Complex issues for China, North and South Korea?

Warning of new N-test
SEOUL: The South Korean Military wrapped up three days of intense land and sea exercises as officials tried to decipher what a third Nuclear Test by North Korea predicted for next year would mean to already brittle relations between the two nations. In recent weeks tensions on the peninsula have been among their highest levels since a truce ended the direct combat of the Korean War in 1953. Northern artillery shelled the South's Yeonpyeong Island on November 23, killing four people, and South Ko...

NKorea praises 'iron-willed commander' Kim Jong Il
SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea could be planning another Nuclear Test for next year, a South Korean Think Tank warned, as Pyongyang celebrated the anniversary of leader Kim Jong Il's elevation to Military chief, calling him "an invincible and iron-willed commander." The 19th anniversary of Kim's being named supreme commander of the Korean People's Army came a day after South Korea held massive drills near the world's most heavily armed border - part of a series of exercises that have angered...

NKorea praises 'iron-willed commander' Kim Jong Il
South Korean border guards patrol the fence-line at the Imjingak Pavilion near the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 24, 2010. One month after a deadly exchange of artillery fire, the two Koreas ramped up their Rhetoric, with South Korea's president pledging unsparing retaliation if attacked again and a top North Korean official threatening a 'sacred' Nuclear War if provoked. North Korea could be planning another Nuclear Test for next year, a South Korean Think Tank...

NKorea praises iron-willed commander Kim Jong Il
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea could be planning another Nuclear Test for next year, a South Korean Think Tank warned, as Pyongyang celebrated the anniversary of leader Kim Jong Il’s elevation to Military chief, calling him “an invincible and iron-willed commander.” The 19th anniversary of Kim’s being named supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army came a day after South Korea held massive drills near the world’s most heavily armed border R...

North Korea Warns of "Sacred War" in Standoff with South Korea
© Reuters/Jo Yong-Hak A North Korean Scud-B missile (C) and South Korean Hawk surface-to-air missiles are seen at the Korean War Memorial Museum in Seoul, December North Korea threatened a nuclear "sacred war" on Thursday and South Korea vowed a "merciless counterattack" if it was attacked again as both sides raised the Rhetoric on a day of more Military exercises in the South. South Korea's land and sea exercises prompted North Korea, which has threatened to reduce the South to ashes on...

North Korea threatens 'sacred war' with the South
North Korea threatened Thursday to launch a "sacred war" after South Korea completed large Military exercises near the volatile inter-Korean border. "The revolutionary Armed Forces of the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) are getting fully prepared to launch a sacred war of justice of Korean style based on the nuclear deterrent at anytime necessary," North Korea's Defense Minister Kim Yong Chun said, according to the state-run news agency. "The Sou...

N. Korea nuclear test 'possible' in new year
SEOUL - North Korea could carry out a third Nuclear Test next year to strengthen the credentials of its young leader-in-waiting, Kim Jong-un, a research report from a South Korean Foreign Ministry institute said on Friday. The report came a day after Pyongyang vowed a nuclear "sacred war," using its nuclear deterrent, after the South vowed to be "merciless" if attacked again and held a major Military drill near the border. The North, which carried out nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, has yet to s...

Communist North Korea Threatens War Over Giant Steel Christmas Tree
A 30-meter-tall steel Christmas Tree is lit at the western mountain peak known as Aegibong in Gimpo, South Korea. (Herald Sun) Pyongyang warned South Korea this week that lighting its massive steel Christmas Tree near the DMZ was a “dangerous, rash act” that could trigger a war. North Korea, officially atheist and with only a handful of sanctioned churches in Pyongyang with services for foreigners, warned that lighting the tree would constitute a “dangerous, rash act” wit...

Tensions Soar as South Korea Continues Massive Live-Fire Drills
The threat of a full scale war in the Korean Peninsula seems as serious as ever, as South Korea continues with its massive live-fire drills again today, with President Lee Myung-bak promising an “unsparing” response if North Korea responded to the drills with any actions of their own. North Korea, meanwhile, threatened to launch a Nuclear War if the massive drilling turned into an attack on them. Both sides appear keen on harsh Rhetoric since a brief exchange of fire last month, in...

Richardson sees 'enormous' North Korea tension, urges diplomacy
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D), who just returned from a diplomatic trip to North Korea, said that the peninsula is the most tense he's ever seen it, but stressed Thursday that mediation is needed to defuse tensions. Appearing on CNN, Richardson's words came as the North issued new threats after South Korean Military exercises. "The revolutionary Armed Forces of the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) are getting fully prepared to launch a sacred war of justice of Korean style ba...

Irony: Godless North Korea threatens 'sacred nuclear war'
North Koreans worship only one god - "Dear Leader." Much like moonbats on this side of the pond worship our Community Organizer-in-chief. So seeing this AP headline in the Detroit News was quite an irony: North Korea threatens 'sacred war' amid tension North Korea threatened today to launch a "sacred" Nuclear War against South Korea if it attacks, as Seoul staged Military exercises that have raised already high tensions on the peninsula. The remarks seemed aimed at revving patriotic spirit on t...

South Korea ends three days of military drills
Reporting from Seoul — The South Korean Military on Friday wrapped up three days of intense land and sea exercises as officials tried to decipher what a third North Korean Nuclear Test, predicted for next year, would mean for the contentious relationship between the two Koreas. In recent weeks, the tensions on the Korean Peninsula reached their highest level since a truce ended hostilities in 1953. After the North's artillery bombardment killed four people on the southern Yeonpyeong Isl...

