New items pertaining to the North Korea situation.......

WATCHCON

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WATCHCON (Watch Condition)^[1] is an alert state system used by and coordinated between the South Korean armed forces and United States Department of Defense to measure reconnaissance posture, utilized often in matters concerning North Korea.^[2]

[edit]Hierarchy of Stages

There are four WATCHCON stages.^]

WATCHCON 4 is in effect during normal peacetime.
WATCHCON 3 is in effect amidst indications of an important threat.
WATCHCON 2 is in effect amidst indications of a vital threat.
WATCHCON 1 is in effect during wartime.

[edit]

http://rt.com/news/korea-us-alert-missile-launch-601/

US, S. Korea on high alert in anticipation of Pyongyang’s missile launch

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Published time: April 10, 2013 03:55

South Korean soldiers ride a military truck on the road leading to North Korea at a military checkpoint in the border city of Paju on April 10, 2013. (AFP Photo / Jung Yeon-Je)

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North Korea to fire ballistic missile to Pacific. Iran unveils new uranium-processing facilities

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report April 9, 2013, 1:40 PM (GMT+02:00)

Tags: NKorea

Iran nuclear

Japan

Israel

John Kerry

North Korean soldiers out with trained dogs

Korean tensions again shot up Tuesday, April 9, with Pyongyang’s warning of a ballistic missile firing Wednesday, April 10 toward the Pacific and advice to foreigners in the South to evacuate: “We do not wish harm on foreigners in the South should there be a war,” said the statement.

Last week, foreign embassies were informed that North Korea would not guarantee the safety of their staffs after April 10.
Japan has deployed Patriot missile interceptors around its defense ministry headquarters in Tokyo and other key facilities including Okinawa, in the wake of North Korea’s move last week of two intermediate- missiles to its eastern coast, placing Japan, South Korea and the US bases at Guam within range.

In Tehran, meanwhile, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled Tuesday two additional uranium-processing facilities at Ardakan in the central province of Yazd. This was announced with the official disclosure by Iranian state TV of uranium mines operating in the town of Saghand, 120 kilometers from Ardakan, which are reported to have an estimated output of 60 tons of yellowcake for use in the uranium enrichment process.
In case this show of defiance was lost on the West, Tehran is now threatening to follow in the footsteps of its North Korean partner and withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in the wake of the failure of the latest negotiations between the Islamic regime and world powers (April 5-6) in Kazakhstan.

The meeting broke up without a date for resumption after Tehran refused outright to curb its enrichment program in exchange of the partial easing of sanctions, demanding that world powers acknowledge the Islamic Republic’s right to enrich uranium under the terms of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

To underline this refusal, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chairman of the Iranian parliament’s Committee for Foreign Policy and National Security, came out with this argument: There is no reason for Iran to be in compliance with the NPT and IAEA regulations when the United States and European countries “disregard its articles such as article 6 [mandating the reduction of nuclear weapons] and article 4 [Iran’s nuclear rights].” Speaking to the Fars News Agency (run by the Revolutionary Guards), Boroujerdi concluded: “Therefore, there is no reason for Iran to remain a NPT member…”

Its exit would mean that the nuclear watchdog would no longer have monitoring access to Iran’s known nuclear sites and like North Korea, which expelled the inspectors, could carry on enriching uranium and developing its nuclear weapons program without international oversight.
These steps, along with Pyongyang’s restart of its nuclear facilities at Yongbyon last week, will give the nuclear collaboration with Iran and North Korea a further boost.
However, neither Washington or Jerusalem appear to show any inclination to rein in either North Korea, Iran or the dangerous ties between them. In Jerusalem, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday that world powers would pursue further talks with Iran to resolve their nuclear dispute, but stressed that the process could not go on forever – which is exactly what President Barack Obama said a year ago.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-04-09/koreas-boy-who-cried-wolf-now-screaming-thermonuclear-war

( What makes this situation dangerous comes from the fact that the new ruler has firmly placed his back against the wall with his rhetoric .. )

Korea's Boy Who Cried Wolf Is Now Screaming "Thermonuclear War"

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/09/2013 15:40 -0400

GETCO

headlines

Japan

KIM

North Korea

White House

The boy who cried wolf is now openly screaming "thermonuclear war." No, really. AFP reports that North Korea said Tuesday the Korean peninsula was headed for "thermo-nuclear" war and advised foreigners to consider leaving South Korea, as the UN chief warned of a potentially "uncontrollable" situation. "Tuesday's advisory -- greeted largely with indifference -- followed a similar one last week to foreign embassies in Pyongyang, to consider evacuating by April 10 on the grounds war may break out. "The situation on the Korean Peninsula is inching close to a thermo-nuclear war," the Asia-Pacific Peace Committee said in a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency." The result - a big yawn, which sadly for Kim Junior is the worst reaction. After all what is a dictator with an inferiority complex and a laughable military to do to get some respect around here and score some "nuisance value" cash from the superpowers (which has been his entire plan all along).

