharing and operation of means regarding the missile defense system so as to protect the Korean Peninsula from the threats of North Korean nuclear weapons and its weapons of mass destruction at the Extended Deterrence Policy Committee," the ministry said in a prepared statement.
"This does not mean that we will join the )U.S. missile defense system)," it added. "This means we will strengthen cooperation with the U.S. Forces Korea in the sharing of intelligence and operation of available assets to effectively respond to threats from North Korean ballistic missiles."
Earlier this month in Washington, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young pledged to set up a specialized group as a conduit for collaboration on enhancing the value of the U.S. nuclear umbrella over the South.
"In the past, the U.S. [missile defense] focused primarily on protecting its mainland. However, the concept of the MD has changed into a regional missile defense system," an unidentified ministry official said.
On Friday, Kim said Seoul was "seriously" analyzing whether to participate in the U.S. antimissile program. He emphasized that the effort focused on regional threats in addition to those facing the continental United States.
Seoul has been wary of participating in U.S. missile defense efforts for fear it would aggravate regional powers like Russia and China, according to the Herald (Song Sang-ho, Korea Herald, Oct. 24).

http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20101025_1787.php

N.Korea justifies nuclear 'treasured sword'

Seoul (AFP) Oct 24, 2010 North Korea said its nuclear arsenal "serves as a treasured sword", amid reports the secretive state could be preparing for a third nuclear test. The bellicose claim came amid a visit by a Chinese military delegation, as well as intense world interest after Pyongyang lay the ground work for the future succession of ruler Kim Jong-Il's youngest son Kim Jong-Un.
North Korea was "entirely right when it opted for having access to nukes", the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a commentary, adding the communist country needed to protect itself.
The North has long justified having the weapons saying they are to counter a similar threat from the United States.
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a global nuclear safeguard accord, was not doing its job properly, the official commentary late on Saturday said.
"This compelled (North Korea) to pull out of the NPT and have access to nuclear deterrent legitimately in order to protect the sovereignty and security of the country," it said.
The isolated and impoverished North withdrew from the NPT in 2003.
Chosun Ilbo, South Korea's biggest-selling newspaper, reported Thursday that the North appeared to be preparing for another nuclear test, citing an unidentified government source.
US satellites had detected movements of personnel and vehicles at the site where Pyongyang carried out its first two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, the report said.
US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Thursday that another atomic weapons test would be "provocative" but said he did not have any evidence to support the South Korean report.
Pyongyang said on Saturday it was willing to resume stalled six-nation nuclear disarmament talks but would not be "hasty" because the United States and some other parties were "not ready".
China, the North's sole major ally and economic lifeline, is pressing to restart the forum, which groups the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, and began in 2003.
But prospects for renewed negotiations have been clouded by South Korean and US accusations that the North torpedoed one of Seoul's warships in March with the loss of 46 lives, a charge Pyongyang denies.
The Chinese military delegation paid tribute to the North's late president Kim Il-Sung Sunday on the second day of a four-day trip to mark the 60th anniversary of Chinese forces' intervention in the Korean War, KCNA said.
After arriving in the capital on Saturday, Guo Boxiong, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission, said close ties between the two countries would be handed down through the generations.
Jong-Un's status as leader-in-waiting was effectively made public after Pyongyang made him a four-star general and gave him key ruling party posts late last month.
Kim Jong-Il has visited China twice this year. The last visit, in August, was seen by many analysts as a bid by the North Korean leader for Chinese support for the dynastic succession.
Beijing fears the collapse of North Korea and resulting instability on its borders and thus provides heavy aid and trade support to its neighbour, experts say.
The South's Yonhap news agency meanwhile reported that Seoul and Washington have shelved a plan to stage a joint exercise involving a US aircraft carrier later this month in the Yellow Sea.
The exercise was cancelled over fears that it could heighten regional tensions ahead of the upcoming G20 summit in Seoul, it said.
China has bristled at the idea of a US aircraft carrier group patrolling waters near its coast.

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North Korea Reported to be Readying New Nuke Test

A U.S. satellite has reportedly spotted heightened operations at a nuclear weapons test location in North Korea, possibly indicating the Stalinist state is readying for a third nuclear test blast, Reuters reported today (see GSN, Oct. 20).

