Seoul seeks proactive means to curb 'anti-state' groups The Justice Ministry will seek to devise proactive means for curbing "anti-state" and "pro-enemy" activities, such as those that support North Korea, it said Wednesday.

Teachers get suspended jail terms for security law breach (Yonhap News) Four teachers received suspended jail terms Friday after a Seoul court found them guilty of engaging in pro-North Korea activities.

The Enforced Narrative and why I am not Charlie

3 weeks ago the US launched a massive rocket attack on what they believed was an Al Q'ada administrative headquarters in Yemen.

The attack killed and dismembered some Al Q'ada people who we would define as bad guys, but also killed, burnt, dismembered hundreds of innocent Yemeni men women and children who we don't care about anyway.

The Paris attack, and the Martin Place strike before it, when see from the perspective of a 'tit-for-tat' response remain very mild, and almost compassionate, in comparison.

This is about 'business': property, ownership of resources and wealth; none of this is about religion, neither our bizarre morality or the morality of the other players.

Meanwhile, France, Australia, Canada and the US continue the massive indiscriminate bombing and white phosphorous attacks on Iraqis, and we think this is somehow a good and moral thing...and the media is careful not to mention this in relation to the response in Paris.

And then, to see Benjamin Netanyahu in the front line of a march to support human rights...instead of in the dock of the International Criminal Court... Goodness me. No, I am not Charlie.

i am not charlie

Park suggests inter-Korean summit without conditions The president of South Korea has proposed a summit with Kim Jong Un on Monday, and said a halting of its nuclear program need not be a pre-condition.

N. Korea pushing for missile-launching submarines

N. Korea pushing for missile-launching submarines: analysis

Capability would present serious problems for regional opponents, but successful development far from assured

January 9th, 2015

Rob York

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Satellite imagery appears to indicate that North Korea is working at equipping submarines with missile-launching capabilities, analysis published Thursday said.

In an analysis published at 38 North, Joseph Bermudez wrote that the conning tower of a submarine first seen in July may contain vertical launch tubes for ballistic or cruise missiles. Also, the satellite imagery reveals the North to have invested a considerable amount in upgrading its Sinpo South Shipyard, indicating a major naval development program, possibly relating to submarines.

If they succeeded in equipping their submarines with missile-launching capabilities, this would significantly increase the threat to the interests of the U.S. and its regional allies, he wrote.

“Submarines carrying land-attack missiles would be challenging to locate and track, would be mobile assets able to attack from any direction, and could operate at significant distances from the Korean (P)eninsula,” Bermudez wrote.

Bermudez did include in his analysis, however, that the North did not yet have this capability, that development would be time-consuming and expensive and that there is no guarantee it will succeed even if such capability is its priority.

Still, Van Jackson of the Center for a New American Security said that sea-launched ballistic missile capability is a central objective for the North Korean Navy, even if it is not for Kim Jong Un personally.

“At a minimum, Kim Jong Un is permitting the research and development necessary for his Navy to eventually establish a sea-based leg of a nuclear triad capability, and the North Korean Navy seems to be allocating funding and manpower for it as a priority,” Jackson said. “Whether North Korea can reach an initial operating capability milestone in five years or 20 years will depend on how much and how quickly they invest in (submarine launched ballistic missile) technology and testing.”

North Korea’s objective is retaliatory nuclear strike capability, which Jackson said would “box in” South Korea and the United States, forcing them to pursue reconciliation with the nuclear-armed Pyongyang regime or “be prepared for North Korea to engage in coercive violence at will.”

“As best I can tell, everybody recognizes North Korea is on this path yet I know of no plan or strategy to disrupt them. At the same time, I have my doubts that either the U.S. or South Korea would be willing to reconcile politically with North Korea as a nuclear state,” he said.

However, one South Korea-based expert cast doubts on Bermudez’s analysis.

“There are aspects of 38 North’s coverage of the Sinpo-class submarine’s missile capabilities that stretch the truth,” said Kim Min-seok, research fellow at the Korea Defense & Security Forum.

For one, Kim said that this submarine’s size and hull length made the type of missile launch described in the 38 North analysis “almost impossible.”

Also, Kim emphasized the difficulty and expense of developing the technology for the vertical launch of missiles from submarines. For example, South Korea has already been working for 10 years on a vertical launch system to be deployed by 2023, he said.

“Although North Korea is likely researching a submarine missile launching system in Sinpo, contrary to 38 North’s claim, Sinpo-class submarine is not likely to operate this system,” he said.

Picture: KCNA

N. Korea makes more military leadership changes

Two officers assume new senior leadership roles, new air force commander elevated in rank

January 9th, 2015

John G. Grisafi

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North Korea made some recent changes in senior military positions, a Korean Central News Agency report revealed Wednesday. Among the numerous military officers who were present with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a recoilless gun drill, two were new holders of their posts and another was promoted