The problem is he has done all the possible jawboning he could, and the next option is i) to follow through on one or more of his endless and increasingly idiotic threats, or ii) step back from the "thermonuclear" brink and be on the lookout for a military coup as he has pushed so far he can't possible retrace without losing all credibility, and fear a violent overthrow. Naturally, both options are hardly appetizing but the time to chose is rapidly approaching. And if he can't make up his mind, the increasingly ample US military presence in the region will be happy to make it for him.

From AFP:

Saying it did not want to see foreigners in South Korea "fall victim", the statement requested all foreign institutions, enterprises and tourists "to take measures for shelter and evacuation".

The committee blamed the heightened war risk on the "warmongering US" and its South Korean "puppets" who were intent on invasion.

The US dismissed the warning as "unhelpful" on Tuesday. White House spokesman Jay Carney criticised Pyongyang for more "unhelpful rhetoric that serves only to escalate tensions".

The "thermo-nuclear war" threat has been wielded several times in recent months -- most recently on March 7 -- despite expert opinion that North Korea is nowhere near developing such an advanced nuclear device.

"It is our current assessment that there is no immediate risk to British nationals in South Korea," a British embassy spokesman said, echoing similar statements from the US, French and other missions.

Last week's warning to embassies in Pyongyang was also largely dismissed as empty rhetoric, with most governments making it clear they had no plans to withdraw personnel.

Hollow warnings galore:

Yonhap news agency Tuesday cited South Korean intelligence as saying the North had completed preparations for an expected missile test-launch -- possibly to coincide with April 15 celebrations for the birthday of late founder Kim Il-Sung.

Japan, where the armed forces have been authorised to shoot down any North Korean missile headed towards its territory, said Tuesday it had deployed Patriot missiles in its capital as a pre-emptive defence measure.

A top US military commander said Tuesday that he favoured shooting down a North Korean missile only if it threatened the United States or Washington's allies in the region.

When asked by lawmakers if he supported knocking out any missile fired by North Korea, Admiral Samuel Locklear, head of US Pacific Command, said: "I would not recommend that".

But he told the Senate Armed Services Committee he would "certainly recommend" intercepting an incoming North Korean missile "if it was in defence of our allies" or the United States.

And from an "interception" to very rapid escalation, it is only a drone throw away. Escalation, that is, which is completely under the control of the US military, and which is presented to the world in such flashing red headlines that the GETCO algos translate each incremental development into yet another ES liftathon frenzy. Because what better way to go out at the all time S&P top than in a mushroom cloud blaze of glory.

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/04/09/exclusive_us_and_north_korea_held_secret_meeting_in_march

Neither China nor the US seem inclined to provide face saving exits strategies from the limb North Korea's young leader has placed his country.... )

Exclusive: U.S. and North Korea held secret meeting in March

Posted By Josh Rogin Tuesday, April 9, 2013 - 2:08 PM Share

A top State Department official met with a top representative of the North Korean government in New York in March, The Cable has learned.

Clifford Hart, the State Department's special envoy to the now-defunct six-party talks, met North Korea's deputy ambassador to the United Nations Han Song-ryol in mid-March, just before North Korea began its latest string of provocative statements and actions, diplomatic sources said. The meeting was done through what's known in diplomatic circles as the "New York channel," the most common method of direct communication between Washington and Pyongyang.

No real progress was made during the meeting and no new offers were made by the U.S. officials present, the sources said. The U.S. side simply reiterated the administration's call for North Korea to avoid provocative actions as well as its offer for a return to diplomacy if North Korea recommitted to fulfilling its international obligations and pursuing a path of denuclearization. The North Korean side simply agreed to communicate that information back to Pyongyang.

For outside experts critical of the Obama administration's current approach to North Korea, which is based on the principle of "strategic patience," or waiting for Pyongyang to change its calculus and rejoin multilateral talks, the meeting is only the latest indication that the administration's policy is stagnant.

