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Category: WMD

June 9, 2009

North Korea’s Nuclear Tests and Camp 16

I had previously speculated that the proximity of Camp 16 to North Korea’s main nuclear test site was probably more than mere coincidence (you can see Google Earth images of both at this link; click the images).  The Chosun Ilbo has now published the first indirect evidence — really, a gathering of rumors — to support my speculation, despite the regime’s extraordinary secrecy: How were even the locals kept in the dark? The terrain around Mt. Mantap in Kilju, North...

Categories Human Rights/Refugees/The Camps/WMD
June 3, 2009

Axis, Schmaxis

The Wall Street Journal reports more evidence of cooperation between North Korea and Iran: In a 2008 paper published by the Korea Economic Institute, Dr. Christina Lin of Jane’s Information Group noted that “Increased visits to Iran by DPRK nuclear specialists in 2003 reportedly led to a DPRK-Iran agreement for the DPRK to either initiate or accelerate work with Iranians to develop nuclear warheads that could be fitted on the DPRK No-dong missiles that the DPRK and Iran were jointly...

Categories Axis of Evil/Iran/Proliferation/WMD
June 2, 2009

Korean War 2, Week 2 Begins!

SEC DEF GATES VISITS A MISSILE INTERCEPTOR SITE in Alaska: “If there were a launch from a rogue state such as North Korea, I have good confidence we would be able to deal with it,” Mr. Gates said. Despite its backing for the missile defense system, the Obama administration has proposed scaling back the number of interceptors to be placed in Alaska from 40 to 26, arguing the lower number would be sufficient to match near-term North Korean missile capabilities....

Categories NK Military/Proliferation/WMD
May 31, 2009

Korean War 2, Day 5: Gates Calls for a ‘Plan B,’ The Next Missile Test, and More Calls for Military Action

GATES LOOKS FOR A “PLAN B:” Mr. Gates raised “the notion that we should think about this as we are pursuing the six-party talks,” said a senior defense official who asked for anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the issue. “We ought to think about what more we need to do should they not prove successful.   [N.Y. Times, Elisabeth Bumiller] Better late than never, and he’s welcome to order from this menu. MISSILE TEST UPDATE: ...

Categories NK Economics/Proliferation/Sanctions/WMD
May 30, 2009

Korean War 2, Day 4: Gates Hints at Military Action if North Korea Proliferates Nuclear Material

Three days after North Korea repudiated the Armistice agreement it had never complied with anyway, and as North Korea was seen preparing for yet another long-range missile test, Defense Secretary Robert Gates used the occasion of a security conference in Singapore to issue a veiled threat to Kim Jong Il: “The transfer of nuclear weapons or material by North Korea to states or non-state entities would be considered a grave threat to the United States and our allies,” Gates told...

Categories Proliferation/U.S. Military/WMD
May 28, 2009

Selected North Korea Commentary

The most depressing thing about North Korea’s April missile test wasn’t the test itself; it was the vacuousness of most of the reactions to it.  Many of the writers seemed poorly read on the facts, and conservatives and liberals had both stretched their credibility to defend the Bush and Clinton administrations, respectively, despite the general consistency of the policy through both administrations.  Recent events prove that both policies failed. This time around, the commentary seems smarter and better informed.  Part...

Categories Proliferation/Washington Views/WMD
May 26, 2009

And Now, the Fallout

Kim Jong Il has followed yesterday’s nuke test by firing two more short-range missiles, as a rudderless world tries to decide how to respond.  When you consider each of these developments, ask yourself whether Kim Jong Il could reasonably have anticipated that it would happen.  So far, everything I see happening fits within the range of Kim Jong Il’s calculation of “acceptable consequences.” FOR ONE THING, KIM JONG IL IS PROBABLY BETTING that John Kerry and Nancy Pelosi don’t possess...

Categories "United" Nations/Diplomacy/Proliferation/WMD
May 26, 2009

In ‘The New Ledger:’ Holding China Accountable

Here’s a quote: Afer the 2006 nuclear test, John Bolton pressured China into voting for U.N. Security Council Resolution 1718, which seemed to impose tough sanctions on North Korea. A detailed study by the economist and North Korea expert Marcus Noland later revealed that China also undermined the very sanctions it voted for in Resolution 1718 with increased cross-border aid and trade. China also instructed its banks to free up the movement of North Korean assets. Most recently, China blocked...

