Build up to WW3

Freedom Propagandist wrote:I think most of that is over blown hype. Especially with Iran. Iran's regime isn't the suicidal maniacs that the US government makes them out to be. But they do have an incentive to get nuclear weapon capabilies because they're aggressed upon by the US right now and the only way the US will back off is if they really had nuclear missle technology that would act as a deterent. Other wise the special interest groups wil continue to put pressure on the issue of regime change in Iran.

Exactly. There is a reason The US gov doesnt seem to feel threatened by Iram, and its obviously because they dont have nothing special going on with their nuclear program.

you guys are missing the point. the thing is. isreal is going to attack them sooner or later, them and/or syria. thatll bring in the u.s. all this is posturing, whether anyone beleives they can do it or not, iran recently said it will defend syria if invaded, and iran and north koreas "pact" is just an excuse to get them outta of the way. the point of the stories was to show the domino effect it will have and how thatll lead to ww3

Yeah..That's true. The way I see it, it already began a long time ago. The US putting harsh economic sanctions on Iran is an act of war. If some other countries did that to the US, there would be hell to pay. Economic blockades provoke war. The US put a harsh blockade on Japan before Japan decided to retaliate at Pear Harbor.

February 9, 2013
On 30 January, a Chinese Jiangwei II-class frigate entered the disputed waters around the Senkaku Islands, a cluster of uninhabited rocks in the East China Sea claimed by China as the Diaoyu Islands. A Japanese destroyer was waiting.
When the two warships were only 3 km apart, the Chinese frigate turned on its fire control radar that aims its 100mm gun and C-802 anti-ship missiles and “painted” the Japanese vessel. The Japanese destroyer went to battle stations and targeted its weapons on the Chinese intruder.
Fortunately, both sides backed down. But this was the most dangerous confrontation to date over the disputed Senkakus. Japan and China were a button push from war.
Soon after, a Japanese naval helicopter was again “painted’ by Chinese fire control radar. Earlier, Chinese aircraft made a clear intrusion over waters claimed by Japan.
China’s Peoples Liberation Army HQ ordered the armed forces onto high alert and reportedly moved large numbers of warplanes and missile batteries to the East China Sea coast.
A US AWACS radar aircraft went on station to monitor the Senkaku/Diaoyus – a reminder that under the 1951 US-Japan mutual defense treaty, Washington recognized the Senkaku Islands as part of Japan and pledged to defend them if attacked. Japan seized the Senkakus as a prize of its 1894-95 war with Imperial China.
China’s state-run media claimed the US was pushing Japan into a confrontation with Beijing to keep China on the strategic defensive.
Japan’s newly elected government led by conservative PM Shinzo Abe vowed to face down with China. Spasms of angry nationalism erupted in both feuding nations. The Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, who also claim the Senkakus, chimed in with their territorial demands.
A special Chinese crisis group led by new President Xi Jinping has been set up to deal with the Senkakus – meaning any clash there may be more likely to become a major crisis.
Shades of August, 1914, when swaggering, breast-beating, and a bloody incident triggered World War I, a conflict few wanted but none could avoid.
Japan is in a difficult situation over the Senkakus. Its nearest air bases are in Okinawa, 500 km away; Japan’s main airbases are 1,000 km further to the Northeast. Japan’s F-15J strike aircraft have the combat range to cover the Senkakus but they cannot linger for long with full bomb loads due to the long distances involved. By contrast, Chinese warplanes based on the coast near Fuzhou are well within range of the Diaoyus.
Japan’s defense architecture was built to stop an invasion by the Soviet Union. Its so-called Self Defense Forces are able but not configured for long-range offensive operations. China’s are. They have been redesigned with a major amphibious invasion of Taiwan and a fight with the US Seventh Fleet in mind.
Unless US carrier strike groups intervened, Japan would probably face defeat in a clash with China over the islands, a fact that has Tokyo deeply worried. This latest crisis again reminds Tokyo that it is naked before China’s nuclear weapons. This week’s incursions over Northern Japan by Russian warplanes did nothing to calm Tokyo’s nerves.
However, war between China and Japan sounds as crazy and illogical as war between China and the US. Japan is China’s largest foreign investor, having discreetly built much of China’s industry. China is a major export market for Japan. A war against China would shatter Japan’s prosperity and force it to embark on a hugely expensive armaments campaign, including building nuclear weapons – which it has the capability to do in 90 days.
China has no desire to fight the United States unless absolutely necessary, and less to spark a US trade embargo. China holds over $1 trillion in US government debt. Beijing has no desire to panic all of East Asia.
A war over the Senkaku/Diaoyus would be like the 1998-2000 desert war between Eritrea and Ethiopia, described as “two bald men fighting over a comb.” No matter how much fish swim around the Senkakus, or how much oil and gas may be found underwater, nothing justifies a war.
But, then again, nothing justified World War I that began by a murder in obscure Bosnia. Pray for cool heads in Beijing and Tokyo.
30 Margolis
copyright Eric S. Margolis 2013
http://ericmargolis.com/2013/02/a-close-call-in-the-china-sea/

