The Korean escalation

DEFCON 2: North Korean video depicts launch of 4 nuclear missiles on U.S.

The propaganda video puts NORAD, based near Colorado Springs, somewhere in southern Arkansas or northern Louisiana.

One event away from catastrophe: While most Americans go about their daily business; few have any idea just how dangerous events on the Korean peninsula have become in recent days. Escalating events may soon force the U.S. into pre-emptive defense posture.

USA Today,

13 April, 2013,

A video released by Saturday by North Korea shows nuclear launches against the United States reaching four sites, including Washington, D.C., California, Hawaii and what the announcer describes as Colorado Springs, but which looks like Arkansas. U.S. officials were clear they did not believe the belligerent nation has missiles capable of reaching the United States.

The video was released Saturday on Uriminzokkiri, a North Korean government web site. It has also been posted on YouTube.

In it, each of the U.S. targets explodes into a ball of flames as the missiles strike on the map. The Colorado Springs attack is presumably because the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is located near there, as well as the U.S. Air Force Academy. However based on the map the North Koreans posted, the attack site is actually in either southern Arkansas or northern Louisiana.

The video, typical of North Korean propaganda, is introduced by a male voiceover while a female news anchor in the traditional Korean hanbok dress reads from news headlines. The images are accompanied by synthesizer music and sounds of thunder. Further in, jarring montages of missile launches and military equipment are accompanied by what sound like 1970s power rock guitar solos. The video had more than 225,000 hits on YouTube by Saturday afternoon.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula have been building all week. U.S. officials say that they expect North Korea to perform a missile test soon but insist that while the unpredictable government might have rudimentary nuclear capabilities, it has not proven it has a weapon that could reach the United States.

The effort is expected to test the North's ballistic missile technologies, not a nuclear weapon, said a senior U.S. defense official who was granted anonymity by the Associated Press to discuss intelligence matters.

The Pentagon does not plan to try to shoot down any missiles North Korea might launch unless they unexpectedly head for a U.S. or allied target, several officials said. As a precaution, the U.S. has arrayed in the Pacific a number of missile defense Navy ships, tracking radars and other elements of its worldwide network for shooting down hostile missiles.

Bruce Bennett, a Rand Corp. specialist on North Korea, said this week there is a "reasonable chance" that North Korea has short-range nuclear missile capability, but it is "very unlikely" that it has one that can reach the U.S.

Guam Islanders defy North Korea's war moves

DIEHARD Brits have vowed to remain on the paradise island of Guam, despite being in the firing line of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

Daily Star,

13 April, 2013

Ex-pats and tourists have been warned they could be at risk if he unleashes a missile attack.

The island is a likely target as it is US territory and has a large American military presence.

But yesterday, in the only British pub on the remote Pacific isle, Londoner Kevin Hughes declared: “Let him throw what the hell he likes at us. We shall not be moved.”

Printing consultant Kevin, 54, who moved to Guam 18 years ago from Woolwich, added: “Some of the locals are panicking a little, stockpiling food and bunkering in.

“But in the main everyone is being unbelievably stoic and putting their faith in the US military to knock anything he sends out of the sky.

“Leave? You must be joking. This is my home now.”

The divorced father-of-two lives with his second wife, Taiwanese-born Sara, in the village of Chalan Pago.

He joked: “Our house is slap bang in the middle of the island, so I guess we should be painting a target on our roof.

“That will give him something to aim at if he dares launch a nuclear attack on us.”

At the Tower of London pub in the town of Tulon, building contractor Julian Walker and his 75-year-old mother Anne, who once owned the Union Jack-bedecked pub, were equally defiant.

Julian, 53, said: “I lost several good friends when HMS Sheffield was sunk during the Falklands War but I never imagined I would come under this sort of threat as a civilian.

“I’m told we are at DEFCON 2, which means imminent danger. But even if we go to DEFCON 1, my mum and I are staying put here. We’re British – and we don’t run.”

Anne added: “I’ve lived here happily for more than thirty years and I’m not leaving for anyone or anything.

“I love being here and I’m not being driven out by the threats of a madman.”

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Beijing on Friday to urge Chinese leaders to put pressure on Kim Jong-un to rein in his threats to launch an untested missile.

And President Obama, aware of new intelligence reports suggesting North Korea now has the technology to mount a nuclear strike, has warned he will take “all necessary steps” to protect American citizens and their allies.

Last week, the Pentagon sent its most sophisticated mobile land-based missile defence system THAAD – Terminal High Altitude Area Defence – to Guam, a strategic military base with a civilian government and population of just 159,358.

Largest of the Micronesian Islands, it is 7,491 miles from London and almost 6,000 miles from Los Angeles, where the nearest British consulate is monitoring the movements of expats and tourists.

Back at the Tower of London, now owned by Swiss-born Heidi and Rolf Meyer, meteorologist Justin Bentham, 35, who moved from Brighton five years ago to teach at a Guam high school, said: “My wife Melody and I are adopting a ‘keep calm and carry on’ attitude although it has been a little unsettling.”

Kerry in Japan to discuss Korean crisis

US secretary of state on last leg of Asia tour as he continues efforts to persuade N Korea to stop nuclear-war threats.

Al-Jazeera,

14 April, 2013

John Kerry, the US secretary of state, has arrived in Japan, the last stop on an Asian tour aimed at reining North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

Kerry met China's senior leaders in Beijing on Saturday in a bid to persuade them to push reclusive North Korea, whose sole main ally is China, to scale back its belligerence and return to nuclear talks.

North Korea has for weeks escalated threats of nuclear attacks on the US and South Korea.

In Seoul, Kerry said North Korea would be making a "huge mistake" if it launched one of its medium-range missiles during the current standoff. Japan, separated by less than 1,000km of water and a frequent target of North Korea's anger, is in easy range.

Also likely to be high on the agenda in talks in Tokyo are Japan's territoral disputes with China and the future of US bases in Japan.

The US and Japan this month announced an agreement for the return to Japan of a US airbase, taking astep to resolving an issue that trouble relations.

China Holds Artillery Drills Along Korean Border

Military Also Ups Patrols Along North Korean Border

Anti-War,

13 April, 2013

After weeks of simply sitting on the sidelines while the US and North Korean militaries grandstand, and occasionally expressing annoyance, China looks to be getting in on the act with a round of military drills of their own.

The unannounced drills, in the form of a live-fire exercise with SPGs and tanks, took place along the North Korean border, and sources say China has also upped its military patrols along the border.

China added troops along the Korean frontier just in case when the tensions first broke out, but seems to be of the opinion, echoed by everyone who is not an official from the US or either Korean government, that a war is not going to actually happen.

Rather, Chinese officials have from the start been warning both sides to soften their rhetoric. The primary motivation of China seems to be calming the situation, since tensions are causing financial uncertainty in the region and an actual war, while unlikely, would inundate their border region with refugees.