Tag Archives: South-Korea

South Korea and Japan Thinking About Nuclear Weapons

Posted by on May 20, 2013 Comments Off

Growing concern about North Korea’s nuclear program has led many in South Korea to favor the idea of building atomic weapons. Japan too is discussing such a move.

Perhaps it is merely basic human desire to keep up with the neighbors, but an increasing number of South Koreans are saying that they want nuclear weapons too.

Even in Japan, a country still traumatized by the legacy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there is a debate about the once-taboo topic of nuclear weapons.

The mere fact that the bomb is being discussed as a policy option shows how North Korea’s nuclear program could trigger a new arms race in East Asia, unraveling decades of nonproliferation efforts. The government in Pyongyang conducted its third nuclear test in February and is believed to be preparing a fourth.

More South Koreans support developing nuclear weapons – latimes.com

Japan must develop nuclear weapons, warns Tokyo governor – Asia – World – The Independent

Tokyo’s outspoken Governor says his country, which suffered history’s only nuclear attack, should build nuclear weapons to counter the threat from fast-rising China.

In an interview with The Independent, Shintaro Ishihara said Japan could develop nuclear weapons within a year and send a strong message to the world.

“All our enemies: China, North Korea and Russia – all close neighbours – have nuclear weapons. Is there another country in the world in a similar situation?

Japan must develop nuclear weapons, warns Tokyo governor – Asia – World – The Independent

Why China Lets North Korea Run Wild

Posted by on May 7, 2013 Comments Off

China’s stance has everything to do with its growing ambitions in the Asia-Pacific. As authors Sarah Raine and Christian Le Miere conclude in their new book “Regional Disorder,” China “is almost singlehandedly driving” the growing conflict with Brunei, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia over the energy and mineral resources of this huge area. China now claims all of the islands therein, and 80 percent of the maritime area.

China’s play is more than merely economic, however. In addition to securing oil and gas resources for its energy-starved economy, it also would control the South China Sea, and the strategic waterway known as the Malacca Strait, through which flows 70 percent of the crude oil used by the economies of Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. But for China to acquire this coveted hegemony, U.S. military capabilities in the region will need to be severely cut.

China’s Oil Ambitions Mean No Reining In North Korea – World Report (usnews.com)

Chinese troops continue mobilization along N. Korean border | Washington Free Beacon

Posted by on April 24, 2013 Comments Off

Reports indicate the People’s Liberation Army is on a very heightened alert status, amid mounting tensions between North Korea and the United States and South Korea.

Several reports were derived from Chinese microblogging sites that in the past have provided reliable information on Chinese military activities.

One April 17 photo showed scores of soldiers marching on a street in the city of Shenyang on the way to Dandong, a major border city on the Yalu River dividing the two countries.

Another posting stated military vehicles carrying tanks were spotted heading to Liaoyang, in Liaoning province, also near the border. The movements were reported by a user who said he was in a logistic unit of a PLA unit in Siping, Jilin province, and added that the troops would be deployed to the border “soon.”

Chinese troops continue mobilization along N. Korean border | Washington Free Beacon

Fearing loss of power, North Korea might start a war

Posted by on April 18, 2013 Comments Off

U.S. intelligence officials assessing North Korea’s recent bellicose statements are increasingly concerned that Kim Jong-un could use his limited nuclear arsenal as part of offensive military attack that would be calculated to improve the prospects for reunifying the country rather suffering a collapse of his regime.

According to officials familiar with unclassified assessments, the North Korean leader and his military hampered by economic sanctions and a declining conventional military force remain paranoid about a U.S. military offensive.

The regime is also growing increasingly worried that China will not support its fraternal communist ally and so could calculate that it must launch a military attack. Pyongyang also fears the Chinese will replace the Kim family dynasty with a pro-China puppet regime.

Launching a war might present China with a reunified Korean Peninsula, then North Korea could seek Beijing’s support for negotiating a settlement to civil war.

Mr. Kim may take a page from his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, who launched the Korean War in part because he feared losing power.

Inside the Ring: North Korea war strategy – Washington Times

The Korean peninsula could become very susceptible to war should the US be unable or unwilling to protect South Korea. The article suggests we might not have to wait that long.

Note the concept here: Leaders will put their people through hell if they fear losing power. If it is in their best interest, leaders will cause the suffering and deaths of millions.

Which other countries might be in a boat similar to North Korea?

While not as obvious, it is China and Russia who have a similar problem. Their problems are building. Their legitimacy is being threatened. Their days might become numbered. Should they sit around and wait for a revolution and death, or do something before that happens? Also, what happens if the other side gives them a really good excuse?

The Biggest Threat to South Korea Could Come from Within

Posted by on April 17, 2013 Comments Off

Once again, North Korea is grabbing global headlines by threatening aggression against its neighbor to the south and the United States. And once again, South Koreans are largely shrugging off the rhetoric from the north.

This nonchalance gives South Koreans the chance to focus on another existential threat — one that’s not so easily dismissed as bluster. South Korea’s economic success — the growth formula that brought forth the “miracle on the Han,” set records for development, and is a model for other emerging economies — is no longer working for a great many Koreans. The nation is beset by a deep middle-class malaise that could limit the consumer spending needed to create a more balanced economy and might eventually limit gross domestic product growth itself.

Stalled Miracle – By Richard Dobbs and Dongrok Suh | Foreign Policy

The Biggest Threat To China’s Economy – Forbes

Posted by on April 15, 2013 Comments Off

North Asia looks like the world’s most volatile region at the moment. An assertive China is working to push America aside, grab territory from an arc of nations from India in the south to South Korea in the north, and close off the South China Sea so that it becomes an internal Chinese lake. Last month, while Chinese leaders talked about enhancing cooperation in the region, two Chinese vessels attacked a Vietnamese fishing boat, setting it on fire.