North Korea conducts third nuclear test, sparks condemnation

(Reuters) - North Korea conducted its third-ever nuclear test on Tuesday, a move likely to anger its main ally China and increase international action against Pyongyang and its new young leader, Kim Jong-un.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned North Korea's test, saying it was a "clear and grave violation" of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

South Korea said the size of the seismic activity indicated a nuclear explosion slightly larger than the North's two previous tests at 6-7 kilotons, although that is still relatively small. The Hiroshima bomb was around 20 kilotons.

The U.S. Geological Survey said that a seismic event measuring 5.1 magnitude had occurred on Tuesday, with North Korea later confirming the nuclear test.

"It was confirmed that the nuclear test that was carried out at a high level in a safe and perfect manner using a miniaturized and lighter nuclear device with greater explosive force than previously did not pose any negative impact on the surrounding ecological environment," KCNA said.

The test prompted the U.N. Security Council to call for an emergency meeting later on Tuesday and came as China celebrated the lunar new year, potentially increasing embarrassment for Beijing, the North's sole major economic and diplomatic ally.

"I think it will be proven to be a self-defeating and self-suffocating blunder on the part of the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea)," an Asian diplomat to the United Nations told Reuters in New York.

"They have chosen the worst timing to conduct this testing ... This will also be an open invitation to the international community to up the ante to corner the DPRK."

It may take days to ascertain whether the North used highly enriched uranium for the first time in the nuclear test, a move that would give it a second path to a nuclear weapon.

North Korea has used plutonium in previous tests and needs to conserve its stocks as testing eats into its limited supply of the material that could be used to construct a nuclear bomb.

The Vienna-based Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty Organization, the international atomic test monitor, said the event had hallmarks similar to the North's previous nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.

"This act would constitute a clear threat to international peace and security, and challenges efforts made to strengthen global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation," it said.

Japan immediately called for sanctions against North Korea whose December long-range rocket launch prompted new U.N. sanctions that Pyongyang said earlier would push it to undertake a third nuclear test.

South Korea's defense ministry said additional nuclear tests and rocket launches by the North should not be ruled out.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said Pyongyang had informed China and the United States of its plans to test on Monday.

When new leader Kim Jong-un took office after his father's death in December 2011, there were hopes the youthful leader would bring economic reforms and end his father Kim Jong-il's "military first" policies that have seen the North declare itself a "nuclear weapons state".

Since taking office however, he has purged the military, pushed ahead with two long-range rocket launches, which critics say breach U.N. sanctions.

Tuesday's action appeared to have been timed for the run-up to February 16 anniversary celebrations of Kim Jong-il's birthday, as well as to achieved maximum international attention.

But options for the international community appear to be in short supply, as North Korea is already one of the most heavily sanctioned states on earth.

Significantly, the test comes at a time of political transition in China, Japan and South Korea, and as U.S. President Barack Obama begins his second term.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is bedding down a new government and South Korea's new president, Park Geun-hye, prepares to take office on February 25.

China too is in the midst of a once in a decade leadership transition to Xi Jinping, who takes office in March.

But the longer term game plan from Pyongyang may be to restart talks aimed at winning aide for its impoverished and stricken economy that is smaller than it was 20 years ago.

Its puny economy and small diplomatic reach means the North struggles to win attention on the global stage - other than through nuclear tests and attacks on South Korea, last made in 2010.

"Now the next step for North Korea will be to offer talks. They will either offer to restart six-party talks or military talks - any form to start up discussion again to bring things to their advantage," said Jeung Young-tae, senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.

