[h=1]South Korea reveals it has a plan to assassinate Kim Jong Un[/h]
https://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/23/asia/south-korea-plan-to-assassinate-kim-jong-un/
https://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/23/asia/south-korea-plan-to-assassinate-kim-jong-un/
Kim Jong Un was up bright and early New Year's Day to make his first announcement of 2017: that North Korea is in the "final stages" of development of a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile and a test launch is imminent, ABC Australia reports. In his address on state TV from Pyongyang,
Kim said his country would keep ramping up its nuclear weapons program until the US backs out of holding yearly military exercises in South Korea, and he reiterated previous claims that preemptive nuclear strikes were on the table, per the Wall Street Journal. "Research and development of cutting-edge arms equipment is actively progressing and ICBM rocket test launch preparation is in its last stage," Kim said, per ABC. Mixed with this ominous message was Kim's revelation that "I have spent the whole year with regrets and a guilty conscience" for not reaching certain goals, spurring a promise to "devote all of myself to the people," per NK News.
Although CNN notes Kim's speech was "full of the North's usual self-congratulatory, lofty proclamations and anti-
Western rhetoric," it also adds there may be reason to pay closer attention to Kim's words this time around. North Korea stayed busy on the weapons experimentation front throughout 2016, despite 10 years of UN sanctions: It test-launched ballistic missiles at what ABC calls an "unprecedented rate," put a satellite into space in February (believed to be a test of long-range ballistic missile capabilities), and pulled off its fifth nuclear test in September. Experts have estimated that North Korea's timeline for being able to mount a weapon on an ICBM that could reach US shores is probably still two to three years away, but per CNN, a "high-profile North Korean" defector has said Kim is set on developing nukes by year's end "at all costs."
Kim said his country would keep ramping up its nuclear weapons program until the US backs out of holding yearly military exercises in South Korea, and he reiterated previous claims that preemptive nuclear strikes were on the table, per the Wall Street Journal. "Research and development of cutting-edge arms equipment is actively progressing and ICBM rocket test launch preparation is in its last stage," Kim said, per ABC. Mixed with this ominous message was Kim's revelation that "I have spent the whole year with regrets and a guilty conscience" for not reaching certain goals, spurring a promise to "devote all of myself to the people," per NK News.
Although CNN notes Kim's speech was "full of the North's usual self-congratulatory, lofty proclamations and anti-
Western rhetoric," it also adds there may be reason to pay closer attention to Kim's words this time around. North Korea stayed busy on the weapons experimentation front throughout 2016, despite 10 years of UN sanctions: It test-launched ballistic missiles at what ABC calls an "unprecedented rate," put a satellite into space in February (believed to be a test of long-range ballistic missile capabilities), and pulled off its fifth nuclear test in September. Experts have estimated that North Korea's timeline for being able to mount a weapon on an ICBM that could reach US shores is probably still two to three years away, but per CNN, a "high-profile North Korean" defector has said Kim is set on developing nukes by year's end "at all costs."
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North Korean missile test may have been big step forward
SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — Beyond the usual, lofty propaganda, North Korea's test of a new intermediate-range ballistic missile contains an important, potentially worrying development.
The country's jubilant young dictator, Kim Jong Un, said the missile provides the country with yet another nuclear attack capability.
Sunday's launch — the first major North Korean challenge for U.S. President Donald Trump — is drawing intense scrutiny from outside weapons experts because of North Korea's claim to have used solid fuel.
If true, it would be a big step forward in North Korea's quest to boost its ability to attack the United States and its close allies, South Korea and Japan. Instead of relying on missiles that have to be fueled on a fixed launch pad, North Korea's military could drive the new missiles anywhere and fire them at will from mobile launchers.
SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — Beyond the usual, lofty propaganda, North Korea's test of a new intermediate-range ballistic missile contains an important, potentially worrying development.
The country's jubilant young dictator, Kim Jong Un, said the missile provides the country with yet another nuclear attack capability.
Sunday's launch — the first major North Korean challenge for U.S. President Donald Trump — is drawing intense scrutiny from outside weapons experts because of North Korea's claim to have used solid fuel.
If true, it would be a big step forward in North Korea's quest to boost its ability to attack the United States and its close allies, South Korea and Japan. Instead of relying on missiles that have to be fueled on a fixed launch pad, North Korea's military could drive the new missiles anywhere and fire them at will from mobile launchers.
America should worry?.
North Korea fires four missiles toward Japan, angering Tokyo and South Korea
North Korea fires four missiles toward Japan, angering Tokyo and South Korea
| Reuters
North Korea fires four missiles toward Japan, angering Tokyo and South Korea
North Korea fires four missiles toward Japan, angering Tokyo and South Korea
| Reuters
My gut feelings tells me these two boys are playing games.
North Korea delays Guam missile firing; U.S. says dialogue up to Kim | Reuters
North Korea delays Guam missile firing; U.S. says dialogue up to Kim | Reuters
Not getting any better.
