News Story: S. Korean military to share anti-chemical expertise with OPCW members

SEOUL, Sept. 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's military unit tasked with chemical, biological and radiological (CBR) defense said Monday it will offer international training this week in partnership with a relevant global agency.

Fifteen delegates from a dozen Asian member states of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) will join the five-day program to open here later in the day, according to the CBR Defense Command.

The countries include Nepal, Pakistan, Iran and the Philippines, it added.

Under the annual training program launched in 2005, an advanced member of the OPCW provides developing ones with education and technology related to the fight against possible CBR attacks.

Read the full story at YonhapNews

News Report: Military Options Against N. Korea Fraught With Danger

Hwasong-14 Ballistic Missile preps for launch (July-4-2017)

Brian Padden

SEOUL — In his United Nations General Assembly speech Tuesday, American President Donald Trump said the United States is "ready, willing and able" to "totally destroy" North Korea in response to its "reckless pursuit" of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

His comments come just two days after U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said the U.N. Security Council would be "perfectly happy" handing responsibility for dealing with North Korea to the Pentagon. When asked about her comments, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Monday said there are military options the U.S. can take without putting Seoul at great risk, but he declined to go into detail when pressed by reporters.

But regional security analysts Grant Newsham with the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies in Tokyo, and Bong Young-shik with the Yonsei University Institute for North Korean Studies in Seoul have told VOA there are major risks associated with any of the measures that have been publicly discussed.

News Report: North Korea Test-fires Another Missile Over Japan

Brian Padden

SEOUL — North Korea launched another missile over Japan early Friday, just days after the United Nations imposed additional sanctions on Pyongyang for conducting its sixth nuclear test.

The missile was launched from the Sunan district in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, and flew over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, Yoshihide Suga, Japan’s chief Cabinet secretary, said.

"We absolutely cannot accept these repeated provocations by North Korea and we strongly protest to North Korea and convey to them the nation's strong anger in the strongest words possible,” Suga said.

Warning announcements about the missile blared around 7 a.m. local time in the northern Japanese town of Kamaishi, according to footage from national broadcaster NHK.

South Korea's military reported the missile reached an altitude of about 770 kilometers and flew 3,700 kilometers, far enough to reach the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.

News Story: Ex-AUM doctor helps with Malaysia's probe into Kim Jong Nam assassination

Kim Jong-Nam (Image: Flickr User - Conecta Abogados)

A former doctor of the AUM Shinrikyo doomsday cult has provided articles he wrote to the Malaysian government in cooperation with its investigation into the deadly VX nerve agent attack on the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, it has been learned.

Tomomasa Nakagawa, 54, a former AUM Shinrikyo executive who was sentenced to death for murder using VX nerve agent and other charges, received an inquiry about VX poisoning from the counterterrorism unit of the Malaysian government and sent his articles he had contributed to the Japanese monthly journal "Chemistry Today," according to Colorado State University professor emeritus Anthony Tu.

According to Tu, an 87-year-old leading toxicologist originally from Taiwan, Nakagawa received written inquiries from the Malaysian government via a United Nations organization sometime after April. The Malaysian government has been investigating the broad-daylight murder of Kim Jong Nam, half-brother of the North Korean leader, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in February.

During a meeting with Tu on Sept. 11 at Tokyo Detention Center, Nakagawa confessed his aspirations to write a report in English focusing on AUM Shinrikyo crimes using VX nerve agent, which the former cultist was involved in. Tu has interviewed Nakagawa since 2011 for counterterrorism purposes, and the latest meeting was the 12th of its kind. Tu has also cooperated with Japanese police in its investigation into the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system and other crimes perpetrated by AUM Shinrikyo.

Read the full story at The Mainichi

News Story: N. Korea suspected of chemical, missile cooperation with Syria - U.N. panel

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is suspected of working with Syria on its chemical weapons and ballistic missile programs in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, a U.N. panel of experts has said.

