North Korea warns of ‘sea of fire' after cross-border balloon launches

[Diane Lane]

I've seen a little bit of a video. I wonder why we stick our nose into everyone else's business and how their people are treated. And yet, there's North Korea, being un-violated, left to treat these people however they see fit.

Yes, I see a lot of people saying that we should butt out in various countries and parts of the world, but we're not there to invade, or colonize, as I've often heard, but are usually there in an attempt to mitigate current or future problems, and also to help those who might not otherwise have a voice.

Personally, I think it would be great if we could back out of many places, and work on our own country, but in many cases, that would only work if someone else were to step in, because there are issues that need to be addressed.

 

[LilAnn]

Yes, I see a lot of people saying that we should butt out in various countries and parts of the world, but we're not there to invade, or colonize, as I've often heard, but are usually there in an attempt to mitigate current or future problems, and also to help those who might not otherwise have a voice.

Personally, I think it would be great if we could back out of many places, and work on our own country, but in many cases, that would only work if someone else were to step in, because there are issues that need to be addressed.

I think if we're going to act like everyone's parents, we need to either go all in or all out. Not picking and choosing who and when, based on who has something we can take. Good parents don't let one kid abuse and kill people and then tell the other one they have to behave or they'll get grounded... or spanked.

 

[eveliner]

Doesn't seem like the situation will escalate soon. It will remain at rather little proportions. Though it is bad that this stuff is happening now between NK and SK. It was quite predictable though... tensions between these two countries were already at a high scale and it had to "depressurize" somehow. It doesn't surprise me that I read this at all.

Though I believe that General Fatty, aka Kim Jong-un, is the one who startles the fire this much.

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

Tension high on Korean border as deadline for 'all out war' passes


Pyongyang and Seoul agree to hold last-minute talks at but forces step up readiness on both sides of border

By Julian Ryall, Tokyo


10:34AM BST 22 Aug 2015


The deadline set by Pyongyang for South Korea to halt propaganda broadcasts over the border passed without incident on Saturday evening, although tensions remain high on both sides of the Demilitarised Zone.

North Korea declared a "quasi-state of war" on Friday and issued an ultimatum that its forces would conduct "military operations to destroy" the South's loudspeakers unless they were withdrawn by 5pm local time.

Pyongyang also warned that it is ready to "wage all-out war".

In an effort to defuse the situation, representatives of Seoul and Pyongyang agreed to meet at 6pm local time at Panmunjom, the border village where the armistice in the 1950-53 Korean War was signed.

The meeting was proposed by the North, although there are no indications of whether Pyongyang's approach will be conciliatory or confrontational.

The latest clash between the two nations began on Thursday, when a number of artillery rounds were fired towards South Korean positions. The South responded immediately, firing "dozens" of shells back at the estimated positions of the North's artillery.

Pyongyang is demanding that the propaganda being blared into the North be halted, but Seoul insists that will only happen when the North admits responsibility for planting land mines on the South's side of the border. Seoul also says the regime in Pyongyang needs to apologise for mines that maimed two South Korean soldiers earlier this month.

South Korean troops have been at the highest state of alert since the North's declaration and have been backed by US forces stationed on the peninsula.

US and South Korean fighter aircraft carried out exercises earlier in the day, simulating bombing runs and aerial combat. The manoeuvres are widely seen as a warning to the North.

Radar in South Korea is reportedly monitoring at least two mobile missile launchers in the North, while intelligence also indicates that the North has deployed field 76.2mm artillery within range of South Korea's loudspeakers.
Tension high on Korean border as deadline for 'all out war' passes - Telegraph

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

Kim Jong-un puts North Korean troops on alert as border tension rises

North Korea threatens military action if South doesn't remove loudspeakers within 48 hours
Thomson Reuters Posted: Aug 20, 2015 6:06 AM ET Last Updated: Aug 21, 2015 2:54 AM ET

South Korean residents gather at a shelter in the South Korean town of Yeoncheon on Thursday. (Ahn Young-joon/Associated Press)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered his "troops to be fully ready for any military operations at any time from 5 p.m. [GMT] Friday," North Korea's official Central News Agency has reported.

The announcement follows an emergency meeting of the country's military after days of heightened tensions and violence between North and South Korea.

South Korea fired dozens of artillery rounds toward North Korea on Thursday after the North launched shells to protest Seoul's anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts along the border.

North Korea did not return fire but later declared a "quasi-state of war in frontline areas" facing the rival South and warned Seoul in a letter that it would take military action if the South did not stop the loudspeaker broadcasts within 48 hours (5 p.m. on Saturday), South Korea's defence ministry said.

In a separate letter, Pyongyang said it was willing to offer an opening to resolve the conflict even though it considers the broadcasts a declaration of war, South Korea's Unification Ministry said.

