WWIII - News from the Korean Front

[Brocke]

North Korea Warns Japan on New Law

By Lee Sang Yong
[2009-07-01 18:15 ]      
With respect to a Japanese legislative attempt to adopt a “special measures law” which would facilitate inspections of North Korean cargo, the main mouthpiece of the North Korean Workers’ Party warned on July 1st that any such attempt would be followed by military countermeasures.

Rodong Shinmun stated in an editorial, “Confrontational lunacy of those who have lost their reason” that, “Vessels sailing on the high seas are inviolable entities, which represent the autonomy of our republic, so bothering them is a serious military provocations against our country.”

On the 26th, the Japanese administration added an article to the so-called Special Measures Law which would allow the Maritime Self-Defense Force to inspect the cargo on North Korean ships on the high seas, and to punish the captains of suspicious vessel which refuse Japanese inspection.

It emphasized continuously, “Japan should dismiss its reckless confrontational lunacy against the Republic, and not misunderstand our immovable intention to react with an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”

The publication of North Korea’s Cabinet, Minju Chosun (Democratic North Korea), also claimed that Japan is trying to gain a military foothold in order to invade foreign countries, using the North Korean nuclear and missile threat as a pretext.

Minju Chosun stressed that North Korea’s nuclear deterrent and missiles are the “self-defensive tools to protect our autonomy and security from anti-Republic maneuvers.”

Meanwhile, North Korea’s Air Force Headquarters warned Japanese reconnaissance aircraft on June 27th, “We will not forgive their aerial reconnaissance, and if they invade our territorial airspace even 0.001 millimeter, we will shoot them down without hesitation.”

http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk01700&num=5118

[Brocke]

Third Kaesong Meeting Ends Fruitlessly

By Jeong Jae Sung
[2009-07-03 14:29 ]      
Representatives of North and South Korea held a third set of Kaesong Complex working group meetings yesterday, July 2nd, but no progress was made in bridging the gulf between the two sides.

Ministry of Unification spokesperson Cheon Hae Sung subsequently informed the gathered press about how the meeting had gone, “After an hour and ten minutes in the morning, the afternoon meeting ended up with the two sides failing to narrow the gap between their stances,” he announced.

The day’s meetings came to an end earlier than expected, and for unknown reasons the two sides also failed to agree on a schedule for the next round.

The meetings started at 10 A.M. in the offices of the North and South Economic Cooperation Negotiation in Kaesong, and ended after a simple exchange of speeches. In the afternoon, there was further discourse but it was fruitless.

The key issues mentioned by the two sides included the case of South Korean citizen Mr. Yoo, who has been under detention in North Korea for almost as long as Laura Ling and Euna Lee, the North’s demands for vastly increased Kaesong Complex rent and wages, and the construction of kindergartens, dormitories and roads at the complex, which had already been put forward in the first and second meetings.

The South’s chief delegate, Kim Young Tak, reported the South’s position to the North, urging them to release Mr. Yoo and reiterating that Seoul would not accept the North’s demands on rent and wages.

Additionally, the South called upon the North to stop denouncing South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, and suggested that the negotiating framework be divided into two; a main working group, in which both sides deal with overall Kaesong Industrial Complex issues, and sub-group meetings to deal separately with specific issues.

An official within the Ministry of Unification explained why; “There are too many issues related to the Kaesong Complex to negotiate on them all in a general working group meeting, so we suggested the main and sub-groups. The issues of crossing the border into the Kaesong Complex and residency rights, construction of kindergartens and others could be negotiated in each sub-group meeting.”

The official reported that North Korea continued to demand 500 million dollars in rent during its ten minute speech, without making any comment about the South Korean suggestions.

Regarding Mr. Yoo, the North’s authorities made their position clear on the 27th of last month in a notice to the Chairman of the Kaesong Industrial Complex Committee of Enterprises Kim Hak Kwon. “Mr. Yoo committed very impure crimes,” it said, “The people will not forgive such a criminal.”

