Korean Sota Osa II ?

[arix]

Trump on saanut jo nyt valtavasti aikaan paremman Korean kanssa sitten Eisenhowerin... Obama voisi antaa Nobelinsa Trumpille...

 

[ctg]

Yhdysvaltain ulkoministerin Mike Pompeon mukaan Yhdysvallat vähentää Pohjois-Korealle asetettuja pakotteita vasta sitten, kun Korean niemimaa on tyhjennetty ydinaseista.

Presidentti Trump ei maininnut vastaavanlaista ehtoa suoraan puheessaan.

Pompeo kiistää Pohjois-Korean uutistoimiston tiedon siitä, että pakotteet purettaisiin asteittain.
Pompeo piti torstaina yhteisen tiedotustilaisuuden Etelä-Korean ulkoministerin Kang Kyung-hwan ja Japanin ulkoministerin Taro Konon kanss

Yhdysvallat, Etelä-Korea ja Japani lupaavat tehdä yhteistyötä Korean niemimaan riisumiseksi ydinaseista.

– Uskomme Pohjois-Korean Kimin ymmärtävän, että ydinaseista on luovuttava nopeasti, Pompeo sanoo.

https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-10253629

 

[ctg]

Tough sanctions against North Korea will remain in place until its complete denuclearisation, the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has said, apparently contradicting North Korea’s view that the process agreed at this week’s summit would be phased and reciprocal.

The US president, Donald Trump, and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, issued a joint statement after their Singapore meeting reaffirming the North’s commitment to “work toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula”, while Trump “committed to provide security guarantees”.

After meeting his Chinese counterpart in Beijing on Thursday, Pompeo said Washington had “made very clear that the sanctions and the economic relief that North Korea will receive will only happen after the full denuclearisation, the complete denuclearisation of North Korea.”

Pompeo said China, Japan and South Korea all acknowledged that a corner had been turned on the Korean peninsula issue, but all three also acknowledged that sanctions remained in place. After the summit on Tuesday, China had suggested international sanctions on its neighbour and ally could be lifted.

“China has reaffirmed its commitment to honouring the UN security council resolutions. Those have mechanisms for relief contained in them, and we agreed that at the appropriate time that those would be considered,” Pompeo said, standing next to the Chinese government’s top diplomat, the state councillor, Wang Yi.

Wang said China has consistently supported the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and Beijing would continue to play “a constructive role” in the process. He said it was impossible to solve the issue overnight.

Earlier on Thursday, Pompeo said after meeting South Korea’s president and Japan’s foreign minister in Seoul: “We are going to get complete denuclearisation; only then will there be relief from the sanctions.”

North Korean state media reported on Wednesday that Kim and Trump had recognised the principle of “step-by-step and simultaneous action” to achieve peace and denuclearisation.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...s-to-stay-until-full-denuclearisation-says-us

 

[ctg]

Even though Donald Trump is on good terms with North Korea, the Department of Homeland Security is still following that country's ongoing cyberattack campaign (which it's dubbed "Hidden Cobra"). Now CNN reports there's a new variant of North Korean malware to look out for: Typeframe. In a report released yesterday, the DHS says it's able to download and install additional malware, proxies and trojans; modify firewalls; and connect to servers for additional instructions. These are attacks we've seen in plenty of malware variants, Typeframe is just the latest addition.

Since last May, the DHS has issued a slew of alerts and reports about North Korea's malicious cyber activity. The department also pointed out that North Korea has been hacking countries around the world since 2009. And of course, don't forget that the US also labeled that country as the source of Wannacry cyberattack, which notably held data from the UK's National Health Service hostage, and wreaked havoc across Russia and Ukraine.

https://www.engadget.com/2018/06/15/dhs-north-korea-malware-typeframe/

 

[ctg]

North Korean diplomats talking to South Korean officials in the demilitarized border zone between the two countries reportedly offered to remove their long range artillery guns, which have been a dagger pointed at Seoul's throat for decades.

Before conducting nuclear weapons tests, before even building facilities create fissile material, North Korea established a strong deterrent against South Korea and the US — artillery.

North Korea is estimated to have thousands massive artillery guns hidden in hardened shelters among the hills and mountains of the country's rugged terrain. These batteries turn any war scenario between North and South Korea into a nightmare where Seoul could lose tens of thousands of lives every hour.

http://uk.businessinsider.com/north...abandon-long-range-artillery-2018-6?r=US&IR=T

 

[ctg]

US forces in South Korea are preparing for the North Koreans to turn over the remains of an unknown number of US or allied service members who have been missing since the Korean war, US officials have said.

