Nord Corea [Discussione Ufficiale]

[Simone]

E' vero che il regime nordcoreano non prenderebbe un eventuale attacco aereo con gioia, però -usando i Raptor- non avrebbero tracce radar con cui provare, in sede internazionale, che le esplosioni sono state realmente causate da un atto ostile, in quanto se non sbaglio le SDbombs non lasciano frammenti riconoscibili dopo la detonazione. Certamente il regime potrebbe reagire con una dura dichiarazione mediatica, oppure muovere contingenti più o meno corposi vicino alle frontiere a scopo intimidatorio,ma non penso che possano andare oltre. Senza tracce non possono accusare nessuno nè la comunità internazionale li appoggerebbe, e vi sono recenti analisi secondo le quali la Corea del Nord non è più una superpotenza militare come nei decenni scorsi, molte delle loro armi sono obsolete quando non addirittura inservibili, mentre l'air power combinato fra USA e Corea del Sud è grandissimo

[meason]

spero che tu non intenda dire di poter bombardare le centrali nucleari o centri sperimentali coreani con le sdb dato che perforano meno di un metro di cemento armato. comunque, che senso avrebbe oggi attaccare la nord corea?

[TT-1 Pinto]

spero che tu non intenda dire di poter bombardare le centrali nucleari o centri sperimentali coreani con le sdb dato che perforano meno di un metro di cemento armato.

comunque, che senso avrebbe oggi attaccare la nord corea?

A mio parere (per quello che può contare) .... nessuno .... se non quello di scatenare un'altra guerra che nessuno avrebbe, ora come ora, nè interesse nè voglia di combattere ....

 

Non siamo in un romanzo di Tom Clancy .... e l'obiettivo non sarebbe un covo di narcos ....

[cama81]

Non siamo in un romanzo di Tom Clancy .... e l'obiettivo non sarebbe un covo di narcos ....

 

clear and present danger

 

senza contare il ''piccolo'' problema di un fall out nucleare , verso cina , giappone e corea del sud

[TT-1 Pinto]

.... senza contare il ''piccolo'' problema di un fall out nucleare , verso cina , giappone e corea del sud ....

E aggiungiamoci pure la Russia Asiatica ....

 

[meason]

la mia era comunque una domanda retorica.

[Andrea75]

La tensione sale tra la Corea del Sud e la Corea del Nord.

 

3 giorni fa è successo questo South Korea fires warning shots at North Korean fishing boats

 

The South Korean Navy fired warning shots to ward off North Korean fishing boats that were spotted south of the maritime border between the two countries, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday.

The North Korean vessels crossed back over the border, known as the Northern Limit Line, following the warning shots, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

 

ed oggi la Corea del Su ha annunciato questo South Korean F-15K scrambled in response to North Korea’s Northern Limit Line violation

 

a South Korean F-15K fighter jet “equipped with air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles” was launched on Friday, Sept. 21, after six North Korean fishing vessels crossed the Northern Limit Line in the the Yellow Sea.

 

S. Korean Fighter Jet Deployed in Response to N. Korean NLL Violation: Source

[Andrea75]

Korea peninsula could face "thermonuclear war," North tells U.N.

 

Un po' di propaganda:

U.S. policy toward North Korea has made the Korean peninsula the most dangerous place on the planet because a "spark" there could ignite a nuclear war, a senior North Korean official told the U.N. General Assembly on Monday.

[Andrea75]

North Korean Soldier Defects to South Korea

 

A North Korean soldier killed two of his officers Saturday and defected to South Korea across the countries' heavily armed border, officials said.

The soldier shot his platoon and company commanders before crossing the Demilitarized Zone at around noon, a Defense Ministry official said, citing the soldier's statement after he was taken into custody by South Korean border guards.

 

South Korea Questions Soldier From North

 

North Korea remained silent on the defection and no unusual activity was detected on the northern side of the border following the first defection across the demilitarized zone since 2010, the South Korean Defense Ministry said.

