"UN condemns S. Korea ship sinking" by Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press Writer | July 9, 2010
UNITED NATIONS --The U.N. Security Council on Friday condemned a deadly attack on a South Korean warship that killed 46 sailors and pointed a finger toward North Korea but didn't directly blame the reclusive communist nation.
North Korea's U.N. Ambassador Sin Son Ho called it "our great diplomatic victory," stressing again that his country had nothing to do with the sinking of the 1,200-ton Cheonan on March 26....
North Korea has called for a new joint investigation by both Koreas and demanded that its inspectors be allowed to go to the site of the sinking near the tense Korean sea border. Sin again pledged that his government will "do our utmost to dig out the truth behind this incident."
Oh, I think we know the truth already.
South Korea had wanted the council to condemn the North. But China, the North's closest ally and a veto-wielding council member, opposed direct condemnation for the sinking or a third round of sanctions against North Korea.
Because China knows: Beijing suspects false flag attack on South Korean corvette
And the American actions since have validated their view.
While U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice and South Korean Ambassador Park In-kook insisted the council statement makes clear that North Korea was responsible for the attack, some diplomats and analysts privately called it weak for not directly blaming Pyongyang.
"The message to North Korean leadership is crystal clear," Rice said. "The Security Council condemns and deplores this attack."
*******
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement Friday that China hopes relevant parties can "turn over the page on the Cheonan incident as soon as possible."
Not with the U.S. in the middle of it.
--more--"But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try:
"N. Korea sees a resumption of nuclear talks" by Associated Press | July 12, 2010
SEOUL — North Korea has expressed willingness to return to international nuclear disarmament talks, a sign that it is satisfied with the UN Security Council’s decision to avoid directly blaming it for the sinking of a South Korean warship.
South Korea responded to the announcement with caution Saturday, saying it wanted proof....
They wanted proof?
After they have denied North Korea inspectors a look at the ship site and wreckage?
"N. Korea cancels meeting on warship crisis" by Associated Press | July 14, 2010
SEOUL — North Korea’s military abruptly canceled a rare meeting yesterday with the American-led UN Command that had been arranged to discuss the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on Pyongyang.
Military officers from North Korea and the UN Command were scheduled to meet at the Korean border village of Panmunjom yesterday morning to discuss the sinking, which killed 46 South Korean sailors. It would have been the first such meeting since the sinking, which sharply raised tensions on the divided Korean peninsula.
North Korea requested a delay in the talks for “administrative reasons,’’ the UN Command said in a statement.
In Washington, Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said there’s a chance the colonel-level administrative meeting could be held tomorrow.
“They’ve indicated that they’d like to move it to Thursday; but . . . this is an unpredictable regime and so I wouldn’t put any money on that,’’ Whitman said.
An international investigation in May concluded that a North Korean submarine fired a torpedo that sank the warship near the Korean sea border in March. Pyongyang denies it was responsible and has warned any punishment would trigger war.
Last week, the UN Security Council approved a statement that condemned the sinking but stopped short of directly blaming North Korea.
--more--"
And because they canceled a meeting a flotilla of force shows up?
"US brings warship, top diplomatic guns to South Korea" by Anne Flaherty, Associated Press | July 20, 2010
WASHINGTON — The United States is sending the massive aircraft carrier the USS George Washington to South Korea this week, the military announced yesterday.
The deployment is considered a show of force following the sinking of a South Korean warship in March that killed 46 sailors. South Korea and an international team of investigators have blamed North Korea for the attack.
The carrier was expected to be in South Korea’s port of Busan by tomorrow and could participate in an upcoming military exercise.
They just had them: Around Asia: Kissinger Brings Koreans Gifts
And then comes word that the attack happened during military exercises.
The nuclear powered carrier, one of the world’s largest warships, will be accompanied by three destroyers: the McCampbell, the John S. McCain, and the Lassen.
This was when I REALLY BECAME SUSPICIOUS, readers.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will meet with their South Korean counterparts in Seoul this week.
The military exercise and deployment of the George Washington have been under discussion since shortly after the sinking of the Cheonan....
The FALSE FLAG that enabled the positioning of these assets to counter and contain China after the attack on Iran -- all under MSM cover.