A South Korean military official said the broadcasts, which began on Aug. 10, would continue.

The Supreme Headquarters of the Korean People's Army issued a statement later Thursday denying it had launched any shells at the South.

"Using the pretext that our forces fired one shell to the south, which is not true, it made reckless moves by firing 36 shells at our military posts," said the statement, published in Korean by the North's state media. It said the shells landed near four military posts, but caused no injuries.

"This reckless shelling incident is a serious military provocation to our sacred territory and military posts, which is intolerable," it said.

South Korea said the North fired a 14.5-mm anti-aircraft shell at 3:52 p.m. (6:52 a.m. GT), then fired multiple shells from a 76.2 mm direct fire weapon at 4:15 p.m.

No damage or injuries were reported in the South.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye told top defence officials to "react firmly" to North Korean provocations, a spokesman quoted her as saying.

A South Korean soldier uses a radio on a military vehicle at the South Korean border town of Yeoncheon on Thursday. (Hong Hae-in/Associated Press)

Highest alert
South Korea's military, which said it fired 155-mm artillery rounds in response, raised its alert status to the highest level.

"Our military has stepped up monitoring and is closely watching North Korean military movements," South Korea's defence ministry said.

There was no mention of the firing in isolated North Korea's state media, which does not typically make immediate comment on events.

The first North Korean shell landed in an area about 60 kilometres north of Seoul in the western part of the border zone, the defence ministry said. Nearly 800 South Korean residents living close to the border were ordered to head to shelters, according to officials from Gyeonggi province and the city of Incheon.

South Korean residents gather at a shelter in the South Korean town of Yeoncheon on Thursday. (Ahn Young-joo/Associated Press)

The exchange of fire was the first between the two Koreas since last October, when North Korean soldiers approached the military border and did not retreat after the South fired warning shots, the South Korean Defence Ministry said at the time. The North's soldiers fired back in an exchange of gunfire that lasted about 10 minutes, with no casualties.

Tension between the two Koreas has risen since early this month when landmine explosions in the demilitarized zone [DMZ] of the border wounded two South Korean soldiers. Seoul accused North Korea of planting the mines, which Pyongyang has denied.

South Korea has said the two soldiers wounded from the mine explosions were on a routine patrol in the southern part of the DMZ that separates the two Koreas. One soldier lost both legs and the other one leg.

U.S.-South Korea alliance
South Korea and the United States are holding annual military drills that the North has long said are a rehearsal for the invasion of their country.

In Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby said the United States was concerned by the firing of a projectile into South Korea from the North and was closely monitoring the situation.

"These kinds of provocative actions only heighten tensions and we call on Pyongyang to refrain from actions and rhetoric that threaten regional peace and security," Kirby said, reiterating the U.S. commitment to its security alliance with South Korea.

Onlookers look at a police dog as they take part in an anti-terror drill in Seoul, South Korea. South Korea staged a nationwide joint civil defence drill alongside U.S. forces on Wednesday. (Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters)

North Korea is asking the United Nations Security Council to put the ongoing military exercises by the U.S. and South Korea on the council's agenda as a matter of international peace and security.

North Korea's letter, dated Wednesday from Ambassador Ja Song Nam to the council president, says the Security Council has "unjustifiably ignored" similar requests. It wants an urgent meeting of the council.

Duelling broadcasts
North Korea on Saturday demanded that the South stop the broadcasts or face military action, and on Monday began conducting its own broadcasts.

The two Koreas have remained in a technical state of war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

South Korea's won currency weakened in non-deliverable forward trading on the reports of the firing, which came after onshore spot trading had closed. The one-month contract rose as high as 1,192.7 won per dollar from around 1,189.8 earlier.

People watch a television news program reporting about South Korea's response to the North at a train station in Seoul on Thursday. (Kim Do-hun/Yonhap/Associated Press)

With files from The Associated Press © Thomson Reuters, 2015
Kim Jong-un puts North Korean troops on alert as border tension rises - World - CBC News

 

[pwarbi]

While I think people will be concerned by what's going on, it all sounds a lot like pushing and shoving rather than an all out fight between the two countries.

Both countries know that an all out war is expensive, and I seriously doubt either of them want to jeopardise their economy, especially as they will both be all to aware that the world is watching.

 

[Susimi]

I've got to agree. While NK makes the threats and tries to act like it is a force to be reckoned with, I can't see them actively starting a war. I can see them making small over the border incursions but not an all out invasion because they must know that if they did invade the SK & US armed forces would put all their equipment to use. NK may think they have China & Russia's support but I can see China not wanting to get involved, and at most I can see Russia maybe offering limited supplies to NK as a sort of passive-aggressive attack on the west.

 

[pwarbi]

North Korea thinking they have allies and actually having them are two entirely different things and I think they know that. The last thing Russia and China want or need is for North Korea to bring even less stability to that region than there already is. In fact I'd go as far as to say they would have a strong word and tell them not to react, rather than backing them.

