Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Boodleheimer]

Why aren't there any posts about the DPRK's imminent missile test? Even China has voiced strong concern!!

[Octavius Hite]

Well I suspect none of us care because we live with Koreans everyday and that experience has (at least with me) made impossible to really be scared of them, even crazy old Uncle Kim. They will probably launch the missile into the pacific to prove that they can't be pushed around by these imperialist devils. They are also doing this to get a few more dollars out of the US/ROK/Japan.

The USA wants this to happen because it will get the Bush Crime Family more money to build their equally whacky missile defense shield.

In South Korea, Uri wants it to blame on the USA. GNP wants it to blame Roh and show how his appeasement policy towards the DPRK is failing.

[Hater Depot]

Personally, I think it is awesome that we are just going to use it for target practice. Besides, as far as I can tell, it can't reach NYC.


In seriousness, it is just another example of the North doing something to get attention and dollars. It's not as if they are seriously contemplating bombing San Francisco. I would say let them launch it and be ignored.

[igotthisguitar]

China concerned over N. Korea missile test
By BURT HERMAN, Associated Press Writer

SEOUL, South Korea - China issued its strongest statement of concern yet Thursday over a possible North Korean long-range missile launch, while Pyongyang warned of possible clashes in the skies as it accused U.S. spy planes of repeated illegal intrusions.

Beijing is the North's last major ally and key benefactor, and Washington has urged China to press the North to back down on its potential missile test.



"We are very concerned about the current situation," Jiang Yu, a Chinese Foreign Ministry official, said at a regular briefing in Beijing. "We hope all parties can do more in the interest of regional peace and stability."

Jiang said China would "continue to make constructive efforts."

President Bush praised China on Wednesday for "taking responsibility in dealing with North Korea."

Worries over a potential North Korean launch have grown in recent weeks following reports of activity at the North's launch site on its northeastern coast, where U.S. officials say a Taepodong-2 missile � believed capable of reaching the United States � is possibly being fueled.

There are diverging expert opinions on whether fueling would mean a launch was imminent � due to the highly corrosive nature of the fuel � or whether the North could wait a month or more.

A North Korean diplomat said in reported comments Wednesday that the country wanted to engage in talks with the U.S. over its concerns of a possible missile test. But the Bush administration rejected the overture, saying threats aren't the way to seek dialogue.

"You don't normally engage in conversations by threatening to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles," U.N. Ambassador John Bolton said.

The U.S. instead called on the North to return to six-nation talks on its nuclear program.

Bolton said he was continuing discussions with U.N. Security Council members on possible action, and had met with Russia's U.N. ambassador. Washington is weighing responses to a potential test that could include attempting to shoot down the missile, U.S. officials have said.

China said Thursday that all parties should focus on finding a peaceful solution to the issue and also urged the North to return to the nuclear talks.

The sides should "be determined to realize a nuclear-free Korean peninsula and ... the notion of the process of the six-party talks," Jiang said. "China stands ready to work with relevant parties in the international community to press ahead with the process."

The North agreed at the those talks in September to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for security guarantees and aid, but no progress has been made on implementing the accord.

North Korea has issued repeated complaints in recent weeks about alleged American spy flights, including in the skies off the coast where the missile test facility is located.

"Military provocations by U.S. warmongers against (North Korea) are reaching their extreme," the North's Korean Central News Agency said Thursday. "The series of illegal infiltration and spying by reconnaissance planes of U.S. aggression forces is creating a danger of military clash in the skies."

The U.S. has sent ships off the Korean coast capable of detecting and tracking a missile launch, a Pentagon official said Wednesday. South Korean aircraft have also been flying reconnaissance over the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, said the military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the subject.

Japan said Thursday it, too, had sent naval ships and patrol planes to monitor the developments in North Korea, while downplaying Pyongyang's capacity to load a nuclear warhead atop its rockets.

