North Korea (Superthread)

[CougarKing]

Wouldn't it be only a matter of time before a sufficient number of disgruntled officials decides to preempt Kim from executing them next?

Reuters

North Korea publicly executes two officials - S.Korean newspaper
Reuters

2 hrs ago

North Korea publicly executed two officials in early August for disobeying leader Kim Jong Un, a South Korean newspaper reported on Tuesday, in what would be the latest in a series of high-level purges under the young leader's rule, if confirmed.

Kim took power in 2011 after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, and his consolidation of power has included purges and executions of top officials, South Korean officials have said.

Citing an unidentified source familiar with the North, the JoongAng Ilbo daily said former agriculture minister Hwang Min and Ri Yong Jin, a senior official at the education ministry, had been executed.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[The Bread Guy]

Wouldn't it be only a matter of time before a sufficient number of disgruntled officials decides to preempt Kim from executing them next?

Reuters

You'd think they'd read the routine orders about falling asleep at the meetings ...  ;D

Another day, another execution in North Korea...

North Korea executes defense chief on treason charges: South Korean media

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has executed its defense chief on treason charges after he fell asleep at an event attended by leader Kim Jong Un, South Korean media quoted Seoul's National Intelligence Service as saying in a briefing to lawmakers on Wednesday.

North Korean Defense Minister Hyon Yong Chol was purged and then executed by firing squad, media reported.

(...SNIPPED)

Reuters

 

[CougarKing]

WTF?!

Sky News

NK Soldiers 'Armed With Nuclear Backpacks'
Sky News

1 hour ago

Elite soldiers in North Korea have reportedly been chosen to form special units armed with "nuclear backpacks".

According to a Radio Free Asia (RFA) source, top-performing soldiers were hand-picked from several military divisions to establish the special battalion-sized units.

They have allegedly been taking part in simulated training exercises with dummy weapons reported to weigh between 10 and 28 kilograms.

The anonymous source, from the North Hamgyong province, told the station: "Outstanding soldiers were selected from each reconnaissance platoon and light infantry brigade to form the nuclear backpack unit the size of a battalion."

The bombs can allegedly spray radioactive material, the source said.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[The Bread Guy]

WTF?!

Sky News

Here's the original Radio Free Asia story, shared under the Fair Use provisions of the Copyright Act - screen capture also attached in case link doesn't work ...

Top soldiers from North Korea’s military are being selected to serve on new “nuclear backpack” attack units under each corps of the People’s Army, North Korean sources said.

“Outstanding soldiers were selected from each reconnaissance platoon and light infantry brigade to form the nuclear backpack unit the size of a battalion,” said a source from North Hamgyong province who declined to be named.

The special units have been formed since March this year, he said.

The nuclear backpack unit of the 9th corps stationed in North Hamgyong province was organized as a battalion affiliated with the 45th division, which is located in Munhwa-dong, Chongam-district in Chongjin city, he said.

The formation of the new squads of soldiers came at around the same time that the members of the U.N. Security Council unanimously agreed to impose a new round of sanctions on North Korea, following the country’s fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 and the launch on Feb. 7 of a satellite-bearing rocket that the world viewed as a disguised ballistic missile test.

The sanctions are aimed at curbing Pyongyang’s ability to build up its nuclear and rocket programs.

The regular soldiers often go out around private houses nearby to exchange rice and cooking oil for alcoholic beverages and tobacco, the source said.

The uniforms of soldiers selected for the nuclear backpack unit are similar to those of regular infantry troops, the source said, adding that the members of the new units in the 45th division receive no special food or supply benefits.

When the source asked the regular soldiers what the nuclear backpack unit looks like, they responded that they had never seen it, although the soldiers in the unit have been participating in simulated training exercises with dummy bombs, the source said.

Crushing blow

Similarly, the reconnaissance battalion of the 43rd light infantry brigade under the 7th army corps stationed in Sanghung-ri, Gapsan county in Yanggang province has been reorganized as a nuclear backpack unit, a source from Yanggang province told RFA.

North Korean military authorities have instructed soldiers about the substance of nuclear pack bombs which deliver the same crushing blow as a nuclear explosion by spraying radioactive material on the enemy, although they don’t generate as big as an explosion as nuclear bombs, the source said.

The dummy bombs that nuclear pack units use for training purposes range in weight from 10 kilograms (22 pounds) to 28 kilograms (62 pounds), he said.

Besides the ones that spray radioactive material, there are also time bombs that have a missile guidance system, he said.

Another North Korean source who was at a drinking party with a nuclear engineer visiting his hometown said the engineer complained that the nuclear backpack bomb was not a miniaturized version of a nuclear bomb, but a weapon that sprays high levels of uranium.

“Once the uranium has been sprayed [in an area], people cannot live there for several decades because of radioactive contamination,” the engineer told the source.

“I don’t understand why they are making those weapons,” the engineer said.

Advanced anti-ballistic missile system

Despite the new sanctions, North Korean leader Kim Jung Un is intent on maintaining and demonstrating its ballistic missile and nuclear capabilities.