The officials said the timing of a ceremony remained uncertain, but could be soon. The officials were not authorised to discuss the preparations before an official announcement, and requested anonymity.

More than 36,000 US troops died in the conflict, including those listed as missing in action. Close to 7,700 US troops remain unaccounted for from the Korean war, and about 5,300 of those were lost in North Korea.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-forces-north-korea-handover-missing-soldiers

 

[ctg]

Debrieffaus ja uudet käskyt.

One week after holding a summit with the US president, Donald Trump, the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, has met the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, his third visit since March.

On Tuesday, the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showed Kim and Xi holding talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, usually used for formal state visits. Analysts believe Kim is in China to brief Xi on the summit, seek economic assistance, as well as pay deference to Beijing, which is eager to emphasise its role in talks between North Korea, the US, and South Korea.

“We hope this visit can help to further deepen China-North Korea relations, strengthen strategic communication between both countries on important issues and promote regional peace and stability,” spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular briefing.

Kim’s visit comes after a historic summit in Singapore where he and Trump signed a joint declaration pursue complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. In exchange for that pledge, the US has cancelled military exercises with South Korea, something Beijing had previously floated and known as the “freeze for freeze” initiative.

Kim is expected to ask Xi for help in easing international sanctions. China is North Korea’s largest trading partner, but international sanctions have crippled North Korea’s economy and drained the country’s foreign currency reserves. After the summit, China suggested international sanctions on Pyongyang could be lifted.

“I think Kim seeks sanctions relief and wants to ensure he has Chinese support as North Korea prepares to discuss details of negotiations with the US aimed at denuclearisation, security assurances, and other issues,” said Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Xi undoubtedly wants to get a readout of the summit with Trump from Kim.”

The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said in a press briefing last week that China had committed to keeping sanctions until Pyongyang had achieved complete denuclearisation. On Tuesday, Geng said sanctions were not “a goal in themselves”.

“It is not in the interest of [Beijing] to have an unstable nuclear state at its doorstep, neither is it favourable for it to have US military presence at its borders,” said Anwita Basu, an analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

“A diplomatically negotiated settlement with the main parties involved in the region would satisfy China’s desire to maintain stability in its immediate neighbourhood and prevent the increased militarisation of the region.”

On Tuesday, Chinese state media broke with precedent and announced Kim’s two-day visit. Previous visits by North Korean leaders have been shrouded in secrecy and confirmed only after their departure.

Security was heightened along Beijing’s Changan avenue as well as the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, where Kim and his wife stayed in March. Kim brought his wife and the two attended a performance as well as a banquet, according to CCTV. On Sunday, Chinese state media reported Kim had sent Xi a congratulatory letter and a floral basket for his birthday.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/19/kim-jong-un-meets-xi-jinping-for-third-time

 

[ctg]

South Korea's president urged North Korea on Wednesday to present a plan with concrete steps toward denuclearization, raising the pressure on leader Kim Jong-un during his visit to Beijing to discuss the outcome of his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Kim is in Beijing on his third visit to China this year, underscoring the major improvement in relations between the communist neighbours.

Kim's motorcade was seen leaving the North Korean Embassy on Wednesday afternoon as police closed off major roads and intersections in central Beijing. Gawking pedestrians watched the passing motorcade, which included Kim's limousine — a black Mercedes with gold emblems on the rear doors — as well as several minibuses and 15 motorcycle police clad in white suits.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/south-korea-moon-denuclearization-1.4713716

"It's necessary for North Korea to present far more concrete denuclearization plans, and I think it's necessary for the United States to swiftly reciprocate by coming up with comprehensive measures," Moon said.

 

[ctg]

The armed forces of North and South Korea met on Monday to discuss removing weapons that threaten millions living in Seoul and restoring communication lines, the latest in the ongoing rapprochement between the two neighbours.

The South Korean prime minister, Lee Nak-yon, said the two sides had discussed relocating 1,000 pieces of artillery North Korea has deployed close to the border. Most of those are aimed at Seoul, home to about 25m people. Despite the danger, it is a fact of life to which many in the city have become accustomed.

Military officers from the two sides met at a customs, immigration, and quarantine office in South Korea, just south of the demilitarised zone separating the countries. The meeting follows discussion held this month that focused on “eliminating the danger of war on the Korean peninsula” and were the first inter-Korea military talks in a decade.

The talks were spurred by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s historic meeting with South Korean president Moon Jae-in in April, and seek to revive direct communication between the two militaries.

