North Korea

Kim Jong-un’s New Year Address & Prospect For Peace

January 5, 2018 Hyun Lee, Zoominkorea.org Educate! North Korea, Peace, South Korea, US Imperialism

“2017 was a year of heroic struggle and great victory,” said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as he began his 2018 New Year’s Day address, much anticipated by North Korea watchers around the world. His country, he said, has accomplished the cause of “perfecting the national nuclear forces” and “at last come to possess a powerful and reliable war deterrent, which no force and nothing can reverse.” He then quickly moved on to discuss two other topics in great detail: the country’s five-year plan for economic development and the need for reconciliation between North and South Korea toward national reunification. Two things stand out in Kim’s speech. One, North Korea looks back at 2017 as a year of struggle between itself in its drive to complete the construction of an effective nuclear deterrent versus the United States, determined to stop this from happening.

How Cheney & His Allies Created North Korea Nuclear Missile Crisis

December 30, 2017 By Gareth Porter, Truthout.org Educate! Inter-Imperialist Rivalry, North Korea, Nuclear Weapons

The Trump administration has been telling people for months that the crisis with North Korea is the result of North Korea's relentless pursuit of a nuclear threat to the US homeland and past North Korean cheating on diplomatic agreements. However, North Korea reached agreements with both the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations that could have averted that threat, had they been completed. Instead, a group of Bush administration officials led by then-Vice President Dick Cheney sabotaged both agreements, and Pyongyang went on to make rapid strides on both nuclear and missile development, leading ultimately to the successful late November 2017 North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test.

US, S. Korea To Stage Massive Air Exercise Against North Korea

November 26, 2017 AFP, www.yahoo.com Educate! North Korea, South Korea, Wars and Militarism

By AFP for Yahoo News. The United States is planning more aerial mock attacks on North Korea. This is an ongoing and continuous process. Earlier this month, the US flew two B-1B supersonic bombers over the Korean peninsula as part of a joint exercise with Japan and South Korea. That was followed by a joint naval drill involving three US aircraft carriers and seven South Korean warships, the first such triple-carrier exercise in the region for a decade. The US also unveiled fresh sanctions that target North Korean shipping, raising the pressure on the Pyongyang in a bid to make it abandon its nuclear programme. Pyongyang condemned the listing as a "serious provocation" on Wednesday, warning that sanctions would never force it to abandon its nuclear weapons programme.

Is Trump Administration Planning A First Strike On North Korea?

November 20, 2017 Gareth Porter, truth-out.org Educate! North Korea, Strikes, Trump Administration

By Gareth Porter for Truthout - Ever since the Trump administration began a few months ago to threaten a first strike against North Korea over its continued missile tests, the question of whether it is seriously ready to wage war has loomed over other crises in US foreign policy. The news media have avoided any serious effort to answer that question, for an obvious reason: The administration has an overriding interest in convincing the North Korean regime of Kim Jong-un that Trump would indeed order a first strike if the regime continues to test nuclear weapons and an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Therefore, most media have shied away from digging too deeply into the distinction between an actual policy of a first strike and a political ruse intended to put pressure on Pyongyang. The use of military threat for "diplomatic coercion" is such a basic tool of US policy in dealing with weaker adversaries that it is almost taken for granted in Washington. Even diplomats who have been deeply involved in negotiating with North Korea are supportive of using that threat as part of a broader diplomatic strategy. Robert Gallucci, the State Department official who negotiated the "Agreed Framework" with North Korean officials in 1994, noted in an email to Truthout, "We do want the North to understand that their actions could lead the US to a preventive strike -- wise or not."

Summary Trump’s Visit To South Korea

November 12, 2017 Staff, www.zoominkorea.org Resist! Donald Trump, North Korea, South Korea, Wars and Militarism

By Staff for Zoom in Korea. U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in met in Seoul on November 7 and held a joint press conference following their summit. Trump’s statement was noticeably toned down in contrast to his past remarks on North Korea. It did not contain threats of “fire and fury” or military action against North Korea. Trump and Moon agreed to resolve the “North Korean nuclear issue” in a “peaceful manner” and establish “permanent peace” on the Korean peninsula. There were multiple protests against Trump. Thousands of anti-Trump protesters gathered in Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Plaza. South Korean riot police erected a wall of police buses — a tactic begun and widely used by the conservative Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations — to barricade the protesters. The “No Trump Joint Action Task Force” — made up of over 220 civil society organizations — denounced the bus barricades: “Moon Jae-in, the self-proclaimed ‘president of the candlelight revolution,’ ordered police bus barricades to quarantine the people who have gathered to protest Trump, who habitually spouts war threats and bullies other countries through forced weapons sales and trade pressure.”