"Unfortunately, the New York channel, which in the past was an important communications link between Pyongyang and Washington, appears to have become a place where boilerplate talking points are exchanged," former nuclear negotiator Joel Wit told The Cable. "It's especially disappointing given the ongoing crisis which puts a premium on candid communication to avoid misunderstanding and to find a diplomatic off-ramp from the current tense situation."

Most recently, the New York channel was used to warn the State Department just before North Korea tested a nuclear bomb for the third time in February. North Korea is expected to test a medium-range ballistic missile as early as Wednesday and another warning could come to the Obama administration via North Korea's representative office at the U.N.

A former U.S. official who worked on North Korea in past administrations described how the New York channel works in an interview with The Cable just after the last nuclear test.

"It's been the main channel of communication between the North Korean government and the U.S. government. We don't have any other channels we use," the official said.

Han, the main official who runs the New York channel, also represented North Korea at two unofficial meetings with U.S. interlocutors in 2012 that were reported by The Cable, one in Singapore and one in Dalian, China. Hart attended both of those meetings.

The State Department declined to comment on the March New York meeting, in keeping with its past reticence to discuss the New York channel.

"They're afraid of their shadows," the former official said. "It's like ‘No one can know we are actually communicating with these people because they are bad.'"

Secretary of State John Kerry will visit China, South Korea, and Japan later this week. A senior administration told CNN that Kerry will try to present a diplomatic path out of the crisis during his trip.

At Tuesday's State Department briefing, Spokesperson Patrick Ventrell declined to say whether there have been any communications with Pyongyang through the New York channel since March.

"Well, you know we have a channel of communications. I don't have anything specifically to read out about that. But the channel remains open as necessary," he said.

http://deepbluehorizon.blogspot.it/2013/04/breaking-us-north-korea-could-fire.html

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Breaking: U.S.: North Korea could fire missile at anytime.

CNN: By Barbara Starr

The Obama administration believes North Korea has most likely completed launch preparations and could test fire mobile ballistic missiles at any time based on the most recent intelligence, a U.S. official said.

A test launch of one or both of missiles thought to be loaded into mobile launchers could happen without North Korea issuing a standard warning to commercial aviation and maritime shipping, according to the official.

The official declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the information.

He cautioned most of the information comes from satellite imagery, so it's impossible to reach a definitive conclusion because the United States has no means to gather information on the ground.

"We hope they issue a notification but at this point we don't expect it. We are working on the assumption they won't, " the official said.

He said the launch could be "imminent" but also cautioned the United States "simply doesn't know."

The official, along with another Pentagon official, confirmed the United States has been able to keep satellites over the suspected launch area for most of the past week.

The United States believes the missiles remain at a point about half way down the eastern coast of North Korea and about 10 miles inland.

Imagery has been impeded by some bad weather which also means there is less than perfect knowledge about what is happening on the ground.

But based on what the United States has seen, the belief is that the missiles have received their liquid fuel and are ready for launch.

After any launch, U.S. satellites and radars in the region will be able to calculate within minutes missile trajectory and quickly conclude whether they are on a test path headed for open ocean or potentially headed for land areas, such as Japan, which could then force the United States and Japan to decide whether to try to shoot them down, both officials told CNN.

http://freebeacon.com/p85963/

On the Border

China confirms military exercises near N. Korean border

PLA troops in Shenyang exercises near N. Korea / Source: Chinese Internet

BY: Bill Gertz
April 8, 2013 4:59 am

China’s military and defense ministry on Sunday confirmed that military forces in a border region near North Korea conducted live-fire drills amid tensions between North Korea and the United States.

The Pentagon, meanwhile, canceled a planned test launch of a Minuteman III ballistic missile to avoid further upsetting ties with North Korea.

Intelligence sources said signs continue to indicate that North Korea is planning to conduct a flight test soon of its intermediate-range Musudan missile that has enough range to reach Guam.

Two Musudan missiles have been readied and the flight test may take place around April 15, the anniversary of the birth of the late leader Kim Il Sung, grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un.

Additionally, North Korea may conduct another underground nuclear test in the coming days, the sources said, based on intelligence indicators of increased activity at North Korea’s northern nuclear testing facility.

Tensions remain high as North Korea’s communist regime in recent weeks issued a string of threats to conduct nuclear missile attacks on the United States and South Korea, whose militaries are currently engaged in large-scale military exercises that include flights of B-52 and B-2 strategic nuclear bombers near the peninsula.