As the two sides failed to agree on a date for the next round of meetings, it seems likely that Kaesong Complex negotiations will now come to a protracted standstill.

http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk00100&num=5126

[Brocke]

N.Korea launches...beer

Jul 03 - Communist North Korea embraces a capitalist concept by airing what is likely its first beer commercial. Sophia Soo reports.

http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=107268&videoChannel=-9991
(01:26) Report

[Godfather77]

North Korea 'tests two missiles'
Saturday, 4 July 2009 02:18 UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8134115.stm

North Korea has tested two short-range missiles, South Korean media report, as concern mounts in the region that a long-range test could be days away.

It test-fired four similar missiles earlier this week and has incurred fresh UN sanctions since holding a second underground nuclear test in May.

The latest missiles were fired from a base near Wonsan into the Sea of Japan, South Korea's defence ministry said. One is believed to be a Scud with a range of 500km (312 miles).

[Brocke]

N Korea leader has 'serious' disorder

Agence France-Presse
July 10, 2009 10:49pm

NORTH Korean leader Kim Jong-Il is suffering from a "serious disorder" of the pancreas, a Japanese television network has reported, quoting a South Korean intelligence official.
The 67-year-old's condition has been the focus of much speculation since he reportedly suffered a stroke last August.

The TBS network reported that Kim has been resting and is being treated at his villa in the southeasten area of Wonsan by a team specialists.

The unidentified official told TBS Kim would be aware of the disorder which was made known to US and South Korean intelligence authorities in March.

Kim is believed to have been receiving treatment since he attended the first meeting of the country's new parliament in April, the official was quoted as saying.

In that month, he was shown in video footage by state media for the first time since August. He appeared to have lost weight in the film.

On Wednesday, a gaunt-looking Kim made a rare televised appearance as he paid homage to his late father Kim Il-Sung at a national memorial service. The film showed Kim's hair was thinning and he had developed a slight limp.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25763751-23109,00.html

[Spark of Truth Inc.]

N Korea leader has 'serious' disorder

Agence France-Presse
July 10, 2009 10:49pm

NORTH Korean leader Kim Jong-Il is suffering from a "serious disorder" of the pancreas, a Japanese television network has reported, quoting a South Korean intelligence official.
The 67-year-old's condition has been the focus of much speculation since he reportedly suffered a stroke last August.

The TBS network reported that Kim has been resting and is being treated at his villa in the southeasten area of Wonsan by a team specialists.

The unidentified official told TBS Kim would be aware of the disorder which was made known to US and South Korean intelligence authorities in March.

Kim is believed to have been receiving treatment since he attended the first meeting of the country's new parliament in April, the official was quoted as saying.

In that month, he was shown in video footage by state media for the first time since August. He appeared to have lost weight in the film.

On Wednesday, a gaunt-looking Kim made a rare televised appearance as he paid homage to his late father Kim Il-Sung at a national memorial service. The film showed Kim's hair was thinning and he had developed a slight limp.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25763751-23109,00.html

well, not everybody reacts to MKultra like a Georgian president.

[Brocke]

Japanese Defense Ministry Wary of Recent Developments

By Yang Jung A
2009-07-17 17:44    

The Ministry published its analysis in a 2009 Defense White Paper issued on the 17th

The White Paper suggested, “We need to consider the effects of Kim’s health situation and the succession issue on North Korea’s system, and to vigilantly watch related movements.”

It is the first time that a Japanese Defense White Paper has explicitly mentioned Kim Jong Il’s health.

It stressed that the North’s second nuclear test in May showed the possibility that its nuclear techniques have been enhanced. Regarding future developments, it emphasized, “The possibility of developing miniature nuclear weapons cannot be excluded, so we need to pay close attention.”

It concluded by heavily criticizing North Korea’s long-range ballistic missile launches, calling them “an unacceptable action that threatens the peace of Northeast Asia and the international community.”

http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk00100&num=5186

[Brocke]

North Korea Suffers Flood Damage

By Yoo Gwan Hee, from South Pyungan in 2008
[2009-07-16 17:47 ]      
The annual Korean rainy season has taken its toll on South Korea, with a recent storm taking one life and injuring a further 200.

North Korea's Chosun Central TV reported on the 14th that 172mm had fallen in the Pyongkang region of Kangwon Province, the highest one-day rainfall figure in the country. The rains were caused by an atmospheric effect coming in off the West Sea, according to the report.