The North has claimed to have a nuclear weapon, but isn't thought to have an advanced design that could be placed on a warhead. Japanese Senior Vice Foreign Minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki backed that belief at the parliamentary hearing.

"At this point, we have encountered no information that indicates North Korea has the technology," he said.

The Korea Meteorological Administration said the weather was cloudy and it could rain over the launch site Thursday, which dims the chances of an immediate test launch.

In South Korea, about 1,000 people including army veterans and activists staged an anti-North Korea rally in Seoul, condemning the North's missile threat. Some activists set a North Korean flag on fire and displayed several replicas of a North Korean missile, including one with crossed-out photos of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

____

Associated Press reporters Gillian Wong in Beijing and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

[igotthisguitar]

S. Korea: North missile test not imminent
By BURT HERMAN, Associated Press Writer

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea's defense minister said Thursday that it believes North Korea's missile launch is not imminent despite concern in the region that the communist nation would test-fire a long-range missile.



"It is our judgment that a launch is not imminent," Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung told a parliamentary meeting in comments confirmed by his ministry.

"There are various procedures before the launch, and based on those procedures, that is how we see it," Yoon said, without elaborating.

[EFLtrainer]

Nope. Per usual, NK is now asking for dialogue, which means, "So, what will you give us for THIS little bit of gamesmanship, hmmm? Maybe another reactor.... Couple billion tons of rice?..."

[On the other hand]

China is probably keen to make sure that the Norks don't get the idea that they can play "piss off the Americans" any time they feel like. I suspect there is a tacit understanding between Uncle Sam and China that things won't get out of hand on the peninsula.

Other than that, I can't see anyone being overly concerned about this. One thing I would like to comment on though...

[On the other hand]

By the way, I DO think that Uri can get away with saying that the tests aren't imminent(see IGTG's post), because I doubt the tests will happen, so no one will ever be able to prove if they ever were imminent or not.

Still doesn't make Uri look good overall, though.

[EFLtrainer]

I should add, I was here in 93 - 94 when Clinton came weeks... days? from hitting NK. The tension was palpable. While my Korean associates gave it no credence, I was sure we were on the edge because I better understood the signals out of Washington. Of course, nothing happened, but it was only about a decade later that we learned just how close we'd come.

While it is scientifically meaningless, neither my hackels nor the hairs on the back of my neck are raised at this moment.

[tiger fancini]

Seems like attention-seeking behaviour to me. Everyone is so caught up in the world cup, especially down here in the south, and the Kim regime probably just want to remind people that they are still actually functioning. My guess is that Beijing will tell Kim Jong Il to cut it out, and he will probably obey.

[cubanlord]

Frankly speaking?

I am scared that The U.S. will do something stupid (as they did in Iraq) if the missle is launched. Hypothetically, if this did happen, would you guys leave South Korea?

[tiger fancini]

[cubanlord]

[igotthisguitar]

Tensions High After North Korea Plane Crash Report
Last Updated Thu, 22 Jun 2006 05:52:24 EDT
CBC News

A report that a U.S. military plane had crashed in North Korea Thursday has been denied by officials from several countries, but raised tensions in the region.

The report appeared to affect foreign exchange markets, as the Japanese yen fell sharply against the U.S. dollar.

U.S. military spokesmen in South Korea said they had not heard of a crash, a comment echoed by defence ministry spokesmen in South Korea and Japan, according to a Reuters report.

Meanwhile, the North Korean government stepped up its rhetoric regarding U.S. reconnaissance flights over its territory.

The official Korean Centre News Agency said in a report that the chances of an aerial confrontation with the United States have increased because of American spy flights over the secretive country.

Pyongyang has been irritated by the likelihood that spy planes have flown over the country's northeast coast near North Korea's missile test facility in Musudan-ri

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/06/22/north-korea.html?ref=rss

[On the other hand]

What a lousy piece of reporting from CBC. They don't even tell us who issued the report about a U.S. plane crashing. Was it the Norks?