Obama statement on N. Korea's nuclear test

North Korea announced today that it conducted a third nuclear test. This is a highly provocative act that, following its December 12 ballistic missile launch, undermines regional stability, violates North Korea’s obligations under numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions, contravenes its commitments under the September 19, 2005 Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks, and increases the risk of proliferation. North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs constitute a threat to U.S. national security and to international peace and security. The United States remains vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations and steadfast in our defense commitments to allies in the region.

These provocations do not make North Korea more secure. Far from achieving its stated goal of becoming a strong and prosperous nation, North Korea has instead increasingly isolated and impoverished its people through its ill-advised pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.

The danger posed by North Korea’s threatening activities warrants further swift and credible action by the international community. The United States will also continue to take steps necessary to defend ourselves and our allies. We will strengthen close coordination with allies and partners and work with our Six-Party partners, the United Nations Security Council, and other UN member states to pursue firm action.

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2013/03/08/0200000000AEN20130308006300315.HTML


N. Korean general says Pyongyang has nuke-tipped ICBMs on standby

SEOUL, March 8 (Yonhap) -- A North Korean general said Thursday that the country has placed long-range missiles armed with nuclear warheads on standby, as Pyongyang said it will not bow to the United Nations resolution condemning its latest atomic weapons test.

According to the Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), Colonel General Kang Pyo-yong said soldiers are already positioned to launch a war of reunification if the order is given by its leaders. The paper said the general made clear at a speech given at a rally in Pyongyang that intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and other rockets capable of attacking pre-set targets have been armed with various types of atomic warheads.

Lol at Workers' Party of Korea ..Dumb commies.

North Korea's military threatens U.S. bases as "within target"

(Reuters) - North Korea's supreme military command said on Thursday its "precision attack" weapons have U.S. navy bases in Guam and Okinawa in their sights and will attack them if it is provoked.

"The United States is advised not to forget that our precision target tools have within their range the Anderson Air Force base on Guam where the B-52 takes off, as well as the Japanese mainland where nuclear powered submarines are deployed and the navy bases on Okinawa," the North Korean command spokesman was quoted by KCNA news agency.

North Korea earlier made a threat to stage a nuclear attack on the United States, something that is well outside of its current military capacity, although the U.S. Pacific bases are in range of its medium range missiles.

The North has responded angrily to reports that the United States has flown B-52 bomber sorties over the Korean peninsula as part of the annual military drills with South Korean forces.

Lol. Seol will be abluterated the moment they deploy one of their 10 mile range missiles.

YG Toe Nail wrote:Lol. Seol will be abluterated the moment they deploy one of their 10 mile range missiles.

Seoul isb the capital of south korea, think your thinkin of pyongyang

DontxTrip wrote:

YG Toe Nail wrote:Lol. Seol will be abluterated the moment they deploy one of their 10 mile range missiles.

Seoul isb the capital of south korea, think your thinkin of pyongyang

Thats why. Seoul will be obliterated first. I actually heard that they have a huge bomb shelter in Seoul that can fit millions of people, so I guess the people there are not that worried about their impending doom.

YG Toe Nail wrote:

DontxTrip wrote:

YG Toe Nail wrote:Lol. Seol will be abluterated the moment they deploy one of their 10 mile range missiles.

Seoul isb the capital of south korea, think your thinkin of pyongyang

Thats why. Seoul will be obliterated first. I actually heard that they have a huge bomb shelter in Seoul that can fit millions of people, so I guess the people there are not that worried about their impending doom.

why would Seoul be first?

DontxTrip wrote:

YG Toe Nail wrote:

DontxTrip wrote:

YG Toe Nail wrote:Lol. Seol will be abluterated the moment they deploy one of their 10 mile range missiles.

Seoul isb the capital of south korea, think your thinkin of pyongyang

Thats why. Seoul will be obliterated first. I actually heard that they have a huge bomb shelter in Seoul that can fit millions of people, so I guess the people there are not that worried about their impending doom.

why would Seoul be first?