The report listed recent rainfall by region, noting that in addition to Pyongkang at 172mm; Gosan received 166mm; Icheon 149mm; Anbyun 148mm; and Pangyo suffered 146mm. The heaviest rains were reserved for the Kangwon Province region, though other regions did not escape completely.

In South Korea, when there is heavy rainfall, flooded areas are immediately identified and military units are dispatched, generally resulting in a prompt recovery effort. Of course, in recent days the South has suffered flooding too. President Lee Myung Bak, immediately after returning from his visit to Europe on the 14th, headed for the Central Disaster Safety Countermeasure Headquarters and ordered appropriate measures after inspecting flood damage.

So how does North Korea respond in the case of a flood?

A defector talked to Daily NK about the floods in Shinuiju in 1994. Kim Jong Il had appeared on the scene after Kim Il Sung's death in July of the same year, and the defector explained how the new leader utilized the recovery effort primarily to spread awareness of his power.

According to the source, some Shinuiju citizens were trapped by flooding, so an army unit was sent, allegedly as a result of a special instruction from Kim Jong Il himself. The unit carried people to safety on tanks. As a result, it is said, there were no deaths.

Afterwards, Kim Jong Il mobilized actors and ordered that the situation be made into a play for use as a propaganda tool to strengthen public devotion.

The defector Daily NK spoke to reminisced about aid, including clothing and other daily necessities, which flowed in from abroad. He recalled fondly that South Korean goods were found among them.

In reality, whenever a natural disaster takes place in North Korea, citizens are ordered by the Party to take care of clean-ups and reconstruction, without direct practical state support.

Indeed, according to an investigative report on North Korean children's rights called "Child Is King of the Country," published by the Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights in May, the North Korean authorities even exploit children in teenage elementary and middle school classes during reconstruction periods, forcing them to work from early morning until late at night under the pretext that academic studies and labor go hand in hand.

North Korea often mobilizes young children to repair railways and repave roads as well, according to the report.

As such, North Korea uses the floods for ideological education, and even young children are seen as tools to overcome the serious limitations of the North Korean authorities.

Rain can be particularly damaging in a place like North Korea, where fields and irrigation facilities are not properly maintained, and hills and mountainsides have been largely deforested in order to allow for the destructive cultivation of private fields on the slopes, even small amounts of rain can cause landslides and floods which, due to inadequate, overflowing drainage routes, cause significant damage.

 http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk01300&num=5178

[Brocke]

North Korea Goes on High Alert for UFG

By Namgung Min
[2009-08-17 15:35 ]      
According to a Chosun Central News Agency (KCNA) report, the High Command of the Korean People’s Army has ordered that the armed forces, the people and the nation be placed on high alert on the 17th, when Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG), a U.S.-South Korea joint military drill, begins.

The High Command apparently ordered the Army to strike those who would commit hostile actions an immediate blow, and the people to get themselves ready for the confrontational status.

The High Command instructed the land, sea and air forces of the North Korean People’s Army, the Chosun People’s Border Garrison, the Worker and Peasant Red Guard and the Young Red Guard to mount a powerful attack against any invasion upon the sky, land or sea of North Korea.

The High Command emphasized that the moves represent a “fair self-defense counter-measure to protect the nation from rash anti-Republic invasion,” and added, “If South Korea and the U.S. conduct even tiny military provocations we will strike them with all our tools, including our nuclear deterrent.”

A spokesperson for the Panmunjom Mission of the North Korean Army released a statement on the 16th which denounced UFG in stinging terms, “The master and its puppet are trying to pressures us with a nuclear war drill, in a practical way. It is an aggressive war targeting the DPRK.”

Ulchi Freedom Guardian is a Command Post Exercise (CPX) led by the South Korean Army and supported by the U.S. Armed Forces, in which 56,000 members of the South Korean Army and roughly 10,000 members of the U.S. Forces stationed in South Korea and other countries traditionally take part.

http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk01700&num=5301

[Brocke]

10,000 More Troops for Yangkang

By Lee Sung Jin
[2009-09-14 15:27 ] 
    
Changchun, China -- According to inside sources, North Korea has decided to increase the size of the 10th Army Corps, which is stationed in Yangkang Province. Intended to expand the size of the force in the North Korea-China border region by 10,000, this is the first decision of its kind since the dispatching of the 9th Army Corps to North Hamkyung Province in 1995 to settle the 6th Army Corps coup d’etat conspiracy.

