WTF is going on with NK.. They are massing troops on the SK border

[still_one]

Did this just come out of the blue? It sure seems so

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2020-06-16/north-korea-moves-to-send-troops-to-disarmed-areas-near-border

[edhopper]

1. Might be

Kim's sister consolidating power.

[Blue_true]

37. I agree.

She is letting all of her potential rivals in NK know not to fuck with her.

What she is doing lead me to believe one of two possibilities, he is dead or will die soon, or he is alive but unable to lead and he trust her to swing the hammer. It is said that they are very close, she is his full sister and they grew up in private school together.

[montanacowboy]

2. She's nuttier than her brother

who I believe is either dead or in some sort of comatose state
It sounds like she is in charge.........

[Ahpook]

14. Yeah

Something is definitely going on with that turd.

Would she really go all in on some stupid offensive for whatever reason? That would probably be the end of their reign of power pretty much immediately.

[Blue_true]

38. She is doing what has always been done, take things to the brink to scare the

shit out of the rest of the world and win concessions.

There are some here that will be enraged by this, but I think that we should apologize to them for coming close to using nukes on them during the hot part of the Korean War. I think that would go a long way toward building a better future.

[GP6971]

3. Do you have a link?

I don't doubt it all just curious if there is a link.

[still_one]

9. They are reporting it on Bloomberg News. I will google and find a link

[Leghorn21]

11. This isn't up to the minute, but it's from today, GP

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/north-korea-blows-strategic-building-try-blackmail-u-s-south-ncna1231220

NK reaaalllly provoking

I just emailed my brother and said, “poor South Korea, how spooked they must be - will America’s generals sit around and let NK annihilate them??! - we know bunkerboi would, but will our entire military turn their backs on SK as well???”

[GP6971]

22. Thanks!! n/t

[still_one]

15. Here is the link

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2020-06-16/north-korea-moves-to-send-troops-to-disarmed-areas-near-border

[GP6971]

21. Thank you!

[still_one]

23. +++

[C_U_L8R]

4. Must figure they only have a few months left of Dotard

May as well get away with everything they can.

[davekriss]

20. That's been my fear

Other nations with nefarious intent may be motivated to make their moves now, given dotard’s inability to govern, plus our internal strife and divisions, and our duress under the mishandled pandemic.

This is tragically sad if it blows up (no pun intended). We also have India and China bullying up on their border. What’s next? Putin invading Eastern Europe?

On edit: it looks like SK is “massing” military assets on the border in response to NK’s blowing up of the liaison office, not vice versa (I base this on a post down thread).

[Leghorn21]

5. Still, I JUST got done reading these tweets and I think it's a reliable source and holy shit

https://mobile.twitter.com/Global_Mil_Info

[gratuitous]

6. Good job, Donny

You conferred the legitimacy North Korea has craved for literally generations, sold out our ally South Korea, showed the rest of the world that America's word is worthless, and now the man you fell in love with (or his little sister) is kicking sand in your face. So fucking much winning.

[sprinkleeninow]

7. Will provide a link...

HARE
BY DAVE BURKE
19:02, 16 JUN 2020UPDATED19:12, 16 JUN 2020

SOUTH KOREA RELEASE VIDEO OF NORTH KOREA BOMBING LIAISON OFFICE
South Korean troops and tanks amass on border with North after embassy attack.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/south-korean-troops-tanks-amass-22203057


South Korea has stationed tanks on the border with the North, threatening a strong reaction after Kim Jong-un's regime blew up an embassy building.

Tensions are high on the peninsula after the office - set up to encourage better relations between the neighbours - was "ruined" in a "terrific explosion".


It has led to fears of military clashes in the heavily guarded Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) that divides the neighbours, who are technically still at war, after the North said its troops were prepared to enter the area.

South Korean troops are amassing after the attack on the inter-Korea liaison office in the border town of Kaesong this morning.


The North fired its weapons in a rage after anti-Kim Jong-un leaflets were distributed by defectors branded "human scum" by the secretive state.

0_SKOREA-NKOREA-POLITICS.jpg
South Korean troops have been stationed close to the border as tensions rise(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
RELATED ARTICLES

North Korea blows up 'embassy' near demilitarised zone with South leading to fears of war

North Korea destroyed 'embassy' with South so 'human scum pay dearly for crimes'
South Korea's deputy director of the national security office, Kim You-geun, said: "The government expresses strong regret over North Korea's unilateral detonation of the inter-Korean liaison office building.


"We sternly warn that we will strongly respond to it if North Korea takes any action that further worsens the situation."

And he told a briefing that the destruction of the office "broke the expectations of all people who hope for the development of inter-Korean relations and lasting peace on the peninsula".


