Korea 2013... War Game or political game changer?

[Franklin]

Re: Korea 2013 War, Game or political game changer

According to Kim Jong Un's pal Dennis Rodman he wants to negotiate directly with the US to resolve the remaining issue's between the two countries. So far Kim Jong Un has been more provocative then his father Kim Jong Il in both action and speech, of course the fly by of the B-2 stealth bombers doesn't help the situation either. We just simply don't know what the internal political dynamics are inside of North Korea that prompt these actions and statements.

But i don't believe that all out war on the Korean peninsula is very likely. The North Koreans know that if war breaks out that they will loose against the South Korean American alliance and that would mean the end of their rule in North Korea. And i doubt that South Korea and America are itching for a fight either. So no one wants a war on the Korean peninsula and all sides are just blustering for... god knows what.

Guy's, its the weekend so sit back and relax and enjoy some modern North Korean music.

The Moranbong Band

[video=youtube;44o7xfA-ga8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44o7xfA-ga8[/video]

[video=youtube;cBwDVRPWZWg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBwDVRPWZWg[/video]

 

[TerraN_EmpirE]

Re: Korea 2013 War, Game or political game changer

According to Kim Jong Un's pal Dennis Rodman he wants to negotiate directly with the US to resolve the remaining issue's between the two countries.

fact for consideration this is Dennis "The Worm" Rodman. Hardly a real political thinker. And his tour was a publicity stunt to try and get him some lime light.

So far Kim Jong Un has been more provocative then his father Kim Jong Il in both action and speech,

dead on accurate.

of course the fly by of the B-2 stealth bombers doesn't help the situation either.

to be frank the up could have sent a

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and the north would still have taken offence still it was a bit bold of the Obama Whitehouse

We just simply don't know what the internal political dynamics are inside of North Korea that prompt these actions and statements.

true to a point but one thing we do know is that as the new leader and a young one at that. Eun is likely under a lot of pressure from the hawks to make a stand. He also needs to solidify his power base purge those he feels if cannot trust well maintaining those he cant live without.

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But i don't believe that all out war on the Korean peninsula is very likely. The North Koreans know that if war breaks out that they will loose against the South Korean American alliance and that would mean the end of their rule in North Korea. And i doubt that South Korea and America are itching for a fight either.

true.No sane person wants a war the South and US I think would only act if attacked. The question is the North. Are they really as crazy as they play or are they just bluffing??? We have to both take them seriously and questionbly. They have defied the world and played all three major powers for fools. So The Joker in The deck is he really just trying too soldify at home or is he thinking pushing the question of unifying the peninsula?

So no one wants a war on the Korean peninsula and all sides are just blustering for... god knows what.

Like I said Joker in the deck. but I think I can give a few reasons for the western half.
For the USA the worry is the pressure placed by the nuclear issue and possibility that Iran is using North korea as a outside R&D lab. In addition, President Obama is to busy trying to sell the US into his own agendas so This is pushing the South too stand up more and giving the North the impresion that Any chance of A bribe is off the Table. Well in Truth I think that Washington is using a "the rest of the world can wait" Attitude. So The US is funtioning on Intimidate mode Letting others act and just supplying support.
For the South its the worry of the added threat of a nuclear north. (sure even without a nuke the north can still shell the southern capital. But shelling would lead to war and the south would win that.) A nuclear weapon the South at this time has no counter to, all they could do is hope the US keeps its promise. Intimidate the North Though conventional means And/Or try and develup it's own WMD. In addition the actions taken by the North in terms of sinking of a naval warship and shelling of southern territory are still Fresh in the memorys of the Southern population On there own Any one of these demand sanction.
The North can live with a western sanction but then the Chinese are making moves ( atleast in public) to join the sanctions. The North needs China, its the one player who has let the North get what it wants openly. Russia has stepped back in it's Enabler role of the North Korean state and Even if they did try and move too support the reigime they would have to go though China.

CBS NEWS/ March 29, 2013, 9:13 PM
North Korea says it's entering "state of war" with SouthNorth Korea is entering a "state of war" with South Korea, its state-run news service reports, further escalating the rhetoric against its southern neighbor and the United States.

The statement, carried by the communist country's KCNA news agency, says inter-Korean relations will be dealt with in a wartime manner.

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"From this time on, the North-South relations will be entering the state of war and all issues raised between the North and the South will be handled accordingly," the statement said, according to Reuters.

CBS News correspondent Major Garrett spoke to a top White House official Friday night who said communication between the U.S. and South Korea is on a nearly constant basis and while North Korea is in a mindset of war, the White House doesn't think it's actually going to happen.

North Korean saber rattling is common every spring, Garrett reports, when the United States and South Korea engage in military exercises.

U.S. officials, however, concede there is no way of knowing exactly what the new 30-year-old leader Kim Jong Un will do and when. Earlier, he claimed he was ready to "settle accounts" with the United States.

Christopher Hill, a former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, said all the war talk is "bluster," but he worried about things going too far with a leader the U.S. is unfamiliar with.