An inside Yangkang Province source told Daily NK on the 11th, “The National Defense Commission recently issued a decree increasing Yangkang Province Regional Headquarters (10th Army Corps) troop numbers by 10,000. 3,000 are due to be added before winter exercises, which are supposed to start in December, and 7,000 more are to be added as part of recruitment which will begin in March of next year.”

The source explained further, “Compared to North Hamkyung, North Pyongan and Jagang Provinces, the 10th Army Corps is relatively weak, so the decree is an attempt to compensate for this. It also implies converting the status of the unit from reserve to active.”

The 10th Army Corps currently consists of soldiers from the Reserve Forces Battalions in both the city of Hyesan and Daejin in Bocheon County, and the Reserve Forces Brigades in Gapsan and Woonheung.

Currently, however, the only active service units are an Anti-aircraft Missile Battalion and the No. 82 Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment, an Anti-Aircraft Gun Unit, the Communications Unit and the Artillery Repairs Section.

The source said, “The rumor doing the rounds is that they are increasing the size of the army unit in Yangkang Province in response to a missile base the Chinese have constructed at Antu near Mt. Baekdu and their posting of mechanized forces near Changbai,” hinting that the expansion of the Army Corps members is partly out of concern for China.

However, in response to a Chinese demand in August of last year, North Korea relocated both its 2nd 14.5mm Anti-Aircraft Gun Company (a.k.a Jedang Ridge Company) and an independent platoon known as the “Gotdongji Platoon” to Masan Ridge, which is approximately five kilometers from the Yalu River border. Before the move, the Jedang Ridge Squadron’s 12 guns were aimed directly at the Chinese city of Changbai in Jilin Province, directly across the border from Hyesan.

Furthermore, the Chinese missile base indicated by the source is actually located in the vicinity of Dunhua, which is in the interior of the Yanbian Autonomous Prefecture, far from the North Korea-China border, so it seems that the true reason behind the expansion may be different from the official explanation.

Regardless of the reason, the news of the fresh troops has not gone down well with the local people, according to the source. He explained, “With the news of 10,000 additional soldiers coming into Hyesan, many citizens have become concerned. It is already difficult for them to deal with the existing number of soldiers.”

Besides forces affiliated to the 10th Army Corps, the Raider Unit in Baekam, the Raider and Anti-Aircraft Missile Unit, the Huchang County Medium-Range Missile Unit, the 43rd Gapsan County Sniper Brigade, the Samjiyeon County Escort Bureau Unit, Hyesan City Bureau No. 8 (the Bureau in charge of supplying armaments and ammunition) and the Yangkang Province Border Patrol Brigade are all stationed in Yangkang Province, causing civilians to complain that the number of soldiers already exceeds the number of civilians.

http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk01500&num=5402

[Brocke]

Kim 'healthy, in control', says Obama

NORTH Korean leader Kim Jong-Il is "pretty healthy and in control", US President Barack Obama said citing an assessment by former president Bill Clinton after his trip to Pyongyang.

Mr Clinton paid a rare visit to North Korea in August and met twice with Mr Kim to win the release of two US journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who had been convicted of illegally entering the hardline communist state.

Mr Obama told CNN he had been interested by Mr Clinton's assessment of Mr Kim that "he's pretty healthy and in control. And that's important to know, because we don't have a lot of interaction with the North Koreans".

"President Clinton had a chance to see him close up and have conversations with him," Mr Obama said.

"I won't go into anymore details than that, but there's no doubt that this is somebody who I think for a while people thought was slipping away. He's reasserted himself."

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.

End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.

Mr Clinton met Mr Kim during an hour-long meeting and a more than two-hour dinner. He later briefed Mr Obama about the trip, but few details of their talks have been released.