The deployment of the aircraft carrier could be seen by North Korea as a particularly aggressive move by the United States because of the ship’s size.
Ya think?
How would YOU SEE IT, dear readers, if YOU were the NORTH KOREANS?
According to a Navy website, the George Washington is 244 feet high from keel to mast and can accommodate 6,250 crew members.
Gates arrived on the peninsula yesterday on a mission to underscore Washington’s firm alliance with South Korea.
Translation: He is filling them in on what is coming.
He flew to a military airport near Seoul and is set to meet today with South Korea’s defense minister, Kim Tae Young. Tomorrow, the sides will hold high-profile security talks.
The talks were initially arranged to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the 1950-53 Korean War and discuss long-term strategies in the bilateral alliance.
The United States and South Korea are expected to approve a proposed series of joint military exercise including new naval training off Korea’s west and east coasts, officials said.
“We are not yet ready to announce the precise details of those exercises, but they will involve a wide range of assets and are expected to be initiated in the near future,’’ a Pentagon spokesman, Geoff Morrell, said last week. “All of these exercises are defensive in nature, but will send a clear message of deterrence to North Korea and demonstrate our steadfast commitment to the defense of South Korea.’’--more--"
"US dismisses Beijing’s ire on naval games; Says action aims to deter N. Korea" by Elisabeth Bumiller and Edward Wong, New York Times | July 21, 2010
Yeah, dump some AmeriKan arrogance on them at the same time.
SEOUL — The United States and South Korea announced yesterday that the first in a series of large-scale naval exercises off Japan and the Korean Peninsula would begin next week, despite objections from China.
The exercises, they said, are meant as a show of force and a “first step’’ in trying to deter North Korea from acts of aggression in the region, nearly four months after the sinking of a South Korean warship for which the United States and South Korea have blamed the North.
WTF are they TALKING ABOUT!?
Everyone BUT the U.S. wants the situation to CALM DOWN!
The first of the exercises, to be conducted from Sunday to Wednesday on the Sea of Japan, to the east, is to include an American aircraft carrier — the nuclear-powered George Washington, one of the largest warships in the world — and 20 ships and submarines, and 100 aircraft, involving 8,000 men and women from the American and South Korean armed services.
We can have floating nuclear attack platforms while Iran can't even have a power plant.
PFFFFFFTT!!!!
The Defense Department said that later exercises would be conducted on the Yellow Sea, which is on the western side of the Korean Peninsula and claimed by China as a military operations zone.
Imagine the reaction if China came over here and started doing exercises with the Venezuelans.
Admiral Robert F. Willard, head of the US Pacific Command, and American defense officials would not say whether those exercises would include the George Washington.
As recently as last October, the George Washington participated in naval exercises in the Yellow Sea with South Korea.
China, which has growing naval ambitions and is North Korea’s most important ally and biggest trading partner, has made clear that it objects to any foreign operations on the Yellow Sea.
As we would if they came here.
Most pointedly, yesterday, the state-run English-language newspaper China Daily printed a front-page article announcing China’s own just-completed exercises there.
The report said the purpose of the Chinese exercise, Warfare 2010, had been to improve defense capabilities against long-distance attacks. Four helicopters and four rescue vessels took part in the exercise Saturday. The next day, tanks were loaded onto vessels at a port in Shandong Province. Trains were also used to transport tanks and other military equipment to ships.
China has refused to agree with the conclusion of South Korea’s investigation into the March sinking of its warship, the Cheonan, in which 46 sailors died.
Because THEY KNOW IT IS BS!
The investigation, conducted with the help of international analysts, found that a North Korean torpedo had sunk the ship. North Korea has denied responsibility and called the investigation’s conclusion a lie.
Yup.
Earlier, Willard referred to the case in dismissing Chinese objections to the joint exercises.
“If I have a concern vis-a-vis China,’’ he said, “it is that China exert itself to influence Pyongyang so that incidents like the Cheonan don’t happen in the future.’’
And what are you going to do about Israel, AmeriKa?
The drumbeat of Chinese concern over the United States-South Korean exercises has been steady.
In early July, People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Party, reported that General Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of the general staff of the People’s Liberation Army, said that China “strongly opposed’’ the exercises.Are you ready for a World War?
--more--"