"I think the real concern is not so much that they're going to aim a missile at Waikiki in Hawaii, but rather there is going to be some miscalculation on the Korean peninsula or just off shore from the Korean peninsula," said Hill, who took part in multi-national talks over North Korea in 2005. "North Koreans are getting very close to the line, and my concern is that they'll stumble over it and into some kind of conflict."

White House warns N. Korea on isolationist actions
Bob's Blog: No one can be sure about North Korea
North Korea actions have "ratcheted up the danger," says Chuck Hagel
Anti-western rallies were in full swing Friday. North Korean soldiers cheered their young dictator at this mass rally in Pyongyang, chanting "death to U.S. imperialism" in a highly choreographed display.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is seen with military commanders in a photo released by the regime, apparently showing him signing an order to put the nation's forces on standby for an attack on U.S. bases. / KCNA
North Korea released this photograph (left) of Kim meeting with his top generals, and it seems to show missile trajectories targeting the United States. There is no evidence a North Korean missile could reach the U.S. mainland.

In this photo, Kim's maps appear to highlight the movement of United States' 7th Fleet, which patrols Pacific waters.

CBS News asked the White House official about the practicality of attacking the U.S. 7th Fleet, and the official said "that's possible, if Kim Jong Un is playing a 'Call of Duty' video game."

Additionally, a state-run news report Friday announced the North Koreans are ready to strike several targets in the Pacific, including U.S. bases in Guam, South Korea and Hawaii.

A lot of the rhetoric, Hill said, also has to do with appealing to the North Korean people.

"I think there is a lot of concern about how they react to crisis, and it's clear that North Koreans are trying to make Kim Jong Un kind of acceptable to the North Korean people as a real tough kind of leader," he said. "In so doing, I think they're going to push this situation right to the limit, and the concern is they'll go over."

© 2013 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

[video]http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57577117/north-korea-is-not-going-to-war-senior-u.s-official-says/[/video]

"North Korea is not going to war," senior U.S. official says
A senior Obama administration official told CBS News Friday that North Korea's belligerent words and war-like preparations are more bluff than bite.

"North Korea is in a mindset of war, but North Korea is not going to war," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer insight into the latest administration thinking on the volatile situation on the Korean Peninsula.

The official said North Korea is doing two things that signal it is not spoiling for war: maintaining continuous and unfettered access to the Kaesong Industrial Complex six miles north of the Demilitarized Zone and by continuing to promote tourists visits to North Korea, even amid its banging of war drums.

North Korea "partially" bluffing
"There is pot-banging and chest-thumping, but they have literature attracting tourists that explicitly says pay no attention to all that (public) talk about nuclear war or another kind of war," the official said.

Kaesong is a hive of business activity and about 200 South Koreans travel there daily. It produces about $2 billion of annual trade and commerce revenue for the North. Many experts consider its fate and status the best signal of North Korea's hostile intentions.

On Saturday, the North renewed its threat to close the complex, reportedly saying through its state-controlled news agency that references to its ongoing operation as a source of capital "damages our dignity."

Still, as long as access to Kaesong remains open, the consensus, also shared by the White House, is the North Korean threat is less than meets the eye.

"The widely held belief is this is for internal purposes," the official said, referring to North Korean dictator Kim Jung Un's need to increase his visibility and the military's sense of his commitment to its prestige and national authority.

And yet, the official confirmed South Korea reports of increased activity by North Korean military personnel near ballistic missile sites. Kim has placed those missile sites on stand-by alert and said it was time to "settle accounts" with the "imperialist" United States. The administration official said the activity, though, was believed to be related solely to exercises and training - not actual war preparations.

"North Korea is in its training cycle, and North Korea is gearing up for some kind of fireworks," the official said. "It will either be a Roman Candle or a rocket. But, either way, that will happen explicitly within the context of training."

The official's comments came amid reports that North Korea announced it was at a "state of war."

In response to those reports, Caitlin Hayden, a National Security Council spokeswoman, said the U.S. takes the threat seriously but also called the North's statement "unconstructive."

"We would also note that North Korea has a long history of bellicose rhetoric and threats and today's announcement follows that familiar pattern," Hayden said. "As Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Thursday, we remain fully prepared and capable of defending and protecting the United States and our allies."

On Friday, State Department and National Security Council officials conferred with Chinese diplomats to share U.S. perspectives on North Korean actions and to urge a unified position discouraging any provocative acts.

The official who spoke to CBS News said the frequency and urgency of contacts with China has not spiked in recent days, but nevertheless conceded contacts with China and Japan have increased in the last couple of weeks.

Military contacts between the U.S. and South Korean military officials is virtually constant, the official said. The U.S. has positioned roughly 28,500 military personnel in South Korea. Last week, the U.S. signed an agreement guaranteeing U.S. military protection in case of a North Korean attack.

While analyzing what appeared to war maps, Kim looked at a target zone that appeared to include Asia-Pacific patrols of the 100-vessel-strong U.S. 7th Fleet.

The administration official said the only way the 7th Fleet would be vulnerable would be "if Kim Jung Un has a 'Call of Duty' video game and it includes a targeting of the 7th Fleet."