 

Seoul to Extend Missile Range

 

South Korea said it agreed with the U.S. to extend the range of its ballistic-missile systems to cover all of North Korea, going beyond the 185-mile limit of a voluntary agreement with the U.S. and other countries.

The decision comes after a year of public pressure by President Lee Myung-bak and other South Korean conservative heavyweights on the U.S. government, which formed the agreement known as the Missile Technology Control Regime in 1987 to slow the spread of missile technology. Approximately 35 countries, including South Korea, are part of the pact.

[TT-1 Pinto]

Da .... Seoul to Extend Missile Range ....

 

In announcing the move Sunday, Mr. Lee's national-security aide Chun Yong-woo saidSouth Korea would extend the range of its ballistic missiles to 500 miles, a distance that would mean it could hit the northeast corner of North Korea from launch sites in central South Korea.

It also puts part of China's northeast and a large area of Japan within range of South Korea's missiles.

Piacerà questo ai "vicini" continentali e, in modo particolare, a quelli insulari ?

[vorthex]

in linea teorica si: Koreani e Giapponesi si odiano, ma in liena pratica sono alleati, avendo comuni nemici e, soprattutto, un comune alleato.

[Andrea75]

Isolated North Korea says its rockets can hit U.S. mainland

 

Isolated North Korea has rockets that can hit the U.S. mainland, it said on Tuesday, two days after South Korea struck a deal with the United States to extend the range of its ballistic missiles.

...

North Korea is believed to be developing a long-range missile with a range of 6,700 km (4,160) miles) or more aimed at hitting the United States, but two recent rocket tests both failed.

Its neighbors fear the North is using rocket launches to perfect technology to build a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the United States.

North Korea's National Defence Commission said in a statement that the North was prepared to counter any U.S. military threats, its KCNA news agency said.

"We do not hide (the fact) that the revolutionary armed forces ... including the strategic rocket forces are keeping within the scope of strike not only the bases of the puppet forces and the U.S. imperialist aggression forces' bases in the inviolable land of Korea, but also Japan, Guam and the U.S. mainland," KCNA said.

[Andrea75]

Japan, South Korea and US officials agree to keep close watch on NKorea

 

Senior officials from the United States, South Korea and Japan have agreed to maintain close communications on North Korea’s development of missiles and nuclear weapons.

Representatives of the three countries met in Tokyo on Wednesday to discuss their concerns about North Korea. Officials said the working-level talks also offered Japan and South Korea a chance to mend their own bilateral relationship, which has soured in recent months over a territorial dispute.

North Korea created an international stir earlier this year when it attempted to launch a long-range rocket that it said carried a satellite but which could also be used test its missile technologies. The launch failed.

[Andrea75]

North Korea says will fire on South if leaflets dropped

 

 

North Korea issued its most strident warning in months on Friday when it threatened to open fire on South Korean territory if anti-Pyongyang leaflets were sent over from South Korean territory.

 

It said that if leaflets were dropped on Monday a "merciless military strike by the Western Front will be put into practice without warning", according to state news agency KCNA.

 

It said it would target a tourist area in the border city of Paju a few miles from the demilitarised zone that separates the two countries if the launch went ahead.

[Andrea75]

North Korea in quasi state of war

 

According to their source in the North Hamkyung Province: “An order to enter a quasi-state of war came this morning; they said to be on alert and refrain from traveling unnecessarily.”

 

Another source in the North Pyongan Province is reported to have said, “An order declaring a quasi-state of war from now until the 31st has been declared.”

 

Daily NK reports that the period roughly matches that of South Korea’s ‘Hoguk’ military exercises, which began yesterday and will last until November 2.

 

In what may be an unrelated event, the declaration came shortly before South Korea’s launching of a rocket from South Jeolla Province.

 

The so-called “quasi-martial law” has placed travel restrictions on the population, a source in North Korea’s Pyongan-pukto province has told Daily NK.

[Andrea75]

North Korea Makes Progress on Reactor

 

North Korea’s continued construction of a light-water reactor (LWR) that experts say could be used to produce weapons-grade plutonium is “deeply troubling,” International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Yukiya Amano said last month.