Regarding the Chinese troop movements, the Communist Party newspaperGlobal Times reported Sunday that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) carried out live fire maneuvers in Shenyang, near the North Korean border, on April 1.

The newspaper, quoting the official newspaper PLA Daily and the Chinese Defense Ministry, said tanks and armored vehicles from a Shenyang military region mechanized infantry unit took part in the drills during a snowstorm.

The forces “zigzagged through bomb craters, muddy holes, while climbing over small hills that were training items designed to constantly prepare for real combat capabilities,” the report stated.

The brief item published in Global Times included photos of two weapons systems used in the exercises, including a Type 07 122 millimeter automatic cannon and a Type 59 tank painted white for camouflage during winter operations.

Type 07 122mm cannon in PLA exercises near N. Korea / Source: Chinese Internet

In an unusual twist that apparently sought to link the exercises to tension in Korea, the same headline for the article, “The military disclosed in the Shenyang Military Region, April 1st armored brigade combat exercises,” appeared above two photos of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, one showing him standing with soldiers in what appears to be a border observation post and a second photo of Kim standing behind a soldier firing a pistol.

The Free Beacon reported April 3 that PLA troops and tanks were mobilized in several locations in northeastern China, including in Daqing, located in northeastern Heilongjiang Province, and in the border city of Shenyang, in Liaoning Province.

U.S. officials said the movements were mainly part of 190th Mechanized Infantry Brigade based in Benxi, Liaoning Province. The brigade is believed to be part of PLA’s Shenyang Military Region and is the frontline combat unit that would respond to any regional conflict or refugee flows. Troops and tank movements also were reported in Dandong, in Liaoning Province.

Regarding the U.S. missile flight test, a senior defense official confirmed that a Minuteman 3 ICBM test planned for launch at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., was postponed.

“This test was long planned and was never associated with North Korea to begin with,” the official said. “But given recent tensions on the Korean Peninsula, it’s prudent and wise to take steps that avoid any misperception or chance of manipulation.”

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel canceled the test on Friday, the Associated Press, which first disclosed the action, reported on Sunday.

Another flight test will be conducted “soon,” the official said, adding the United States “remains strongly committed to our nuclear deterrence capabilities.”

White House official Daniel Pfeiffer, appearing on Fox News Sunday, denied the administration was caving in to North Korea in canceling the test.

“No, absolutely not,” Pfeiffer said when asked if canceling the Minuteman 3 flight test was “caving into threats” from Kim Jong Un.

However, it is not the first time the Minuteman 3 test was postponed for political reasons. Defense officials said last year that political factors were behind several such delays.

The Air Force Global Strike Command, located at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., had planned the Minuteman 3 flight test for early 2012 and delayed the test three times.

The command blamed a faulty mechanism in the missile’s self-destruct mechanism for the delays in a planned flight test of a Minuteman 3 that was put off until after the November presidential election.

Three ICBM launches were put off last year, including launches March 1, April 10, and May 16, all due to the same technical problem, officials said.

The command had planned to conduct four test launches in 2013.

Defense officials said concerns that the flight tests would upset China or Russia were behind earlier delays.

The officials said many senior policy officials in the Obama administration hold views similar to anti-nuclear weapons activists who are opposed to modernizing and testing of strategic nuclear forces.

Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) said the latest North Korean crisis is the result of Pyongyang’s “brinksmanship.” McCain criticized China for not reining in its communist client.

“China does hold the key to this problem,” McCain said on CBS Face the Nation. “China could cut off their economy if they want to. Chinese behavior has been very disappointing, whether it be on cybersecurity, whether it be on confrontation in the South China Sea, or whether their failure to rein in what could be a catastrophic situation which—more than once, wars have started by accident. And this is—this is a very serious situation.”

China’s leader Xi Jinping issued a veiled criticism of North Korea on Sundayin a speech that “no one should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gain.”

The Free Beacon first reported last week that Chinese military forces were mobilized in border regions near North Korea. The Free Beacon also was the first to report that North Korea was planning a test launch of the Musudan, a mobile intermediate-range ballistic missile, after movements of the mobile launchers were detected traveling from west coast areas to an expected launch location on the east coast of North Korea.

However, White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters last week that there were no large-scale troops movements in North Korea or China. National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden also told reporters there were no unusual troops movements last week, a comment contradicted by news reports.