© 2013 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

What kind of attack could North Korea launch?
Published March 29, 2013
| FoxNews.com
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North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un's latest threat to "settle accounts with the U.S." -- while displaying a "strike plan" that shows missiles tracking toward American cities -- was widely seen as another example of the young leader's erratic bluster.
The threat to lob long-range nuclear-tipped missiles at central U.S. cities is, in the opinion of most expert observers, overblown. But while making progress on its missile capability, the regime has other ways to wreak havoc, and this is what has officials and analysts increasingly worried.
"You only need to be wrong once," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said, in discussing assessments of North Korea. "I don't know what president or what chairman or what secretary of Defense wants to be wrong once when it comes to nuclear threats."
Officials are concerned that with the rising threats, Kim is backing his regime into a corner where it may be compelled to act in order to save face. And in the near-term, the regime has plenty of ways to do that.
It can continue to proliferate dangerous weapons to places like Iran and Syria. And, as it has repeatedly demonstrated, the regime can attack and provoke South Korea -- the scenario many are worried about.
"We're one dead fisherman away from something that could escalate quite quickly," said Jim Walsh, an international security expert and research associate at MIT. "That's the one I worry about."
Walsh said despite the rhetoric, the "war fundamentals" have not changed. North Korea would be obliterated by South Korea in the event of a war, with or without U.S. military support -- and the North Koreans know that.
But he said the "accidental war" -- the provocation that goes too far and spirals into all-out conflict -- is the real worry.
"The whole system is set up like a deck of cards right now," Walsh said.
North Korea is infamous for testing and prodding South Korea. In 2010, under the current leader's late father Kim Jong Il, North Korea was blamed for sinking a South Korean ship and killing 46 sailors, though North Korea denied it. That time, there were no serious repercussions for the North.
Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, suggested South Korea's new president, Park Geun-hye, would not let such an attack slide.
"If that were to happen again or something like it, I believe it could lead to war," O'Hanlon said.
Walsh said that while North Korea would fall, in the best-case scenario "you still get ... 1,000 artillery shells landing on Seoul."
O'Hanlon described a scenario where South Korea retaliates and North Korea escalates -- and eventually the U.S. would be faced with the question of how to get involved militarily.
Hagel said Thursday that the U.S. "will unequivocally defend and we are unequivocally committed to that alliance with South Korea."
Back in 1984, the U.S. prepared a campaign plan that would have made possible the destruction of the entire North Korean air force in 100 hours. Retired U.S. Air Force generals say the military could do it even faster today.
The Pentagon made clear this week that it is taking the threat seriously. It flew B-2 bombers 13,000 miles to a South Korean island where they dropped inert bombs. It is the first time the U.S. has ever sent B-2 bombers to the Korean Peninsula. A tweet from the U.S. embassy in Seoul said the bombers were "demonstrating the US's ability to conduct precision strikes at will."
Christian Whiton, a former State Department official now with the D.C. International Advisory, told Fox News that the major threat from North Korea is that "it's proliferated virtually every weapon system it's ever produced."
"There's a real threat that North Korea will continue to do what it does best, which is to profit off of proliferating the world's most dangerous weapons to some of the world's most odious people," he said.
Despite repeated nuclear and missile tests, it is believed North Korea is still years away from being able hit the U.S. with a nuclear-tipped missile.
The Council on Foreign Relations projects that only North Korea's Taepodong-2 missile could reach America. But that missile could only go as far as Alaska and has not yet been successfully tested. Its other rockets have a considerably shorter range.
While having made progress in their ballistic missile program, the North Koreans still have not mastered the technology of delivering a nuclear device by a long-range missile.
"If they ever do it, it's going to be a while," Walsh said of any effort to develop a missile capable of hitting the continental U.S.
Walsh also said it's unlikely North Korea would ever send out a suicide bomber -- equipped with a radioactive "dirty bomb" or some similar device -- describing the move as too risky without much payoff for Pyongyang.
FoxNews.com's Judson Berger and Fox News' Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.


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And so The wound in the World that is North Korea continues to rot and fester.

 

[joshuatree]

Re: Korea 2013 War, Game or political game changer

Per your article...

I am of the Opinion That the best case is Forced Reunification with South Korea taking the peninsula. that however would require the Cooperation of The US, PRC and South Korea. Even if that cooperation is a simple Agreement that The PRC will not Repeat History and Cross the Boarder so long as South Korean and American Forces do the Same and respect the Chinese Boarder.

That's too simplistic of a proposal that it will not fly. China wouldn't want a pro-US unified Korea and US troops sitting on its border even if there is an agreement that neither side crosses the border. Don't think Russia likes the idea of US troops being even closer. Japan may not see a unified Korea benefiting them. Furthermore, just because SK doesn't like NK's constant belligerence doesn't mean they are ready nor wanting to deal with years if not decades of economic drag in dealing with an economic reunification. The current disparity is even worse than between East and West Germany in 1990.

If there is any such top secret discussions of toppling the NK regime between regional players, it would probably have to be more radical to be palatable to all players. Something like a regime change that is still pro-China and initially may even be a Chinese controlled regime. Then a decades long slow withdrawal of Chinese from NK and Americans from SK, giving time for NK to open up using Chinese style economic reform before letting the two Koreas establish their own reunification time table if any because maybe the two would be fine co-existing so long as there no longer exists the state of war. But that still means there will be bloodshed involved for the regime change and is everyone on board with that?