Categories China/Proliferation/WMD
May 25, 2009

Nuclear Groundhog Day in North Korea

[Welcome to the readers coming in from the Wall Street Journal, Gateway Pundit, Ed Driscoll, Patterico, and Little Green Footballs, and thanks to the authors of those sites for linking.] Well, all I can say is, thank God Christopher Hill’s ingenious diplomacy disarmed North Korea in time: “The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea successfully conducted one more underground nuclear test on May 25 as part of the measures to bolster up its nuclear deterrent for self-defence in every way as...

Categories Proliferation/WMD
May 15, 2009

S. Korea Tightens Controls on Dual-Use Technology Transfers to N. Korea

I’ve long suspected that technology transfers to Kaesong included many dual-use items, including American technology, that the North Koreans would easily put to destructive uses.  South Korea finally seems to be doing something about this: South Korea’s audit agency expressed concern Wednesday that materials used to develop weapons of mass destruction may enter North Korea due to Seoul’s lax monitoring and advised the Unification Ministry to tighten rules. The ministry, in charge of overseeing personnel and equipment exchanges with North...

Categories Proliferation/Sunshine/Technology/WMD
May 10, 2009

N.Y. Times: It’s Safe to Ignore North Korea Again!

It’s odd, though, how my mind can’t let go of what’s gone down the New York Times memory hole — alarmist warnings about North Korean nukes, peddled with the meme that George W. Bush transformed a contained North Korea into a grave national security threat.   I still remember Nick Kristof warning us of a nuclear 9/11 if the Bush Administration failed to appease North Korea with aid, in the same way that worked so brilliantly for Roh Moo Hyun. ...

Categories Media Criticism/Proliferation/WMD
May 2, 2009

N.Y. Times: It’s Safe to Ignore North Korea Again!

It’s odd, though, how my mind my mind can’t let go of what’s gone down the New York Times memory hole — alarmist warnings about North Korean nukes, peddled with the meme that George W. Bush transformed a contained North Korea into a grave national security threat. I remember Nick Kristof warning us of a nuclear 9/11 if the Bush Administration failed to appease North Korea with aid, in the same way that worked so brilliantly for Roh Moo Hyun,...

Categories Media Criticism/Proliferation/WMD
April 23, 2009

Telling Half the Story at Yongbyon

The Washington Post reassures us that North Korea’s threat to restart plutonium processing is mostly empty because of the current condition of its 5-MW reaction. Not only do I agree that the reactor is probably a wreck, I believe that was also true before the North Koreans sold us their scrap heap for such a high price. Funny, I don’t remember Siegfried Hecker telling us that in 2007 when the State Department was telling us what a breakthrough this deal...

Categories Media Criticism/WMD
March 18, 2009

Missiles, Sanctions, and Surprise Attacks

As North Korea continues to prepare for an April missile test, Great Britain warns North Korea of new sanctions, Japan warns of a “harsh response,” and both Japan and South Korea are drawing up target lists for new sanctions. It would be interesting to see how South Korea joining in sanctions instead of undermining them with change things. It would be just as interesting to see whether the new sanctions will be as tough as the old ones that no...

Categories "United" Nations/NK Military/Proliferation/WMD
March 15, 2009

That’s a Lot of Rice

Experts speculate that impoverished North Korea spent at least US$30 million on development of a missile it is apparently poised to launch. While the North says it is launching a rocket to propel a satellite into orbit, many in the West are convinced this is in fact a Taepodong-2 long-range missile. When North Korea test-launched seven medium and long-range missiles in July 2006, South Korean military authorities estimated the total cost at about $63.69 million (about W60 billion according to...

Categories Famine & Food Aid/Proliferation/WMD
March 9, 2009

N. Korea: ‘Satellite’ Shootdown Will Mean War

We will retaliate (over) any act of intercepting our satellite for peaceful purposes with prompt counterstrikes by the most powerful military means,” the official Korean Central News Agency quoted a spokesman of the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army as saying. If countries such as the United States, Japan or South Korea try to intercept the launch, the North Korean military will carry out “a just retaliatory strike operation not only against all the interceptor means involved but against...

Categories Terrorism (NK)/WMD
February 25, 2009

One Big Missile Measuring Contest

Kim Jong Il may not really be capable of traipsing around the remote area near the Musudan-ri launch site, but the point here is that his regime wants us to believe its hints and threats. As little regard as Kim Jong Il has for U.N. weapons inspectors and resolutions, you have to ask yourself why they still bother to tell fibs like this: The preparations for launching experimental communications satellite Kwangmyongsong-2 by means of delivery rocket Unha-2 are now making...

Categories Proliferation/WMD