Addressing the IAEA Board of Governors at the start of its quarterly meeting on Sept. 10, Amano said Pyongyang has made “significant progress” on the reactor since the IAEA submitted its previous findings on the status of North Korea’s nuclear program in September 2011. Citing its monitoring through satellite imagery, the agency said in its latest report, dated Aug. 30, that a dome has been installed over the facility and a system for pumping water up to the reactor building has been put in place.

[Andrea75]

Is life in North Korea really not that bad?

 

Felix Abt, a Swiss businessman who lived in North Korea for years, says these and other widely read accounts of life in North Korea tell far from the whole story. In a recent opinion piece on GlobalPost, he makes the incredibly unusual argument that North Korea isn’t as destitute and oppressed as its escapees would have you believe.

 

“For seven years, I made a living in the world’s most closed off communist country as — of all careers there — a businessman. Now living a comfortable life as an entrepreneur in Vietnam, I have all sorts of stories to tell that contradict these tales.”

[Andrea75]

North Korea Conducts Large Rocket Motor Tests: Construction at Sohae Launch Pad

 

Despite its failed rocket test last spring, commercial satellite imagery indicates that North Korea continues to develop long-range missiles, possibly with intercontinental ranges. Since the failed launch, the North has conducted at least two, and possibly more, tests of large rocket motors at its Sohae Satellite Launching Station, the most recent in mid-September 2012. These tests, critical for the development of new rockets, appear to have been of liquid-fueled, first stage engines for either the Unha-3 satellite launch vehicle or the new KN-08 long-range missile first viewed in a parade in Pyongyang last April.

 

In addition, commercial satellite imagery of the Sohae rocket launch area indicates construction activity on the upper gantry platform required for future launches of long-range rockets much larger than either the Unha-3 or the KN-08. 38 North previously reported indications, from open media and from construction activity at its launch facilities, that the North is developing such a rocket.

 

In the aftermath of the US and South Korean presidential elections, Pyongyang may embark on a new round of activities in the first half of 2013, including rocket and nuclear tests that will contribute to further development of its nuclear deterrent. Whether the testing of large rocket motors or construction at the launch pad are in preparation for such activities remains unclear at this point.

 

L'articolo prosegue con molte informazioni e immagini. Posto solo l'ultima

 

+

 

Construction Activity at the Sohae Launch Pad

 

Satellite imagery also indicates that the North is working on completing the upper gantry platforms needed for future launches of rockets larger than the Unha-3 (see figure 6). Previous satellite imagery showed all four sets of work platforms on the rocket gantry closed and covered with dark canvas. The crane was aligned perpendicular to the long axis of the pad and over the closed work platforms.

 

Imagery from September 28 shows that, while the lower three sets of platforms remain closed, the top set is retracted back against the gantry. A payload support arm, first photographed by the media on April 8, 2012 is visible. Since a lower arm was used for the Unha-3 vehicle, this arm is intended to support a much taller rocket planned for future launches from Sohae. The gantry crane was aligned over the open platforms, indicating that work was being done.

[Andrea75]

Contatti diplomatici Corea del Nord - Giappone Japan, North Korea begin new talks in Mongolia; Tokyo seeks details on decades-old abductions

 

Japan and North Korea began bilateral talks Thursday in Mongolia that Tokyo hopes will shed light on a series of decades-old abductions.

 

The talks in the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator are scheduled to last through Friday. In August, lower-level negotiators from Japan and North Korea held the countries’ first bilateral talks in four years, but made little progress.

Japan wants information on the abductions of Japanese citizens by North Korean agents in the 1970s and ‘80s. Japan believes at least one abductee may still be alive and in the North, though North Korea denies this. Five abductees were returned to Japan in 2002.

Japan and North Korea do not have formal diplomatic relations. The abduction issue and concerns over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs have long strained ties.

Japanese officials indicated before the start of the talks that they expected them to be tough and not likely to lead to any immediate breakthroughs. North Korea’s official media provided few details, reporting only that they were intended to deal with issues of mutual interest.

