Countdown to war in Korea

China Threatens To Bomb North Korea's Nuclear Facilities If It Crosses Beijing's "Bottom Line"

Zero Hedge,

11 April, 2017

With everyone putting down new and/or revised "red lines", be it on Syria or North Korea, it was now China's turn to reveal its "red" or rather "bottom line", and in a harshly worded editorial titled "The United States Must Not Choose a Wrong Direction to Break the DPRK Nuclear Deadlock on Wednesday" Beijing warned it would attack North Korea's facilities producing nuclear bombs, effectively engaging in an act of war, if North Korea crosses China's "bottom line."

The editorial in the military-focused Global Times tabloid, owned and operated by the Communist Party's People's Daily newspaper, said that North Korea’s nuclear activities must not jeopardize northeastern China, and that if the North impacts China with its illicit nuclear tests through either "nuclear leakage or pollution", then China will respond with force.

“China has a bottom line that it will protect at all costs, that is, the security and stability of northeast China... If the bottom line is touched, China will employ all means available including the military means to strike back. By that time, it is not an issue of discussion whether China acquiesces in the US’ blows, but the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will launch attacks to DPRK nuclear facilities on its own."

This, as the editorial puts it, is the "bottom line" for China; should it be crossed China will employ all means available including the military means to strike back," warned the editorial.

It is worth noting is that shortly after publication, the article seems to have been retracted without explanation, the URL now returning a "404" error. However not before the original article was cached on a webpage owned by China Military, courtesy of google.

In the editorial, the author also declared that the "People's Liberation Army (PLA) will launch attacks to DPRK nuclear facilities on its own. A strike to nuclear facilities of the DPRK is the best military means in the opinion of the outside world." The northeastern Chinese provinces of Liaoning and Jilin share borders with North Korea. These two provinces and Heilongjiang are part of the Shenyang Military Region, one of seven military regions of the People's Liberation Army.

The editorial also explained the advantages to the world of a Chinese attack on North Korea's nuclear facilities.

It noted China and the world know the locations of North Korea's nuclear facilities. Once the PLA attacks these nuclear sites, North Korea will permanently suspend its nuclear weapons programs.

North Korea "has limited resources of nuclear materials and is strictly blockaded in the outside world, erasing the possibility for DPRK to get the materials again."

China also noted that "nuclear weapons is DPRK's trump card for its defiance of China and the United States. Once this card is lost, it will become obedient immediately."

The author then speculated rhetorically that if North Korea's "nuclear facilities are destroyed, they will not even fight back, but probably block the news to fool its domestic people. The DPRK will freak out if its nuclear facilities are destroyed." And yes, a Chinese author said "freak out."

The report also said that "the DPRK must not fall into the turmoil to send a large number of refugees, it is not allowed to have a government that is hostile against China on the other side of the Yalu River, and the US military must not push forward its forces to the Yalu River.” It notes that "this sentence is meant for the United States, because the premise of it is that the US military has launched attacks to the DPRK."

But what may be the most notable part of the oped is the mention in the Global Times editorial that North Korea will not be "not allowed to have a government that is hostile against China on the other side of the Yalu River."  This implies that if and when the US initiate strikes on NK, the Chinese PLA will likely send out troops "to lay the foundation" for a favorable post-war situation.

In other words, China may be just waiting for Trump to "decapitate" the North Korean regime, to pounce and immediately fill the power vacuum.

Trump: "We're Sending A Very Powerful Armada" To North Korea

"We are sending an armada, very powerful. We have submarines, very powerful, far more powerful than the aircraft carrier, that I can tell you. And we have the best military people on Earth. And I will say this. He is doing the wrong thing. He is doing the wrong thing."

Pyongyang warns of nuclear strike on US, as Donald Trump pledges to 'solve North Korea problem'

North Korea has warned of a nuclear attack on the United States, as a US Navy strike group steamed towards the Korean peninsula and US President Donald Trump tweeted that the rogue nation was "looking for trouble".

ABC News,

11 April, 2017

Mr Trump, who has urged China to do more to rein in its impoverished neighbour, said in a tweet that the United States would "solve the problem" of North Korea with or without China's help.

Tension has escalated sharply on the Korean peninsula amid concerns that reclusive North Korea may soon conduct a sixth nuclear test and after Washington said at the weekend it wasdiverting US Navy strike group Carl Vinson from port calls to Australia toward the Korean Peninsula as a show of force.

US officials have stressed that stronger sanctions are the most likely US course to press North Korea to abandon its nuclear program.

But Washington has said all options, including military ones, are on the table and that a US strike last week against Syria should serve as a warning to Pyongyang.

North Korea's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said the country was prepared to respond to any aggression.

"Our revolutionary strong army is keenly watching every move by enemy elements with our nuclear sight focused on the US invasionary bases not only in South Korea and the Pacific operation theatre but also in the US mainland," it said.

South Korea's acting president Hwang Kyo-ahn warned of "greater provocations" by North Korea and ordered the military to intensify monitoring and ensure close communication with Washington.

"It is possible the North may wage greater provocations such as a nuclear test timed with various anniversaries including the Supreme People's Assembly," said Mr Hwang, acting leader since former president Park Geun-hye was removed amid a corruption scandal.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Mr Trump had put North Korea "clearly on notice" he would not tolerate certain actions, but dismissed Pyongyang's nuclear attack threat.