(Oct. 21) - North Korean soldiers stand guard yesterday at Panmunjom, near the Demilitarized Zone dividing the Koreas. Increased activity at a site in North Korea suggests Pyongyang could be preparing to conduct a third nuclear test, a South Korean official said (Park Ji-hwan/Getty Images).

The South Korean Chosun Ilbo newspaper cited a government official in Seoul as the source of its information. The report follows satellite photographs from last month that point to renewed construction or excavation activities at the site of a destroyed cooling tower in the North's plutonium-producing Yongbyon nuclear installation.
Fully aware it is monitored by satellites, Pyongyang could be simply shifting equipment around in a ruse to suggest test preparations. The United States last spring rejected reports that the North was preparing to detonate a third test device.
North Korea carried out nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. Those tests were used by autocratic ruler Kim Jong Il to increase his standing domestically and to build support for his military-first policy.
Another test would bolster the Stalinist state's capacity to build strategic arms while also reducing its quantity of weapon-ready material. The North is believed to have fissile material stores adequate for building six to eight weapons (Jeremy Laurence, Reuters, Oct. 20).
The anonymous government source told Chosun that "hectic movements of personnel and vehicles have recently been detected in Punggyeri," Agence France-Presse reported.
North Korea also seemed to be repairing tunnels destroyed by the previous two nuclear tests, the source said.
"However, it is unlikely (the North will) carry it out soon. It is expected to take another three months (to complete preparations for a third test)," the source said.
A South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman, though, said there were no sure signs of groundwork for another nuclear test.
"We have no concrete evidence to support the news report," the spokesman said. "We're watching closely any development concerning the North's nuclear facilities and sharing information with countries concerned."

An unidentified South Korean Defense Ministry official indicated activities like those reported by newspaper were fairly standard, potentially for the regular upkeep of important strategic installations. More at:

http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20101021_7499.php

The U.S.-Korea Alliance and Arms Race By: J.J. Suh | Foreign Policy in Focus

The Republic of Korea (South Korea) has increased its defense budget fourfold in less than twenty years, from 6.6 trillion won in 1990 to 26.6 trillion won in 2008. Last year’s spending represents a twofold increase from ten years ago; and now the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Defense Reform 2020 projects an annual average increase of 7.6 percent to 53.3 trillion won by 2020, another doubling over the next decade. Is Seoul engaged in defense-budget doubling projects every ten years? Why has South Korea’s military spending increased so much in recent years, and especially under the liberal governments of the past ten years? Why does it keep growing? Is there any pattern that we can discern in South Korea’s military spending?  More at:
http://www.fpif.org/articles/allied_to_race_the_us-korea_alliance_and_arms_race

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Nations Finish WMD Interdiction Drill in South Korea

from GSN Daily News

A large-scale multilateral WMD interdiction exercise concluded today in waters off South Korea, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Oct. 13).
The drill marked the first time South Korea had taken part in an exercise under the Proliferation Security Initiative, the U.S.-led program to halt the transfer of weapons of mass destruction. In the past Seoul has solely observed the exercises for fear of aggravating North Korea. However, after Pyongyang detonated its second nuclear test device last year, South Korea decided to become an active member of the initiative, which counts more than 90 member nations. More at:

http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20101014_8170.php

South Korea Plans to Lend $10 Billion for U.A.E. Nuclear Plants

U.A.E. nuclear project may get $10B loan from South Korea
Korea Electric Power may secure a $10 billion loan from Export-Import Bank of Korea for the construction of four 1,400-megawatt nuclear facilities in the United Arab Emirates, said Heung-Sik Min, the bank's main representative in Dubai. "The U.A.E. nuclear project will be the bank's first for such a huge amount," he said during an interview. Bloomberg

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N.Korea's nuclear threat reaches "alarming level": official

N.Korea's nuclear threat reaches "alarming level": official Seoul (AFP) Oct 6, 2010 North Korea's nuclear programme has reached a "very alarming level" and could cause havoc in South Korea if Pyongyang develops smaller mobile weapons, a senior Seoul presidential aide says. "North Korea's nuclear threat has progressed at a rapid pace and reached a very alarming level, while the nuclear programmes are evolving even now," JoongAng Ilbo newspaper quoted Kim Tae-Hyo as telling a forum Tuesday. Kim, the president's deputy national security adviser, confirmed the comments to AFP Wednesday. The aide said Pyongyang was believ

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