His regime was rattled by news in July that South Korea and the U.S. were deploying an advanced anti-ballistic missile system known as Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD).

In response, Pyongyang said it would "physically act" against the system and make the two allies "suffer from the nightmare [of] extreme uneasiness and terror."

Then in early August, the country fired two intermediate range ballistic missiles—one of which reportedly exploded after launch and another that landed in the Sea of Japan.

On Wednesday, North Korea test-fired a submarine-based ballistic missile in the waters off Sinpo, South Hamgyong province as the United States and South Korea conducted their annual two-week joint military exercises.

Reported by Jieun Kim and Sung-Hui Moon for RFA’s Korean Service. Translated by Hyosun Kim. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

 

[Brad Sallows]

Dirty bomb, not nuclear bomb.

 

[Jarnhamar]

US had the same type of backpack nuke dudes. Ex CIA chief used to be one if I recall correctly.

 

[dimsum]

US had the same type of backpack nuke dudes. Ex CIA chief used to be one if I recall correctly.

The Special Atomic Demolition Munition seems like a true "backpack nuke" while the NK version is more of a dirty bomb.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Atomic_Demolition_Munition

 

[a_majoor]

Making miniaturized nuclear weapons to fit in artillery shells and backpacks is an arcane art, and I would be very dubious that the DPRK has the ability to do so. The consensus that they are talking about a "dirty" bomb makes more sense.

 

[MilEME09]

https://news.vice.com/article/it-looks-like-north-korea-just-detonated-its-biggest-nuclear-bomb-yet


New nuclear test, estimated to be the same size as the fat man bomb dropped on Nagasaki

Sent from my LG-D852 using Tapatalk

 

[dimsum]

Seemingly not the Onion:

North Korea bans sarcasm because Kim Jong-un fears people only agree with him ‘ironically’


North Korea has forbidden people from making sarcastic comments about Kim Jong-un or his totalitarian regime in their everyday conversations.

Even indirect criticism of the authoritarian government has been banned, Asian media reported.

Residents were warned against criticising the state in a series of mass meetings held by functionaries across the country.

Officials told people that sarcastic expressions such as “This is all America’s fault” would constitute unacceptable criticism of the regime.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/north-korea-bans-sarcasm-kim-jong-un-freedom-speech-a7231461.html

 

[George Wallace]

Seemingly not the Onion:

North Korea bans sarcasm because Kim Jong-un fears people only agree with him ‘ironically’


North Korea has forbidden people from making sarcastic comments about Kim Jong-un or his totalitarian regime in their everyday conversations.

Even indirect criticism of the authoritarian government has been banned, Asian media reported.

Residents were warned against criticising the state in a series of mass meetings held by functionaries across the country.

Officials told people that sarcastic expressions such as “This is all America’s fault” would constitute unacceptable criticism of the regime.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/north-korea-bans-sarcasm-kim-jong-un-freedom-speech-a7231461.html

I guess many of us would not survive long in North Korea.  [

 

[CougarKing]

If it wasn't for North Korea's supposed nukes and WMDs, South Korea/ROK's better equipped, better trained and better fed military could have liberated the people of the North from Kim Jong Un's thugs long ago, even without the US 2nd Infantry Division's help. And Beijing probably won't intervene like last time, since it would be in China's interest to have a prosperous unified Korea under Seoul stabilizing the region for China's economic "gravy train".

Independent

South Korea says it would 'annihilate' Pyongyang if North starts nuclear war
The Independent

Caroline Mortimer
2 hrs ago

South Korea has a secret plan to "annihilate" Pyongyang if the North Korean regime shows any sign of mounting a nuclear attack, the country's largest news agency has reported.

An unnamed military source told Yonhap that every part of the North Korean capital will be "completely destroyed by ballistic missiles and high-explosive shells".

Those districts which are thought to be hiding the leadership would be particularly targeted and the city "will be reduced to ashes and removed from the map".

Yonhap has close ties to the South Korean government and is publicly funded.

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[a_majoor]

More on the above:

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2016/09/11/0200000000AEN20160911000500315.html

S. Korea unveils plan to raze Pyongyang in case of signs of nuclear attack
2016/09/11 11:31

SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has already developed a plan to annihilate the North Korean capital of Pyongyang through intensive bombing in case the North shows any signs of a nuclear attack, a military source in Seoul said Sunday.

"Every Pyongyang district, particularly where the North Korean leadership is possibly hidden, will be completely destroyed by ballistic missiles and high-explosive shells as soon as the North shows any signs of using a nuclear weapon. In other words, the North's capital city will be reduced to ashes and removed from the map," the source said.


South Korea's Hyunmoo II ballistic missile (Yonhap file photo provided by the Ministry of National Defense)South Korea's Hyunmoo II ballistic missile (Yonhap file photo provided by the Ministry of National Defense)

The disclosure of the detailed bombing operation came after the Defense Ministry reported the "Korea Massive Punishment & Retaliation" (KMPR) to the National Assembly last week in response to the North's fifth nuclear weapon test.

