North Korea Threatens War Against South Korea - Will Obama Ignore It?

He managed to duck the Israel-Gaza crisis by not saying anything. He has made overtures to Iran and Iran's response to Obama was to demand an apology from the U.S.. I think I have enough of a handle on Obama's foreign policy tact to know that he will not weigh in on this Korean situation anytime soon.

North Korea warned Sunday that South Korea's confrontational policies may trigger a war on the divided peninsula, a message coming two days after the communist country vowed to abandon all peace agreements with its southern neighbor.

Relations between the two Koreas have been strained since conservative President Lee Myung-bak took office nearly a year ago in Seoul, pledging to take a harder line on the North. Tension heightened Friday when the North said it was ditching a nonaggression pact and all other peace accords with South Korea.

The tension may lead to ''an unavoidable military conflict and a war,'' North Korea's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary carried Sunday by the country's official Korean Central News Agency.

''The policy of confrontation'' by the South Korean government is ''the very source of military conflicts and war'' between the Koreas, it said.

The North has accused Lee's government of preparing to stage a war, which South Korea denies. Earlier this month, the North's military declared it adopted an ''all-out confrontational posture'' to defeat any southern aggression.

In its Friday statement, the North said it would no longer respect a disputed sea border with the South on the west of the peninsula, raising the prospect for a new armed clash in the area -- already the scene of bloody naval skirmishes in 1999 and 2002.

A South Korean Defense Ministry official said Sunday that the country's navy remains on alert along the western sea border. The official -- speaking on condition of anonymity citing department policy -- said the ministry has not detected any unusual movements of the North Korean military.

BLAME BUSH: NORTH KOREA DESTROYS NUCLEAR PLANT

Great! And he didn't even have to sit down and eat snack crackers with the guy. Sup now Obama?

North Korea destroyed part of its Yongbyon nuclear plant where it processed weapons-grade plutonium in a symbolic gesture today, after the U.S. said it will begin removing the communist nation from its terrorism blacklist.

The move comes a day after Kim Jong Il's regime submitted an inventory of nuclear plants and materials, as required under its disarmament accord with the U.S., South Korea, China, Russia and Japan.

The explosion completely demolished Yongbyon's 20-meter (66- foot) concrete cooling tower at around 5 p.m. Korea time, footage on South Korea's MBC Television showed. MBC and CNN were among five media organizations from countries involved in disarmament talks invited to witness and report on today's event at Yongbyon.

IAF STRIKE IN SYRIA KILLED 10 KOREANS

Breaking news from international.jpost.com.

Ten North Koreans were killed in an IAF air strike on a Syria installation September, Bloomberg reported Monday, quoting an NHK report that cited unidentified South Korean intelligence officials.

According to the report, the Koreans' remains were returned to North Korea after being cremated.

The report quoted a Japanese broadcaster who said that they had been assisting the Syrians in the construction of a nuclear reactor. Several North Korean workers survived the air strike, the report said.

Yielding to months of pressure from the US Congress, the Bush administration gave members briefings on Thursday indicating that on September 6, Israel destroyed an alleged Syrian nuclear reactor built with North Korean help.

The CIA released footage of the alleged reactor showing several North Koreans, including the head of the country's nuclear negotiating team.

The Syrian facility was almost complete when it was attacked, and was far enough along to demonstrate a resemblance to the North Korean reactor at Yongbyon, which in the past has produced small amounts of plutonium and is supposedly now being dismantled, a US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information.

CHINESE THUGS INVADE SEOUL OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY

Chinese bullies doing their Chinese bully thing...

An interesting report from One Free Korea.

One Chinese student swatted at the demonstrators with a flagpole. Another student was arrested for allegedly throwing rocks, police said. Police said four other people were arrested for trying to disrupt the relay. Authorities deployed some 8,000 police — some riding horses and bicycles — to protect the torch.

At one point, the two groups clashed with Chinese students kicking an elderly South Korean protester and hurling rocks at a group that raised banners chastising Beijing.

Look at these animals. Of course, the Chinese government's line will be it was all just the Dali Lama manipulating world opinion.


Where is L. Ling-chi Wang when you need him?

NORTH KOREA READYING FOR WAR?

It certainly looks like North Korea is preparing for war.

North Korean military engineers are completing an underground runway beneath a mountain that can protect fighter aircraft from attack until they take off at high speed through the mouth of a tunnel.

The 6,000ft runway is a few minutes’ flying time from the tense front line where the Korean People’s Army faces soldiers from the United States and South Korea.

Quite an expenditure for a country that can't even feed its people.