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North Korea Tag

On Wednesday, North Korea conducted a missile test for the first time since September. It was later revealed that this test included an intercontinental ballistic missile (IBM) called a Hwasong-15 that could reach the U.S. mainland. From The Wall Street Journal:
Hours after the launch, dictator Kim Jong Un declared that Pyongyang had “finally realized the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force,” according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency. North Korea said the missile was fired from a mobile launch system, and that Mr. Kim personally oversaw the test.

South Korean authorities have announced that North Korea shot a ballistic missile towards Japan. This is the first launch since the communist kingdom shot one in September. From Fox News:
South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, which first reported the launch, said the missile "flew eastward from the vicinity of Pyongyang" toward the Sea of Japan, according to South Korean military officials. The missile launch happened around 3 a.m. in North Korea. South Korea’s military had reportedly staged a “precision strike” missile exercise in response.

There has been a fascinating developments in relations between North Korea and China over the past week. Just before Thanksgiving, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un appeared to have snubbed China by not agreeing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s diplomatic envoy.
Song Tao, head of the Communist Party’s international department, wrapped up his four-day trip to North Korea on Monday, the first visit by a senior Chinese official since 2015.

A few days ago, a North Korean soldier fled across the border to South Korea in s hailstorm of bullets from his comrades.
The soldier was found on the south side of the border village of Panmunjom, about 50 meters south of the Military Demarcation Line, wounded in his shoulder and elbow, according to a South Korean defense ministry official.

Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis has made a trip to South Korea and the DMZ where he made it known that North Korea has accelerated itself as nuclear threat. From Fox News:
“North Korea has accelerated the threat that it poses to its neighbors and the world through its illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear weapons programs,” Mattis said.

Former President Jimmy Carter sat down for an interview with Maureen Dowd for the New York Times and dropped some pretty interesting bombs.  Dowd focused her write-up on his answer to her question about acting as a go-between for the Trump White House and North Korea.  He said that he would go if asked, and that's certainly both important and within his wheelhouse.  In the interview, however, Carter also defends President Trump and offers surprising assessments of former-president Obama, failed presidential candidate Hillary, and the media. His comments in defense of Trump might be seen as an attempt to ingratiate himself in order to be called upon to assist with North Korea.  Maybe.  But that doesn't explain his apparent candor in unflattering critiques of Obama, Hillary, and the media.

It was a busy day in New York concerning North Korea. We learned that China's central bank told banks to stop working with North Korea. President Donald Trump met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to discuss the North Korean nuclear crisis. Trump also announced new sanctions against North Korea. From The Hill:
Speaking at the United Nations before a working lunch with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, two key allies in the region, Trump said the order would significantly expand the U.S.’s ability to crack down on individuals and companies that do business with North Korea. The president said he had empowered the Treasury Department to “target any individual or entity that conducts trade in goods, services or technology” with North Korea.

South Korea's government reported that North Korea fired another missile over Japan from Sunan, which is located just north of Pyongyang, at 6:30AM local time. From CNN:
The missile flew about 3,700 kilometers (2,300 miles) and reached an altitude of 770 kilometers (480) miles. It landed in the Pacific Ocean, South Korea said.

US United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley told the Security Council that North Korea dictator Kim Jong-un "is begging for war" after the latest nuclear test in the hermit kingdom. "Despite our efforts, the North Korea nuclear program is more advanced and more dangerous than ever," she explained. "War is never something the United States wants. We don't want it now. But our country's patience is not unlimited."

North Korea has successfully tested a nuke and may have triggered an earthquake.  World leaders are reacting this morning. Fox News reports:

North Korea said on Sunday it detonated a hydrogen bomb, possibly triggering an artificial earthquake and prompting immediate condemnation from its neighbors -- despite the rogue regime calling the test a "perfect success."