North Korea sees war games and Christmas tree as it gazes across tense border
Some visitors to South Korea's Aegibong Peak, where a Christmas Tree stands 100 feet tall, are skeptical it sends a message of peace. North Korea has denounced the war games and the tree as 'provocations.'...

North Korea threatens 'sacred war'
North Korea threatened a nuclear "sacred war" and South Korea vowed a "merciless counterattack" if it was attacked again as both sides raised the Rhetoric on a day of more Military exercises in the South. South Korea's land and sea exercises prompted North Korea, which has threatened to reduce the South to ashes on many occasions, to denounce its richer neighbour as a warmonger. "To counter the enemy's intentional drive to push the situation to the brink of war, our revolutionary forces are maki...

South Korean military exercise ends
SEOUL, Dec. 25 (UPI) -- South Korea has completed three days of live-fire Military exercises without any retaliation from the north, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday. As the drill ended Friday, the Foreign Ministry released a report saying there is a "possibility" North Korea would conduct a third Nuclear Test early next year to cement Kim Jong-Eun's position as heir apparent to his father, Kim Jong-il, the Times said. Another report released Thursday said the low-level conflict between t...

NKorea nuclear test 'possible' in new year...
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea could carry out a third Nuclear Test next year to strengthen the credentials of its young leader-in-waiting, Kim Jong-un, a research report from a South Korean Foreign Ministry institute said on Friday. The report came a day after Pyongyang vowed a nuclear "sacred war," using its nuclear deterrent, after the South vowed to be "merciless" if attacked again and held a major Military drill near the border. The North, which carried out nuclear ...

Atheistic, Communist North Korea Threatens a Holy War Against South Korea Video Report 12/24/10
Here is a video report on Communist North Korea threatening a “Holy War” against South Korea, saying they are prepared to use their Nuclear Weapons. The threats follow large-scale Military exercises by the South, which has angered the North. Interesting that atheistic, Communist North Korea would use the term “Holy War” in their threat? ...

War rhetoric rises between North and South Korea
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - One month after a deadly exchange of artillery fire, the two Koreas ramped up their Rhetoric, with South Korea's president pledging unsparing retaliation if attacked again and a top North Korean official threatening a "sacred" Nuclear War if provoked. South Korean Troops, tanks and fighter jets put on a thundering display of force Thursday as President Lee Myung-bak visited with Soldiers at a base near the border, while North Korea's elite marked a key Military anniver...

War rhetoric rises between North and South Korea
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — One month after a deadly exchange of artillery fire, the two Koreas ramped up their Rhetoric, with South Korea’s president pledging unsparing retaliation if attacked again and a top North Korean official threatening a “sacred” Nuclear War if provoked. South Korean Troops, tanks and fighter jets put on a thundering display of force Thursday as President Lee Myung-bak visited with Soldiers at a base near the border, while North Korea’s elite ...

North Korea Threatens to Wage 'Sacred War' Against South
Thursday, December 23, 2010 By Foster Klug, Associated Press Pocheon, South Korea (AP) - North Korea threatened Thursday to launch a "sacred" Nuclear War against South Korea if it attacks, as Seoul staged Military exercises that have raised already high tensions on the peninsula. The remarks seemed aimed at revving patriotic spirit on the eve of the 19th anniversary of leader Kim Jong Il's appointment as the supreme Military commander. Defense chief Kim Yong Chun said North Korea is "fully ...

War Rhetoric Rises Between North, South Korea
Learn about the people, economy and history. Learn about the people, economy and history. Follow the decades-long rift between North and South Korea. Learn about the people and history of each nation, and attempts to forge new ties. (AP) Seoul, South Korea — One month after a deadly exchange of artillery fire, the two Koreas ramped up their Rhetoric, with South Korea's president pledging unsparing retaliation if attacked again and a top North Korean official threatening a "sacred" nuclear w...

War rhetoric rises between North and South Korea
SEOUL, South Korea - One month after a deadly exchange of artillery fire, the two Koreas ramped up their Rhetoric, with South Korea's president pledging unsparing retaliation if attacked again and a top North Korean official threatening a "sacred" Nuclear War if provoked. South Korean Troops, tanks and fighter jets put on a thundering display of force Thursday as President Lee Myung-bak visited with Soldiers at a base near the border, while North Korea's elite marked a key Military anniver...

Behind the Scenes of Yeonpyeong Island Exercise
A really interesting report from the Korea JoongAng Daily (English JoongAng Ilbo) describing some of the behind the scenes activities leading up to and during the Yeonpyeong Island exercise. First some interesting Diplomacy. A diplomatic source in Seoul believes that North Korea did not go any further to provoke the South because of a recent visit made by high-ranking U.S. officials to China. The delegation that visited Beijing included Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and Jeff Bader, s...

Diplomacy via the official leak
Earlier this week I speculated as to why North Korea did not respond to a series of South Korean Military drills.  In the list of possibilities I provided, I was somewhat skeptical that Chinese pressure was the answer. In today's New York Times, however, Mark Landler quotes some Obama Administration sources suggesting that Chinese (and Russian) pressure was a determining factor: after a tense week, when the threat of war hung over the Korean Peninsula, the Obama Administration and Beijing s...

N.Korea may stage atom test to boost heir: think-tank
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 tensio...