If successful, there would be a western and eastern line of communication, using telephones and fax machines to ensure misunderstandings do not lead to violent clashes. The western line was suspended in 2016 after Seoul shut the Kaesong industrial complex, where South Korean companies hired North Korean workers. The closure was in response to a North Korean rocket launch.

The eastern line was shut in 2011 in the wake of North Korea shelling an island in the South that killed two marines and two civilians. It was permanently severed by a wildfire in 2013. Both the eastern and western lines were established about 15 years ago.

The inter-Korean military talks come days after the US and South Korea announced the indefinite suspension of marine training exercises, part of Donald Trump’s pledge to halt military drills after meeting Kim.

The US is engaged in its own talks with North Korea over the repatriation of war dead from the 1950-53 Korean war. The US military has transported 100 wooden caskets to an area near the border with North Korea in the hope the remains can be returned as early as this week. About 7,700 US military personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean war, US military data show.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-korea-military-talks-communications-missiles

 

[ctg]

Japan has halted evacuation drills simulating a North Korean missile attack in the wake of historic talks between Washington and Pyongyang, local media reported Thursday.

Government officials did not immediately confirm the reports, but authorities in one town told AFP they were suspending a drill planned for next week on orders from Tokyo.

The decision comes after US President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un met last week in Singapore, with the pair signing a joint document calling for denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

Yaita in Tochigi prefecture north of Tokyo had been planning an evacuation drill for next week involving some 800 residents including 350 school children, city official Yutaka Yanagida told AFP.

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Japan_halts_missile_drills_after_Trump-Kim_summit_reports_999.html

 

[ctg]

North Korea will cancel its annual “anti-US imperialism” rally, part of a growing detente with its longstanding enemy as the two countries negotiate over the fate of the North’s nuclear weapons program.

The rally, which typically marks the start of a month of events commemorating the 1950-53 Korean war and denouncing the US, has been held for years and last year attracted 100,000 people in the capital, Pyongyang. North Korean officials did not give a reason for skipping the rally, according to the Associated Press, which first reported the cancellation.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-us-imperialism-rally-pompeo-denuclearisation

Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, said he wanted to see continued progress towards North Korean denuclearisation and that the administration would regularly assess Pyongyang’s seriousness about abandoning its nuclear program.

“I am not going to put a timeline on it, whether that’s two months, six months, we are committed to moving forward in an expeditious moment to see if we can achieve what both leaders set out to do,” Pompeo told CNN, referring to the 12 June summit between Trump and Kim.

 

[ctg]

Infrastructure improvements at the Yongbyon nuclear plant are “continuing at a rapid pace”, according to an analysis by monitoring group 38 North of commercial satellite images taken on 21 June.


The cooling system for the plutonium production reactor has been modified and at least two new non-industrial buildings have been built on the site, possibly for use by visiting officials. A new engineering office building has been completed and construction has continued on support facilities throughout the complex, according to a blog post written by Frank V Pabian, Joseph S Bermudez Jr and Jack Liu.


The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, has committed to “complete denuclearisation” in meetings with Donald Trump and South Korean president Moon Jae-in, but the details of how and when that will happen have not yet been decided. Kim announced earlier this year the the North’s nuclear arsenal and weapons capable of striking the US were complete, and the North closed its only known nuclear test site in May.


“Infrastructure improvements continue at Yongbyon,” Jenny Town, managing editor of 38 North, wrote on Twitter. “Underscores reason why an actual deal is necessary, not just a statement of lofty goals.”


The status of various parts of the nuclear complex remains unclear, and experts cautioned linking ongoing improvements to negotiations with the US.


“Continued work at the Yongbyon facility should not be seen as having any relationship to North Korea’s pledge to denuclearise,” the experts warned. “The North’s nuclear cadre can be expected to proceed with business as usual until specific orders are issued from Pyongyang.”


Despite the lack of clarity on any nuclear deal, South Korea has pushed ahead with diplomatic efforts. The two sides met for military talks this week aimed at restoring communication lines, and railway officials agreed to explore connecting the two countries by rail.


Checks will begin next month on long-unused lines that once allowed travel across the entire peninsula. Talks began a decade ago, but were suspended amid rising tensions. South Korea already has a gleaming steel and glass station just south of its highly militarised border with the North, with tracks marked for service to the North’s capital, Pyongyang.