They are the closest to the North that is why.

if the north ever fired some missles at u.s ships in a u.s base in japan, north korea would be bombed into a crater by the south, japan and the u.s before it got another missile off...lol

Ron Paul on his Facebook page:

Tensions on the Korean peninsula have again reached a flashpoint, as the US and South Korea trade threats with the government of North Korea. North Korea has threatened retaliation for US/South Korean provocations and has, it claims, abrogated the armistice that ended the Korean War some 60 years ago.
On the other side, the US and South Korea held a three day naval exercise last month that included, among many other warships, an American nuclear-powered submarine. This month, the US and South Korea are conducting another joint military exercise, this time with the US flying nuclear-capable B-52 bombers over the Korean peninsula.
Much of the current escalation came after the US drew up yet another set of sanctions for the UN Security Council to impose on North Korea. US Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, who drafted the language, promised that this round of sanctions “will bite and bite hard." That is unlikely, as sanctions have a pretty lousy track record. However, the North Korean government retaliated against the new sanctions with bellicose threats to launch a nuclear first strike against the US.
The US response to the threats has been entirely predictable. Rather than seek a way to tone down the rhetoric, newly confirmed Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced that the Pentagon, which just weeks ago claimed the “sequestration” would leave the US defenseless, would spend another billion dollars to deploy additional missile interceptors along the Pacific. This means money and jobs for a military-industrial complex that never really faced any threat of belt-tightening, as both parties continue to view the military as essentially a jobs program.
Secretary Hagel, when announcing the additional $1 billion spending spree, sounded far more hawkish than his recent dovish defenders probably hoped, stating, “We will strengthen our homeland defense, maintain our commitments to our allies and partners, and make clear to the world that the United States stands firm against aggression.” Obviously, monthly US-South Korean joint military exercises near North Korean borders are not considered aggression. Only North Korean bellicosity. I wonder how the Obama Administration would view a Chinese-Mexican joint military exercise on the Texas border.
Where will it all end? From the look of it, not well. The US foreign policy playbook has only one page: do the same thing over and over that has not worked in the past and hope it begins to work in the future.
The real question is why are we still in Korea at all. Why, after 60 years, is the United States military still occupying South Korea, patrolling its borders, inserting itself into the dispute between North and South? What might have happened if the US had not maintained such a force in Korea, enforcing the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) and keeping families on either side from having contacts with each other?
The popular view is that because North Korea is an isolated dictatorship run by irrationals, the only possible US response is to keep the situation militarized. To maintain the military threat. To continue to provoke. And always, impose more US-authored sanctions. However, one reason North Korea is isolated is the isolationist policies of the US government. It is isolationist to impose sanctions, to prohibit Americans from doing business, to impede or forbid travel by US citizens to countries with which the US government disagrees. North Korea is isolated in part because our government has isolated it. North Korea threatens to attack South Korea and the United States partly because South Korea and the United States continue to mount very provocative military exercises on North Korea’s border. That does not mean that I am in favor of the North Korean government. Far from it. Nor do I believe they are necessarily in favor of peace. But I do recognize when a policy is counter-productive.
I am the opposite of an isolationist. I believe we must engage the rest of the world, not with force or arms or hectoring about internal political developments. We must engage the rest of the world with our ideas, bringing people together rather than building walls or DMZs to keep them apart. A change in our policy may not produce an instant opening or improvement, but haven’t we tried the old, failed approach long enough? Does continuing to provoke North Korea show any real hope of diffusing the gathering storm?
What is the real Korean threat? The real “Korea threat” is the threat to the US economy by over-reacting to saber rattling by a third world country with another billion dollars in military spending. We cannot afford this empire, and sooner or later it will end.

North Korea says orders artillery to be combat ready, targeting U.S. bases

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/26/us-korea-north-combat-idUSBRE92P06520130326
(Reuters) - North Korea said on Tuesday its strategic rocket and long-range artillery units have been ordered to be combat ready, targeting U.S. military bases on Guam, Hawaii and mainland America after U.S. bombers flew sorties threatening the North.

The order, issued in a statement from the North's military "supreme command", marks the latest fiery rhetoric from Pyongyang since the start of joint military drills by U.S. and South Korean forces early this month.

South Korea's defense ministry said it saw no sign of imminent military action by North Korea.

"From this moment, the Supreme Command of the Korean People's Army will be putting into combat duty posture No. 1 all field artillery units, including long-range artillery units and strategic rocket units, that will target all enemy objects in U.S. invasionary bases on its mainland, Hawaii and Guam," the North's KCNA news agency said.

The North previously threatened nuclear attack on the United States and South Korea, although it is not believed to have the capability to hit the continental United States with an atomic weapon. But the U.S. military's bases in the Pacific area are in range of its medium-range missiles.

