"Sub attack was near US-SKorea drill
Two months after the sinking, U.S. officials for the first time disclosed details of the joint naval exercise held the same day as the attack on the Cheonan.... What surprised experts was that a 130-ton minisub, without warning, could bring down a warship nine or 10 times its size."
Related: South Korean Sailors Lost at Sea
There were still "exercises" leftover from the war games, huh?
S Korea's Ship Sinking - Another False Flag?
The incident begs the question as to what Pyongyang could possibly gain from an attack, especially since for years it's wanted a formal end to the Korean War, a lasting peace, and normalization with America and Seoul, despite decades of betrayal and snubs by successive US administrations, Obama no different than his predecessors"
As an American, you have no idea how disappointing is that fact.
"US wants South Korean boat’s sinking as they tell it but Russia and China don’t agree
Christopher King questions the US-South Korean accusation that North Korea sank the South Korean corvette the Cheonan in March this year. He says the lack of evidence linking Pyongyang to the sinking, coupled with the history of US deceptions in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, makes it more likely that the Cheonan was sank by the US or South Koreans, accidentally or deliberately."
Related: Korean False Flag All About Okinawa
I'd say it was deliberate.
And CUI BONO?
"Brother-in-law of N. Korea’s Kim promoted to no. 2 leadership post; Relative could become next ruler of nation" by William Foreman, Associated Press | June 8, 2010
SEOUL — The brother-in-law of Kim Jong-il was promoted to the number two spot in the secretive nation’s leadership, a position that could allow him to become the next ruler or a kingmaker who will decide which of Kim’s sons succeeds the father....
Why am I smelling BG filler, folks?
Related: Egypt: The More Things Change....
Same Old, Same Old in Saudi Arabia
I knew something smelled familiar.
It was difficult to assess the 68-year-old leader’s health because Pyongyang’s state-run television showed only a long shot of him, sitting behind a desk in the middle of a long line of parliamentarians.
The rubber-stamp parliament, or the Supreme People’s Assembly, usually meets once each year to approve bills vetted by the ruling Workers’ Party....
The session came amid worsening economic woes, pressing succession issues and a South Korean campaign to get the United Nations to punish Pyongyang for a ship attack in March that killed 46 sailors.
North Korea denies sinking the ship, and state-run media did not say whether parliament discussed the issue.
Lining up a successor to Kim has long been one of North Korea’s most pressing issues and it continues to fuel speculation about the mysterious nuclear-armed nation. Analysts said a reshuffle was full of significant signs that the regime was making serious preparations for change.
The most important promotion involved Kim’s brother-in-law, Jang Song-thaek, who already had immense power as the head of intelligence and the political overlord of the prosecutor’s office, the police, and the courts.
Jang was promoted to vice chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission, which makes security policy, and now sits in the number two position, said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the Seoul-based University of North Korean Studies.
“With this post, he has been given all responsibility and rights to secure a stable structure for future succession,’’ Yang said.
Jang, married to Kim’s younger sister, is widely believed to be a key backer of the North Korean leader’s third son, Jong-un, who several analysts think will be his father’s eventual successor. Many believe Jang may lead a collective leadership after Kim’s death and help groom one of the sons for the top job.
“When it comes to Kim Jong-un’s succession, it was known that Jang would serve as the guardian,’’ said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea specialist at Seoul’s Dongguk University.
“By officially becoming vice chairman of the National Defense Commission, he now is in a position where institutionally he can act as Jong Un’s guardian, in the event that Kim Jong-il suddenly dies.’’
Another promotion was announced yesterday that appeared to be motivated by succession concerns, analysts said.
The premier, Kim Yong-il, was replaced by Choe Yong-rim, a parliament member, Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency reported.
The former premier offered a rare public apology in February after a failed currency revamp triggered social unrest and starvation.
Social unrest?
In closed North Korea?
Related: Korea: Meals or Missiles?
I know what I would be sending over.
Last November, citizens were ordered to turn in a limited number of old bills in exchange for new, redenominated currency in an apparent bid to reassert Pyongyang’s control over a growing market economy.
WHAT?
Then NO WAR NEEDED, 'eh?
But the measure left people with worthless bills while inflation surged because state-run shops couldn’t keep up with demand.
Choe’s promotion to premier raised eyebrows because the job is usually filled by people with economics expertise, Koh said.
“It’s notable that Choe, who is more of a political figure, has taken the seat,’’ Koh said. “Appointing a more politically inclined figure to the position can be seen as a move tied to the succession issue.’’
Koh said that the 81-year-old Choe has reportedly worked with the North Korean leader’s youngest son on a construction project and they are apparently close.
He's 81?
The North Korean leader’s oldest son, Jong-nam, was once widely believed to be destined to succeed his father. But he reportedly fell out of favor in 2001 when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a fake Dominican passport to visit Tokyo’s
Yesterday, South Korea’s mass-market JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said it tracked down Jong-nam at a hotel in the southern Chinese territory of Macau.
In a brief interview, Jong-nam dismissed reports that he intended to seek asylum in Europe because he lost out in a power struggle with his brother, the paper said.
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SHANGHAI — North Korean border guards shot and killed three Chinese civilians and wounded another at the border last week, China’s foreign ministry said yesterday, prompting an unusual and public diplomatic protest from Beijing to its erstwhile ally, Pyongyang.
Has to be a misunderstanding and mistake (or something even more nefarious).
The shooting occurred as China had come under intense US and United Nations pressure to join international condemnation of North Korea for its role in the sinking of a South Korean naval warship March 26. The attack left 46 South Korean sailors dead. China is hermetic North Korea’s principal ally, propping up President Kim Jong Il’s regime with desperately needed food aid and investment, and China’s leaders have been loath to criticize Kim.
Biting the hand that feeds him?
I don't think so!!!!!
Foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang, briefing reporters in Beijing, said the shooting occurred the morning of June 4, around the northeastern town of Dandong, when the Chinese civilians crossed into North Korea to engage in illicit trading, common along the 880-mile border.
South Korean and Japanese media reported that the Chinese were in a boat on the Yalu River attempting to smuggle copper from Sinuiju in North Korea, when they were fired on by a North Korean ship.
And if the North Koreans would fire on a Chinese boat they would have no problem sinking a South Korean ship, right?
Qin said China was investigating the situation and “attached great importance to it.’’ He added that China had “immediately made solemn representations’’ to North Korea.
Chinese analysts on North Korea said that while cross-border disputes occur regularly, often involving livestock, a shooting of Chinese civilians was rare — and the fact that the Chinese government chose to publicize it was even more unusual.
“It’s a big deal,’’ said Zhang Liangui, a professor specializing in North Korea at the International Strategy Institute of the Central Party School. “In all my years of research, I don’t remember ever hearing similar news, that Chinese residents were killed by North Korean soldiers.’’
“Chinese people will be shocked to hear this news,’’ Zhang added. “This will affect Chinese people’s views of North Korea.’’
Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Remnin University in Beijing, said “publicizing this incident itself shows China is unhappy about it.’’
Shi predicted relations would be likely to suffer because of the incident. Shi said the Chinese government has shown patience with North Korea’s erratic behavior in the past, but that patience was wearing thin.Still no action at the U.N. so they are not out yet.
Related: Slow Saturday Special: China Keeps the Peace in Korea
Probably why UN hasn't moved on it.
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Globe picking Korea to score twice against Brazil?
