Home  >  NK Military

Category: NK Military

July 11, 2007

China Attacks Dissent in America and It Expands Its Power to Intimidate the Neighbors

Strategy Page says they are, and that the FBI is so busy looking for terror cells that China can get away with it: In the past year, many copies of the Epoch Times have been stolen and destroyed, and editorial staff have been physically attacked by men who appear to be Chinese. Editorial offices have also been attacked, often at night, to make it look like a burglary. China has also been putting pressure on Chinese language newspapers in the...

Categories Censorship/China/NK Military/U.S. Military/Washington Views
June 26, 2007

Anju Links for 6/25

* There’s another report that a North Korean border guard has defected, only this time, he brought a few things with him: At the time of arrest, Kim was armed with an automatic AK rifle, 5 magazines, 30 cartridges and [a]sword. [Daily NK] Then, the Chinese caught him. They’ll send him back to North Korea, where he’s certain to face a firing squad at 19 [because Koreans calculate age from the time of conception, he’s just 17 or 18 in...

Categories Anju Links/NK Military/Resistance/Uncategorized
June 6, 2007

Army Life in North Korea

My favorite e-mails are the ones I get from readers, and  among  even these, the best are those that send links or new information I hadn’t seen before.  One reader today sent  this Google Earth image (click to enlarge; coordinates along the bottom of the image):   He wondered whether the label on the placemark was accurate.  I opined that it  probably was not, because of the absence of a fence line or guard posts, the location just east of...

Categories Google Earth/NK Military
April 29, 2007

The North Korean Air Force by Google Earth

[You can see imagery of North Korea’s nuclear sites here, imagery of North Korea’s prison camps here, and more Google Earth imagery of North Korea here.] North Korea’s airfields are some of the most interesting  places to spy on, and often, some of the easiest to spot.  Generally, you can see a large airfield from about 10 miles up, with or without high resolution coverage. Here’s an overview of the North Korean military airfields that can be seen on Google Earth. There is almost...

Categories Google Earth/NK Military
April 13, 2007

Agony and Ecstasy in Wonsan

When I put up my post on Kim Jong Il’s palace northeast of Pyongyang, Curtis Melvin  commented and pasted  in a link to this Daily NK article, a guide to Kim Jong Il’s various palaces and residences.  (If you haven’t seen it yet, by the way, we’ve revealed an interesting answer to our pyramid mystery.) One passage in the article sounded like something I’d seen: Wonsan Chalet Where Kim Jong Il and his relatives hunt guillemots or ful seals, enjoy...

Categories Google Earth/Japan & Korea/Kim Jong Il/NK Military
February 14, 2007

Japanese TV Interviews Two of the North Korean Border Guards Who Deserted at Hoeryong

A remarkable new report, with video, strongly corroborates recent reports that 20  North Korean border guards defected, en masse, and fled into China.  On the 12th, Japan’s Asahi TV interviewed two North Korean border guards who successfully defected from North Korea to a neighboring village in China. On the 4th, the DailyNK reported that 1 platoon of border guards from the district of Hoiryeong had defected to China, and that secret agents had been sent to China in search of...

Categories Google Earth/Inside NK/NK Military
February 12, 2007

N. Korea Still Hasn’t Caught Border Guards Who Deserted

You will recall that 20 of them dropped their weapons,  deserted,  and crossed over to China.  It looks like they’ve been successful in evading capture so far: A North Korean source from the district of Onsung said on the 8th “20 or so people who looked like secret agents formed a group at Sambong Customs. These people and a soldier which looked like their captain had received orders and were preparing to cross over to China. He said “It seems...

Categories China & Korea/Google Earth/NK Military
February 5, 2007

Disciplinary Erosion Hits N. Korean Border Guards

The Daily NK reports that two border guards were caught taking money to allow refugees to cross the border and will be executed.  Although the state can’t decide whether to hang or shoot the two unfortunates, or how to schedule it around the Dear Leader’s birthday,  past history suggests that  the deed  will be carried out publicly to make an example of the men.  Consider the  example set.  Of the two reported consequences, only one seems to have been intended: ...

Categories Inside NK/NK Military/Refugees
February 3, 2007

Sand???

A sand supplier under virtual control of the North Korean army has notified its South Korean customers that the price of sand exported to South Korea would be going up by 60 percent. On Thursday, the Korea International Trade Association, the Korean Aggregates Association and importers of North Korean sand said that the North recently sent an unexpected notice that it would raise the price of sand next month by W900 (US$1=W937) from US$1.6 (W1,500) to 2 euros (W2,400) per...

Categories NK Economics/NK Military
January 12, 2007

Beyond Empty Threats

  Yes, Stealth fighters have some value in deterring a North Korean  first strike, if we think that’s a possibility, but I do not believe that any weapon in the U.S. military arsenal (with this possible exception) can deter or prevent a North Korean nuclear test.  The threat of a direct, large-scale  use of force by either the United States or North Korea against the other  is an empty threat.  The conventional Korean War has been a standoff since 1953. ...

Categories An Alliance?/NK Military/Resistance/ROK Military/U.S. Military
December 28, 2006

N. Korean Soldiers Repatriated

Previous post here.  In this photograph, one of them is being escorted by a U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel and a South Korean First Lieutenant — without the use of a Baby Bjorn, which is not authorized with the uniform.  He looks thrilled to be on his way home, which is what you’d expect for a guy found  adrift and near death on a raft  in  the Sea of Japan  in December.     I’m sad that our Army had any...

Categories NK Military/U.S. Military
December 11, 2006

Two N. Korean Soldiers Rescued from Raft in the Sea of Japan*

The wooden raft was simply drifting, off Sokcho. When the two were discovered, they were wearing dark green that looked to be a military uniform and one of the men was suffering from hypothermia to the point that he had lost consciousness. No word on whether the soldiers plan to defect, although I can’t think of another reason why two soldiers (presuming they are soldiers) would go AWOL and take to an unpowered wooden raft in December. (*Take that, you...

Categories Defectors/NK Military/Refugees
October 14, 2006

U.N. Security Council Resolution Takes Shape Passes Resolution 1718

Update: Too good to be true? Looks like the vote will be delayed … probably so that the Chinese and Russians can water this thing down. —– Update 2:   On again.   Supposedly, there will be a vote today. —– Updated 3:   It passed; analysis below, and the full text at the bottom of this post.   Naturally, the North Korean delegate walked out and denounced everyone for being “gangster-like. This is what the psychologists refer to as “projection.” ...

Categories "United" Nations/NK Economics/NK Military/WMD
October 9, 2006

N. Korea Claims ‘Successful’ Nuclear Test

Update 3: Welcome, Michelle Malkin readers! —– From the Washington Post: SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Monday it has performed its first-ever nuclear weapons test. The country’s official Korean Central News Agency said the test was performed successfully and there was no radioactive leakage from the site. “The nuclear test is a historic event that brought happiness to the [sic] our military and people,” KCNA said. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the test was conducted at...

Categories Diplomacy/NK Economics/NK Military/WMD
September 8, 2006

Dastardly Hegemonistic Brilliance

How to get South Korea ready to accept its president’s demand for wartime control of its forces? Why, an aggressive schedule of military exercises, of course! An official with the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday Washington proposed a series of combined military training drills before Korea obtains independent wartime operational control. “The training would be tiered and occur over three years, including the actual transfer period,” he said. In other words, two years before the handover, whether that is...

Categories An Alliance?/NK Military/ROK Military/U.S. Military