News Report: ‘Tame' Trump - 4.7 Million North Koreans Reportedly Ready to Volunteer for War

Turns out Kim Jong-un wasn't joking around when he said the DPRK would "tame [US President Donald Trump] with fire" last week.

According to Rodong Sinmun, a North Korean outlet, an estimated 4.7 million students and workers indicated they would volunteer to join or re-enlist in the Korean People's Army in the hopes of countering US forces.

Included in the estimates are some 1.22 million women, the outlet reported Thursday.

Kim's latest move backs up a statement he issued last week vowing to take the "highest-level" of actions in response to Trump's United Nations speech, Yonhap News reported.

News Report: China Tightens Screws on DPRK With Oil Supply Cut, Textile Import Ban

China announced on Saturday that it will limit energy supplies to North Korea and stop buying its textiles, in compliance with UN sanctions on Kim Jong-un's regime over Pyongyang’s ongoing nuclear weapon and ballistic missile development.

The United Nations Security Council recently unanimously passed a US-drafted resolution mandating tougher new sanctions against the People's Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK).

China's Ministry of Commerce said that in line with the decision, Beijing is limiting exports of refined petroleum to the DPRK to 2 million barrels per year, beginning January 1, 2018.

China is also depriving Pyongyang of one of its last major sources of foreign revenue by banning textile imports from its troubled neighbor.

China accounts for some 90 percent of North Korea's trade, making its cooperation critical to any efforts to derail Pyongyang's development of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles.

News Story: China bans supplies of petroleum products to N. Korea

BEIJING, Sept. 23 (Yonhap) -- China on Saturday imposed a limit on the supplies of petroleum products to North Korea and imports of textiles from the country under U.N. sanctions over its nuclear and missile development.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry said it would ban exports of condensate and liquefied natural gas to North Korea and limit textile imports from the North, starting 12 a.m. Saturday.

The ministry, however, made it clear that crude oil is not subject to the ban.

"We will not carry out export procedures of related products from 12 a.m. on the day of announcement and these products will be uniformly put on the list of prohibited export items in the future," it said.

China also decided to limit exports of refined petroleum products to North Korea from Oct. 1 in line with the export ceiling imposed under the U.N. Security Council Resolution No. 2375.

Read the full story at YonhapNews

News Report: India, Japan Expected to Increase Maritime Activity Aimed at China

Ralph Jennings

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — India and Japan, anxious to keep Asia’s dominant power Beijing in check, may send patrols into the contested South China Sea or sell arms to rival states following a pair of high-level meetings this month, experts say.

Both Asian countries could sell or donate more weapons to China’s rival maritime claimants, such as Vietnam, so they can build a defense against Beijing. Japan may also use coast guard or naval ships to patrol the sea to show it’s open despite China’s claim to some 90 percent of it.

India will probably continue joint exploration with Vietnam for oil and gas under the 3.5 million-square-kilometer sea, analysts say.

“Delhi and Tokyo have both been stepping up their capacity-building efforts in the region, with Japan focused mainly on providing patrol vessels and training for Southeast Asian states and India selling arms to and training the Vietnamese navy,” said Gregory Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative of the American think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies.

News Report: Former CIA Chief Warns of N. Korea’s Other Nuclear Weapon

Former CIA Director James Woolsey
(Image: Wiki Commons)

Jenny Lee

WASHINGTON — Advances in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs are pushing the international community to respond with increasingly strict sets of sanctions, with the latest round, passed this week, capping the country’s oil imports while banning its lucrative textile exports.

Despite the pressure, the Kim Jong Un regime continues to pursue the development of a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could strike the continental United States, among other targets.

On Friday, for the second time in a month, the regime launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido. It traveled about 3,700 kilometers (2,300 miles) before falling into the Pacific Ocean, the farthest a North Korean missile has ever flown. Within hours, the U.N. Security Council condemned the “highly provocative” missile launch.

Why is the North continuing its launches? Jenny Lee of VOA Korean spoke with former CIA Director James Woolsey to discuss the latest developments.