Japan has imposed strict sanctions against the North and cut off most economic and cultural exchanges in 2006 after a missile launch. Tensions heightened again earlier this year when the North launched a rocket that it said carried a satellite, but that Japan and other countries criticized as a thinly disguised test of long-range missile technology. The launch failed just after takeoff.

As the negotiators met in Mongolia, a group of university athletes from Japan’s top sports university were holding a rare series of friendly competitions with students in North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang. The 40 Japanese students squared off with their North Korean counterparts in judo, soccer and other events.

[Andrea75]

Challenges Posed by North Korea’s Weapon-Grade Uranium and Weapon-Grade Plutonium: Current and Projected Stocks

 

North Korea may be moving to increase the size and sophistication of its nuclear arsenal. This escalation follows the demise of the February 29, 2012 reciprocal arrangement between Pyongyang and Washington, and North Korean statements that it will bolster its nuclear deterrent. Although uncertainty surrounds the North’s decisions, it is important to scrutinize Pyongyang’s current and projected capability to make weapon-grade uranium (WGU) and weapon-grade plutonium, the two key materials in building nuclear weapons. Despite the uncertainties, such an assessment contributes to better formulating how the United States should respond to North Korea’s nuclear programs, in particular its uranium enrichment program (UEP).

For years, great controversy has surrounded North Korea’s uranium enrichment program. How large is it? Has it made weapon-grade uranium? How much could it make in the future? But there are also other questions. What is the role of the UEP in North Korea’s overall nuclear effort? Is the UEP oriented to make 3.5 percent low-enriched uranium (LEU) for a civilian light water reactor (LWR) under construction at the Yongbyon nuclear complex, as North Korea claims? Or does North Korea intend to enrich uranium to a higher level for use in the LWR to make weapon-grade plutonium for nuclear weapons? Although LWRs are not typically used to make weapon-grade plutonium, they can do so efficiently through what is called a target/driver system if the reactor core is specially designed with uranium enriched to a level greater than 3.5 percent.

To address these questions, we surveyed available information about North Korea’s UEP and LWR. Faced with significant uncertainties, we evaluated a range of plausible scenarios about the past and possible future operation of the centrifuge program. We focused particularly on producing a range of estimates of North Korea’s current and future stocks of weapon-grade uranium and the future possible production of weapon-grade plutonium in the Yongbyon LWR. We then derived central estimates. The scenarios and all the estimates are detailed in a recent ISIS report, North Korea’s Estimated Stocks of Plutonium and Weapon-Grade Uranium.

 

 

... segnalo inoltre questo paper (dello scorso agosto) North Korea’s Estimated Stocks of Plutonium and Weapon-Grade Uranium

 

consiglio la lettura per riprendere la cronologia dell'industria nucleare nord-coreana con i vari scenari, le incertezze ed i punti fermi riguardo a questo nebuloso "affaire" mi limito a postare questo:

Cumulative Stocks of Fissile Material and Their Weapons-Worth

Since both plutonium and WGU can be used in nuclear weapons, this section assesses the total number of nuclear weapons North Korea could build from these materials. To simplify the discussion, midpoints of WGU production estimates with associated ranges are used. Estimate 2 is the midpoint for WGU production, or 11.3 kg WGU per year per 1,000 P2 centrifuges. The lower and upper bound of the associated range is defined by estimates 1 and 3. A fission nuclear weapon made with WGU is assumed to require 20 kilograms of WGU.

Table 4 lists the results through the end of 2011. As can be seen, the central estimate is that as of the end of 2011, North Korea has enough fissile material for 12 to 23 nuclear weapons. Assuming the existence of a secret centrifuge production-scale plant and ignoring the high end WGU estimate, the central estimates of the number of weapons cluster in the range of 16-19 nuclear weapons worth. If no WGU were produced through 2011, the central overall value remains at 12 nuclear weapons worth, where the weapons involve only plutonium.

It is illustrative to predict fissile material estimates through 2016 using the mid-point estimates only without considering the range. Table 5 compares three cases of projected nuclear weapons production through 2016. The date of 2016 is used here as above. This date also allows for the development of weapon-grade plutonium production in the LWR.