He also branded the destruction of the facility, which has been in use since 2018, as a "betrayal".


South Korea has threatened retaliation after the attack(Image: YONHAP/AFP via Getty Images)

The explosion came at a time of heightened tensions(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
South Korean vice unification minister Suh Ho, who co-headed the liaison office, called the demolition "unprecedented in inter-Korean relations'' and a "nonsensical act."

It had been closed since January as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Surveillance video released by Seoul's Ministry of Defence showed a large explosion that appeared to bring down the four-storey structure.


The embassy building was targeted by North Korea(Image: Dong-A Ilbo/AFP via Getty Images)
The explosion was heard at just before 2.50pm local time on Tuesday and it was followed by a plume of smoke.

It came amid fears of military conflict along the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) after the Kim regime threatened to take action if North Korean defectors went ahead with a campaign to send propaganda leaflets into the North.

North Korea's KCNA state news agency said the liaison office, which had been closed since January over fears of the novel coronavirus, was "tragically ruined with a terrific explosion".



The attack is a further setback to hopes North Korean leader Kim Jong-un would abandon his weapons programme(Image: via REUTERS)
It is a setback in efforts to foster co-operation between the North and South.

The act of aggression also appears to be a further blow to US President Donald Trump's hopes of persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons and open up to the outside world.

"We are aware that North Korea destroyed the liaison office in Kaesong and remain in close coordination with our Republic of Korea allies," a senior US administration official told Reuters.

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It is thought that the US will push China for sanctions against China to be enforced.

Russia said it was concerned about the situation on the Korean peninsula and called for restraint from all sides.


North Korea said the office was blown up to force "human scum and those, who have sheltered the scum, to pay dearly for their crimes".

Several defector-led groups, which North Korea refers to as "human scum", have regularly sent flyers over the border, together with food, $1 bills, mini radios and USB sticks containing South Korean dramas and news into North Korea, usually by balloon or in bottles>>

[crickets]

44. "Human scum." That phrase sounds so familiar. Hmm.

Oh, yes. trump is also fond of using these words.

As the hearings began, trump tweets Democrats are 'human scum'

Corrupt politician Adam Schiff’s lies are growing by the day. Keep fighting tough, Republicans, you are dealing with human scum who have taken Due Process and all of the Republican Party’s rights away from us during the most unfair hearings in American History......

[sprinkleeninow]

51. Each and every derogatory thing he emits applies to his very self.

So sickening what we've had put on us.

[Laelth]

8. No clue, but it's a big deal if true. n/t

-Laelth

[dalton99a]

10. North Korea's military to re-enter inter-Korea cooperation sites

https://www.post-gazette.com/news/world/2020/06/16/North-Korea-s-military-to-re-enter-inter-Korea-cooperation-sites/stories/202006160161
North Korea's military to re-enter inter-Korea cooperation sites
Hyung-Jin Kim and Kim Tong-Hyung
Associated Press



SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Wednesday it will redeploy troops to now-shuttered inter-Korean cooperation sites, reinstall guard posts and resume military exercises at front-line areas, nullifying the landmark tension-reducing deals reached with South Korea just two years ago.

The announcement came a day after North Korea destroyed an inter-Korean liaison office in a choreographed display of anger that puts pressure on Washington and Seoul amid deadlocked nuclear diplomacy. The demolition was the most provocative act by North Korea since it entered nuclear talks in 2018, though the building in its border town of Kaesong was empty and the North had previously signaled plans to blow it up.

The North’s General Staff said military units will be deployed to the Diamond Mountain resort and the Kaesong industrial complex, both just north of the heavily fortified border. Those sites, once symbols of inter-Korean cooperation, have been shuttered for years due to inter-Korean disputes and the economic sanctions imposed on North Korea because of its nuclear program.

The North said it will resume military exercises and re-establish guard posts in border areas and and open front-line sites for flying propaganda balloons toward South Korea. It said it’ll upgrade front-line military readiness to “top-class combat duty system,” while citizens are ready to “launch the largest ever leaflet scattering with a blitz.”

[TheBlackAdder]

12. Perhaps DPRK is doing something at the request of China or Russia to bolster Trump's ratings.

[sarcasmo]

13. Sister Kim is flexing her muscles.

[eleny]

16. Meanwile we have an orange ass face in the White House who only knows how to throw gasoline on fires

[Bobstandard]

17. If this doesn't add to your anxiety level...

Imagine what will happen if NK invades SK.
We can see that Trump isn’t up to making strategic decisions. All around him are end-times evangelicals. How screwed are we?