News Story: Trump, McMaster warn N. Korea of military options

H.R. McMaster (Image: Wiki Commons)

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 (Yonhap) -- The United States has not ruled out military options against North Korea, President Donald Trump's national security adviser said Friday, after Pyongyang launched another missile over Japan.

Those options are "not only effective but overwhelming," Trump added for his part, after reviewing a military base near Washington.

North Korea launched what appeared to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile over northern Japan early Friday (local time), defying international calls to halt its provocations. Pyongyang fired a missile on a similar trajectory less than three weeks ago.

Trump's adviser, H.R. McMaster, told a press briefing at the White House that there is a military option to deal with the regime.

"It's not what we would prefer to do, so what we have to do is call on all nations, call on everyone to do everything we can to address this global problem short of war," he said, flanked by U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

North Korea, according to McMaster, is "one of the world's most urgent and dangerous security problems."

Read the full story at YonhapNews

News Story: Japan urges DPRK to change course, return to negotiating table after latest missile launch

North Korean Hwasong-12 ballistic missile

TOKYO, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday called on the international community to unite against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) "provocative acts" and urged the DPRK to change its current course of action.

"Now is the time when the international community is required to unite against North Korea's provocative acts, which threaten world peace," the Japanese leader told a press briefing at his office.

"We must make North Korea understand that if it continues down this road, it will not have a bright future," Abe said.

Abe's remarks came following the DPRK launching a ballistic missile that flew over northern Japan before falling into the Pacific early on Friday.

The government said the missile landed around 2,260 km east off the cape of Erimo in Hokkaido Prefecture in Japan's north, at around 7:16 a.m. local time (2216 GMT Thursday).

The launch came after the UN Security Council voted in favor of a resolution toughening sanctions on the DPRK following its sixth nuclear test on Sept. 3.

The tougher sanctions included restrictions against its trade in oil and petroleum products.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: Tillerson admits difficulty of oil embargo on N. Korea

U.S. SecState Rex Tillerson

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson acknowledged Thursday it will be difficult to put an oil embargo on North Korea unless China cooperates.

The U.S. pushed for an oil embargo after North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3. But in the face of resistance from China and Russia, the U.N. Security Council on Monday imposed only restrictions on the North's oil imports, among other sanctions.

President Donald Trump later played down the sanctions as "just another very small step" and "nothing compared to what ultimately will have to happen."

"I share that view," Tillerson said in London during a joint press conference with British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. "We had hoped for a much stronger resolution from the Security Council."

The unanimous adoption of the resolution was still significant because it sent a message to the North Korean regime that the international community views its weapons programs seriously, he said.

Read the full story at YonhapNews

News Report: Observers: North Korea Pushing Longtime Ally Beijing Into Corner

William Ide

BEIJING — While debate continues in Washington about how the latest round of sanctions against North Korea could have been tougher, and U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration ponders additional actions, patience is wearing thin in China with the country’s longtime ally and communist neighbor.

On the streets and in academic circles, some are beginning to see the North Korea problem not just as a threat to South Korea, Japan and the United States, but to China as well.

Not a good neighbor

“It’s dangerous. This is all happening right next door,” says one woman surnamed Song, a foreign trader who lives in Beijing. “North Korea has been researching and developing nuclear weapons for a long time and almost all of the international community is opposed to that effort, and yet it continues to go its own way.”

Song says that while China has done a lot to “selflessly” help North Korea, Pyongyang has done little to repay Beijing. In fact, it has done just the opposite, she adds.

“It is a country that clearly has no bottom line,” she says.

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 Report: Oil Sanctions Seen as Key to Curbing N. Korea’s Nuclear Program

Ham Jiha, Jenny Lee

WASHINGTON — Whether the new U.N. sanctions against North Korea will curb Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions, experts on the Koreas and members of President Donald Trump’s administration say placing limits on the Kim Jong Un regime’s oil imports amounts to a significant step forward.

After the underground nuclear explosion Sept. 3 that North Korea said was a successful test of a hydrogen bomb, the United Nations Security Council agreed unanimously this week to adopt the strongest sanctions ever imposed on North Korea. The sanctions are intended to further isolate the country economically and reduce the hard currency the regime uses to finance its banned nuclear weapons activity.