The eight-member panel tasked with monitoring sanctions implementation against Pyongyang made the observation in a 111-page report published online on Saturday, two days before the U.S.-proposed date for a new Security Council resolution vote.

The panel said it is investigating "reported prohibited chemical, ballistic missile and conventional arms cooperation" between North Korea and Syria, including activities on Syria's Scud missile programs and maintenance and repair of its surface-to-air missile air defense systems.

An investigation is also ongoing to determine whether blacklisted North Korean entities or individuals continue to operate in the Middle Eastern country, it said.

"Two (U.N.) Member States interdicted shipments destined for the Syrian Arab Republic," the report said. "Another Member State informed the Panel that it had reasons to believe that the goods were part of a KOMID contract with the Syrian Arab Republic."

KOMID, or the North's Korea Mining Development Trading Corp., is the regime's primary arms dealer and main exporter of goods and equipment related to ballistic missiles and conventional weapons.

"The consignees were Syrian entities designated by the European Union and the United States as front companies for the Syrian Arab Republic Scientific Studies and Research Center," the report said, noting the center has been identified by the panel as cooperating with KOMID in previous prohibited item transfers.

"The Center was reported by Member States as the entity responsible for the Syrian Arab Republic chemical weapons program," it added.

Read the full story at YonhapNews

News Report: Teeth of the Dragon - China Conducts Missile Defense Test Next to Korean Border

China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) carried out large-scale defensive military exercises on Tuesday morning, mere miles from their border with North Korea. The Chinese military reported that the exercise, which seems to have come out of the blue, was itself a series of “rapid response” drills in case of “surprise attacks.”

The exercises included anti-aircraft defense battalions around the Bohai Sea, a Beijing-controlled gulf bordering the larger Yellow Sea, which separates China from the Korean Peninsula. The troops practiced shooting down low-altitude missiles crossing the Bohai Sea, and Beijing claimed success in the operation.

"The troops' rapid response capabilities and actual combat levels have effectively been tested," reported 81.cn, a Chinese military website. The test was also meant to see if the soldiers could handle unexpected events, such as a simulated chemical attack.

"In the past, our strategies and guidelines focused on territorial air defense. Now we are shifting our attention to honing our ability in terms of long-range strategic projection and long-range strike," said Lieutenant General Ding Laihang, commander of the PLAAF, to 81.cn.

News Story: What War With North Korea Would Look Like - 20K NK Dead A Day

By ROB GIVENS

Relatively few Americans know many details about how a war between North Korean, the US, South Korean and United Nations force would look. One of them is Rob Givens, who served as the deputy assistant chief of staff for operations of U.S. Forces Korea and as special assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He shares the outlines of what would be a grim struggle, with tens of thousands dead or wounded each day on both sides — and that’s well before anyone who might go mad and use a nuclear weapon. Here’s some of what Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson are likely to tell lawmakers on Wednesday. Read on. The Editor.

We often hear war with North Korea is “unimaginable,” but, as North Korea presses ahead with its nuclear and missile tests, the unimaginable is becoming more possible. Gen. Joe Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and President Trump’s top uniformed military advisor, described the potential conflict as, “horrific.” So what would this no-longer-so-unimaginable war look like?

Without getting into the important questions of how the war would start — which would certainly change key aspects of how combat operations proceeded — the basic aspects of conflict are predictable.

Thousands of aircraft will wage an epic battle across the entire Korean Peninsula. The two American Air Force fighter wings—100-plus fighter aircrafts permanently stationed there — accompanied by our South Korean partners would fight the opening minutes, striking against the North’s aged, but plentiful air forces while also bombing Kim Jong-un’s missiles and artillery.

If the North gains the initiative, we will have to accept higher risk going after targets before establishing our air superiority — meaning we will suffer higher losses. In short order, the air forces in South Korea would be joined by U.S. Navy, Marine, and Air Force fighters from Okinawa and Japan. U.S. bombers from around the globe would also be called in. Every square foot of North Korea would be in range.