 

[asif iqbal]

Re: Korea 2013 War, Game or political game changer

North Korea should maybe learn the consequence of thrreating war before it takes any action

It will be facing the combined armed forces of the Americans, JMSDF and South Korea, the vast array of Arleigh Burkes sitting of the East Coast of Japan will set up a anti-ballistic missile shield and the formidable 96 cell VLS AGEIS equipped Arleighs will make sure no North Korean missile ever hits its target

Shame there isn't a few Type 45 DDG in the area they would make sure no missile leaves North Korean air space

If it came to war USN will field no less than three fully blown carrier strike groups, the fire power they would lay down is immense, the navy and air force of North Korea is of no threat but what is are the unguided analogue artillery shells which North Korea can rain down but it won't be long until the militarys of USA, Japan and South Korea start kicking, and there is no way The North can use a sutained armoured thrust their army does not posses the fuel and air cover

Three carriers on surge tactics could lay down 500 sorties a day, with the number of bombs on target within a few days they could take care of all North Korean artillery, not to mentioned the Ohio Class SSGN which carry more Tomahawks then entire naval assets of Europe combined and can empty its entire 154 load magazine in under 7 minutes

North Korea will not know what has hit them if they threat to carry out war, in a recent study it is estimated that US can launch over 1,000 Tomahawks in a matter of hours from hostilitys starting, a B52 can alone carry 12 cruise missile

 

[bd popeye]

Re: Korea 2013 War, Game or political game changer

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States sent F-22 stealth fighter jets to South Korea on Sunday to join military drills aimed at underscoring the U.S. commitment to defend Seoul in the face of an intensifying campaign of threats from North Korea.

The advanced, radar-evading F-22 Raptors were deployed to Osan Air Base, the main U.S. Air Force base in South Korea, from Japan to support ongoing bilateral exercises, the U.S. military command in South Korea said in a statement that urged North Korea to restrain itself.

"(North Korea) will achieve nothing by threats or provocations, which will only further isolate North Korea and undermine international efforts to ensure peace and stability in Northeast Asia," the statement said.

Saber-rattling on the Korean peninsula drew a plea for peace from Pope Francis, who in his first Easter Sunday address called for a diplomatic solution to the crisis on the Korean peninsula.

"Peace in Asia, above all on the Korean peninsula: may disagreements be overcome and a renewed spirit of reconciliation grow," he said, speaking in Italian.

Tensions have been high since the North's young new leader, Kim Jong-un, ordered a nuclear weapons test in February, breaching U.N. sanctions and ignoring warnings from North Korea's closest ally, China, not to do so.

That test, North Korea's third since 2006, drew further U.N. and bilateral sanctions designed to pressure the impoverished North to stop its nuclear weapons program. Pyongyang responded to the new steps by ratcheting up warnings and threats of war.

North Korea said on Saturday it was entering a "state of war" with South Korea, but Seoul and its ally the United States played down the statement from the official KCNA news agency as the latest in a stream of tough talk from Pyongyang.

In a rare U.S. show of force aimed at North Korea, the United States on Thursday flew two radar-evading B-2 Spirit bombers on practice runs over South Korea.

On Friday, Kim signed an order putting the North's missile units on standby to attack U.S. military bases in South Korea and the Pacific, after the stealth bomber flights.

The F-22 jets will take part in the annual U.S.-South Korea Foal Eagle military drills, which are designed to sharpen the allies' readiness to defend the South from an attack by North Korea, the U.S. military said.

The U.S. military did not say how many of the planes were flown to South Korea from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa. The statement described Sunday's deployment as part of routine shifts of air power among bases in the Western Pacific that U.S. forces have been conducting since 2004.

Japan's Kyodo news agency quoted the top Japanese government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, as condemning Pyongyang for "aggressive provocation" after Kim's ruling party newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, identified U.S. military bases in Japan as targets for attack.

The two Koreas have been technically in a state of war since a truce that ended their 1950-53 conflict. Despite its threats, few people see any indication Pyongyang will risk a near-certain defeat by re-starting full-scale war.

(Reporting by Paul Eckert; Editing by Eric Beech)

 

[asif iqbal]

Re: Korea 2013 War, Game or political game changer

Currently there are 12 F22 Raptors stationed at Kadena Air Base which arrived mid January for a 4 month deployment

It is not know many were sent to South Korea but the number is estimated at between 4-6

 

[s002wjh]

Re: Korea 2013 War, Game or political game changer

the problem is those unguided rocket/artillery which is dig in. finding & destory every single one in short time its gonna be hard. meanwhile it can do alot damge to seoul. also insurgent after war gonna be an issue, can't just wipe out decades of brainwash in few days.

 

[TerraN_EmpirE]

Re: Korea 2013 War, Game or political game changer

South Korea Gives Military Leeway to Answer North
By CHOE SANG-HUN

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SEOUL, South Korea — President Park Geun-hye of South Korea ordered the country’s military on Monday to deliver a strong and immediate response to any North Korean provocation, the latest turn in a war of words that has become a test of resolve for the relatively unproven leaders in both the North and South.