Several newsletters and blogs disputed the Free Beacon’s reporting on the Chinese military movement, incorrectly asserting there were no unusual troop movements.

The Nelson Report, a newsletter that reflects liberal State Department officials’ views, dismissed unspecified reports of Chinese troop mobilization as “rumors.” The newsletter quoted a source “up on the China-North Korea border” April 5 saying, “Chris, the only thing ‘massing’ up here is the news media. Hasn’t been any PLA movement or reinforcement worth mentioning. The whole story is nonsense.”

Nelson declined to comment.

The Foreign Policy blog “Passport” reported April 1 that Carney was “pushing back” against a report in the Free Beacon on North Korean missile movements and asserting North Korea “has not altered its military posture” amid heightened tensions.

“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,” Carney said April 1.

Four days later, asked about the missile movements, Carney said: “We’ve obviously seen the reports that North Korea may be making preparations to launch a missile, and we’re monitoring this situation closely, and we would not be surprised to see them take such an action.”

Commenting on the Free Beacon’s report, blogger John Hudson wrote that another spokesman “reiterated that all was quiet in North Korea.”

“Jay mentioned a couple examples, but his broad point was that we are not seeing changes to the North Korean military posture,” National Security Council spokeswoman told Foreign Policy.

However, a day later, reports contradicted the statements indicating North Korea was moving two Musudan missiles.

The Foreign Policy report suggested the Free Beacon report was tenuous because it “did not display the satellite imagery relevant to its report.”

http://www.newswithviews.com/McGuire/paul167.htm

LUCIFERIAN NORTH KOREA’S EMP

By Paul McGuire
April 8, 2013
NewsWithViews.com

U.S. intelligence officials are concerned about movement of North Korea’s “space launch vehicles,” which are assessed to be able to reach the West Coast of the U.S. North Korea could explode a nuclear device over the United States, creating an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that would destroy major portions of the U.S. electrical grid system and potentially paralyze large segments of our nation. This effort has been directed by King-jong Un, who replaced his father as the North Korean dictator in 2011.

Last December North Korea launched a test to orbit a nuclear weapon which could be deorbited in order to detonate an EMP weapon anywhere over the U.S. and exploded at a high altitude, creating an EMP effect.

The North Korean threats of unleashing “cutting-edge smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear weapons” appears to be a reaction to the very real threat of the U.S. waging a pre-emptive regional thermonuclear war against them. However, this pre-emptive war by the U.S. seems to be a response to the lunatic threats of Kim Jong Un, who became the world’s youngest national leader on the death of his father in December 2011. North Korea recently moved a mid-range missile to its east coast, and the U.S. moved anti-missile defense systems to the island of Guam, which is a strategic base in the Pacific.

His father Kim Jong-il had 17 luxury palaces where devoted much of this time to indulging his sexual fantasies with countless young women, many in their young teens, flown in from around the world. Kim Jong Un, following his father’s example, is keeping a special harem of 2,000 young women known as the Pleasure Brigade. In contrast with its leader’s lavish lifestyle, North Korea is a totalitarian dictatorship of 23 million people who live nightmarish lives of oppression, starving to death while public loudspeakers blare out propaganda in this Big Brother-like world. Anyone who fits the category of an extremist, such as those who question the leader’s policies or simply listen to South Korean radio is thrown into special camps where torture and starvation are a way of life.

Kim Jong Un ordered the North Korean General Staff to issue a threat of nuclear war against the U.S. after recent flights by nuclear-capable B-52s and B-2 bombers from the United States mainland and Guam. However, the U.S., Russia, Japan and even China are concerned that Kim Jong Un could push the world into an Armageddon-like scenario. The question is, how do nations like the U.S. and others protect themselves without pushing the world into World War III?

I warned about the danger of EMPs from Iran and other nations in my bookAre You Ready? first released in 2005 and in my new book A Prophecy of the Future of America. An EMP attack from either North Korea or Iran would crash our national grid and send us back into the 1800’s. Critical infrastructures such as communications, energy, food, water and other system would crash. Currently the U.S. has the Aegis BMD (Ballistic Missile Defense System), which can shoot down missiles above the atmosphere. An expansion of that kind of system could act as a non-aggressive deterrent.

America is at the cross roads in terms of understanding how to protect itself from this kind of military threat…a scientific, philosophical and spiritual crossroads. The Final Source for economic prosperity, military defense, and countless other areas of national concern cannot simply come from man’s intellect, science, technology and economy. If as a nation we insist upon going down a pathway where we attempt to find all our answers through Man’s mind, science, and technology, we are going to self-destruct and probably take the planet and the rest of the human race with us.

