North Korea blast US calling Obama a monkey

This is really epic, North Korea calling President Barack Obama “a
monkey” and blamed the U.S. on Saturday for shutting down its Internet amid the hacking row
over the comedy “The Interview.”
North Korea has denied involvement in a crippling cyberattack on Sony Pictures but has expressed fury over the comedy depicting an assassination of its leader Kim Jong Un.

After Sony Pictures initially called off the release in a decision criticized by Obama, the movie has opened this week.

On Saturday, the North’s powerful National Defense Commission, the country’s top governing body led by Kim, said that Obama was behind the release of “The Interview.” It described the movie as illegal, dishonest and reactionary.

“Obama always goes reckless in words and deeds like a monkey in a tropical forest,” an unidentified spokesman at the commission’s
Policy Department said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

“If the U.S. is to persistently insist that the hacking attack was made by the DPRK, the U.S. should produce evidence without fail, though belatedly,” the statement publish by KCNA said.

He also accused Washington for intermittent outages of North Korea websites this week, after
the U.S. had promised to respond to the Sony hack.

There was no immediate reaction from the White House on Saturday. According to the North Korea commission’s spokesman, “the U.S., a big country, started
disturbing the Internet operation of major media of the DPRK, not knowing shame like children playing a tag.”

The commission said the movie was the results of a hostile U.S. policy toward North Korea, and
threatened the U.S. with unspecified consequences.

North Korea and the U.S. remain technically in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War
ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

The rivals also are locked in an international standoff over the North’s nuclear and missile programs and its alleged human rights abuses. The U.S. stations about 28,500 troops in South Korea as deterrence against North Korean aggression.

Source: Associated Press

North Korea’s Internet links restored amid U.S. hacking dispute

As the internet saga between US, Sony and North Korea continues ,North Korea experienced a complete Internet outage for hours before links were restored on Tuesday, but U.S. officials said Washington was not involved.

U.S.-based Dyn, a company that monitors Internet infrastructure, said the reason for the outage was not known but could range from technological glitches to a hacking attack. Several U.S. officials close to the investigations of the attack on Sony Pictures said the U.S. government had not taken any cyber action against Pyongyang.

U.S. President Barack Obama had vowed on Friday to respond to the major cyberattack, which he blamed on North Korea, “in a place and time and manner that we choose.”

Dyn said North Korea’s Internet links were unstable on Monday and the country later went completely offline. Links were restored at 0146 GMT on Tuesday, and the possibilities for the outage could be attacks by individuals, a hardware failure, or even that it was done by North Korea itself, experts said.

Matthew Prince, CEO of U.S.-based CloudFlare which protects websites from web-based attacks, said the fact that North Korea’s Internet was back up “is pretty good evidence that the outage wasn’t caused by a state-sponsored attack, otherwise it’d likely still be down for the count”.

Almost all of North Korea’s Internet links and traffic pass through China and it dismissed any suggestion that it was involved as “irresponsible”.

Meanwhile, South Korea, which remains technically at war with the North, said it could not rule out the involvement of its isolated neighbor in a cyberattack on its nuclear power plant operator. It said only non-critical data was stolen and operations were not at risk, but had asked for U.S. help in investigating.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye said on Tuesday the leak of data from the nuclear operator was a “grave situation” that was unacceptable as a matter of national security, but she did not mention any involvement of North Korea.

North Korea is one of the least-connected nations in the world, and the effects of the Internet outage would have been minimal.

Very few of its 24 million people have access to the Internet. However, major websites, including those of the KCNA state news agency, the main Rodong Sinmun newspaper and the main external public relations company went down for hours.

“North Korea has significantly less Internet to lose, compared to other countries with similar populations: Yemen (47 networks), Afghanistan (370 networks), or Taiwan (5,030 networks),” Dyn Research said in a report.

“And unlike these countries, North Korea maintains dependence on a single international provider, China Unicom.”

NO PROOF, CHINA SAYS

The United States requested China’s help last Thursday, asking it to shut down servers and routers used by North Korea that run through Chinese networks, senior administration officials told Reuters.

The United States also asked China to identify any North Korean hackers operating in China and, if found, send them back to North Korea. It wants China to send a strong message to Pyongyang that such acts will not be tolerated, the officials said.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday it opposed all forms of cyberattacks but there was no proof that North Korea was responsible for the Sony hacking.

North Korea has denied it was behind the cyberattack on Sony and has vowed to hit back against any U.S. retaliation, threatening the White House and the Pentagon..

The hackers said they were incensed by a Sony comedy about a fictional assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which the movie studio has now pulled from general release.