South Korea's defense ministry said it had detected no signs of unusual activity by the North's military but will monitor the situation. The South and the U.S. military are conducting drills until the end of April, which they have stressed are strictly defensive in nature.

The North has previously threatened to strike back at the U.S. military accusing Washington of war preparations by using B-52 bombers which have flown over the Korean peninsula as part of the drills.

North Korea has said it has abrogated an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War and threatened a nuclear attack on the United States.

(Reporting by Jack Kim and Ju-min Park; Editing by Neil Fullick)

China calls for restraint after North Korea threats to U.S.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/26/us-korea-north-china-idUSBRE92P06T20130326

(Reuters) - China said on Tuesday it hopes all sides on the Korean peninsula can exercise restraint, after North Korea ordered its strategic rocket and long-range artillery units to be combat ready to target U.S. military bases on Guam, Hawaii and mainland America.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei made the comments to reporters at a daily briefing.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard, Writing by Sui-Lee Wee; editing by Jonathan Standing)

kinda feels like shit just got serious...lol

Last few weeks, it just seems that the 'powers that be' are just hell bent on starting up this big war. It doesn't look like they will ever let up. In fact, the war wariness of the public seems to be causing the establishment to get more aggressive in starting wars even faster.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/9960933/North-Korea-plan-to-attack-US-mainland-revealed-in-photographs.html

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/30/17527380-north-korea-says-it-is-entering-state-of-war-with-south?lite

By Marian Smith, Staff Writer, NBC News
North Korea said on Saturday that it was entering a "state of war" with South Korea, following a call to arms by the country's young leader Kim Jong Un and days of increasingly belligerent rhetoric from the isolated state.

The North's official news agency KCNA published the joint statement issued by the government, political parties and other organizations.
"From this time on, the North-South relations will be entering a state of war and all issues raised between the North and the South will be handled accordingly," it said.
The statement also warned that if the U.S. and South Korea carried out a pre-emptive attack, the conflict "will not be limited to a local war, but develop into an all-out war, a nuclear war."

Analysts have said the North's threats have followed a similar pattern but that the country's 30-year-old leader is unpredictable and potentially dangerous.
The White House responded on Saturday by reiterating that "North Korea has a long history of bellicose rhetoric and threats," National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said in a statement.

However, she said the U.S. "takes these threats seriously".
"We continue to take additional measures against the North Korean threat, including our plan to increase the U.S. ground-based interceptors and early warning and tracking radar, and the signing of the ROK-U.S. counter-provocation plan," she said.
Slideshow: Glimpses into the hermit kingdom of North Korea


On Thursday the U.S. sent two nuclear-capable bombers to South Korea, where they dropped inert munitions in a military exercise. The flight sparked an angry response from the North, which declared on Friday that it was preparing rockets aimed at American bases in South Korea and the Pacific.

A South Korean defense ministry official said there were no early signs that the North was mobilizing, Reuters reported.
The two nations have technically been at war since a truce ended their 1950-53 conflict, but tensions have been increasing since the North carried out its third nuclear weapons test in February.

This whole thing is beyond stupid. The US and South Korea keep poking at North Korea in hopes of getting a dramatic response and the new young leader of NK is going over board to try proving himself as being crazy and down to go to war. Both sides are idiotic. The US is never interested in meaningful peace talks , only in threats and more sanctions. Which just throws fuel on the fire.

http://news.yahoo.com/u-deploys-warship-off-south-korea-amid-soaring-013622157.html

U.S. deploys warship off South Korea amid soaring tensions on peninsula

By Jack Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) - The United States has positioned a warship off the Korean coast as a shield against ballistic missile attack as South Korea's new president vowed swift retaliation against a North Korean strike amid soaring tensions on the peninsula.
But Washington also said it had seen no worrisome mobilization of armed forces by the North Koreans despite bellicose rhetoric over a ramping up of international sanctions against Pyongyang over nuclear weapons tests.

"If there is any provocation against South Korea and its people, there should be a strong response in initial combat without any political considerations," South Korean President Park Geun-hye told the defense minister and senior officials.
North Korea says the region is on the brink of a nuclear war in the wake of U.N. sanctions in response to its February nuclear test and a series of joint U.S. and South Korean military drills that have included a rare U.S. show of aerial power.