The three cases are:

1. North Korea does not make any more plutonium for weapons, but it produces LEU for the experimental LWR;

2. It optimizes the LWR for making weapon-grade plutonium; and,

3. It does not provide LEU to the LWR, but instead dedicates centrifuge capacity to making WGU.

Scenarios A and B are as defined above and in table 2, namely scenario A assumes one centrifuge plant at Yongbyon and scenario B assumes two centrifuge plants.

As expected, all of these projections, which are shown in table 5, show an increase in North Korea’s nuclear weapons arsenal. They also show that dedicating a significant portion of the centrifuge capacity to allowing the LWR to make weapon-grade plutonium does not cause a reduction in the total number of projected North Korean nuclear weapons, compared to dedicating all the centrifuge capacity to making WGU and not making any LEU for the LWR. However, this strategy does delay the attainment of those weapons.

Case 1 This case shows that absent the LWR making plutonium for nuclear weapons, North Korea’s projected growth in its nuclear arsenal will be relatively modest. The reactor’s requirement for LEU would reduce significantly the ability of North Korea to make WGU for nuclear weapons. In scenario A, the estimated number of weapons at the end of 2016 is 14-25, an increase of two weapons since the end of 2011. The scenario B estimate is higher but still represents a modest increase of eleven weapons in North Korea’s nuclear arsenal to 23-34 nuclear weapons. This growth represents an average increase of about two weapons per year from the end of 2011 to the end of 2016.

Case 2 Under case 2, North Korea’s rate of weapon-grade plutonium production would far exceed the rate of plutonium production in the 5 MWe reactor at Yongbyon, although new production would not be expected until about 2015. To produce plutonium at this accelerated rate, as in case 1, much of the North Korea’s enrichment output would be applied to making enriched uranium driver fuel for the LWR.

Under scenario A in case 2, North Korea would likely have enough enrichment capacity to produce a limited amount of weapon-grade uranium for advanced nuclear weapons. By the end of 2016, North Korea is projected to have 28-39 nuclear weapons, or an increase of 16 weapons since the end of 2011, all but one produced in 2015 and 2016.

Under scenario B in case 2, which allows for a second centrifuge plant, North Korea could produce a much larger quantity of WGU. It could have 37-48 nuclear weapons, or an increase of 25 weapons, most of which are produced in 2015 and 2016.

Under case 2, the LWR would be an efficient way to significantly increase the number of North Korea’s nuclear weapons using plutonium while leaving enough enrichment capacity to make weapon-grade uranium for more advanced nuclear weapons. However, the downside is that weapons production would be delayed by several years as the LWR comes into operation.

Case 3 If the LWR is dedicated to making weapon-grade plutonium for weapons, in the longer term North Korea could produce more nuclear weapons using this route than if it dedicated its centrifuge capacity to making WGU and not producing any LEU for the LWR, which is described in case 3. However, this result must be tempered by the fact that the difference would be less if instead of 20 kilograms of WGU per weapon, only 15 kilograms of WGU were needed per weapon, something which may be possible for North Korea to do. Thus, given such uncertainties the relative differences between cases 2 and 3 should not be overly emphasized.

The results of cases 1, 2, and 3 can also be understood by comparing these cases in each of scenarios A and B. Figure 4 shows the growth in the arsenal under scenario A where the mid-points of the ranges in table 5 are plotted. This simplification is needed to make a coherent graph but it does not change the trends in the graphs. In case 2, displayed in blue, the graph shows a dramatic increase in the numbers of weapons after 2014, reaching a value at the end of 2016 that exceeds the value in case 3, the green line, which provides a baseline where the centrifuge capacity produces only WGU and does not produce LEU for the LWR.

[Andrea75]

North Korea prepares to launch long range missile

 

Satellite imagery of the Tongchang-ri Launch Facility in North Korea

 

N Korea preparing for missile launch: Japanese media

 

U.S. satellites have picked up signs that North Korea is preparing to launch a long-range missile, a Japanese newspaper reported on Friday.