Read the full story at Breaking Defense

News Story: US prepares Filipino troops against chemical attack

By Roel Pareño

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — The US military is helping Filipino soldiers prepare for possible chemical attack of the Islamic State-inspired Maute group as fighting continues in several parts of Mindanao. 

According to the US Embassy in Manila, officials from the Joint United State Military Assistance Group has delivered 1,000 M40 field protective masks and C2 filter canisters to the Philippine Navy.

The turnover of the military protective masks were conducted in two batches; one delivery made on Wednesday and the other on Thursday.

The support came following the request of the Philippine Navy to help sailors and marines prepare for possible chemical attack of terrorists.

Read the full story at PhilStar

News Story: Vietnamese, US defence chiefs hold talks

Washington D.C. (VNA) – Defence Minister Gen. Ngo Xuan Lich held talks with US Secretary of Defence James Mattis in Washington D.C. on August 8 following a welcome ceremony the same day. 

Lich, who is on US visit from August 7-10, said Vietnam considers the US one of the top important partners and always prioritises developing bilateral ties based on the principles of equality, respect for political regime, independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of each country. 

He spoke highly of the US’s collaboration with the Vietnamese coast guards in law enforcement at sea as well as in the United Nations peacekeeping mission. 

The two officials hailed the outcomes of bilateral ties on the basis of the Memorandum of Understanding on promoting defence links and the Declaration on the Joint Vision on bilateral defence ties covering the exchange of all-level delegations, training, dialogue consultation, maritime security, search and rescue, bomb and mines clearance, Agent Orange/dioxin detoxification, and United Nations peacekeeping activities. 

They agreed to reinforce coordination under signed agreements, with priority given to post-war recovery efforts in Vietnam, response to non-traditional security challenges and the UN peacekeeping activities. 

Read the full story at VietnamPlus

USA: U.S.-Australia Hold Counterproliferation Dialogue in Canberra

The United States and Australia held their sixth annual Counterproliferation Dialogue in Canberra on August 2-3. The annual meeting is one of several exchanges held by the United States and Australia each year to strengthen bilateral cooperation to address the threat posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, their means of delivery, and sensitive dual-use technologies.

Interagency experts from both sides met to discuss a range of counterproliferation and strategic trade control challenges, and to identify avenues to best address those challenges. The 2017 Dialogue placed special emphasis on U.S. and Australian efforts to promote effective third country implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions concerning North Korea, opportunities to improve enforcement of strategic trade controls, and the upcoming Proliferation Security Initiative Exercise Pacific Protector, which Australia will host in September 2017. Both sides agreed to meet again next year.

US State Department

News Story: Vietnam, Japan defence cooperation to grow further

Tokyo (VNA) – Vietnam and Japan will exchange experience in UN peacekeeping activities and join hands to handle post-war consequences as well as promote cyberspace and maritime security.

Deputy Minister of Defence Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh and his Japanese counterpart Ro Manabe reached the agreement during their meeting on June 5 as part of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s visit to Japan and attendance of the 23rd International Conference on the Future of Asia.

This year, Japan receives 12 trainees from Vietnam’s Ministry of Defence to pursue BA, MA, PhD in information and technology, telecommunication-electronics engineering, international relations and strategy research.

The Japanese side is working with the Vietnamese defence ministry to test dioxin settlement technology. In addition, the two sides have strengthened collaboration in sea search and rescue.

Read the full story at VietnamPlus

News Report: Defector - DPRK Drones Can Hit Seoul With Biochemical Attack in One Hour

A high-level North Korean detector has ominously claimed that the DPRK military has hundreds and hundreds of attack drones capable of carrying biological and chemical agents to attack Seoul within a single hour.

The individual was interviewed by Japanese newspaper Sekai Nippo under the alias Jin-myeong Han. A former diplomat to Vietnam, he defected from the DPRK in 2015. 

