North Korea Calls Hawaii and U.S. Mainland Targets

I suspect Iran (or other PTB) is paying them off to be provocative for whatever reason. Iran's obvious reason is to distract from their nuclear program. Note the general lack of media play Iran is getting in the past month while the NK straw boogieman is being erected. International bankers could be orchestrating it to continue to support Iran, Obummer (or his puppet masters) could be doing it to distract from our economy. I suspect these theatrics are directed at the USA because it gets no play in the European, Canadian, or any other media I can see. Simple misdirection.

Did anyone else notice the last nuke test NK did was with a uranium bomb, when their arsenal is based on plutonium bombs? I suspect there was a lot of comments and notes in Farsi in by observers to that test (specifically, Iranian scientists and military reps). EDIT: Of course the Iranians are working on a uranium bomb. They are using NK as their testing ground.

There is simply no intrinsic reason for NK to saber rattle like this. They could be playing for aid money. Like I said, I suspect somebody is putting them up to it.

EDIT: I no longer suspect this is a prelude to a shooting conflict with NK because the media coverage is not international, therefore no international coalition is being pushed. Obummer would not unilaterally start another conflict without an international mandate, even if it was contrived.

 

North Korea 'Photoshopped' marine landings photograph - Telegraph

There is some reporting internationally.

 

Now there's a boat I'd like to see sink in deep water.

 

He is in the boat...waiving.

 

I see they've upgraded their navy.

 

Well two B-2 bombers are on patrol over them right now.

 

“The State of War” – Kim Jong Un’s Bombastic, and Ominous, Bluster

by Gordon G. Chang Mar 30, 2013 11:22 AM EDT

EXCERPTS:
On Saturday, North Korea declared it was “entering the state of war” with South Korea. This follows Friday’s statement from leader Kim Jong Un that “the time has come to settle accounts with the U.S. imperialists in view of the prevailing situation.” The boy leader—Kim is believed to be 29—left no doubt what he meant. At the same time, he signed an order to “mercilessly strike” the U.S. and its military installations in the Pacific.

This is, of course, bluster, yet the harsh words come at a particularly sensitive moment. The abnormal regime ruling the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is in disarray, and so the situation could quickly spiral out of control.

Every year, Pyongyang makes bombastic threats before the U.S.-South Korea military exercises. Then, the North Koreans go quiet when the drills begin. This year, however, the tantrum has continued and the words have become increasingly dire. ......

Young Kim took over in December 2011 after the sudden death of his father, Kim Jong Il. This means, among other things, Jong Un did not have time to install officials loyal to him or learn the complex balancing required to keep the four regime elements—the military, the security apparatus, the party, and Kim family circle—in proper alignment.

As a result, Kim Jong Un, now hailed as “Supreme Commander,” has had to rely on two relatives for support, aunt Kim Kyong Hui and her husband, Jang Song Thaek.
......

That makes him vulnerable, especially because Jang Song Thaek is not only purging officials but is also dismantling the power structure put in place by Kim Jong Il. Kim Jong Il favored the military over the Korean Workers’ Party, but Jang, acting in Kim Jong Un’s name, has been favoring the party by cutting the army down to size.
.......

Moreover, Kim and Jang have sacked top flag officers, most notably Vice Marshal Ri Yong Ho, the respected chief of the General Staff. Some analysts believe there was a shootout between forces opposing Ri and those loyal to him when he was deposed last July. Whether or not these rumors are true, it has become clear that Kim’s removal of the popular Ri did not sit well with front-line commanders. In a further sign of turmoil, Ri’s successor, Hyon Yong Chol, was subsequently demoted.

Kim Jong Un may have gone too far in upsetting the top brass, so much of his strident rhetoric today appears to be an attempt to appease old-guard generals and admirals. Kim and Jang may be the most powerful individuals in Pyongyang, but they are not in control of the military, and they have not consolidated power over other regime elements. As a result of the disarray, the hardliners seem to have grabbed control.

And don’t look to China to help tame North Korea, its only formal ally. China’s Communist Party is also struggling to complete a troubled leadership transition. In the turmoil of last year, the People’s Liberation Army has, from all appearances, emerged as the most influential faction in the ruling group.

China’s flag officers have maintained links with their North Korean counterparts and still hold pro-Pyongyang views. The Chinese military, for instance, has transferred at least six mobile missile launchers for the North’s new KN-08 nuclear-capable missile, thereby substantially increasing Kim’s ability to wage nuclear war. So instead of restraining their belligerent allies, the Chinese seem to be egging them on.