[Mike 03]

47. Yes, this and also India/China.

[Leghorn21]

18. Oh, here we go, Yonhap News Agency (Seoul)

URGENT) S. Korea monitoring N.K. military movement round-the-clock: defense ministry

Link to tweet

URGENT) S. Korea holds National Security Council meeting: Cheong Wa Dae

Link to tweet

https://mobile.twitter.com/YonhapNews

[blitzen]

19. Good analysis here...The gist is that this is the same old same old

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/north-korea-blows-strategic-building-try-blackmail-u-s-south-ncna1231220

The North's provocations have ranged from bellicose statements to military skirmishes near the border to nuclear weapons and ballistic missile tests to cyberattacks and, now, to bombing a South Korea-funded building in its own territory. This latest action was especially shrewd, because the fact that it was in North Korea raises tensions without triggering a military response.


Why Pyongyang decided to take this particular move now has largely to do with the enormous internal pressure Kim Jong Un is under from the military and other North Korean elites for failing to gain relief from Seoul and Washington after raising expectations that he could get them to lift sanctions.

He uses actions like this to demonstrate strength to these domestic power brokers in the face of sweeping international sanctions by the United Nations on goods, commodities and services that are connected to North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile programs, while the U.S. Treasury targets specific individuals and companies involved in a range of wrongdoing.

[still_one]

26. Thanks

[cstanleytech]

40. There is a simply way to get the sanctions lifted though and its been within their power which is

to stop trying to develop nukes and other major weapons like intercontinental missiles none of which they need as none of their neighbors has any intent to invade.
Of course I doubt we will see NKorea do that though as Kim and those in power are afraid that if the people see them as weak that they will rebel given how badly they have been treated.

[herding cats]

24. Not out of the blue. Kim Yo Jong lead a charge to war two days ago.

Emergency meeting held in South Korea after Kim Jong Un's sister threatens military action

South Korea convened an emergency security meeting Sunday after the sister of North Korea's leader threatened military action against South Korea in the latest escalation of tensions between the two neighbors.

Kim Yo Jong, a trusted aide to her brother, Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, said she would leave the right to take the next step of retaliation against South Korea to North Korea's military in a statement carried Saturday by the state news agency, KCNA.

Kim, who has gained new prominence in North Korea's power structure, didn't specify what the next action could be or when exactly it would be taken, but she added: "I feel it is high time to surely break with the South Korean authorities. We will soon take the next action."

A spokesman for the Blue House, South Korea's presidential office, said Sunday that the national security council held an emergency video conference to review the situation and to discuss how best to respond.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/emergency-meeting-held-south-korea-after-kim-jong-un-s-n1231029

In other news two nuclear countries, China and India engaged in a deadly battle, also. Just to sprinkle some added spice to current events.

India-China clash: 20 Indian troops killed in Ladakh fighting

The incident follows rising tensions, and is the first deadly clash in the border area in at least 45 years.

The Indian army initially said three of its soldiers had been killed, adding that both sides suffered casualties.

But later on Tuesday, officials said a number of critically injured soldiers had died of their wounds.
India's external affairs ministry accused China of breaking an agreement struck the previous week to respect the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Galwan Valley.

BBC diplomatic correspondent James Robbins says violence between two armies high up in the Himalayas is very serious, and pressure will grow on the two nuclear powers not to allow a slide into full-scale conflict.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-53061476

Not a dull moment lately. As if a global pandemic of historic levels weren't enough, right?

[BigmanPigman]

25. I have been reading tensions growing for several weeks.

The sister is in charge now....not officially but this is her calling the shots.

[maryellen99]

27. There have also been border skirmishes involving India and China

World War 3 is trending on twitter.

[still_one]

28. and we have a completely inept occupant in the WH

Last edited Wed Jun 17, 2020, 08:06 AM - Edit history (1)

[maryellen99]

30. Yep he's probably salivating over this nt

[qazplm135]

29. this is standard stuff from NK though

every generation or so, sometimes even more frequently, they ramp things up significantly, possibly even with a minor skirmish, and then it all dies down again.

I suspect it's more for domestic consumption to constantly keep the populace on a "we're this close to war so don't get out of line" posture than any real threat to anyone else.

Of course, usually there's a responsible leader in the US and there's a counterpart in China and Russia who ultimately wants to reign in NK from doing too much. But with Putin and Trump, that stool is missing two out of three legs.

[Staph]

31. Oh, crap!

My nephew is stationed in South Korea, along with his wife and children.

I wonder how soon the U.S. military will order dependents to leave the country.

[still_one]

36. Hopefully it is just saber rattling, at least I hope so. All the best to your nephew, and

this doesn’t go further

[Baclava]

32. NK doesnt do anything without China's blessing, border wars could be to restart China economy

[GulfCoast66]

34. I disagree. Respectfullyb. China has a tiger by the tail there.

South Korea’s military would make short work of the North and would hold off China if nukes did not come into play. And I am doubtful if North Korea can actually deliver a nuke. Blowing one underground and actually deploying one is a different kettle of fish.

