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Tensions rise as N. & S.Korea exchange fire

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hachiban08 View Drop Down
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    Posted: August 20 2015 at 9:40am

Tensions rise as North and South Korea exchange artillery fire


http://news.yahoo.com/south-korea-fires-tens-artillery-rounds-north-korea-084136508.html#


SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea fired tens of artillery rounds toward North Korea on Thursday after the North launched shells to protest South Korea's anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts along the border, as tension escalated on the peninsula.

North Korea did not return fire but later warned Seoul in a letter that it would take military action if the South did not stop the loudspeaker broadcasts within 48 hours, the South's Defense Ministry said.

In a separate letter, Pyongyang said it was willing to offer an opening to resolve the conflict even though it considers the broadcasts a declaration of war, South Korea's Unification Ministry said.

A South Korean military official said the broadcasts, which began on Aug. 10, would continue.

South Korea said the North fired a 14.5 mm anti-aircraft shell at 3:52 p.m. (0652 GMT), then fired multiple shells from a 76.2 mm direct fire weapon at 4:15 p.m.

View gallery
A North Korean soldier keeps watch on the south at …
A North Korean soldier keeps watch on the south at the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitaris …

No damage or injuries were reported in the South.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye told top defense officials to "react firmly" to North Korean provocations, a spokesman quoted her as saying.

South Korea's military, which said it fired 155 mm artillery rounds in response, raised its alert status to the highest level.

"Our military has stepped up monitoring and is closely watching North Korean military movements," South Korea's defense ministry said.

There was no mention of the firing in isolated North Korea's state media, which does not typically make immediate comment on events.

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A South Korean soldier uses a radio on a military vehicle …
A South Korean soldier uses a radio on a military vehicle at the South Korean border town of Yeonche …

The United States, which has about 28,500 troops in South Korea, said it was concerned and closely monitoring the situation.

"Such provocative actions heighten tensions, and we call on Pyongyang to refrain from actions and rhetoric that threaten regional peace and security," U.S. State Department spokesperson Katina Adams said.

The first North Korean shell landed in an area about 60 km (35 miles) north of Seoul in the western part of the border zone, the defense ministry said. Nearly 800 South Korean residents living close to the border were ordered to evacuate and stay in shelters, according to officials from Gyeonggi province and the city of Incheon.

The exchange of fire was the first between the two Koreas since last October, when North Korean soldiers approached the military border and did not retreat after the South fired warning shots, the South Korean Defense Ministry said at the time. The North's soldiers fired back in an exchange of gunfire that lasted about 10 minutes, with no casualties.

Tension between the two Koreas has risen since early this month when landmine explosions in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) of the border wounded two South Korean soldiers. Seoul accused North Korea of laying the mines, which Pyongyang has denied.

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North Korean soldiers patrol at the truce village of …
North Korean soldiers patrol at the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarised zone (DMZ) separ …

Seoul then began blasting anti-North Korean propaganda from loudspeakers on the border, resuming a tactic that both sides had halted in 2004.

North Korea on Saturday demanded that the South stop the broadcasts or face military action, and on Monday began conducting its own broadcasts.

Thursday's exchange of fire came amid ongoing annual joint U.S. and South Korean military exercises, which began on Monday and which North Korea condemns as preparation for war.

The two Koreas have remained in a technical state of war since the 1950-1953 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

South Korea's won currency weakened in non-deliverable forward trading on the reports of the firing, which came after onshore spot trading had closed. The 1-month contract rose as high as 1,192.7 won per dollar from around 1,189.8 earlier.





Since this was heavily trending on Facebook, I decided to post it here.

Be prepared! It may be time....^_^v
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Medclinician Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 21 2015 at 2:34pm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/11816941/What-is-happening-in-North-and-South-Korea-and-will-they-go-to-war.html

Kim Jong-un, leader of North Korea, ordered his troops to be placed on war footing at 12.16am local time in response to escalating tensions on the shared North/South demilitarised zone (DMZ) border.

Pyongyang set a deadline of 5pm on Saturday for anti-North propaganda being broadcasted from the DMZ to be removed, warning it would take further military action if this is not done.

Who cast the first stone?

On August 4, a group of eight South Korean sergeants were caught in an explosion which severed the legs of two of the men. The officers were conducting a routine scouting mission in Gyeonggi province on the Southern side of the DMZ. North Korean wooden-box mines were discovered to have caused the blast.

South Korea blamed North Korea for the mines, which Pyongyang denied.

• US troops mobilise in South Korea: latest updates

South Korea later retaliated by broadcasting anti-North propaganda messaged from the speakers on the DMZ – something they have not done for 11 years.