Kim singled out the South’s advanced railway infrastructure during his meeting with Moon in April, acknowledging in a rare admission of weakness that the North lagged far behind its neighbour. But progress on the nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions would have to come before any joint rail projects.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/27/north-korea-nuclear-reactor-upgrades-summit-pledges

 

[Mortti]

Lieneekö tässä jo odotuksia tulevasta.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1011311174628139008

 

[ctg]

In recent days, Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that Kim Jong Un agreed in Singapore to the denuclearization of North Korea. But Kim agreed to no such thing. What he actually agreed to during his summit with the U.S. president was to “work toward” the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. This isn’t some trivial semantic distinction. Reconciling these two goals may well be what everything—resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis, establishing peace and economic exchange between North and South Korea, even determining the future geopolitical order of Northeast Asia—depends on. And the path to doing so remains utterly mysterious.

In May, however, I heard one detailed vision from a top aide to South Korean President Moon Jae In, who has played a critical role in steering international diplomacy with North Korea over the past several months. Chung In Moon, a special adviser for foreign affairs and national security, suggested that the two Koreas, the United States, and possibly China could declare an end to the Korean War, which concluded with an armistice in 1953, by the end of this year—notably before the denuclearization of North Korea has been completed.

As we sat in his office in Seoul, Moon walked me through what might come next: a years-long process of “reciprocal exchanges” involving nuclear concessions from North Korea and political, security, and economic concessions from the United States and its partners, with the end result a peace treaty that would be finalized alongside the North’s full nuclear disarmament. He proposed a novel idea for how to provide the Kim government with security assurances that went beyond “a piece of paper”: allow American investors to start doing business in North Korea. If there are “Americans working in North Korea, then there is very little chance that the U.S. will take military action against North Korea,” Moon argued. “There’s got to be a real American presence.”

Then Moon turned to what is perhaps the most sensitive issue of all, since it cuts to the core of how the United States guarantees the security of South Korea: What exactly do North Korean leaders mean by the “denuclearization of the Korean peninsula”? Could it entail retracting the “nuclear umbrella” that the United States extends to the region by deterring South Korea’s adversaries and committing to defend its ally if necessary with the American nuclear arsenal? The North has called for the “denuclearization of the Korean peninsula” ever since George H.W. Bush withdrew U.S. tactical nuclear weapons from South Korean territory in the early 1990s. While the United States no longer stations nuclear weapons in South Korea, it still has multiple ways to launch a nuclear attack against North Korea, and the North Koreans know it.

In any case, North Korean leaders don’t believe the United States removed its nuclear weapons from the South any more than American officials would believe it if the Kim government suddenly declared they had no more nukes but didn’t permit that declaration to be verified. The North Koreans want proof of denuclearization in South Korea in exchange for denuclearization in North Korea, according to Moon, and that’s not all: They have said they want no more deployment of American nuclear-capable vessels and aircraft during training exercises with South Korean forces, a non-aggression pledge from the U.S., and eventually a normal diplomatic relationship with America.

https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2018/06/mystery-heart-north-korea-talks/149291/?oref=d-river

 

[ctg]

Two women accused of murdering the estranged half-brother of Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, must have been trained to carry out an assassination using a deadly nerve agent, Malaysian prosecutors have said.

Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong are charged with having common intent with four North Korean fugitives to kill Kim Jong-nam at Kuala Lumpur international airport in February 2017.

Kim’s face was smeared with VX, a banned nerve agent developed as a chemical weapon.

“You have to be trained for it – there can be no room for error,” said the prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin at the high court in Shah Alam on Thursday, likening the killing to something from a James Bond film.

The two women, both in their 20s, are the only suspects in custody and could face the death penalty if convicted. They have pleaded not guilty, saying they believed they were acting in a prank reality show and did not know they were handling anything lethal.

Wan Shaharuddin said assassins would have had to know the best route for VX to enter the victim’s body and know that they must wash the nerve agent off themselves within 15 minutes to avoid being contaminated.

Airport security footage screened in court showed both women heading to a bathroom shortly after the assault on Kim.

“If it was a prank, why did you smear not only on his face or on his eyelids but also in the eye itself?” Wan Shaharuddin said, adding that there was “an element of aggressiveness” involved.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/28/kim-jong-nam-suspects-trained-assassins-court-told

 

[ctg]

According to analysts focusing on North Korean issues on the site 38 North, not only has Pyongyang not started the denuclearization process, but it is making improvements to its program at “at a rapid pace.”

https://thinkprogress.org/north-korea-improving-nuclear-site-trump-34cf09bf8f63/

 

[John Hilly]

Kim Jong-un raivostui – kerrotaan teloittaneen kenraalin

Kasperi Summanen | 28.06.2018 | 23:53- päivitetty 29.06.2018 | 09:24

Raaka teloitus määrättiin väitetysti ’ideologisesta myrkyttymisestä’.