Ms. Park’s instructions to senior generals followed a series of bellicose pronouncements and actions by North Korea, whose leader, Kim Jong-un, has declared that the Korean Peninsula has reverted to a “state of war.”

“I consider the current North Korean threats very serious,” Ms. Park told the South’s generals on Monday. “If the North attempts any provocation against our people and country, you must respond strongly at the first contact with them without any political consideration.

“As top commander of the military, I trust your judgment in the face of North Korea’s unexpected surprise provocation,” she added. Her blunt response contrasted with the more dismissive attitude that South Korean leaders have usually taken toward North Korean threats.

The North under Mr. Kim has amplified threats against Washington and Seoul to much louder and more menacing levels than under the rule of his father, Kim Jong-il. Since the young Mr. Kim took power after his father’s death in late 2011, the North has launched a three-stage rocket, tested a nuclear device and threatened to hit major American cities with nuclear-armed ballistic missiles.

“Kim Jong-un certainly is more aggressive than his father, and behind his aggressiveness is a confidence following the North's successful launching of a long-range rocket and its nuclear test," said Cheong Seong-chang, senior fellow at Sejong Institute, a private research institute in South Korea. "What is clear is that compared with his father, who had absolute control on power, the young leader will cling harder to nuclear weapons as a tool of consolidating his power.”

“By raising these nuclear threats, he is ensuring that his country has regained the military balance it had lost to prosperous South Korea before shifting his attention more to the economy,” Mr. Cheong said. “He is more calculating than all these threats make outsiders believe.”

Mr. Kim’s decision to launch the rocket in December and detonate a nuclear device last month followed the North’s growing frustration, analysts said, that its earlier strategy of using threats and provocations to force Washington and Seoul to engage seemed less effective in recent years. Instead, the allies spearheaded more United Nations sanctions.

The sanctions coincided with the allies’ joint military drills, during which Washington demonstrated its political resolve to defend South Korea by taking unusual steps of publicizing the training missions of nuclear-capable B-52 and B-2 bombers as well as B-22 stealth fighter jets.

“The inter-Korean situation is grave now, but this is not the end of the story,” said Kim Hyung-suk, a spokesman of the Unification Ministry, the South Korean government agency in charge of relations with North Korea. “We hope North Korea seriously considers our offer to cooperate if it acts like a responsible member of the international community and makes a right choice.”

On Sunday, North Korea announced a “new strategic line,” saying that it was determined to rebuild its economy in the face of international sanctions while simultaneously expanding its nuclear arsenal, which the ruling party called “the nation’s life.”

“Behind all these nuclear threats is his intention to cement North Korea’s status as a nuclear power,” said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea specialist at Dongguk University in Seoul. “Unlike his father, who liked to make decisions in secret, Kim Jong-un has been remarkably open, calling various state and party meetings and having his decisions announced in their names. In a way, he is spreading responsibility for a possible failure of policy.”

Mr. Kim’s stance has defied American and South Korean officials who have urged him to learn from Myanmar, where changes initiated by new leaders have resulted in billions in debt forgiveness, large-scale development assistance and an influx of foreign investment. If North Korea continues on its current path, they said, it will face more sanctions and deeper isolation.

The North’s nuclear weapons “are neither a political bargaining chip nor a thing for economic dealings,” the official Korean Central News Agency reported, citing a statement adopted at the plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party, which was presided over by Mr. Kim.

At the party meeting on Sunday, Mr. Kim appeared to have furthered the party’s control over the military. Pak Pong-ju, an economic technocrat, won full membership in the Politburo, but the best-known top military leaders did not.

Mr. Pak was given more power on Monday, when the North’s rubber-stamp parliament, the Supreme People’s Assembly, made him premier, a post in charge of the economy.