There are many reasons for Beijing new assertiveness, but one stands out: slowing GDP growth, evident since the early summer of 2011. The economic problems in particular have created a dangerous dynamic, trapping China in a self-reinforcing—and self-defeating—loop. In this loop, the slumping economy is leading to a crisis of legitimacy, the legitimacy crisis is causing Beijing to fall back on nationalism and increase friction with its neighbors, and the increased friction is aggravating the country’s economic difficulties.

The Biggest Threat To China’s Economy – Forbes

Bomb North Korea, Before It’s Too Late – NYTimes.com

Posted by on April 15, 2013 Comments Off

The Korean crisis has now become a strategic threat to America’s core national interests. The best option is to destroy the North Korean missile on the ground before it is launched. The United States should use a precise airstrike to render the missile and its mobile launcher inoperable.

President Obama should state clearly and forthrightly that this is an act of self-defense in response to explicit threats from North Korea and clear evidence of a prepared weapon. He should give the leaders of South Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan advance notice before acting. And he should explain that this is a limited defensive strike on a military target — an operation that poses no threat to civilians — and that America does not intend to bring about regime change. The purpose is to neutralize a clear and present danger. That is all.

Bomb North Korea, Before It’s Too Late – NYTimes.com

The Enabler: How South Korea is behind the North Korea problem

Posted by on April 15, 2013 Comments Off

Having successfully extracted payoffs so consistently through threats and occasional attacks, the North is naturally at it again. Even though another nuclear test and the threatened launch of a mobile long-range ballistic missile appear imminent, a payoff from the South, not war on the Korean Peninsula, is the likely outcome. And Pyongyang knows this.

Meanwhile, South Korea has matched the North’s bellicosity with its own strategic perversity: It remains obsessed with an utterly unthreatening Japan and has been purchasing air power to contend with imagined threats from Tokyo as opposed to the real ones just north of the demilitarized zone. Seoul is simply unwilling to acquire military strength to match its vastly superior economy. Instead, it spends billions of dollars to develop its proudly “indigenous” T-50 jet fighters, Surion helicopters, and coastal defense frigates — alternatives for which could be much better, and cheaper, imported from the United States. Meanwhile, gaping holes remain in South Korean defenses (and thus we see the ridiculous spectacle of last-minute scrambling for missing equipment and munitions in the present crisis). And the cycle continues: Because the South allows itself to remain so vulnerable, it cannot react effectively against North Korea’s perpetual threats and periodic attacks. Instead, Seoul checks its bank account and gets ready for the next payoff.

It’s time for this to end. …

The Enabler – By Edward Luttwak | Foreign Policy

This is a glimpse of the disfunctionality coming out of South Korea. How much longer than this nation exist? While quite a few South Koreans do not like America, they lump their lives on America for defense. And they buy off North Korea as the problem only continues to grow. Is that real smart?

What is going to happen to America’s allies when America is no longer there to protect them?

This Chip Takes Over When GPS is Jammed

Posted by on April 13, 2013 Comments Off

It’s the Second Korean War of 2020, and things aren’t looking good for the U.S.-South Korean side. North Korea has used its jamming gear to disrupt low-power GPS signals accessible in South Korea for navigation. Luckily for Washington and Seoul, in 2013, the Pentagon’s blue-sky researchers created a positioning tool for use when GPS goes down — and even back then, it was smaller than a penny.

At the University of Michigan on Wednesday, researchers for Darpa announced they’d created a very small chip containing a timing and inertial measurement unit, or TIMU, that’s as thick as a couple human hairs. When the satellites we rely on for navigation can’t be reached — whether they’ve been jammed or you’re in a densely packed city — the chip contains everything you’ll need to figure out how to get from place to place. It’s got gyroscopes, accelerometers and a master clock, to calculate orientation, acceleration and time.

Darpa’s New Navigation Tool Is Smaller Than a Penny | Danger Room | Wired.com

Attempt to kill Jong-un took place in 2012: Source-INSIDE Korea JoongAng Daily

Posted by on April 10, 2013 Comments Off

Although the source did not reveal the exact timing of the incident or who was behind the attack, he said the move appeared to be related to the recent fall and rise of a general.

“It appeared that disgruntled people inside the North moved before the time of the demotion of Kim Yong-chol, director of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, in November,” the source said.

…

South Korean intelligence authorities believe the latest moves by Kim Jong-un to ratchet up tensions through a series of war threats are linked to the incident last year.

Their analysis is that Kim is siding with military hard-liners to solidify his regime and seek internal unity.

To this end, they say, the North Korean leader has a three-stage scenario to bring about fear of a nuclear war in both the North and South Korea, the source said.

The first stage is issuing war threats against the South and spreading the idea that a war is imminent, the source said.

The second stage is reportedly forcing foreigners in the North to leave the country, warning that their personal safety cannot be guaranteed in time of war. The North would also inform foreign diplomatic missions in Pyongyang to pull out their citizens.

The third step will be a terrorist attack on a public installation in the South such as an airport, or an armed attack like the sinking of the Cheonan, the source said.

“They are afraid that the public will be very agitated by forthcoming food shortages in April,” another official said. “Kim Jong-un doesn’t want to start a war. He just wants to escalate tensions to unite his people and find a way through the tightened sanctions.”

The official also said the North is likely to stage an attack that cannot be conclusively blamed on it.

[Published on March 14, 2013]

Attempt to kill Jong-un took place in 2012: Source-INSIDE Korea JoongAng Daily