The South Korean Military is hard core bad ass. One of the best in the world with the best weapon systems available and well trained and motivated soldiers.

China would like nothing better than having a reasonable North Korea. The only reason the support them is because they don’t want America troops on their border. The worst thing for North Korea would be the US withdrawing our troops while South Korea developed good relations with China. The second has been happening.

[GP6971]

39. Under a rational president, I would agree

but keep in mind that USFK (US Forces Korea), 8th Army and CFC (Combined Forces Command) are all in the process of moving from Yongsan (Seoul) to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek. No matter how well a move is planned, there is still glitches and confusion.

Plus the US and the ROK are still in active negotiations of turning operational control over from the US to the ROK in the event of armed conflict.

NK may be trying to take advantage of all the changes happening. Last I heard, the 2nd ID and 7th Cav are still at Camp Casey and Hovey up by the DMZ.

[cstanleytech]

41. Assuming North Korea even built the nuke rather than having it provided to them by say Russia.

Why? Well maybe to create a distraction from some of the things Russia has been doing like the invasion of the Ukraine.
Not to mention interfering in other countries elections as well as the whole assassinating people in other countries with poison.

[Baclava]

43. China could have a 5 front strategy with NK, India, Taiwan and the South China sea area

China got nothing to lose but people, a half billion dead here or there mean nothing to them, no nukes needed

We just deployed 3 aircraft carrier battle groups into the South China Sea area of western Pacific, Chicoms be pissed

[KY_EnviroGuy]

33. Let's hope it remains just a war of leaflets. And here's your new word for the day!

From what I'm reading on international news sources, HK is determined to re-militarize the DMZ, although as usual that could be bluster. Seoul is shaking in their boots once more.

Good article on the situation from Reuters:

North Korea rejects South's offer of envoys, vows to redeploy troops to border
Reuters News Service
Hyonhee Shin
June 16, 2020 / 6:32 PM / Updated 30 minutes ago

Link: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-southkorea/north-korea-rejects-souths-offer-of-envoys-vows-to-redeploy-troops-to-border-idUSKBN23N3GY

“In the eyes of the Kims, Moon’s administration gave too much of false hope that it would defy U.S. pressure to move their relations forward,” said Chun Yung-woo, a former South Korean nuclear envoy.

“But after two years, what they have left is a failed summit with Trump and no progress whatsoever on inter-Korean economic cooperation.”

RE-ARMING BORDER

In a separate KCNA dispatch on Wednesday, a spokesman for the General Staff of the (North) Korean People’s Army (KPA) said it would dispatch troops to Mount Kumgang and Kaesong near the border, where the two Koreas had carried out joint economic projects in the past.
+++
The KPA spokesman also said police posts that had been withdrawn from the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) will be reinstalled, while artillery units near the western sea border, where defectors frequently send propaganda leaflets, will be reinforced and stand by on “top class combat duty” readiness posture.

Word of the day - try and find this one in Websters: "U.S. flunkeyism" (from the article)

Newsflash: Everything that comes out of our White House is a flunkeyism......

[Baked Potato]

35. Some posturing going on over some propaganda leaflets.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/06/north-korea-escalates-military-threats-defector-leaflet-spat-200616031254684.html

[NotHardly]

42. I got a $20 bill that says Kim is dead & little sister is our new monster...

...any takers for the bet?

[Buckeyeblue]

45. Maybe he's dead and she has a death wish

She doesn't want to live without him, so she is choosing to go out in a blaze of glory! The world is nuts.

[Mike 03]

48. I worry about stuff like this too.

Irrational psychiatric motivations are seldom considered as triggers in world-changing events.

[Buckeyeblue]

49. But many times they have been...

[ancianita]

46. Not for nothing, it's a beta test of global opinion about the use of real world force. First, throw

it up on platforms and media, then proceed accordingly.

NK isn't going anywhere with landbase acquisition. It just wants to enter the global influence realm.

[cwydro]

50. Maybe tangeranus is trying to get his buddy to do him a solid.

And get everyone to forget about the ramp walk lol.

I sure hope not, but nothing would surprise me anymore.

[roamer65]

52. With weak leadership in the US, now is the time for Sino-Russian sabre rattling.

NK is playing a game with the approval of Beijing and Moscow.

[still_one]

53. Good analysis

[spanone]

54. for all his bluster and bullshit America hasn't got one concession from NK

because trump has asked for nothing....a bullshit policy..it doesn't exist

all optics