S. Korea warns of pre-emptive strike against North over nuclear tests.

S. Korea warns of pre-emptive strike against North over nuclear tests.(RT).

South Korea will launch a pre-emptive strike against Pyongyang if the antagonist to its north moves to test a nuclear weapon. Seoul said a first strike would be preferable to North Korea getting an atomic weapon, even if it risked open war.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Jung Seung-jo said Seoul would take action even if it meant risking war with its northern neighbor. Pyongyang recently announced it will conduct a nuclear bomb test in the near future, raising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
General Seung-jo maintained it would be better to risk open war with Pyongyang than have it strike first. Describing a pre-emptive attack as a necessary defense tactic, he went on to say it was paramount that the North does not manage to develop a nuclear weapon.
"If [the North] shows a clear intent to use a nuclear weapon, it is better to get rid of it and go to war, rather than being attacked," said the general, addressing the Joint Chiefs. He added that ''a pre-emptive attack against the North trying to use nuclear weapons does not require consultation with the United States and it is the right of self-defense.”
The DPRK was quick to react to Seoul’s comments, condemning them as “warmongering.”
"They do not know what a real war is like and they would shudder after experiencing our military's spirit to attack in a single breath," wrote North Korean news site Uriminzokkiri, calling the South “vicious traitors of the nation.”
North Korea has stepped up its aggressive rhetoric against Seoul recently, following a UN Security Council resolution in January that approved new sanctions against the rogue state. Pyongyong was enraged by the financial penalties and pledged to take “measures to boost and strengthen our defensive military power including nuclear deterrence.”
Following the announcement of the sanctions North Korea announced it would conduct its third nuclear weapons test, stressing that targeting the US and South Korea was not out of bounds.
"We are not disguising the fact that the various satellites and long-range rockets that we will fire and the high-level nuclear test we will carry out are aimed at the United States," North Korea's National Defense Commission says.Read the full story here.

N. Korea planning simultaneous nuclear tests – Seoul.

N. Korea planning simultaneous nuclear tests – Seoul.(RT).North Korea plans to conduct two nuclear tests at once, or in quick succession, South Korea said. The prediction is based on satellite data that allegedly uncovered an uptick in activity at two tunnels at the North's Punggye-ri nuclear test site.
"There is a chance that the southern tunnel is a decoy, but we aren't ruling out that the regime will conduct nuclear tests simultaneously at both tunnels," South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo quoted a military source as saying.
Testing multiple devices at the same time could be part of an effort to produce smaller nuclear warheads that could be mounted on missiles, the source said.
Earlier reports suggested the test will take place before February 10 – the start of the Lunar New Year. Other reports have claimed the test will fall on February 16, the birthday of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
The US and South Korea recently launched a joint naval drill in the Sea of Japan, east of the South Korean port city of Pohang, AFP reported. A US nuclear-powered submarine and other warships are taking part in the war games. The three-day military exercises are widely considered by observers to be a warning to Pyongyang.
"The exercise includes at-sea operating training, detecting and tracking a submarine, anti-air and anti-ship live fire training and anti-missile training," Yonhap news agency quoted a military official as saying.
Seoul's chief nuclear envoy, Lim Sung-nam, left for Beijing on Sunday to meet his Chinese colleague as part of last-minute diplomatic efforts to dissuade Pyongyang from another atomic test.Hmmmmm... Confucius say "War not determine who is right, war determine who is left."Read the full story here.

Urgent preparations in South Korea over North’s third nuclear test fears.

Urgent preparations in South Korea over North’s third nuclear test fears.(RT).South Korean leader Lee Myung-Bak has urged the country’s officials to ‘stand well prepared’ for a third nuclear test by North Korea, according to Yonhap news agency. The test is believed to take place before Lunar New Year starts on February 10.
The calls followed the South Korean President’s meeting with his top security advisers, who reportedly passed him information, which could indicate North Korean preparations for another nuclear test.
Recent satellite photos showed unusually busy activity at the north-eastern nuclear test facility Punggye-ri, which is the country’s only atomic test site, South Korea said. North Korea has allegedly covered the entrance to a tunnel there in an apparent attempt to block satellite monitoring.
The North has meanwhile installed two lookout towers equipped with surveillance cameras, Seoul also says. Both 60-meter-tall installations are designed to monitor the activities of the South Korean army in the demilitarized zone, which divides the two countries.
Seoul's chief nuclear envoy Lim Sung-Nam left for Beijing on Sunday to meet his Chinese colleague as part of last-minute diplomatic efforts to dissuade Pyongyang from another atomic test.
“We will assess the actions of the North after the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution No. 2087 (2013) and discuss our response”, Lim Sung-Nam declared before leaving.
Over the past week Pyongyang has issued a series of daily warnings threatening action over the UN sanctions imposed for a long-range rocket launch last December. North Korea has pledged the "toughest retaliation" if these are not lifted.
The North also slammed the upcoming joint naval drill by the US and its ally South Korea as "war exercises" aimed at invading the isolated state. The military exercises, widely considered by observers as a warning to the country, are due to start on February 4 in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) off the South Korean port city of Pohang. A US nuclear-powered submarine and other warships are expected to take part.Hmmmm.....'All options are on the table'.Read the full story here.

North Korean Leader Seeks End to Confrontation with South.

North Korean Leader Seeks End to Confrontation with South.(Fars).The address by Kim, who took over power in the state after his father, Kim Jong-il, died in 2011, appeared to take the place of the policy-setting New Year editorial published in leading state newspapers, Reuters reported.
"An important issue in putting an end to the division of the country and achieving its reunification is to remove confrontation between the North and the South," Kim said.
"The past records of inter-Korean relations show that confrontation between fellow countrymen leads to nothing but war".
The New Year address was the first in 19 years by a North Korean leader after the death of Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-un's grandfather.
Kim Jong-il rarely spoke in public and disclosed his national policy agenda in editorials in state newspapers.
“(Kim’s statement) apparently contains a message that he has an intention to dispel the current face-off (between the two Koreas), which could eventually be linked with the North’s call for aid (from the South),” said Kim Tae-woo, a North Korea expert at the state-funded Korea Institute for National Unification.
“But such a move does not necessarily mean any substantive change in the North Korean regime’s policy towards the South.”
Last month, South Korea elected as President Park Geun-hye.Park has vowed to pursue engagement with the South and called for dialogue to build confidence.Hmmmm.......Winter he needs food. Read the full story here, more here.