While an enormous amount of attention has been paid to North Korean missile tests, which have greatly increased in frequency and visibility in the past few months, Han argues that the threat of drones from Pyongyang could be just as urgent.

According to Han, the DPRK has been developing their drone delivery system since the 1990's. Han, who claims to have once served in the North Korean air force, said that he helped develop radio communication for the attack drones.

"My guess is that [North Korea] has 300 to 400 drones," he said. They are stored underground and frequently moved between sites to avoid detection by foreign reconnaissance satellites.

"I was surprised to see that people from the Korean Workers' Party came and mounted something that appeared to be biological and chemical weapons on the drones," said Han. "They conducted an experiment to spray chemical or biological agents over the mountains and fields nearby. I went to the mountain afterward to check and found all animals dead, although plants survived.

News Report: North Korea - What Happens if Tensions Finally Give Way to War?

Military experts share their thoughts on how events will unfold if Pyongyang turns its rhetoric into action.

The secluded state's missile tests are growing more frequent, and leader Kim Jong-un continues to threaten to hit the US mainland with a nuclear-armed ballistic missile if Washington doesn't stop putting pressure on the regime.

Most experts agree that if diplomatic and economic measures by the US and allies fail, a preemptive strike could follow, resulting in a conventional war and major loss of life, mainly due to Seoul's proximity to the North's border.

The US Military Times on Sunday published a model of how the US, South Korea and the North would act if the tense 64-year-old ceasefire on the peninsula were to end, based on interviews with current and former military officials, international experts and intelligence assessments of Pyongyang's military capabilities.

News Story: DPRK says foiling U.S., South Korean attempt to assassinate Kim Jong Un

PYONGYANG, May 5 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said Friday that it had foiled an attempt by U.S. and South Korean spy agencies to assassinate the country's top leader Kim Jong Un, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

According to the report, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States and South Korea's Intelligence Service (IS) attempted to murder DPRK's Kim last month with bio-chemical and radio-active substances.

Read the full story at Xinhua

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PacificSentinel: If the CIA, or any Western Intelligence Agency, wanted to assassinate Kim Jong Ding-Dong, it would be made to look like an accident, they wouldn't use some easily traced, hard to use method, he'd simply die in a car crash, or drown in the pool.

News Report: Safe Distance - Australian Army to Get Long-Range Battlefield Gas Detectors

Second Sight MS

The Australian Defense Force (ADF) has announced that their troops will soon be equipped with infrared sensors meant to detect toxic gas and chemical warfare agents from as far as three miles away.

The devices are known as Second Sight MS stand-offs. They are manufactured by Bertin Technologies, a subsidiary of French engineering company CNIM. According to the company's official website, the machine resembles a tripod-mounted camera and only needs 10 seconds to detect contamination. The entire unit weighs about 22.5 pounds, making it easy to transport.

"With its infrared sensor, [Second Sight MS] shows as an overlay localization of dangerous gases such as toxic industrial gases or chemical warfare agents (nerve gases or vesicants). Second Sight can identify the family of the gas and measure its pathlength concentration," reads the product description. The machine can be carried by soldiers or first responders or installed on a vehicle or rooftop.

News Story: Australian troops to receive Bertin-made chemical detectors

Bertin Second Sight system

by Richard Tomkins

Bertin Technologies reports that Australia has chosen its Second Sight MS standoff chemical threat detector to equip its armed forces.

The Second Sight system is a gas-detection system that uses an infrared sensor to detect chemical warfare agents or toxic industrial gases at a range of as much as 3.1 miles.

Read the full story at SpaceDaily

News Report: US Strike on North Korea Could Put Seoul in Jeopardy

Brian Padden

SEOUL — Thousands of North Korean artillery shells raining down on Seoul. Hundreds of tons of high explosives detonating in the densely populated South Korean capital. Missile strikes as far away as Japan and the U.S. territory of Guam.