 

[Diane Lane]

I think if we're going to act like everyone's parents, we need to either go all in or all out. Not picking and choosing who and when, based on who has something we can take. Good parents don't let one kid abuse and kill people and then tell the other one they have to behave or they'll get grounded... or spanked.

Yes, and it's helpful when both parents stand together, and present a united front. That's what needs to be happening now, with those who abhor terrorist tactics and want to promote a more peaceful and free world standing together against threats like ISIS. I hope there is a way to bring North Korea into freedom peacefully, but that hasn't happened so far, and doesn't seem to be on the agenda of Kim Jong-un, with his 'semi-state of war' declaration. North Korea orders troops on war footing after exchanging fire with South - BBC News

 

[Diane Lane]

I don't know enough about North Korea to know what Kim Jong-un really wants. Can someone enlighten me? Does he actually want to usurp South Korea? Take over other countries? Just be left alone? Even assuming the answer is to just be left alone, that's not acceptable to me, since it appears there are at least some within the borders that would like to experience freedom and democracy.

 

[LilAnn]

I don't know enough about North Korea to know what Kim Jong-un really wants. Can someone enlighten me? Does he actually want to usurp South Korea? Take over other countries? Just be left alone? Even assuming the answer is to just be left alone, that's not acceptable to me, since it appears there are at least some within the borders that would like to experience freedom and democracy.

Have you ever seen two people arguing, and it goes on and on, and gets to the point of just being ridiculous, but neither one wants to back down? And they have run out of intelligent things to say, so it just goes back and forth like, "I don't care..."
"your momma!"
"yeah? I don't care!"
"oh yeah! your momma!"

But you can tell they both feel a little bit more silly and childish every time they open their mouths. And they feel so stupid they can't even really say it very loudly anymore.
But neither one is willing to back down.


I think it may be kind of like that. But I'm not sure.

 

[Susimi]

I think China already told them to cut to nonsense out a while ago didn't they?

I seem to remember something but as I say, I can't see China backing them if NK starts something.

 

[pwarbi]

It sounds like just the same old BS from North Korea to me if I'm being honest. We're going to get the nukes out, were going to turn your country into a sea of fire...they seem to be the standard statements issued anytime anybody dares threaten them, or in this case throws a few balloons over their border.

 

[LilAnn]

It sounds like just the same old BS from North Korea to me if I'm being honest. We're going to get the nukes out, were going to turn your country into a sea of fire...they seem to be the standard statements issued anytime anybody dares threaten them, or in this case throws a few balloons over their border.

I have to admit, balloons terrify me. I'm not joking, either. When I was young, a balloon popped in my face twice and it really stung. My children aren't allowed to play with them if I'm around. I won't touch one, and if I'm in a room where a balloon is being played with I have to go outside. Maybe a balloon popped in Kim's face, too, when he was a child. If I had missiles readily available to me, I might snap and lose it, too, if someone flew balloons at my head.

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

More than 50 North Korea submarines 'leave their bases' as war talks with South continue

• 15:50, 23 August 2015
• By Laura Connor

At least 70% of North Korea's entire fleet has disappeared, a South Korean military official warned

On training exercises: North Korean submarines have left their bases

More than 50 North Korean submarines – 70% of its entire fleet – have apparently left their bases as tensions rise across the region.

South Korean officials now fear the North is gearing up for combat as high-level talks to ease the threat of war continue.

A South Korean military official told reporters in the country: "70% of North Korea's submarines left their bases, and their locations are not confirmed.

"It's a very serious situation."

More than 50 submarines are thought to have left – the North is known to have around 70.

The official told South Korean news agency Yonhap that the South is doing it best "to beef up the defence posture" with the help of US forces.

Six South Korean fighter jets, deployed to take part in the Red Flag Alaska exercise, returned home today ahead of schedule.

Top government officials from the North and South resumed their talks at the truce village of Panmunjom, inside the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), with both sides on military alert.

The crisis erupted as South Korea refused to silence giant loudspeakers – in defiance of a warning by the North.

Talks: South Korean and North Korean officials shake hands
The two countries have already put troops on war footing and fired conventional missiles into border areas as tension escalates between the rivals.

The talks involve Kim Kwan-jin, presidential national security director, and unification minister Hong Yong-pyo, from the South Korean side, and from the North, Hwang Pyong So, the top political officer for the Korean People's Army, and Kim Yang Gon, a senior official responsible for South Korean affairs.

Mr Hwang is considered by outside analysts to be North Korea's second most important official after supreme leader Kim Jong-un.
More than 50 North Korea submarines &[HASHTAG]#039[/HASHTAG];leave their bases&[HASHTAG]#039[/HASHTAG]; as war talks with South continue - Mirror Online