North Korea moved missile parts from its military factory in Pyongyang to a launch pad in Tongchang-ri in the country’s far northwest early November, the Asahi Shimbun said.

The U.S. government has already informed its counterparts in Japan and South Korea about the move, the daily said, adding that the three countries had increased vigilance.

The developments came after North Korea carried out a failed rocket launch in April in what the communist state said was an attempt to put a satellite into orbit from the same launch pad.

According to the daily, images of the shipment recently taken by U.S. satellites were similar to one used in the April launch.

Pyongyang is technically ready to launch a missile late November, but an immediate launch is unlikely ahead of South Korea’s presidential election next month, the Asahi said.

North Korea has not announced any plans to launch a rocket.

Immediate confirmation by the Japanese government was not available.

In Seoul, a South Korean defence ministry spokesman said it could comment on any matter of intelligence, while a presidential Blue House spokeswoman said she had no information.

 

 

 

... probabilmente non è collegata, però la segnalo South Korea deploys new cruise missiles: report

 

South Korea has begun fitting naval destroyers with a new, indigenously-developed cruise missile capable of making precision strikes anywhere in North Korea, a news report said Friday.

Yonhap news agency quoted a senior military official as saying the South had armed two destroyers with 32 of its Hyunmu 3C Tomahawk-style cruise missiles.

The missiles have a range of 400 kilometres (250 miles) and are capable of reaching targets in the farthest corners of North Korea within a three-metre (nine foot) degree of accuracy, the report said.

The unidentified military official said the deployment was partly a response to North Korea's strengthened naval presence off the peninsula's west coast.

The North recently completed a military hovercraft base at Koampo on its southwestern coast, which could be used to attack South Korean islands near the disputed Yellow Sea border.

The maritime boundary was the scene of deadly naval clashes in 1999, 2002 and 2009.

Seoul strengthened its troop presence and upgraded its weaponry on a number of "frontline" islands following North Korea's shelling exactly two years ago of Yeonpyeong island that killed two South Korean marines and two civilians.

[Andrea75]

Satellite photo shows increased activity at North Korean launch site

 

A new satellite image shows a marked increase in activity at a North Korean missile launch site, pointing to a possible long-range ballistic missile test by Pyongyang in the next three weeks, according to satellite operator DigitalGlobe Inc.

The imagery was released days after a Japanese newspaper, the Asahi Shimbun, reported that U.S. intelligence analysts had detected moves that were seen as preparation by North Korea for a long-range missile launch as early as this month.

DigitalGlobe, which provides commercial satellite imagery to the U.S. government and foreign governments, on Monday released a new image that it said showed increased activity at North Korea's Sohae (West Sea) Satellite Launch Station.

It said the imagery showed more people, trucks and other equipment at the site, a level of activity that was consistent with preparations seen before North Korea's failed April 13 rocket launch.

"Given the observed level of activity noted of a new tent, trucks, people and numerous portable fuel/oxidizer tanks, should North Korea desire, it could possibly conduct its fifth satellite launch event during the next three weeks," DigitalGlobe said in a statement accompanying the image.

A Pentagon spokeswoman declined to comment on the reported satellite images, but said the Defense Department's position on North Korea's missile development efforts had not changed.

She urged North Korea to comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions that "require Pyongyang to suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program in a complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner, and re-establish its moratorium on missile launching."

North Korea, which carried out nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009 and is under heavy U.N. sanctions for its atomic weapons program, has tried for years to influence major events in South Korea by waging propaganda or armed attacks. South Korea is gearing up for a presidential election on December 19.

[Simone]

Con tutto il rispetto, bisognerebbe indagare se questo imminente lancio riguarda le prove già iniziate anni fa per un futuro ICBM, oppure se vi è davvero l'intenzione di lanciare un piccolo satellite ,magari con scopi di sorveglianza per conto di altri Paesi. L'Iran,per esempio, potrebbe beneficiare di assistenza satellitare per monitorare i movimenti di mezzi aerei e navali israeliani ed americani.