Notable sanction: oil imports

The Security Council also banned North Korean textile exports and barred Pyongyang from sending its citizens to work abroad. Foreign remittances had been another key source of hard currency for Kim.

The new measures are in addition to embargoes enacted last month for Pyongyang’s most lucrative exports — coal, iron, lead and seafood.

The most notable part of the package of multiple sanctions, however, placed a limit on North Korea’s imports of refined petroleum products. Beijing and Moscow, North Korea’s two main oil suppliers, insisted on allowing some imports to continue — 2 million barrels per year, which the Security Council is said to have interpreted as a 30 percent reduction from current levels — in order to derail the Trump administration’s original call for an embargo on all oil trade with Kim’s regime.

News Story: S.Korea's Blue House holds security meeting to review situations after DPRK's nuke test

SEOUL, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's presidential Blue House on Thursday held a National Security Council (NSC) meeting to review overall situations after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s sixth nuclear test earlier this month.

The Blue House said in a statement that the NSC meeting was chaired by Chung Eui-yong, top national security advisor to President Moon Jae-in.

Those who attended the meeting included presidential chief of staff, spy agency chief and ministers of foreign affairs, defense and unification.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: China 'condemns' N. Korea for first time after sixth nuke test

NEW YORK, Sept. 13 (Yonhap) -- China recently "condemned" North Korea for the first time on the United Nations stage, reflecting its growing frustration with its wayward ally, a diplomatic source said Wednesday.

On Monday, the U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted new sanctions against North Korea for its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3. China, a veto-wielding council member, backed the resolution and its ambassador to the U.N., Liu Jieyi, said his government "firmly opposes and strongly condemns" the test.

According to the source, the Chinese government previously stopped short of using the word "condemn" and only expressed its firm opposition.

Read the full story at YonhapNews

News Story: Japan refuels US missile defense ships under new security laws

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The Maritime Self-Defense Force has refueled U.S. ships patrolling to counter North Korean missile launches under new security laws that took effect last year, a Japanese government source said Thursday.

The refueling missions to U.S. Aegis ships sailing in the Sea of Japan were conducted multiple times since April, making them the second instance in which Japanese Self-Defense Forces were known to have performed their expanded roles under the security legislation.

The legislation has loosened the constraints of Japan's war-renouncing postwar Constitution imposed on the activities of the defense forces, setting the stage for U.S. and Japanese troops to work more closely than ever.

Top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said the SDF personnel are engaging in activities to provide supplies to the U.S. military based on the legislation, but refrained from acknowledging specific operations.

"I cannot comment on the issue because it will unveil the details of the operations of the SDF and the U.S. military," the chief Cabinet secretary said at a regular press conference.

In May, the MSDF engaged in a mission to protect a U.S. Navy vessel off Japan for the first time under the legislation, although Tokyo has also not officially confirmed that operation to avoid impacting U.S. military activities and bilateral relations.

Read the full story at The Mainichi

News Story: DPRK condemns latest UN Security Council resolution imposing extra sanctions

PYONGYANG, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) early Wednesday condemned and categorically rejected the latest UN Security Council resolution imposing extra sanctions over its Sept. 3 nuclear test.

The DPRK Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the UN Security Council Resolution 2375 was "fabricated by the U.S. employing all sorts of despicable and vicious means and methods," it said.

The UN Security Council Tuesday adopted a new resolution imposing extra sanctions on the DPRK, including restricting its crude and refined oil imports, banning its textile exports and restricting overseas firms from hiring DPRK citizens.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: New UN sanctions on North Korea - what do they mean?

By Hwang Sunghee

The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted new sanctions on North Korea, including restrictions on oil shipments, to punish Pyongyang for its sixth and largest nuclear test.

But Washington toned down its initial proposals to secure backing from China and Russia.

Here are some key questions on UNSC resolution 2375, and its attempt to end the North's nuclear weapons and missile programmes.

What impact will the oil measures have?

The new resolution ends natural gas shipments to North Korea, caps crude oil shipments at their current levels, and puts a ceiling on refined oil products such as petrol and diesel.

North Korea has little oil of its own, relying on imports to keep its citizens and soldiers moving.