China is North Korea’s only major ally and would be central to any U.S. efforts to crack down on the isolated state. But the United States has also accused China of cyber spying in the past and a U.S. official has said the attack on Sony could have used Chinese servers to mask its origin.

Source: Reuters

WoW ! North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un reappears with walking stick

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has
finally resurfaced with the help of a walking stick after a prolonged, unexplained absence that fuelled
rampant speculation about his health and even rumours of a coup in the nuclear-armed state.

State media on Tuesday reported that Kim, who had not been seen in public for nearly six weeks, made an inspection tour of a newly-built housing complex in
Pyongyang and a science institute.

The front page of the ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun was mostly taken up with a large close-up portrait of a smiling Kim, photographed from the waist upwards.

The daily carried smaller, full-length photos showing Kim leaning on a black walking stick in his left hand as he toured the residential complex built for scientists working on North Korea’s satellite programme.

The visit was also reported by state TV, but using the same pictures and without any video footage, making it impossible to judge just how mobile Kim was so to ascertain his health condition .

Source : AFP

WoW ! It’s HerexG

WoW ! North Korea says to try two detained U.S. citizens

North Korea said on Monday it
would put two U.S. tourists on trial for committing crimes against the state, dimming any hopes among their families that they would soon be released.

“Their hostile acts were confirmed by evidence and their own testimonies,” said the North’s official KCNA news agency, referring to Jeffrey Fowle and Matthew Miller who are being held by the isolated country. It gave no details on when they would face court.

It was the latest in a flurry of events in the volatile region as Chinese President Xi Jinping visits South Korea this week, and comes a day after Pyongyang fired two short-range ballistic missiles, defying a U.N. ban on such tests. The visit by the head of state of its closest ally to a country with which the North is still technically at war could raise tensions.

Japan has said it will respond to the missile test in cooperation with the United States and South Korea,but that it would not affect talks it is holding with the North this week on the fate of Japanese citizens kidnapped by the reclusive state decades ago.

Jeffrey Fowle, a 56-year-old street repairs worker from Miamisburg, Ohio, was arrested after entering North Korea as a tourist in late April. A job application uncovered by the Dayton Daily News in Ohio said Fowle described himself as honest, friendly, and dependable.

Earlier reports in the paper said Fowle had previously traveled to Sarajevo, Bosnia and had a fascination with the former Soviet Union which led him to look for a Russian bride, whom he later married. North Korea is one of the most isolated countries in the world, but its economic backwardness and political system is a draw for some Western visitors keen for a glimpse of life behind the last sliver of the Cold War’s iron curtain.

“Jeffrey loves to travel and loves the adventure of experiencing different cultures and seeing new places,” said a statement from Fowle’s family lawyer, released in early June. “Mrs Fowle and the children miss Jeffrey very much, and are anxious for his return home,” the statement
said.

Little is known about fellow U.S. citizen Matthew Miller, who was taken into custody by North Korean officials after entering the country the same month whereupon he ripped up his tourist visa and demanded asylum, according to state media. Miller was traveling alone, said a statement from Uri Tours, the travel agency that took the 24 year-old to North Korea, published on their website.

A spokesman for the New Jersey-based travel agency told Reuters Miller was in “good physical condition” and his parents were aware of the situation, but have chosen not to make any statement regarding their son’s arrest.

In May, the U.S. State Department issued an advisory urging Americans not to travel to North Korea because of the “risk of arbitrary arrest and detention” even while holding valid visas.

HAPHAZARD LEGAL SYSTEM
North Korea’s haphazard and inconsistent legal system makes it difficult to predict the outcome for the detained tourists.

It has detained and then released other Americans in the past year, including Korean War veteran Merrill Newman, whom it expelled last December after a month-long detention based on accusations of war crimes related to his service history.

Australian missionary John Short was arrested in February this year for leaving copies of bible verses at various tourist sites during his stay. Short, 75, and Newman, 86, were released on account of their advanced age and health condition, state media said in the wake of published confessions from the two men.

Another U.S. national, Kenneth Bae, a Christian missionary who had been arrested in November 2012, was convicted and sentenced by North Korea’s supreme court to 15 years hard labor last year.

Pyongyang has detained a number of U.S. citizens in the past, using them to extract visits by high-profile figures, including former U.S. President Bill Clinton who in 2009 helped secure the release of two U.S. journalists who had secretly entered the country by crossing into the country from China.

The journalists, Laura Ling and Korean-American Euna Lee, were released after being tried by a city court in Pyongyang and given a ten-year hard labor sentence. But North Korea has twice canceled visits by Robert King, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, to discuss Bae’s case.