"The defense ministry's operational concept 'Korea Massive Punishment & Retaliation' is aimed at wiping a certain section of Pyongyang completely off the map," the source noted.

The operational concept is intended to launch pre-emptive bombing attacks on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and the country's military leadership if signs of their impending use of nuclear weapons are detected or in the event of a war, the source added.

South Korea plans to mobilize its locally developed surface-to-surface ballistic missile arsenal for the operational concept, including Hyunmoo 2As, 2Bs and Hyunmoo 3s, according to the source.

The ballistic missiles have ranges of 300, 500 and 1,000 kilometers, respectively.

By next year, the military plans to finish launch tests of the missiles and sharply expand the Hyunmoo missile arsenal, the source said.

"The KMPR is the utmost operation concept the military can have in the absence of its own nuclear weapons," he also noted.

Another source indicated the military has recently launched a special operational unit in charge of destroying the North Korean military leadership.

"This military unit is dedicated to targeting the North Korean leadership and launching retaliatory attacks on them," the source noted.

pbr@yna.co.kr

 

[CougarKing]

Kim's regime continues to dig a deeper hole for itself:

Reuters

North Korea ready for another nuclear test any time: South Korea
Mon Sep 12, 2016 6:38pm EDT
By Ju-min Park and Jack Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea is ready to conduct an additional nuclear test at any time, South Korea's Defence Ministry said on Monday, three days after Pyongyang's fifth test drew widespread condemnation.

North Korea set off its most powerful nuclear blast to date on Friday, saying it had mastered the ability to mount a warhead on a ballistic missile and ratcheting up a threat that its rivals and the United Nations have been powerless to contain.

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[a_majoor]

Frankly, it is not a deeper hole if no one is willing to do anything about it, and indeed it is more of raising a mountain if it gets the sort of results that nuclear blackmail achieved against the Clinton Administration in the 1990's (huge shipments of food and oil for meaningless and unhonoured pledges to stop their nuclear program).

It is difficult to see what can actually be now done short of a decapitation strike on the DPRK's leadership and C3 infrastructure, with a simultaneous raid on the nuclear test facilities with the aim of killing or capturing all the DPRK's nuclear scientists and technicians, as well as seizing and removing all nuclear materials that can be found on site (and by "raid" I would have to advocate for a brigade or larger sized force striking the complex).

And outside of a Tom Clancy novel, that does not seem to be in the cards.

 

[MilEME09]

Frankly, it is not a deeper hole if no one is willing to do anything about it, and indeed it is more of raising a mountain if it gets the sort of results that nuclear blackmail achieved against the Clinton Administration in the 1990's (huge shipments of food and oil for meaningless and unhonoured pledges to stop their nuclear program).

It is difficult to see what can actually be now done short of a decapitation strike on the DPRK's leadership and C3 infrastructure, with a simultaneous raid on the nuclear test facilities with the aim of killing or capturing all the DPRK's nuclear scientists and technicians, as well as seizing and removing all nuclear materials that can be found on site (and by "raid" I would have to advocate for a brigade or larger sized force striking the complex).

And outside of a Tom Clancy novel, that does not seem to be in the cards.

How about a JSOW or JASSM Strike at the tunnel complex to collapse it? the JSOW-ER has a range of 300nm and the JASSM-ER over 620nm, strike from outside the north's air defense perimeter. Not a Strike to  necessarily destroy key infrastructure but a warning shot, the loss of the test site would set them back a bit.

 

[CougarKing]

These launches seem to be more frequent that the previous year.

AFP via France 24

North Korea successfully tests new, high-power rocket success - state media
By: Agence France-Presse
September 20, 2016 6:52 AM


PYONGYANG, North Korea -- North Korea has carried out a successful ground test for a new high-power rocket engine, state media said Tuesday.

The engine would give the country "sufficient carrier capability for launching various kinds of satellites, including earth observation satellite at a world level," KCNA news agency said.

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[MilEME09]

http://americanmilitarynews.com/2017/04/u-s-aircraft-carrier-led-strike-group-reverses-course-heads-back-towards-north-korea-korean-peninsula/amp/

How many reasons can we name for a carrier strike group to do a almost about turn and head for korea instead of Australia?

Sent from my LG-D852 using Tapatalk

 

[tomahawk6]

We are launching a classic squeeze play. China has blocked the delivery of North Korean coal. The US is prepare to make up any shortfall and 150,000 PLA troops are arrayed along the border. The USN is offshore or will soon be in position. I would be willing to bet that Japanese and ROK destroyers will join them. Here is a photo of the strike group.

 

[The Bread Guy]

... 150,000 PLA troops are arrayed along the border ...

And are we sure yet if those (what sound like new-ish) troops are on the same page as the U.S. & ROK  against the PRK?  Some reports sound good so far ...

Also, some interesting leverage from POTUS45:  "China will get better U.S. trade deal if it solves North Korea problem: Trump"