South Korea Shifts Towards China

November 12, 2017 Alexander Mercouris, www.theduran.com Educate! China, Diplomacy, North Korea, Russia, South Korea, United States, Wars and Militarism

By Alexander Mercouris for The Duran. The big news in Asia this week is not US President Trump’s grand but ultimately empty visit to China. It is the quiet steps China and South Korea have begun to take towards each other. In a recent article for The Duran I discussed how Russian foreign policy seemed to be edging towards a solution to the Korean crisis involving direct Chinese – Russian brokered talks between North and South Korea which would not involve the US. I also referred to the longstanding Russian projects to build railway lines and gas pipelines across North Korea to South Korea, providing South Korea via North Korea and Russia with a land bridge to Europe, whilst bringing the two Koreas together and binding them closer both economically and politically to the two Great Eurasian Powers ie. Russia and China. I also speculated that these Russian plans – which I said had unquestionably been worked out in collaboration with China – might also involve the two Koreas coming together in some form of confederation with each other.

Newsletter – Racism, Propaganda And Wars

October 29, 2017 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, www.popularresistance.org Newsletter Africa, AFRICOM, BDS, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Palestine, Peace, Racism, Wars and Militarism, White Supremacy

By Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese. This week, the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, which promoted giving Palestine to the Jewish people, will be celebrated in London. Around the world, there will be protests against it calling for Britain to apologize for the damage it inflicted. Students from the West Bank and Gaza will send letters to the British government describing the negative impacts that the Balfour Declaration, and the Nakba in 1948, continue to have on their lives today. As Dan Freeman-Maloy describes, the Balfour Declaration is also relevant today because of the propaganda co-existing with it that justified white supremacy, racism and empire. British imperialists believed that democracy only applied to "civilized and conquering peoples," and that "Africans, Asians, Indigenous peoples the world over – all were ... 'subject races,' unfit for self-government."

S. Koreans Opposed To War On N. Korea Banned From US

October 29, 2017 Staff, www.zoominkorea.org Resist! Donald Trump, Korea, North Korea, Peace, South Korea

By Staff of Zoom In Korea. Fourteen members of the Fellowship of South Korean Youth — calling themselves the “Ban Trump’s Crazy Action” (BTC) delegation — were stopped at Incheon airport on October 25 and prevented from boarding their planes to the United States, where they had planned to protest Trump’s war threats in Korea. The group, which had planned to visit New York, Washington DC, and Los Angeles to demand an end to U.S. sanctions and war threats against North Korea, was turned away despite having acquired proper documentation to visit the United States. The members of the delegation were told by the United Airline staff that there were problems with their visas. When the delegation asked for an explanation, they were told, “You need to find out why from the U.S. Embassy in Seoul."

Japan’s Election Worsening Prospects For Peace With N. Korea, China

October 24, 2017 Nicole L Freiner, www.theconversation.com Educate! China, Foreign Relations, Inter-Imperialist Rivalry, Japan, North Korea

By Nicole L Freiner for The Conversation - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gambled by calling a snap election – and he has won big. Voters handed Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party a sweeping victory in the Oct. 22 balloting for Japan’s House of Representatives. The call for the election came in late September after North Korea had just fired another test missile, with its longest delivery system yet. Over the past months, North Korea has tested six missiles, with each test either falling into the Japan Sea or passing over Japan to land in the Pacific. This latest missile flew over Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido before falling into the Pacific Ocean. North Korea’s leader, Kim Jung Un, used strong threats after this missile test, saying that he hoped to see Japan sink into the sea. Abe and his hawkish, conservative coalition have been attempting to rebuild Japan’s military capabilities and to scrap its WWII-era constitution that prohibits aggression. Based on my research in Japanese politics, I believe the party’s electoral victory spells trouble for peace in Asia.

The North Korea Neither Trump Nor Western Media Wants The World To See

October 20, 2017 Eva Bartlett, www.mintpressnews.com Educate! Corporate Media, North Korea, Propaganda

By Eva Bartlett for Mint Press News - PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA — North Korea (the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK) is one of the least understood and most lied about countries on Earth. In Western corporate media renditions, most news about the country is alarmist (of “the North Koreans want to kill you” type), fake (“all men have to have the same haircut,” a story originating from Washington itself), or about the North’s military. Accounts of the nation’s military prowess and threat generally ignore (as noted here) the presence of the 28,500 U.S. troops occupying South Korea, their 38 military installations, and more recently their Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in South Korea — “a U.S. radar system opposed by the Korean people, in the North and South, as well as China.” On September 19, 2017, in the forum of the United Nations General Assembly, U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to “totally destroy” North Korea. This is not the first time threats against the DPRK have been issued. Colin Powell in 1995 threatened to turn North Korea into “a charcoal briquette” and in 2013 reiterated that threat to “destroy” the country. Not broadcast in corporate media is the fact that America had already annihilated North Korea, destroying the capital city, Pyongyang, and cities around the country, with 635,000 tons of bombs, including 32,557 tons of Napalm — indeed turning the North into a ‘charcoal briquette’.