North Korea names Kim clan associate to premiership

8:37am EDT
By Jack Kim
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea named former premier Pak Pong-ju, a key confidant of the leadership dynasty who was sacked in 2007 for failing to implement economic reforms, as its cabinet chief on Monday in a move that would further cement the ruling family's grip on power.
Pak, believed to be in his 70s, is a key ally of Jang Song-thaek, the uncle of the isolated state's young ruler Kim Jong-un, and worked for Jang's wife, Kim's aunt Kyong-hui, the last remaining personal link to the state's revolutionary founder, Kim Il-sung, grandfather of the current leader.
"At the session, Deputy Choe Yong-rim was recalled from the post of premier of the DPRK Cabinet and Deputy Pak Pong-ju was elected premier of the DPRK Cabinet," state news agency KCNA said, referring to a meeting of the rubber-stamp parliament.
DPRK is short for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the move came as tensions ratcheted higher on the Korean peninsula as Pyongyang threatened war and the United States flew in Stealth bombers.
Pak was named to the powerful ruling Workers' Party of Korea Central Committee political bureau on Sunday and his re-emergence as premier marks a further move by North Korea's young leader Kim Jong-un to reaffirm his grip on power.
The move does however leave Kim, the third of his line to rule the impoverished, nuclear-armed state, dangerously dependent on his aunt and uncle, who have reasserted control over the military in a purge.
"Pak Pong-ju works under the orders of Jang Song-thaek," said Cho Bong-hyun, an expert on the North's economy at the IBK Economic Institute.
"Is Pak a reformer? Well, Jang is an economy focused man, and Jang is the person who has tried to make the economy the centerpiece for the leadership."
FAILED REFORMS
Pak is a career technocrat who took the post of premier in 2003 to implement an ambitious economic reform policy that allowed autonomy in farm production and pricing liberalization, introduced in July 2002.
He was removed in 2007 when it became clear the steps aimed at boosting the impoverished state's economy, gripped by devastating famine in the 1990s, were not producing desired results and the North's military began protests at the cabinet, wielding greater power on state matters.
Jang, Kim's uncle, was also purged and has since been rehabilitated.
Jang is officially a deputy chairman of the North's powerful National Defence Commission, which Kim heads despite his lack of military experience. He is believed to be the real power behind the throne as it struggles to boost its economy.
Jang was on a high-profile tour of rival South Korea's industrial successes in 2002 and pointedly had the new premier Pak as a key member of the delegation just as they were mandated by former leader Kim Jong-il to rescue the ailing economy.
"Pak's appointment shows in no uncertain terms that the North wants to focus on the economy," said Yang Moo-jin of University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.
The appointment of Pak comes as North Korea is engaged in a war of words with the United States and South Korea, threatening to launch missile attacks on the United States and to invade the South.
The North's leader Kim said at the party meeting on Sunday that his country's focus will be to revive the economy and boost its nuclear arsenal.
The shrill rhetoric from Pyongyang is in response to a United Nations Security Council Resolution imposing sanctions for the country's February nuclear test and to a build-up of U.S. forces in South Korea as part of military drills.
The North says that Washington's moves are "hostile" and a prelude to an invasion.
(Additional reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by David Chance, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Ron Popeski)

North Korea's parliament meets amid nuclear tension
By Wire Service Reports
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on April 01, 2013 at 2:38 AM
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — After weeks of war-like rhetoric, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gathered legislators Monday for an annual spring parliamentary session taking place one day after top party officials adopted a statement declaring building nuclear weapons and the economy the nation's top priorities.
The meeting of the Supreme People's Assembly follows near-daily threats from Pyongyang, including vows of nuclear strikes on South Korea and the U.S.
Pyongyang has reacted with anger over routine U.S.-South Korean military drills and a new round of U.N. and U.S. sanctions that followed its Feb. 12 underground nuclear test, the country's third. Analysts see a full-scale North Korean attack as unlikely and say the threats are more likely efforts to provoke softer policies toward Pyongyang from a new government in Seoul, to win diplomatic talks with Washington and to solidify the young North Korean leader's military credentials at home.
On Sunday, Kim and top party officials adopted a declaration calling nuclear weapons the "the nation's life" and an important component of its defense, an asset that wouldn't be traded even for "billions of dollars." Pyongyang cites the U.S. military presence in South Korea as a main reason behind its drive to build missiles and atomic weapons. The U.S. has stationed tens of thousands of troops in South Korea since the Korean War ended in a truce in 1953.
North Korea also has threatened in recent days to shut down a jointly run factory complex in the North — the last remaining symbol of inter-Korean rapprochement. But officials in Seoul say hundreds of workers traveled as usual across the heavily armed border to the North Korean factory Monday as they have throughout the rising tensions.
"I have no idea about what it will be like when I go to the North Korean side. It seems OK to be here, but we will be living there in a tense situation for a week," Kim Won-soo, a South Korean manager working in Kaesong, said before his departure Monday from Paju, South Korea.
While analysts call North Korea's threats largely brinkmanship, there is some fear that a localized skirmish might escalate. Seoul has vowed to respond harshly should North Korea provoke its military. Naval skirmishes in disputed Yellow Sea waters off the Korean coast have led to bloody battles several times over the years. Attacks blamed on Pyongyang in 2010 killed 50 South Koreans.
South Korea's new president, Park Geun-hye, is pursuing a policy that seeks to re-engage North Korea with dialogue and aid after five years of standoff. But she told her military Monday to set aside political considerations and respond strongly should North Korea attack.
Meanwhile, deputies to North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly gathered in Pyongyang. The SPA schedule Monday was unclear.
Under late leader Kim Jong Il, North Korea had typically held a parliamentary meeting once a year. But Kim Jong Un held an unusual second session last September in a sign that he is trying to run the country differently from his father, who died in late 2011.
Parliament sessions, which usually are held to approve personnel changes and budget and fiscal plans, are scrutinized by the outside world for signs of key changes in policy and leadership.
At a session last April, Kim was made first chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission, the body's top post.
On Sunday, Kim presided over a separate plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party, which set a "new strategic line" calling for building both a stronger economy and nuclear arsenal.
North Korea's nuclear weapons are a "treasure of a reunified country" not to be traded for "billions of dollars," according to a statement issued by state media after the meeting. North Korea's "nuclear armed forces represent the nation's life, which can never be abandoned as long as the imperialists and nuclear threats exist on earth."
Sunday marked the first time for Kim to preside over the committee meeting, a top decision-making body tasked with organizing and guiding the party's major projects. The last plenary session was held in 2010, according to Seoul's Unification Ministry, and before that in 1993.
The plenary statement also called for strengthening the moribund economy, which Kim has put an emphasis on in his public statements since taking power. The U.N. says two-thirds of the country's 24 million people face regular food shortages.
The North also named former Prime Minister Pak Pong Ju as a member of the party central committee's powerful Political Bureau, a sign that he could again play a key role in the North's economic policymaking process. Pak reportedly was sacked as premier in 2007 after proposing a wage system seen as too similar to U.S.-style capitalism.
Pak is reform-minded and his promotion sets him up for further advancement and "for him to take the lead in the North's economic policies," said Cheong Seong-jang at South Korea's Sejong Institute.