These are just some of the possible consequences U.S. and South Korean military planners must take into account as they consider a pre-emptive strike to halt Pyongyang's steady advances toward developing an offensive nuclear capability.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has repeatedly said it is finished with its predecessor's policy of “strategic patience” toward North Korea, suggesting the possibility of military action to prevent the North from developing a nuclear tipped intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could reach the U.S. mainland.

Adding military muscle to the rhetoric, a U.S. submarine designed to carry 150 Tomahawk cruise missiles entered a South Korean port on Tuesday. The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group is also heading to the region and conducting naval exercises with Japan and South Korea. And the United States this week began to move part of the THAAD missile defense system to its deployment site 250 kilometers south of Seoul.

News Story: Mattis in Israel insists Iran nuke deal 'still stands'

US Defense Secretary James Mattis

By: Barbara Opall-Rome

US defense secretary claims Syria 'dispersed' aircraft after Tomahawk airstrike 

TEL AVIV, Israel — In the first visit to Israel by a member of U.S. President Donald Trump's Cabinet, Defense Secretary James Mattis said the nuclear deal between world powers and Iran “still stands” and that Iran, as recently certified by the State Department, “appears to be living up to their part” of the deal.

Nevertheless, Mattis said all of that “in no way mitigates against or excuses” other problematic activities by Tehran, including its support for terror; its proxy wars throughout the region; and its unabated actions to keep Syrian President Bashar Assad in power.

In a joint news conference Friday at the Israeli Defense Ministry, Mattis reiterated that the U.S. is a signatory to a deal that “continues to be in force” and that all other issues, including Iranian-generated “mayhem, chaos and murder” in the region are issues that are separate and distinct from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.

Mattis’ remarks came just moments after his host, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, called for “more pressure and more sanctions” on the Iranian regime — something that Tehran and other world capitals warn would cast the U.S. as a violator of the international accord.  

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: No Australian soldiers hurt in IS gas attack in Iraq - PM

CANBERRA, April 19 (Xinhua) -- No Australian soldiers were hurt when Islamic State (IS) forces used mustard gas to carry out a "rudimentary" and "low grade" chemical weapons attack against Iraqi forces in Mosul, Australia's prime minister said on Wednesday.

It has been reported that up to 25 Iraqi soldiers required treatment as a result of the attacks, but no Australian troops - who were assisting the Iraqis at the time of the attack - were injured.

Speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Wednesday, Malcolm Turnbull said while Australian troops were acting as advisers to the Iraqi forces at the time of the attack, no Australians were affected.

"My advice right at the moment is no Australian troops were affected but Australian forces did provide assistance following the attack. That's my current advice received," Turnbull said.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: UN "deeply concerned" over mounting tension over Korean Peninsula

UNITED NATIONS, April 17 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "deeply concerned" with rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, his spokesman said here Monday, calling on all to "redouble their diplomatic efforts" to de-escalate and return to "dialogue on denuclearization" and implementation of Security Council resolutions.

Reaction to the launch on Saturday of a test missile by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) came only minutes after Pyongyang's UN Ambassador Kim In Ryong told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York on Monday that "if the U.S. dares opt for a military action, crying out for 'preemptive attack' and 'removal of the headquarters,' the DPRK is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the U.S."

Over the Weekend, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, visiting Seoul, warned Pyongyang, "the era of strategic patience is over."

"We are obviously deeply concerned about the rising tensions that we've seen in the Korean Peninsula," said spokesman Stephane Dujarric. "We call on all to redouble their diplomatic efforts. The latest launch that we saw over the weekend from the DPRK was troubling."

"We call on the DPRK to take all the steps necessary to de-escalate the situation and return to dialogue on denuclearization," Dujarric said.

"All Security Council resolutions must be fully implemented and we note that the Security Council has consistently stated its commitment to peaceful, diplomatic and political solution," he added.

Read the full story at Xinhua