"I think there is no evidence that North Korea has that capability at this time," he said.

"Threatening something that you don't have the capability of isn't really a threat."

PHOTO: The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson is heading toward the Korean Peninsula. (Reuters: Tom Tonthat/US Navy, file image)

Trump calls for Chinese action

Mr Trump said in a tweet that a trade deal between China and the United States would be "far better for them if they solved the North Korea problem".

Mr Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping met in Florida last week and the US President pressed Mr Xi to do more to rein in North Korea.

China's ambassador to the United Nations, Liu Jieyi, repeated China's call for a return to dialogue with North Korea.

"The situation is tense and we certainly want a peaceful solution and we believe that it is highly important to move toward denuclearisation, to maintain peace and stability and it's time that different sides sit down to talk about achieving these objectives," he said.

Asked about Mr Trump linking a trade deal to China's help with North Korea: "We need to look at the situation on the Korean Peninsula as something that we should work together on."

North Korea convened a Supreme People's Assembly session on Tuesday, one of its twice-yearly sessions attended by leader Kim Jong-un, and reported a successful national budget execution and personnel appointments, the official KCNA news agency said.

The agency made no mention of North Korea's nuclear weapons program or being under threat from the United States.

PHOTO: North Korea has conducted several ballistic missile tests over the last year. (KCNA/File Photo via Reuters)

The North has conducted five nuclear tests, two of them last year, and is working to develop nuclear-armed missiles that can reach the United States.

South Korean officials sought to quell talk in social media of an impending security crisis.

"We'd like to ask for precaution so as not to get blinded by exaggerated assessment about the security situation on the Korean Peninsula," Defence Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-kyun said.

North Korea preparing for Kim Il-sung anniversary

Saturday is the 105th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-sung, North Korea's founding father and grandfather of the current rule.

A military parade is expected in Pyongyang to mark the day. North Korea often also marks important anniversaries with tests of its nuclear or missile capabilities in breach of UN Security Council resolutions.

Men and women in colourful outfits were singing and dancing on the streets of Pyongyang, illuminated by better lighting than seen in previous years, apparently practising for the parade.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad sent congratulations, lambasting "big powers" for their "expansionist" policy.

"The friendly two countries are celebrating this anniversary and, at the same time, conducting a war against big powers' wild ambition to subject all countries to their expansionist and dominationist policy and deprive them of their rights to self-determination," the North's KCNA news agency quoted his message as saying.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said it was concerned about many aspects of US foreign policy, particularly North Korea.

"We are really worried about what Washington has in mind for North Korea after it hinted at the possibility of a unilateral military scenario," the Ministry said.

Reuters

North Korea Orders 25% of Population to LEAVE Pyongyang

Superstation,

11 April, 2017

The leader of North Korea has ordered almost twenty five percent of the population of its Capital City, Pyongyang, to LEAVE!  That's 600,000 people!

While the government claims this is a "population control" measure, it comes as tensions with the United States - and possibility of a hot war - escalate.

North Korea is known to have vast underground shelters for much of its population.  Military sources who spoke to SuperStation95 from the Pentagon speculate that the existing shelters around the Capital of North Korea may not be adequate for its present population of 2.6 million.  Thus, ordering 600,000 people to leave is likely part of North Korea's planning for war.

Those ordered to leave are being called "undesirables" because they have broken laws and previously been jailed, sold outlawed movies from South Korea in the North, or have relatives who defected to South Korea.

Whatever the excuse, North Korea has just taken an extraordinary step to move a large portion of its population away from its Capital.  The real meaning of this ought to be clear to any rational person: War is coming.

China Tells North Korean Coal Ships To Go Home

China ordered ships laden with North Korean coal, the isolated nation’s most important export, to return home full this month after promising in February to suspend imports of the fuel for the rest of the year.

On Monday evening, Reuters reported a fleet of cargo ships from the country was returned to the North Korean city of Nampo after Chinese customs officials told trading companies to send coal shipments back. A map that the agency published shows nearly a dozen vessels leaving China in the direction of the port.

China suspended all imports of coal from North Korea on Feb. 26 to abide with a United Nations Security Council resolution meant to punish the country and its authoritarian leader, Kim Jong Un, for testing nuclear weapons and launching ballistic missiles. The resolution, passed in December, prohibits member states from importing more than $400 million of North Korean coal in 2017, an amount set so as to not have “adverse humanitarian consequences for the country’s civilian population.”

Russia's Pacific Fleet flagship Varyag arrives at South Korea port of Pusan

The flagship of Russia's Pacific Fleet Varyag arrived to the shores of Korea. The warship entered the port of Pusan earlier than the USS Carl Vinson, which the US turned to South Korea at the time when she was traveling to Australia

US President Donald Trump ordered the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group to go to North Korea and harbour at the Korean Peninsula in the western part of the Pacific Ocean. The military were instructed to be prepared for an attack.

The Russian warship has other purposes. Together with the Pechenga sea tanker, the Varyag entered the port so that the Russian seamen could meet with representatives of the South Korean Navy command, the mayor of Pusan and the Russian consul general. It is planned to show the Russian seamen around and play friendly matches with Korean sailors

The flagship of the Pacific Fleet, the Varyag, had set out on a long-distance journey that would last for more than two months. The ship is to make seven visits to the ports of foreign countries. The main goal of the campaign is to demonstrate the St. Andrew's flag and develop cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.