Kim Jong Un, therefore, does not have to worry about Beijing reining him in. And as he makes threat after threat, Kim is making it more difficult for himself to back down, especially since his regime has, over the course of decades, built its legitimacy on the use of deadly force.

North Korea is unlikely to resort to violence while the annual U.S.-South Korea military exercises continue and our readiness is high. Yet in these fluid circumstances, just about anything can happen. The window for violence on the Korean peninsula is now open.

Gordon G. Chang is the author of The Coming Collapse of China and Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes On the World. His writings have appeared in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, among other publications.

“The State of War” – Kim Jong Un’s Bombastic, and Ominous, Bluster - The Daily Beast

 

An interesting commentary and analysis. Yet another argument against dynastic absolute monarchies.

 

Some friends of mine area bit concerned with the Pipsqueak, and are putting a team together to be ready if called. We have a commander Spooky (only name we know for him), Fred and George for Forward and rear guards (brothers if you can't tell) Angel in overwatch position, (she is damn good, but don't tell her that, or you will never hear the end of it), Shadow is on Recon, Gunther is a sapper and covers demolitions, and tunneling, and i see Papa has a new recruit....that is going to leave a mark, but he should learn from it.

 

Angel is pretty good at hiding, finally caught a pic of her,

 

Do they know to stay away from stewpots?

 

Yes, they each carry personal defense charges to blow the bottoms out of any pots, skillets, and woks they are threatened with. and Hairy throws poo.

 

Pyongyang Blusters, and U.S. Worries About Quieter Risks

Jon Chol Jin/Associated Press
By CHOE SANG-HUN and DAVID E. SANGER
Published: March 29, 2013

EXCERPTS:
SEOUL, South Korea — This week, North Korea’s young leader, Kim Jung-un, ordered his underlings to prepare for a missile attack on the United States. He appeared at a command center in front of a wall map with the bold, unlikely title, “Plans to Attack the Mainland U.S.” Earlier in the month, his generals boasted of developing a “Korean-style” nuclear warhead that could be fitted atop a long-range missile.
.......

In fact, it is the abilities that Mr. Kim is not showing off that have the Obama administration most worried. The cyberattacks on South Korea’s banking system and television broadcasters two weeks ago were surprisingly successful, as was the torpedo attack three years ago this week on the Cheonan, a naval corvette, that killed 46 South Korean sailors. The North has never acknowledged involvement in either — though the South believes it was responsible for both and so do American experts.

“We’re convinced this is about Kim solidifying his place with his own people and his own military, who still don’t know him,” one senior administration official said Friday. He added, “We’re worried about what he’s going to do next, but we’re not worried about what he seems to be threatening to do next.”

The cyberattacks and torpedo attack have something in common: Unlike the missile attacks and beach landings that Mr. Kim seems to be suggesting are imminent, they are hard to trace to North Korea, at least immediately. As a result, they are hard to retaliate against, and in fact the South never struck back militarily for the sinking of the Cheonan, even after a commission of inquiry, with experts from outside South Korea, concluded it was the work of a submarine-launched torpedo.
......

According to the view that North Korea’s propaganda machine pounds into its citizens’ minds, the North is a tiny nation besieged by hostile outside forces, one that survived despite decades of sanctions and can finally stand up to both its longtime Chinese ally and American enemy — all thanks to the strong “military-first” leadership of the Kim family and the country’s nuclear arsenal.
......

In the propaganda world that the three generations of the Kim dynasty has created, Mr. Kim is “a great iron-willed general admired by all of his people, including real generals who have actually served in the military,” said Lee Sung-yoon, North Korea specialist at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. “For the Kim III, fantasy is reality.”
......

“We’re all trying to put him on the couch,” said Jonathan D. Pollack, a North Korea expert at the Brookings Institution. “A year ago the U.S. and the Chinese saw at least the possibility that you could do business with him. But he has steadily reverted to form,” adopting the approach of his father and grandfather in using the perception of an external threat to solidify support at home.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/30/world/asia/in-pyongyang-bluster-fakery-and-real-risks.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130330&_r=0

 

Using an external threat to solidfy support at home? Well that's nothing new. Every government that I know of has used that, can't let a good 'crisis'(real or imagined) go to waste after all.

 

Indeed....the Falklands / Malvinas War really boosted Maggie Thatcher's falling stocks for a while.