If we insist upon denying the full spectrum of reality and empirical scientific evidence by saying that “we are gods,” and that is exactly what much of America and the world is saying right now, than we are going to perish. That is a collective denial of reality, science, and truth. For through the discoveries about the fourth dimension, Quantum Physics, Scalar technology and String Theory, the door of understanding has been flung wide open, giving us the chance to see that this delusion that we have perpetuated about existence in a three dimensional universe and that we are strictly three dimensional beings produced by random chance over hundreds of millions of years is false. The reality is that our Final Source of protection, provision, information, and life itself is outside the three dimensional space time continuum. There is an Infinite Personal Living God who exists outside of space and time, in a fourth dimension if you will, that is our only defense system.

All of America’s and the world’s problems, such as mortality, energy, defense, abundance, etc. can be solved when we are willing to accept the truth of final reality and that this Infinite Personal Living God of the Universe is our Source. The question is what is the nature of the delusion that blinds us from seeing the obvious? This is where the rubber meets the road. The nature of the delusion is twofold. First, there is a rebellion from the truth… not just scientific truth, but the truth of Final Reality. Final Reality implies that the multi-dimensional nature of the universe is personal and not just matter and energy. The DNA code is programmed, which implies a programmer. You can argue about the who or what that programmer is, but you are in conflict with the nature of reality when you say there is no program or programmer.

Protection from North Korean nukes is directly connected to the personal protection against death. This brings us to the fundamental conflict. Can Man protect himself against death? The answer is no, not even Transhumanism can protect man from death. So Mankind has said “we are gods,” but still we cannot save ourselves from death. So either we are impotent gods or not gods at all. Proceeding from the delusion that “we are gods,” modern science is looking to uncover how it all works through a “Theory of Everything.” But you cannot discover the “Theory of Everything” if you are rebelling from the truth.

The “Theory of Everything” has been available to mankind since the beginning of the human race. It is so simple even a little child can understand it. However, it cannot be found through the laws of physics because discovering the laws of physics implies that finite Man is capable of understanding the infinite. “The Theory of Everything” is directly connected to the North Korean nuclear crisis and the global economic crisis, because that is part of everything. But everything cannot be contained in a “Theory of Everything” devised by finite human consciousness. It is only when you go beyond the finite system of consciousness that you find the answer, revealed by the enormous energy outside of time and space, the energy of the Infinite Personal Living God of the Universe.

and......

http://investmentwatchblog.com/this-is-official-instructions-from-the-pm-of-japan-on-north-korea-to-shoot-down-missile-even-if-it-is-just-a-test/

http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/96_abe/decisions/2013/0404siji_e.html

1. Take all possible measures to gather and analyze information including forthcoming moves by North Korea

2. Promptly provide accurate information to the public

3. Fully prepare for contingencies with a sense of urgency and make every possible effort to ensure the safety and security of the public

Further directive: interception of North Korean missile.

Link
http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1209788/japan-issues-order-shoot-down-any-north-korea-missile

Japan has ordered its armed forces to shoot down any North Korean missile headed towards its territory, a defence ministry spokesman said on Monday as speculation grows Pyongyang may fire one this week.

Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera issued the order, which will see Aegis destroyers equipped with sea-based interceptor missiles deployed in the Sea of Japan, the defence official said.

The official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, said the order, which was issued on Sunday, was routine and was being kept low-key.

Instructions to shoot down missile “even if it is just a test”.

This is the first time that an order has been issued before Pyongyang has announced any actual launch.

#ROK Unification Minister Ryoo: “I judge that the situation is getting worse.”

https://twitter.com/W7VOA#

N. Korea to withdraw all its workers from Kaesong complex
SEOUL, April 8 (Yonhap) — North Korea said Monday that it will withdraw all of its workers from the Kaesong Industrial Complex in response to unacceptable provocations against the country’s dignity.

The statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) monitored in Seoul said all North Korean workers will be pulled out from the border town located just north of the demilitarized zone.

It warned follow-up measures will be implemented after reviewing actions taken by the South.