Medclinician

comment: eventually one of these word wars is going to escalate to a real serious military confrontation.  North Korea may have the largest army in world counting their reserves and special trained fighters which would be difficult to take out in a ground war. 



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Medclinician Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 21 2015 at 2:39pm
"not if but when" the original Medclinician
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dutch Josh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 22 2015 at 1:42am
The North Korea regime depends on China. When North Korea gets in "a bad mood" it proberbly tells something about Bejing....we have economic "problems" in China,http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-08-21/chinas-first-central-bank-lose-control%E2%80%A6-it-wont-be-last a big explosion in a major harbour https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tianjin  effecting trade for a longer period....https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Tianjin_explosions
As long as China can control Mr. Kim I do not think things will get out of control. But Kim Jung-Un has proven himself to be full of "surprises". If there is a powerstrugle in the leadership of North Korea things can get out of control fast. http://www.internationalpolicydigest.org/2015/07/02/strategic-alliance-china-north-korea/
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Medclinician Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 22 2015 at 7:17am
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-north-korea-south-korea-20150822-story.html

South Korea and North Korea were holding their first high-level talks in nearly a year at a border village on Saturday to defuse mounting tensions that have pushed the rivals to the brink of a possible military confrontation.

The talks came shortly after an afternoon deadline set by North Korea for South Korea to dismantle loudspeakers broadcasting anti-North Korean propaganda at their border. North Korea had declared its front-line troops are in full war readiness and prepared to go to battle if Seoul doesn't back down.

The closed-door meeting at Panmunjom began early Saturday evening, said an official from South Korea's Unification Ministry, who didn't want to be named because of office rules. The official did not give details.

The South Korean presidential office said earlier that the country's national security director, Kim Kwan-jin, and Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo would sit down with Hwang Pyong So, the top political officer for the Korean People's Army, and Kim Yang Gon, a senior North Korean official responsible for South Korean affairs. Hwang is considered by outside analysts to be North Korea's second most important official after supreme leader Kim Jong Un.

comment: granted this is typical refocus attention on North Korea with threats - but with 25,000 U.S. troops in area, things could escalate. NK does have scuds and the locations of them have been tracked by satellite and they could be outfitted with nuclear missiles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scud

They are gearing up for another test of their missiles and we have seen an unstable leader - i.e. Saddam Hussein

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Kuwait

should show us that despite a potential nuke of Baghdad he attacked Kuwait anyway. Our nuclear deterrent as well as super powers in the Free World is not what it was a decade ago. As Iran is set up to move rapidly towards nuclear development with a recent treaty where they inspect themselves, it would be a matter of time before Israel attacked Iran before there was a launch on Tel Aviv - an obvious target.

Since they just received the most advanced anti-aircraft missiles from Russia, it will be a lot tougher taking out a nuclear site. 

We live in an unstable world, and it is probably only a matter on time before one of these "flash points" i.e. where Chinese battleships were nose to nose with Americans results in an incident which could start a war.

This is a watch and wait scenario - and with all the "it's never gonna happen"s, it could.

Medclinician



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dutch Josh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 23 2015 at 12:51am
Medclinician, I agree with you that "war by accident" , misinterpretation, or as a result of an "unstable leader" is getting more and more possible. In the past we escaped from that sort of wars often. (But World War 1 was based on the wrong idea of Germany that the UK would stay out of that war. When countries start wars they do so in expectation they can win those wars. Often they were wrong.)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dutch Josh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 23 2015 at 2:52am
http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/northkorea/2015/08/23/3/0401000000AEN20150823003100315F.html

SEOUL, Aug. 23 (Yonhap) -- More than 50 North Korean submarines are apparently away from their bases for operations, a sign that the North is gearing up for combat while participating in high-level talks aimed at easing tension, an official here said Sunday.

"Seventy percent of North Korea's submarines left their bases, and their locations are not confirmed," the South Korean military official told reporters.

The North is known to have around 70 submarines.

The unpredictable communist nation has also doubled the number of its artillery troops on the border, with the command to be combat ready, according to the official.

Top government officials from the two Koreas were supposed to resume their talks at the truce village of Panmunjom at 3 p.m. Sunday. It has not been confirmed yet whether they began the meeting as scheduled.

(END)


http://sputniknews.com/military/20150823/1026082228.html

TOKYO (Sputnik) — South Korean military officials said that North Korean (DPRK) army had doubled artillery near the demilitarized zone and de facto border between the rival Koreas, the Yonhap news agency reported Sunday.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/military/20150823/1026082228.html#ixzz3jdAX79mM

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Medclinician Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 23 2015 at 8:27am
Originally posted by Dutch Josh Dutch Josh wrote:

Medclinician, I agree with you that "war by accident" , misinterpretation, or as a result of an "unstable leader" is getting more and more possible. In the past we escaped from that sort of wars often. (But World War 1 was based on the wrong idea of Germany that the UK would stay out of that war. When countries start wars they do so in expectation they can win those wars. Often they were wrong.)