Pohjois-Korean asevoimien kenraaliluutnantti Hyon Ju Song on tuomittu kuolemaan ja teloitettu ampumalla Kang Konin sotilasakatemian ampumaradalla Pjongjangissa, useat pohjoiskorealaislähteet kertovat Daily NK:lle.
Hyonin kerrotaan saaneen tuomion virka-asemansa väärinkäytöstä ja ”puolueen vastaisesta toiminnasta”.

Erään lähteen mukaan kenraaliluutnantti oli muun muassa todennut julkisesti Sohaen satelliittikeskuksen tarkistuskäynnin yhteydessä, ettei ”vyötä tarvitse enää kiristää rakettien tai ydinaseiden vuoksi”. Tuomioistuin katsoi lausunnon loukkaavan Pohjois-Korean niin kutsuttua armeija ensin -politiikka ja totesi sen maanpetturuudeksi.

Hyon Ju Songin sanotaan myös jakaneen puolueen linjan vastaisesti tonnin polttoainetta ja satoja kiloja riisiä ja maissia Sohaen keskuksen upseerien perheille.

Erillinen lähde vahvistaa tapahtuneen. Hänen mukaansa kenraaliluutnantti päätyi teloituryhmän eteen suoraan maan johtaja Kim Jong-unin määräyksestä.
Lähde kertoo Kimin olleen ”raivon vallassa” saatuaan tietää Hyonin toiminnasta. Pohjois-Korean johtajan kerrotaan syyttäneen kenraaliluutnanttia ”ideologisesta myrkytyksestä” ja ”idolisoinnista, joka korruptoi Pohjois-Korean kansanarmeijan ylintä johtoa”.

– Meidän on kitkettävä ideologinen myrkytys juurineen, Kimin väitetään sanoneen.

https://www.verkkouutiset.fi/kim-jong-unin-kerrotaan-teloittaneen-kenraalin-raivon-vallassa/

 

[Mortti]

Raaka teloitus määrättiin väitetysti ’ideologisesta myrkyttymisestä’.

Niin siis lieneekö sitä olemassa "epäraakoja" teloituksia? Toisaalta ampumalla toimeenpannuksi mainittu teloitus taitaa loppujen lopuksi olla siitä vähemmän raa'asta päästä.

Hyon Ju Songin sanotaan myös jakaneen puolueen linjan vastaisesti tonnin polttoainetta ja satoja kiloja riisiä ja maissia Sohaen keskuksen upseerien perheille.

Tällaisesta korruptiosta voitaisiin hyvinkin teloittaa myös Kiinassa.

 

[aj77]

Us tiedustelu tietää, että p-koreassa jatkuu ydinaseiden tai ainakin uraanin rikastaminen useassa salaisessa paikassa huolimatta neuvotteluista.


https://www.jpost.com//Internationa...g-more-nuclear-bomb-fuel-despite-talks-561209

 

[ctg]

Pohjois-Korean johtaja Kim Jong-un on pyytänyt Kiinan presidentiltä Xi Jinpingiltä apua Pohjois-Koreaa vastaan asetettujen pakotteiden poistamiseksi, kertoo japanilaislehti Yomiuri Shimbun.

Lehden tiedot perustuvat useille nimettömille lähteille Kiinassa ja Pohjois-Koreassa.

Kim esitti pyynnön Xille kesäkuussa Kiinassa, jonne hän matkusti jo kolmannen kerran tänä vuonna.

– Tunnemme suurta tuskaa talouspakotteiden vuoksi. Nyt kun olemme todenneet Yhdysvaltojen ja Pohjois-Korean huipputapaamisen olleen menestys, haluan Kiinan työskentelevän pakotteiden lopettamiseksi, Kim sanoi Xille lehden mukaan.

Xi lupasi Kimille tehdä kaikkensa asian eteen. Hän sanoi myös tukevansa Pohjois-Korean uudistusta ja aikovansa tehdä yhteistyötä pyrkimysten mukaisesti.

Kimin Pekingin-matkan on katsottu olevan merkki siitä, että Pohjois-Korea haluaa vakuuttaa Kiinan kesäkuun huipputapaamisen hyvistä tuloksista.

Kiina on Pohjois-Korean tärkein taloudellinen ja diplomaattinen kumppani.

https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-10283419