Forse è avventato, però se il futuro missile dovesse essere lanciato con una traiettoria "provocatoria" (= per esempio, sorvolando la corea del Sud) od addirittura minacciosa, si potrebbe considerare l'opzione di intercettarlo con il sistema SM3. Sarebbe, secondo me,m un segnale forte ed un'utile esercitazione realistica

[Andrea75]

'Poison' pen mightier than sword for would-be North Korean assassin

 

All you might feel is someone brush by you and a slight pin prick. But very quickly you would be suffering muscle paralysis followed by suffocation. You would be dead within a very short period of time.

This is the deadly effect of just one of the weapons found on a failed North Korean assassin last year on the busy streets of Seoul, now shown exclusively to CNN.

Disguised to look like a Parker ballpoint pen, it contains a poison needle and is practically impossible to identify as a weapon.

The second pen shoots a poison-filled bullet which penetrates the skin and releases the toxin and the third weapon is a flashlight, loaded with up to three bullets. They all look completely innocuous but all three will kill.

An individual willing to be identified only as an "investigation official" showed CNN the weapons, pointing out the flashlight as the most significant find. "This flashlight is new," the man familiar with North Korean assassination devices said.

"I've never seen this weapon. If you look at the front, there are three holes, there was a bullet in each hole and here is the trigger. This is currently loaded and dangerous, two bullets remain."

The third bullet had been fired by investigation authorities to test the weapon. It was accurate and deadly. The would-be assassin who was carrying these devices was arrested on his way to kill his target.

That target was anti-North Korea activist, Park Sang-hak, who has since been given round-the-clock police protection by South Korean authorities. We showed Park the footage of the weapons intended for him. He was shocked.

"You'd notice a gun, but these weapons are so innocuous, you can easily kill someone, I'd be dead immediately."

Park says he will continue to send anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets across the border in balloons, a practice which has angered the regime, sparking threats of military retaliation. He was aware he was at the top of North Korea's hit list.

Park had been in contact with the would-be assassin, named only as Ahn, as Ahn had expressed interest in funding his activism. He was on his way to meet him when the National Intelligence Service intervened and stopped him. It was at that meeting Ahn was believed to have planned to kill Park, according to South Korean authorities. Ahn was convicted in April and sentenced to four years in prison.

"I didn't believe they'd try and kill me on the crowded streets of Seoul, I thought the NIS was over-reacting," Park said.

He now knows they saved his life but is also convinced that it will not be the last attempt on his life.

[TT-1 Pinto]

In merito all'eventuale imminente lancio ....

 

Dal "Daily Report" dell'AFA di questa mattina ....

 

 

Another North Korean Missile Launch Coming?

 

 

Increased activity at North Korea's Sohae satellite launch site indicates that the communist nation may be preparing to launch a long-range missile soon, reported Voice of America on Nov 27.

 

http://www.voanews.com/content/new-satellite-images-suggest-noth-korea-missile-activity/1553649.html

 

The news service cited the Nov. 23 satellite image that DigitalGlobe, a US commercial satellite imagery provider, released on Nov. 26 showing "a marked increase in activity" at Sohae "consistent with launch preparations" witnessed prior to North Korea's failed attempt in April to launch a multi-stage missile from there.

 

http://www.airforce-magazine.com/DRArchive/Pages/2012/April%202012/April%2013%202012/NorthKoreanMissileLaunchFails.aspx

 

DigitalGlobe estimated that a launch could come in "the next three weeks."

 

North Korea's actions come as South Korea nears a presidential election on Dec. 19, according to VOA.

 

Pentagon Press Secretary George Little told reporters on Nov 27 that the "United States' position has not changed" on North Korean missile launches.

 

"We continue to call on North Korea to comply fully with its obligations under UN Security Council Resolutions 1718 and 1874," he said.

 

They require North Korea "to suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program in a complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner, and re-establish its moratorium on missile launching," he said.

 

Little transcript .... http://www.defense.gov/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=5156

 

See also CNN Security Clearance blog entry .... http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/27/second-north-korean-missile-launch-would-be-unprecedented/