The US initially sought an oil embargo, which China -- North Korea's sole ally and main trading partner -- strongly opposed.

Instead the resolution limits crude oil shipments from any country to the amount sent to the North in the last 12 months.

Read the full story at SpaceDaily

News Story: U.S. warns China of sanctions over N. Korea

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 (Yonhap) -- The United States on Tuesday threatened to impose additional sanctions on China if it fails to implement the new United Nations sanctions against North Korea.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin explicitly mentioned China, saying the U.S. would be willing to block North Korea's main ally and trade partner from accessing the global financial system.

"If China doesn't follow these sanctions, we will put additional sanctions on them and prevent them from accessing the U.S. and international dollar system, and that's quite meaningful," he told a conference in New York, broadcast on CNBC.

In June, the U.S. blacklisted China's Bank of Dandong as a "primary money laundering concern" in connection with North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. That move, according to Mnuchin, was unprecedented.

"I think we've absolutely moved the needle on China," he said. "I think what they agreed to yesterday was historic."

Read the full story at YonhapNews

News Report: North Korea's Development of Nuclear Force Reaches Completion Phase - Envoy

A North Korean ambassador slammed the new UN sanctions on Pyongyang and vowed that the US "will soon feel the greatest pain" it has ever experienced.

Pyongyang's ambassador Han Tae Song said at the UN disarmament talks in Geneva that the "Washington regime […] is obsessed with the wild game of reversing DPRK's development of nuclear force which has already reached the completion phase."

The North Korean envoy vowed that Pyongyang's upcoming measures "will make the US suffer the greatest pain" it has ever experienced.

The diplomat voiced his country's condemnation "in strongest terms" and "categorical" rejection of new UN Security Council's sanctions against Pyongyang, adopted on Monday as a response to North Korea's most powerful nuclear test conducted on September 3.

The UN resolution bans Pyongyang from exporting textiles while capping how much crude oil and refined petroleum products can be imported. Natural gas condensates and liquids are also included among the items North Korea is restricted from importing in excess of UN guidelines.

When commenting on the adoption of new sanctions, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said the "strong relationship" between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping played a major factor in passing the resolution.

This story first appeared on Sputnik & is reposted here with permission.

News Report: N. Korea Slams New UN Sanctions, Warns US of ‘Greatest Pain’

Margaret Besheer, Brian Padden

UNITED NATIONS/SEOUL — North Korea strongly criticized Tuesday the U.N. Security Council's decision to impose tough new sanctions against the East Asian nation, and warned the United States would experience the "greatest pain" for playing a leading role in the effort.

"My delegation condemns in the strongest terms and categorically rejects the latest illegal and unlawful U.N. Security Council resolution," said North Korean Ambassador Han Tae Song at a U.N.-sponsored disarmament conference in Geneva.

North Korea, Han said without elaborating, is poised to "use a form of ultimate means." North Korea had warned before the latest sanctions were imposed that the U.S. would pay "due price" if it pushed for stronger sanctions.

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House Tuesday the new sanctions are "just another very small step" and "nothing compared to what ultimately will have to happen" regarding North Korea.

Aside from North Korea, reaction in Asia to the latest round of international sanctions has been positive, but many are still skeptical they will have any significant impact.

News Story: (South Korean) PM welcomes U.N. sanctions resolution on N.K. even though watered down

SEOUL, Sept. 12 (Yonhap) -- Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon said Tuesday it's fortunate that the U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted new sanctions on North Korea even though the resolution was watered down from its original draft.

Earlier in New York, the Security Council adopted Resolution 2375 that centers on putting caps on North Korea's imports of crude and refined petroleum products, which experts say will lead to around a 30 percent reduction in total supplies of oil-related products to the North.

The resolution, however, was much weaker than the U.S.-proposed original draft that included cutting off crude supplies to the North and freezing overseas assets of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. It has apparently been revised to win support from veto-holding China and Russia.

"Compared with the original draft proposed by the U.S., the resolution was toned down, such as reducing oil supplies to the North by 30 percent rather than a total suspension, and the North Korean leader's exclusion from the sanctions," Lee said during a Cabinet meeting.

Read the full story at YonhapNews