Treasury aims sanctions at Chinese, Russian entities over North Korea - POLITICO
Treasury aims sanctions at Chinese, Russian entities over North Korea - POLITICO
Fat boy now warning
The United States that North Korea's nuclear ambitions were now complete and the launch button was "always on the desk in my office."
Kim Jong Un offers Olympics olive branch to South - CNN
The United States that North Korea's nuclear ambitions were now complete and the launch button was "always on the desk in my office."
Kim Jong Un offers Olympics olive branch to South - CNN
I worry about this one. There has to be a logical reason why it's happening.
Kim Jong Un Becomes First North Korean Leader to Visit South | Time
Kim Jong Un Becomes First North Korean Leader to Visit South | Time
The mountain above North Korea’s main nuclear test site Punggye-ri has likely collapsed following a nuclear test last fall, sparking concerns about radioactive fallout and environmental catastrophes, according to geologists at the University of Science and Technology of China.
It comes less than a week after North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un announced the reclusive nation would immediately suspend nuclear and missile tests and scrap its testing site ahead of meetings with the United States and South Korea, now suggesting an alternative reason behind the site’s closure.
“The onsite collapse calls for continued close monitoring of radioactive materials from the nuclear test site,” the geologists wrote in a that will appear in an upcoming issue of Geophysical Research Letters.
Nuclear explosions release enormous amounts of heat and energy. Following a nuclear bomb test on September 3 of last year, the researchers say the “explosion created a cavity and a damaged ‘chimney’ of rocks” out of nearby Mount Mantap that could be leaching radioactivity. Estimated at 100 kilotons, the blast was the sixth test 10 times stronger than any of the previous five. For comparison, the bomb that was detonated over Hiroshima in 1945 was 15 kilotons. About 8.5 minutes after the explosion, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake was recorded with four subsequent earthquakes generated in the following weeks.
By collecting high-quality seismic data and examining satellite imagery before and after the tests, scientists were able to determine where these earthquake swarms occurred and that they were indeed caused by the tests. Past tests have altered the area’s capacity to withstand tectonic stress to the extent that previously inactive tectonic faults have reached a state of “critical failure”. Further disturbances and future nuclear testing in the region could generate more destructive earthquakes.
“Given the history of the nuclear tests North Korea performed beneath this mountain, a nuclear test of a similar yield would produce collapses in an even larger scale creating an environmental catastrophe,” says the paper.
The findings confirm a study published last month that found similar results, suggesting the tectonic events were in fact man-made and not the result of naturally occurring tectonic activity. The paper described the aftershock as most likely a “rapid destruction of an explosion-generated cracked rock chimney due to cavity collapse.”
No radioactive materials have been collected along the North Korea-China border, but Chinese officials fear radioactive dust may be leaching through cracks and holes in the damaged mountain.
https://www.iflscience.com/policy/t...ea-halted-nuclear-testing-and-its-terrifying/
It comes less than a week after North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un announced the reclusive nation would immediately suspend nuclear and missile tests and scrap its testing site ahead of meetings with the United States and South Korea, now suggesting an alternative reason behind the site’s closure.
“The onsite collapse calls for continued close monitoring of radioactive materials from the nuclear test site,” the geologists wrote in a that will appear in an upcoming issue of Geophysical Research Letters.
Nuclear explosions release enormous amounts of heat and energy. Following a nuclear bomb test on September 3 of last year, the researchers say the “explosion created a cavity and a damaged ‘chimney’ of rocks” out of nearby Mount Mantap that could be leaching radioactivity. Estimated at 100 kilotons, the blast was the sixth test 10 times stronger than any of the previous five. For comparison, the bomb that was detonated over Hiroshima in 1945 was 15 kilotons. About 8.5 minutes after the explosion, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake was recorded with four subsequent earthquakes generated in the following weeks.
By collecting high-quality seismic data and examining satellite imagery before and after the tests, scientists were able to determine where these earthquake swarms occurred and that they were indeed caused by the tests. Past tests have altered the area’s capacity to withstand tectonic stress to the extent that previously inactive tectonic faults have reached a state of “critical failure”. Further disturbances and future nuclear testing in the region could generate more destructive earthquakes.
“Given the history of the nuclear tests North Korea performed beneath this mountain, a nuclear test of a similar yield would produce collapses in an even larger scale creating an environmental catastrophe,” says the paper.
The findings confirm a study published last month that found similar results, suggesting the tectonic events were in fact man-made and not the result of naturally occurring tectonic activity. The paper described the aftershock as most likely a “rapid destruction of an explosion-generated cracked rock chimney due to cavity collapse.”
No radioactive materials have been collected along the North Korea-China border, but Chinese officials fear radioactive dust may be leaching through cracks and holes in the damaged mountain.
https://www.iflscience.com/policy/t...ea-halted-nuclear-testing-and-its-terrifying/