In Washington, the White House has said the United States takes seriously North Korea's war threats. But White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Monday: "I would note that despite the harsh rhetoric we are hearing from Pyongyang, we are not seeing changes to the North Korean military posture, such as large-scale mobilizations and positioning of forces."
North Korea further escalated its rhetoric on Saturday by saying it was entering a "state of war" with South Korea in response to what it termed the "hostile" military drills.
A U.S. defense official said the USS McCain, an Aegis-class guided-missile destroyer used for ballistic missile defense, was being positioned off the peninsula's southwestern coast.

"This is a prudent move that provides greater missile defense options should (they) become necessary," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The ship was not expected to participate in any exercises, the official added.

South Korea has changed its rules of engagement to allow local units to respond immediately to attacks, rather than waiting for permission from Seoul.
Stung by criticism that its response to the shelling of a South Korean island in 2010 was tardy and weak, Seoul has also threatened to target young North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and to destroy statues of the ruling Kim dynasty in the event of any new attack, a plan that has outraged Pyongyang.

CHINA CALLED TO HELP ENFORCE SANCTIONS

North Korea stepped up its rhetoric in early March, when U.S. and South Korean forces began annual military drills that involved the flights of U.S. B-2 stealth bombers in a practice run, prompting the North to put its missile units on standby to fire at U.S. military bases in South Korea and in the Pacific.

The United States also deployed F-22 stealth fighter jets on Sunday to take part in the drills. The Pentagon said it was the fourth time F-22s had been deployed to South Korea.
Australia, a close U.S. ally and rotating U.N. Security Council member, said it would urge China to help enforce sanctions banning the flow of technology and equipment to North Korea.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who leaves on Friday for Beijing, plans to call on Chinese leaders to help bolster stop-and-search provisions for shipping to and from North Korea,

Foreign Minister Bob Carr said. Canberra also plans its own banking and financial sanctions.
"The immediate priority is to see the sanctions agreed on by the Security Council are properly enforced," Carr said on Tuesday.

KIM JONG-UN TIGHTENS GRIP ON POWER

North Korea has cancelled an armistice agreement with the United States that ended the Korean War and has cut all hotlines with U.S. forces, the United Nations and South Korea.
At a recent meeting of North Korea's ruling Workers Party Central Committee, leader Kim Jong-un rejected the notion that Pyongyang was going to use its nuclear arms development as a bargaining chip for foreign aid for the impoverished nation.

"The nuclear weapons of Songun Korea are not goods for getting U.S. dollars and they are ... (not) to be put on the table of negotiations aimed at forcing the (North) to disarm itself," KCNA news agency quoted him as saying.

Songun is the Korean word for the "Military First" policy preached by Kim's father who used it to justify the use of the impoverished state's scarce resources to build a 1.2-million strong army and pursue development of weapons of mass destruction.

At the meeting, Kim appointed a handful of personal confidants to the party's politburo, further consolidating his grip on power in the second full year of his reign.
Former premier Pak Pong-ju, a key confidant of the leadership dynasty, was re-appointed to the post from which he was fired in 2007 for failing to implement economic reforms.
Pak, believed to be in his 70s, is viewed as a key ally of Jang Song-thaek, the young Kim's uncle and also a protege of Kim's aunt. Pak is viewed as a pawn in a power game that has seen

Jang and his wife re-assert power over military leaders.
Analysts said the move would not likely change North Korea's approach to a confrontation that appears to have dragged the two Koreas closer to war.

China mobilizing troops, jets near N. Korean border, US officials say

Published April 01, 2013

Washington Free Beacon

China has placed military forces on heightened alert in the northeastern part of the country as tensions mount on the Korean peninsula following recent threats by Pyongyang to attack, U.S. officials said.

Reports from the region reveal the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) recently increased its military posture in response to the heightened tensions, specifically North Korea's declaration of a "state of war" and threats to conduct missile attacks against the United States and South Korea.

According to the officials, the PLA has stepped up military mobilization in the border region with North Korea since mid-March, including troop movements and warplane activity.
China's navy also conducted live-firing naval drills by warships in the Yellow Sea that were set to end Monday near the Korean peninsula, in apparent support of North Korea, which was angered by ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills that are set to continue throughout April.

North Korea, meanwhile, is mobilizing missile forces, including road-mobile short- and medium-range missiles, according to officials familiar with satellite imagery of missile bases.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/04/01/china-mobilizing-troops-jets-near-n-korean-border/#ixzz2PHRTVGB2