The Real Reason Behind Trump’s Angry Diplomacy In North Korea

October 18, 2017 Ramzy Baroud, www.ramzybaroud.net Educate! Donald Trump, New Economy, North Korea, US Imperialism

By Ramzy Baroud for Politics for the People - To understand the United States’ stratagem in the Pacific, and against North Korea in particular, one has to understand the fundamental changes that are under way in that region. China’s clout as an Asian superpower and as a global economic powerhouse has been growing at a rapid speed. The US’ belated ‘pivot to Asia’ to counter China’s rise has been, thus far, quite ineffectual. The angry diplomacy of President Donald Trump is Washington’s way to scare off North Korea’s traditional ally, China, and disrupt what has been, till now, quite a smooth Chinese economic, political and military ascendency in Asia that has pushed against US regional influence, especially in the East and South China Seas. Despite the fact that China has reevaluated its once strong ties with North Korea, in recent years, it views with great alarm any military build-up by the US and its allies. A stronger US military in that region will be a direct challenge to China’s inevitable trade and political hegemony. The US understands that its share of the world’s economic pie chart is constantly being reduced, and that China is gaining ground, and fast. The United States’ economy is the world’s largest, but not for long. Statistics show that China is blazing the trail and will, by 2030 – or even sooner – win the coveted spot.

N. Korea Foreign Minister On What’s Needed For Negotiations With US

October 13, 2017 Adam Garrie, www.mintpressnews.com Educate! Foreign Relations, North Korea, United States, US Imperialism

By Adam Garrie for Mint Press News - North Korea’s Foreign Minister, Ri Yong-ho, has spoken exclusively to TASS on the occasion of the 69th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Pyongyang and Moscow. Before taking questions, Ri Yong-ho, who recently delivered the DPRK’s speech before the General Assembly of the United Nations, addressed the current state of relations between his country and Russia: Tomorrow, October 12, will mark the 69th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the DPRK and Russia and in this connection I would like to express the hope that friendship and cooperation between our peoples will be growing stronger and that the strategic importance of interaction will grow with the passage of time. My country today is attaining a victory and acting as a worthy counterbalance to the United States, which refers to itself as the “only superpower.” I believe that having such a strong neighbor by its side quite agrees with Russia’s interests. Lately, Korean-Russian relations have been not at the desirable level due to internal and external factors and a number of difficulties and obstacles, but we are optimistic about their potential and their prospects, because there is a solid groundwork for the development of bilateral relations, resting upon a long history of friendship and cooperation.

Here’s What Would Happen If US Nuked North Korea

October 13, 2017 Greg Fish, www.rantt.com Educate! North Korea, Nuclear War, Nuclear Weapons, Trump

By Greg Fish for Rantt. When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Maybe this is why so many Americans wonder why they can’t just nuke a country posing a risk to their security. With an arsenal of some 6,800 operational and precisely engineered warheads, it seems almost too appealing to end all your worries with the push of a button. But there’s a good reason why our nuclear posture isn’t determined by trigger-happy civilians eager to immolate enemy nations in radioactive hellfire. More than two decades of not having to think about nuclear annihilation seem to have created a bizarrely casual attitude about the, well, for lack of a better word, fallout from using nukes. Maybe this is why Trump has been psychotically cavalier about the notion of starting a nuclear war lately.

Trump Adds Venezuela And North Korea To Travel Ban

September 27, 2017 Staff, www.telesurtv.net Educate! Ban, Donald Trump, Foreign Relations, North Korea, Venezuela

By Staff of Tele Sur - The addition of North Korea and Venezuela broadens the restrictions from the original, mostly Muslim-majority list. U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that Venezuela and North Korea will be added to the list of countries banned from traveling to the United States. The order outlines different restrictions for each country on the list. In the case of Venezuela, the new decree is aimed at "certain Venezuelan government officials and their immediate family members," according to the White House press office. The new directive prevents Venezuelan officials involved in state security, law enforcement and migration functions from entering the United States. Immediate family members' ability to enter the U.S. as nonimmigrants on business, tourist and tourist/business visas will also be suspended. The proclamation names ministries and state bodies involved in "screening and vetting procedures," including the Ministry of the Popular Power for Interior, Justice and Peace; the Administrative Service of Identification, Migration and Immigration; the Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigation Service Corps; the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service; and the Ministry of the Popular Power for Foreign Relations.

Veterans Send Letter Calling For Peace Negotiations

September 24, 2017 Staff, www.veteransforpeace.org Create! North Korea, Peace, Trump, Wars and Militarism

By Veterans for Peace. Dear President Trump and Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, You have both made your point.The world has seen that neither of you will back down before the threats of the other. For the sake of the world’s people, it is now time for good faith negotiations. President Trump, you have engaged in reckless rhetoric and threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea with “fire and fury like world has never seen.” We can tell you right now that you do not speak for millions of veterans in this country.

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