1 April 2013 Last updated at 08:51 ET
South Korea pledges strong response against North
South Korea has promised a "strong response" to North Korean aggression, amid high tensions on the peninsula.
Speaking to defence officials on Monday, President Park Geun-hye said that she took the series of threats from Pyongyang "very seriously".
North Korea said on Saturday that it was entering a "state of war" with South Korea.
On Sunday, the US sent stealth fighters to South Korea, as North Korea pledged to build up its nuclear arsenal.
Meanwhile, North Korea has announced it has appointed a new premier, Pak Pong-ju. He was sacked from the same post in 2007.
Military drills
In her comments, Ms Park said: "If there is any provocation against South Korea and its people, there should be a strong response in initial combat without any political considerations,"
In recent days North Korea has issued multiple warnings of attacks on US and South Korean targets - to which the US has responded with an apparent show of military hardware.
The communist state has been angered both by UN sanctions imposed after its nuclear test in February and the joint US-South Korea annual military drills.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se is expected to meet US Secretary of State John Kerry this week in Washington to discuss North Korea, Yonhap news agency reports.
The US flew F-22 planes from Japan to South Korea's Osan Air base on Sunday, as part of ongoing joint military exercises with South Korea, officials said.
"[North Korea] will achieve nothing by threats or provocations, which will only further isolate North Korea and undermine international efforts to ensure peace and stability in Northeast Asia," the US military command in South Korea said in a statement reported by Reuters news agency.
In March, the US deployed both B-2 and B-52 planes, which have nuclear capabilities, over South Korea. It said this demonstrated its "capability... to provide extended deterrence to [its] allies in the Asia-Pacific region".
It is not the first time F-22s have been used drills with South Korea, but the move came as North Korea's Central Committee held a rare high-level meeting on Sunday.
The committee described nuclear weapons as "the nation's life" and vowed to further develop its nuclear programme, state-run news agency KCNA said.
"Only when the nuclear shield for self-defence is held fast, will it be possible to shatter the US imperialists' ambition for annexing the Korean Peninsula by force," the report added.
North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly - the rubber-stamp parliament - convened on Monday for a day-long annual session.
While the group normally focuses on making economic decisions, this meeting will be keenly watched given the current high tension.
Few think the North - which last week cut a military hotline which was the last official direct link with Seoul - would risk full-blown conflict.
But in recent years there have been deadly incidents such as the sinking of a South Korea warship (in which Pyongyang denies any role) and the shelling of a South Korean island.
However the jointly-run Kaesong industrial park, which is located within North Korea's borders, remains in operation.
Workers from South Korea were crossing into the park - which is a key money-maker for North Korea - as normal on Monday, reports said.
The complex is seen as a barometer of North-South tensions, observers say, and a move to close it would be seen as an escalation of current tensions.
On Monday, KCNA reported that Mr Pak had been elected to the role of premier of the North Korean cabinet.
He was dismissed in 2007, reportedly after proposing the country adopt a US-style wages system.
The premiership holds little actual power, but analysts say his appointment indicates that he will again be taking a central role in economic decision-making.

pops beat me to it.

U.S. sends F-22s to S. Korea for exercises
North Korean parliament meets to talk nuclear capabilities, economy
By Foster Klug and Hyung-Jin Kim - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Apr 1, 2013 7:34:55 EDT
SEOUL, South Korea — After weeks of warlike rhetoric, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gathered legislators Monday for an annual spring parliamentary session that followed a ruling party declaration that nuclear bomb building and a stronger economy were the nation’s top priorities.

The meeting of the Supreme People’s Assembly follows near-daily threats from Pyongyang, including vows of nuclear strikes on South Korea and the U.S. The United States, meanwhile, sent F-22 stealth fighter jets to participate in annual war games with South Korea, and the new South Korean president, who has a policy meant to re-engage Pyongyang with talks and aid, told her top military leaders to set aside political considerations and respond strongly should North Korea attack.

Despite the continuing hostility on the peninsula, there has been a noticeable shift in North Korea’s rhetoric to a message that seeks to balance efforts to turn around a moribund economy with nuclear development.

“There was a danger that this was getting to the point ... of a permanent war footing,” said John Delury, a North Korea analyst at Seoul’s Yonsei University. “In the midst of this tension and militant rhetoric and posturing, Kim Jong Un is saying, Look, we’re still focused on the economy, but we’re doing it with our nuclear deterrent intact.”