WoW ! North Korea renews threat of nuclear test

North Korea renewed a threat on
Saturday to conduct a nuclear test amid heightened
concern that the reclusive state with a stockpile of
missiles may set off an atomic device for the fourth
time on the path to building a nuclear arsenal.
North Korea’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said
the country was justified in using all available means
at its disposal to counter aggressive challenges by the
United States and South Korea aimed at stifling its
sovereignty.
North Korea clarifies “its resolute stand that it would
take counter-measures including nuclear test to
protect the sovereignty and dignity,” the newspaper
said in a commentary carried by the official KCNA
news agency.
The threat comes days after statements by South
Korea’s defense minister that preparations for a new
test appear to be near completion although analysis
by an American think tank last week suggested a test
may not be imminent.
A U.S. official said the United States is “closely
monitoring” the situation on the Korean peninsula and
urged North Korea to refrain from actions that could
threaten regional peace.
“The United States remains steadfast in its
commitment to the defense of its allies and continues
to coordinate closely with both the Republic of Korea
and Japan,” National Security Council spokesman
Patrick Ventrell said in an emailed statement.
North Korea had stepped up the threat in March to
show off its military strength to counter what it said
was hostility led by the United States after the U.N.
Security Council condemned Pyongyang’s launch of
mid-range missiles into the sea.
“We would not rule out a new form of nuclear test for
bolstering up our nuclear deterrence,” it said in March.
North Korea is under heavy sanctions imposed by
several U.N. resolutions adopted beginning in 2006
but has defied pressure to abandon its missile and
nuclear programs. It last conducted a nuclear test in
February last year.
The impoverished state under young leader Kim Jong
Un has channeled resources into building a nuclear
arsenal and is believed to be working to miniaturize a
warhead to mount on its long-range missiles to try to
strike the mainland United States.
But general consensus among experts and officials is
that it is some time away from perfecting the
technology.
North Korea has conducted engine tests for an
intercontinental ballistic missile that could potentially
deliver a nuclear warhead to the United States,
according to a U.S. think tank.

Source : Reuters

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WoW ! North Korea sending message to U.S. with missile barrage

A barrage of artillery fire between North and South
Korea across disputed maritime borders on Monday
marked an annual show of force by North Korea
intent on sending a message to the U.S. as it
conducts military exercises nearby.
North Korea’s missile launches into the Yellow
(West) Sea followed by a threat of live-fire drills
along the border “was really aimed at our
policymakers, Republic of Korea policymakers and
Japan,” said Bruce Bechtol, a Korea specialist and
professor of political science at Angelo State
University in Texas.
“North Korea is saying, ‘You can do all the exercises
you want and we have the ability to hit you at a
moment’s notice,'” Bechtol said.
The U.S. and South Korea routinely conduct joint
military exercises in the border areas, usually each
year in February and March. The most recent
exercise began March 27.
The North Koreans said they believe the exercises
are meant to intimidate them and often react with
some show of force, Bechtol said.
North Korea fired more than 500 rounds of artillery
shells over three hours, forcing some residents of
South Korean islands to seek shelter in bunkers,
South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim
Min-seok said.
Last week, North Korea launched Rodong ballistic
missiles, which have the range to hit Tokyo or U.S.
bases in Okinawa, Japan. Those launches drew
condemnation from the United Nations Security
Council on Friday.
South Korea responded to the rocket launches on
Monday by scrambling F-15K fighter jets and
lobbing 300 shells into North Korean waters.
“This is always a dangerous time of year on the
peninsula,” said Joel Wit, a senior fellow at the U.S.
Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of
Advanced International Studies. “There’s a danger
here that it may get worse.”
Firing rounds into South Korea’s territorial water
goes beyond North Korea’s usual responses. North
Korea fired into the water to avoid casualties but
still mark its territory and show its willingness to
respond with force, Bechtol said.
“This is just short of a violent provocation,” Bechtol
said. “The intention this time is to stir the pot. ”
North Korea, in a statement published by the state
news agency, called the drills necessary self-
defense “to cope with the grave situation created
by the U.S. hostile policy.”
The country said it would respond with its own
drills, including missiles aimed at “medium and
long-rang targets with a variety of striking power,”
and would consider a fourth nuclear test.
North Korea “is fully ready for next-stage steps
which the enemy can hardly imagine in case the
U.S. considers them as a ‘provocation’ again,” the
statement said. “It would not rule out a new form of
nuclear test for bolstering up its nuclear
deterrence. The U.S. had better ponder over this
and stop acting rashly.”
North and South Korea have skirmished over the
disputed sea boundary before. In 2010, a torpedo
attack sank a South Korean warship, killing 46
sailors. Later that year, North Korean artillery killed
four people living on an island.

Source : USA Today News

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