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/northkorea/2013/04/08/74/0401000000AEN20130408009800315F.HTML

Read more at http://investmentwatchblog.com/this-is-official-instructions-from-the-pm-of-japan-on-north-korea-to-shoot-down-missile-even-if-it-is-just-a-test/#vkeQ5XrAV51k9UUl.99

http://deepbluehorizon.blogspot.it/2013/04/north-korea-expected-to-launch-missile.html

Sunday, April 7, 2013

North Korea expected to launch missile

By CHOE SANG-HUN
Published: April 7, 2013

SEOUL, South Korea — The South Korean government warned on Sunday that the North might launch a missile later this week, while a top military leader postponed a scheduled trip to Washington, citing escalating tensions on the peninsula.

The warning by Kim Jang-soo, director of national security for President Park Geun-hye, came three days after the South Korea’s defense minister said that the North had moved to its east coast a missile with a “considerable range” but not capable of reaching the mainland United States.

The missile was widely believed to be the Musudan, which the South Korean military says can travel “more than” 3,000 kilometers or 1,864 miles. But South Korean media and analysts say the missile can extend its range to 4,000 kilometers or 2,490 miles, which would put American bases in Guam within its reach.

Mr. Kim said that the North Korean authorities had told foreign embassies in Pyongyang to inform them by Wednesday whether they needed assistance in evacuating should they wish to because of rising tensions on the peninsula.

The North gave a similar warning to some of the 123 South Korean factories in the joint industry park in the North Korean city of Kaesong, Mr. Kim said. For a fifth consecutive day, North Korea blocked South Korean workers and supplies from entering the factory park, forcing 13 plants to stop production as of Sunday.

The Kaesong complex is the last remaining major project of inter-Korean cooperation and a crucial test of whether North Korea was willing to sacrifice a lucrative source of hard current to push its political and military priorities.

“We believe this is a calculated move by the North,” Mr. Kim said during a meeting of security-related officials on Sunday. The North, he said, “may launch a provocation, such as missile launch,” around Wednesday, he said.

His comments were relayed by Kim Haing, a presidential spokeswoman.

“North Korea has been engaged in a so-called headline strategy,” Mr. Kim, the national security director, said, referring to an almost daily drumbeat of North Korean threats that has made newspaper headlines since early March.

North Korea was raising tensions in an effort to frighten and force the United States and South Korea to return to dialogue with possible concessions, Mr. Kim said. The pressure was also aimed at China and Russia to mediate on North Korea’s behalf.

“We see through their motive," he said. Although North Korea shows no signs of attempting a full-scale war, it will suffer damage many times more than we doif it launches even a localized provocation.”

South Korea “has no intention of attempting premature dialogue just because of a crisis,” Mr. Kim said, urging the North to ease tensions so dialogue can start.

Foreign embassies told to consider evacuating Pyongyang have dismissed the advisory.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Sunday that the Chinese embassy in Pyongyang was operating normally, and urged the North to "thoroughly ensure the safety of Chinese embassy and consular personnel resident in North Korea." The Xinhua News Agency on Saturday quoted Foreign Minister Wang Yi as telling United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that Beijing would “not allow trouble on China’s doorstep.”

Also on Sunday, Gen. Jung Seung-jo, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the South Korean military, postponed plans to meet with his American counterpart, Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, in Washington on April 16, military officials said. General Jung could not be away from South Korea amid the rising tension, the officials said.

South Korea’s military is on heightened alert after North Korean threats to strike the United States and its allies. North Korea has been angry over United Nations sanctions imposed on it for its February nuclear test and joint American-South Korean military drills.

Washington responded by flying nuclear-capable bombers over South Korea in training missions and moving two of the Navy’s missile-defense ships closer to the Korean Peninsula. It also planned to deploy a land-based missile-defense system to Guam later this month.

Christopher Buckley contributed reporting from Hong Kong.

http://english.kbs.co.kr/news/news_view.html?id=In&No=95032

Kim Jong-un Wants Phone Call from Obama - report
[2013-04-07, 12:27:36]

North Korea’s young leader Kim Jong-un is waiting for United States President Barack Obama to make a phone call to Pyongyang to discuss easing tensions on the Korean peninsula, according to Russia’s news agency Itar-Tass.

The report cited United Kingdom diplomats, saying Pyongyang was demanding the U.S. president personally call Kim Jong-un as one of the conditions to relieve the current conflict at hand.

Itar-Tass also quoted the U.K.’s Sky News as saying North Korea currently has eight nuclear warheads.

The report said, however, the warheads are still too large to fit onto the tip of a ballistic missile or any other kind of missile.