This is very hard to sort out. Over the years we have had a constant diet of North Korean threats and attempts to intimidate South Korea and whenever attention has died down, as they sought to bring capital or get money, once again,  another "crisis."

There are some wild cards here that were not as much in play in the past. The North Korean military is mobilizing. - they are gearing up for an atomic test where they will launch a Scud missile.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scud  Researching  the military strength capability of North Korea,  some say it is mostly ground forces and much of the equipment is very old. They do have a sizable army.

We were plunged into the Iraqi mess by Saddam Hussein who attacked Kuwait knowing that allied forces could tactically nuke Baghdad. There were the resources in place at the time to do so.

The U.S. force military commanders have stated that they would retaliate if attacked and also are willing to go the distance to whatever extreme is necessary.

This is the current state of affairs

http://www.roanoke.com/news/wire_headlines/koreas-resume-talks-as-seoul-sees-north-korea-troop-movement/article_4a0fc0b3-90cd-5fd0-baa3-98c15a049a1e.html

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Senior officials from North and South Korea on Sunday were in their second day of marathon talks meant to pull the rivals back from the brink, even amid reports of unusual North Korean troop and submarine movement that Seoul said indicated continued battle preparation.

While it was not clear whether any progress was made during the first round of talks, which started Saturday evening and finished just before dawn Sunday, the second day of diplomacy, for the time being, pushed aside the heated warnings of imminent war.

These are the highest-level talks between the two Koreas in a year. And just the fact that senior officials from countries that have spent recent days vowing to destroy each other are sitting together at a table in Panmunjom, the border enclave where the 1953 armistice ending fighting in the Korean War, is something of a victory.

The length of the first round of talks — nearly 10 hours — and the lack of immediate progress are not unusual. While the Koreas often have difficulty agreeing to talks, once they do, overlong sessions are often the rule. After decades of animosity and bloodshed, however, finding common ground is much harder.

Neither side has disclosed details about the first round of talks. The second session started Sunday afternoon and stretched into the night.

HOWEVER

South Korea said that even as the North was pursuing dialogue, its troops were preparing for a fight.

An official from Seoul's Defense Ministry said that about 70 percent of the North's more than 70 submarines and undersea vehicles had left their bases and were undetectable by the South Korean military as of Saturday.

The official, who refused to be named because of office rules, also said the North had doubled the strength of its front-line artillery forces since the start of the talks Saturday evening.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Medclinician Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 23 2015 at 11:58pm
http://yournewswire.com/china-send-military-troops-and-vehicles-to-north-korea/

Sometimes I wonder who are reading my posts.  One this is for certain. Some are taking the situation much more seriously that the naysayers who say this is just like other situations with North Korea in the past.

The People’s Liberation Army in China have sent troops and armored vehicles to North Korea amid escalating tension and a likely outbreak of war on the Korean peninsula.

Chinese social media have seen users upload photographs of PLA armored vehicles and tanks passing through the streets of Yanji

Wantchinatimes.com reports:

The city, considered a key transport and trade hub between China and the DPRK, is less than 30 kilometers from the 1,400-kilometer border.

The military deployment is believed to reflect how seriously Beijing considers the the current standoff between North and South Korea. Delegates from Pyongyang and Seoul have agreed to continue talks at 3 pm Sunday local time after the first high-level dialogue between the two sides in nearly a year was adjourned following a marathon 10-hour session.

comment: This is happening in China's backyard and if the same scenario were playing out in Cuba, the U.S. would be extremely concerned. The stakes are very high here and a strike on North Korea would escalate and become a war.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Medclinician Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 24 2015 at 8:56am
Source: AP - Breaking news

South Korea's Yonhap news agency, citing an unidentified government source, is reporting that South Korean and U.S. surveillance assets detected the movement of vehicles in North Korea carrying short-range Scud and medium-range Rodong missiles in a possible preparation for launches.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said it could not confirm the report.

It comes after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday declared his front-line troops in a "quasi-state of war," a day after South Korea fired dozens of artillery rounds across the border.

It was in response to what Seoul said were North Korean artillery strikes meant to back up a threat to attack loudspeakers broadcasting anti-Pyongyang propaganda.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Dutch Josh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 24 2015 at 9:25am
North Korea might "test-launch"missiles into the sea. Of course that would be another provocation. North Korea is against joint US-South Korean exercises. (North Korea is planning to have naval excersises with the Chinese Navy). 

But another possibility would be a "surprise attack" by North Korea. Thea a question could be if that attack is known by China or only a N.K. idea.
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