Pyongyang has reacted with anger over routine U.S.-South Korean military drills and a new round of U.N. and U.S. sanctions that followed its Feb. 12 underground nuclear test, the country’s third. Analysts see a full-scale North Korean attack as unlikely and say the threats are more likely efforts to provoke softer policies toward Pyongyang from a new government in Seoul, to win diplomatic talks with Washington and to solidify the young North Korean leader’s military credentials at home.

On Sunday, Kim and top party officials adopted a declaration calling nuclear weapons the “the nation’s life” and an important component of its defense, an asset that wouldn’t be traded even for “billions of dollars.” Pyongyang cites the U.S. military presence in South Korea as a main reason behind its drive to build missiles and atomic weapons. The U.S. has stationed tens of thousands of troops in South Korea since the Korean War ended in a truce in 1953.

While analysts call North Korea’s threats largely brinkmanship, there is some fear that a localized skirmish might escalate. Seoul has vowed to respond harshly should North Korea provoke its military. Naval skirmishes in disputed Yellow Sea waters off the Korean coast have led to bloody battles several times over the years. Attacks blamed on Pyongyang in 2010 killed 50 South Koreans.

Deputies to North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly gathered in Pyongyang on Monday, although the session’s schedule was unclear.

Under late leader Kim Jong Il, North Korea had typically held a parliamentary meeting once a year. But Kim Jong Un held an unusual second session last September in a sign that he is trying to run the country differently from his father, who died in late 2011.

Parliament sessions, which usually are held to approve personnel changes and budget and fiscal plans, are scrutinized by the outside world for signs of key changes in policy and leadership.

At a session last April, Kim was made first chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission, the body’s top post.

On Sunday, Kim presided over a separate plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party, a top decision-making body tasked with organizing and guiding the party’s major projects. The meeting set a “new strategic line” calling for building both a stronger economy and nuclear arsenal.

North Korea’s “nuclear armed forces represent the nation’s life, which can never be abandoned as long as the imperialists and nuclear threats exist on earth,” according to a statement issued by state media after the meeting.

Sunday marked the first time for Kim to preside over the committee meeting. The last plenary session was held in 2010, according to Seoul’s Unification Ministry, and before that in 1993.

The plenary statement also called for strengthening the economy, which Kim has put an emphasis on in his public statements since taking power. The U.N. says two-thirds of the country’s 24 million people face regular food shortages.

The decision means North Korea believes it can rebuild the economy while not neglecting its military because it now has nuclear and long-range missile capabilities, said analyst Cheong Seong-jang at South Korea’s Sejong Institute. “It’s like chasing two hares at once,” he said.

The North also named former Prime Minister Pak Pong Ju as a member of the party central committee’s powerful Political Bureau, a sign that he could again play a key role in the North’s economic policymaking process. Pak reportedly was sacked as premier in 2007 after proposing a wage system seen as too similar to U.S.-style capitalism.

“Pak Pong Ju is the face of economic reform, such as it exists — reform with North Korean characteristics as they say,” Delury said.

Economic changes won’t be radical, Delury said, and, for the time being, they’re mostly aspirational. One change could entail a shift of part of the country’s massive military spending into the economy as a whole.

South Korea now faces a major decision. If President Park Geun-hye and her advisers react as her hard-line predecessor did, “then they’re stuck in the same place, where North Korea limps along, but with regime stability,” Delury said. If so, then “the risk of a conflict is like a dark cloud over the next five years of the Park Geun-hye administration. It’s not such an appealing path for her.”

With the Retirement of the F117 and since the F35 is still not operational. The multirole abilities of the Raptor might if strikes are needed become a factor. The bomb loads are similar And additionally Raptors could still defend themselves.

 

[asif iqbal]

Re: Korea 2013 War, Game or political game changer

Any opening hours of a war will be most likely lead by F22 Raptors to gain as fast as possible air superiority, they could probably clear the sky's over North Korea in a matter of hours, I highly doubt they would do the ground attack role which would be carried out by the vast arsenal of F16 and F15s

Having said that F22 is designed and does carry ground attack munitions, even bombers like B52, B1 and B2 are pretty good at putting bombs on target pretty accurately

If it came to war it would be from multiple theatres, to split the North Korean defences, which lie far and deep inside the country, an amphibious landing would not be out of the question to force the North Koreans to come out And counter attack and mobilise which would make them very vunerable to a air attack

 

[plawolf]

Re: Korea 2013 War, Game or political game changer

The North Korean Air Force is so hilariously outclassed by even conventional South Korean and US air forces that there is simply no need for Raptors to do air sweeps.

If the proverbial does hit the fan, the most likely missions those F22s will perform would likely be as escorts for B2s striking deep into North Korea, likely hunting for their nukes.

Because nukes are involved, there is a very tight time factor, so the US cannot afford to wait around for their conventional forces to carve the North Korean Air Force and air defences open before they try to take those nukes out, as little time as that might take. There might not even be time to wait for the cover of darkness, so if the shootings starts in the morning, B2s will be going in nuke hunting even if they have to do it in broad daylight. If it came to that, having a wing of Raptors flying shotgun ready to take out anything the North Koreans might put up close enough to eyeball the B2s would be real useful.