Dictators . North Korea . Religion (Translators of God)

[Royal]

North Korea says it successfully conducts hydrogen bomb test

Hong Kong (CNN)North Korea says it has successfully carried out a hydrogen bomb test in a region of the country where it conducted three previous nuclear tests.

If the claim is verified, a hydrogen bomb test will be a significant advancement for the country's military ambitions: the device is more powerful than plutonium weapons, which is what North Korea has previously tested

"If there's no invasion on our sovereignty we will not use nuclear weapon," the North Korean state news agency said. "This H-bomb test brings us to a higher level of nuclear power."

The test took place at 10 a.m. local time, the regime said in a televised statement.

The seismic event, which measured the event at a magnitude of 5.1, occurred 19 kilometers (12 miles) east-northeast of Sungjibaegam, the United States Geological Survey said.

South Korean defense ministry said it could not immediately confirm whether the test was what the North claimed it was, but the country's foreign ministry hastily convened an emergency meeting. Officials in Japan were also holding discussions.

A U.S. Pacific Command spokesman said the United States was aware of the reports.

"We remain vigilant and are fully committed to working closely with our Republic of Korea ally to maintain security on the peninsula," the spokesman said.

North Korea's internationally isolated regime is a heavily militarized state with a huge standing army of 1.2 million active soldiers and 7.7 million reservists.

But its conventional weaponry is dated, with limited effectiveness, and it has looked to developing its nuclear capabilities to project power internationally.

The country declared it had nuclear weapons in 2003, and conducted nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013.

In May last year, it said it had the ability to miniaturize nuclear weapons, a development that would allow it to deploy nuclear weapons on missiles. A U.S. National Security Council spokesman responded at the time that the United States did not think the North Koreans had such a capability.

David Albright, a former U.N. weapons inspector, told CNN last year that Pyongyang could already have 10 to 15 atomic weapons, and that it could grow that amount by several weapons per year.

He said he believed Pyongyang had the capability to miniaturize a warhead for shorter missiles, but not yet for intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the United States.

What happens with an underground nuclear test?

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/05/asia/nort ... index.html

[Royal]

US bomber flies close to North Korea as show of force after nuclear test

The US sent a heavy bomber over South Korea in a show of force as North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un insisted his country's latest nuclear test was carried out in self-defence.

The United States deployed a B-52 bomber on a low-level flight over its ally South Korea on Sunday, a show of force following North Korea's nuclear test last week.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un maintained that Wednesday's test was of a hydrogen bomb and said it was a self-defensive step against a U.S. threat of nuclear war.

North Korea's fourth nuclear test angered both China, its main ally, and the United States, although the U.S. government and weapons experts doubt the North's claim that the device was a hydrogen bomb.

The massive B-52, based in Guam and capable of carrying nuclear weapons, could be seen in a low flight over Osan Air Base at around noon (0300 GMT). It was flanked by two fighter planes, a U.S. F-16 and a South Korean F-15, before returning to Guam, the U.S. military said in a statement.

Osan is south of Seoul and 77 km (48 miles) from the Demilitarised Zone that separates the two Koreas. The flight was "in response to recent provocative action by North Korea", the U.S. military said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... -test.html

Seoul, South Korea (CNN)—Tensions between North Korea and South Korea escalated on Wednesday after South Korea said an unidentified aircraft approached the demilitarized zone.

After issuing warning broadcasts, military forces from the South responded by firing warning shots with machine-gun fire, an official with the South Korean Defense Ministry said. The unidentified North Korean aircraft "immediately went towards the North," he said.

It was not immediately clear whether the drone was armed or what its mission was. U.S. B-52 bomber flies over South Korea in solidarity

However, a former U.S. Army senior intelligence officer who served there suggested the purpose was either surveillance or instigation by North Korea. "It's very likely these were trying to figure out troop disposition," said retired Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer. "The second thing they were trying to do was probably provocation."

[Royal]

North Korea 'has miniature nuclear warhead', says Kim Jong-un

Kim Jong-un has claimed North Korean scientists have developed nuclear warheads small enough to fit on ballistic missiles.

State media published images showing the North's leader standing next to what it said was a miniaturised weapon.

The claim is impossible to verify from the images alone and experts have long cast doubt on such assertions.

The North has stepped up its bellicose rhetoric in response to the UN imposing some of its toughest sanctions.

The move by the Security Council came after the North conducted its fourth nuclear test and launched a satellite, both of which broke existing sanctions.

[Royal]

U.S. says North Korean submarine missing

Washington (CNN)The North Korean regime lost contact with one of its submarines earlier this week, three U.S. officials familiar with the latest information told CNN.

The U.S. military had been observing the submarine operate off North Korea's east coast when the vessel stopped, and U.S. spy satellites, aircraft and ships have been secretly watching for days as the North Korean navy searched for the missing sub.

[Pigeon]

Any bets that the US secretly hauls the thing back to the states for a look see. Although they probably already know about the design and equipment.

[Royal]

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea warned Saturday that its military is ready to attack Seoul's presidential palace unless South Korean President Park Geun-hye apologizes for "treason" and publicly executes officials responsible for what Pyongyang says are plans to attack its leadership.

The warning, issued by state media in the name of a unit of the Korean People's Army, is the latest in a barrage of threats against Washington and Seoul over joint military drills now underway that the North sees as a dress rehearsal for invasion. It also came shortly after a North Korean propaganda outlet posted a video depicting a nuclear attack on Washington, D.C.

The joint military exercises are held annually, but tensions are particularly high this year because the drills are bigger than ever and come on the heels of North Korea's recent nuclear test and rocket launch. Further angering Pyongyang have been reports in South Korean media that this year's exercises include simulated training for a "decapitation strike" targeting North Korea's top leaders.
http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-warns ... 51281.html#

[Pigeon]

NK lost a submarine recently. Guess it says the leader from having to kill the captain.

[Royal]

Panama Papers: Mossack Fonseca 'helped firm with links to North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme'
Mossack Fonseca worked with 33 individuals or companies who have been placed under sanctions by the US Treasury

The company at the centre of global controversy following the leak of more than 11m confidential documents reportedly kept clients who were subject to international sanctions - including one with links to North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme.

Panama-based Mossack Fonseca worked with 33 individuals or companies who have been placed under sanctions by the US Treasury, including companies based in Iran, Zimbabwe and North Korea, according to the leaked documents, the BBC reported.

Mossack Fonseca insisted it had done nothing wrong and had been “beyond reproach” for more than 40 years. It said it had often declined to work with clients who were listed on sanctions documents and that its work routinely underwent oversight.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 68951.html

[Royal]

Senior North Korean military official defects, South Korea says
Updated 6:32 PM ET, Mon April 11, 2016

Seoul, South Korea (CNN)A senior intelligence officer with the North Korean military has defected to South Korea, officials in Seoul said Monday.
The defector was a senior colonel with the North Korean Reconnaissance General Bureau, which is in charge of espionage operations against South Korea, according to South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun and Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee.

Speaking in separate news conferences Monday, the ministry spokesmen confirmed that reports on the defection by South Korea's semiofficial Yonhap News Agency were accurate but said they could give no further details.Yonhap reported that the senior colonel was the highest-level North Korean military official known to have defected, although CNN was not able to confirm this independently.

North Korea's Reconnaissance General Bureau is a powerful body, responsible for clandestine operations, including espionage against foreign countries and cyberwarfare operations. All North Korean defectors are interviewed by South Korean intelligence services for information about life across the border.
It is expected the latest defector could prove a rich trove of knowledge about the workings of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's secretive regime.

[Pigeon]

Probably saved his own life...