Mr Kim, 67, is believed to have suffered a stroke last year and had appeared frail in pictures, leading many experts to think the country was in a succession struggle that has caused it to take a series of provocative actions including testing a nuclear bomb.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/kim-healthy-in-control-says-obama/story-e6frf7k6-1225777238026

[Brocke]

Other threads reporting this story

Korean naval ships clash at sea - in News Tips
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=143693.0


Korean naval ships 'clash at sea' rival navies of North and South Korea - in General Discussion
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=143683.0


Navies of 2 Koreas exchange fire near border - in News Tips
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=143741.0


Navies of 2 Koreas exchange fire near border - in General Discussion
http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=143763.0


DPRK Demands S. Korea Apologize for Armed Provocation

Pyongyang, November 10 (KCNA) -- The Supreme Command of the Korean People's Army Tuesday issued a report on the grave armed provocation perpetrated by the south Korean forces in the waters of the north side in the West Sea of Korea this day.

According to the report, today the north side let a patrol boat of the Navy of the KPA on routine guard duty promptly go into action to confirm an unidentified object that intruded into the waters of its side.

When the patrol boat was sailing back after confirming the object at about 11: 20 a group of warships of the south Korean forces chased it and perpetrated such a grave provocation as firing at it.

The patrol boat of the north side, which has been always combat-ready, lost no time to deal a prompt retaliatory blow at the provokers.

Much flurried by this, the group of warships of the south Korean forces hastily took to flight to the waters of their side.

The south Korean military authorities should make an apology to the north side for the armed provocation and take a responsible measure against the recurrence of the similar provocation.

http://www.kcna.co.jp/index-e.htm

[Brocke]

N. Korea Reports No Type A Flu

NOVEMBER 11, 2009 08:24
   
North Korea officially refers to swine flu as new influenza, but many in the North call it swine flu because of international media.

The communist country said yesterday that it has no cases of the flu so far, adding it has no reason to hide any flu outbreaks.

Pak Myong Su, in charge of infectious disease control at the North’s Health Ministry, told the Japan-based daily Chosun Shinbo Oct. 14, “A weakened health infrastructure doesn’t lead to the outbreak of the new flu. If so, this will not undermine our image.”

People in the North, however, have shown contradicting responses. A source based in a border area with China said, “The claim of no flu outbreak could be true because North Korean medical organizations have no ability to identify the disease.”

Clinics there just ask patients about their conditions and take their temperatures, the source said.

With winter approaching, seasonal flu originating from China is reportedly spreading at a rapid pace in the North. Health authorities in Shinuiju are said to be on high alert as an unidentified flu virus immune to cold medicines is spreading.

Pyongyang is known to be doing its utmost to prevent the spread of the flu. North Korean health authorities are encouraging hand washing and quarantines of entire families if one member has a cold. They also recommend brushing one`s teeth with salt.

If a pandemic breaks out, however, the North Korean government cannot adequately protect its people because of poor medical infrastructure and lack of public attention on a cold.

A source well-informed on North Korea said, “Many North Koreans treat the cold with Chinese medicine bought at markets instead of getting medical attention because clinics provide no medicine.”

“They`re used to deadly infectious diseases such as paratyphoid, typhoid and cholera. So it’s natural for them to pay little attention to new viruses such as avian and swine flu.”

In addition, uninformed North Korean officials are reportedly banning merchants from selling pork at markets.

http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2009111132178

[wolfman86]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091111/ap_on_re_as/as_koreas_naval_clash;_ylt=AnFjGuTLVHKeNTqMY8xADiCROrgF;_ylu=X3oDMTE1NWFhYjVyBHBvcwMzBHNlYwN5bi1jaGFubmVsBHNsawNza29yZWF0cm9vcHM-

"SKorea troops on high alert after navy skirmish"


AP – FILE - In this June 15, 2009 photo, South Korean Navy patrol boats engage in an exercise in the West …
Play VideoNorth Korea Video:Protest balloons float into N.Korea Reuters
By HYUNG-JIN KIM, Associated Press Writer – 1 min ago
SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea warned it was ready to deter any retaliation by North Korea following the two countries' first naval clash in seven years, reportedly deploying two warships to the disputed sea border Wednesday.
The skirmish will not deter Washington from sending an envoy to North Korea, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said, vowing to continue efforts to resolve long-standing disputes over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.
Tuesday's exchange of fire occurred hours before U.S. officials said President Barack Obama had decided to accept a North Korean invitation to send the envoy to Pyongyang for the first direct talks during his administration. The incident sparked speculation that the North was trying to foment tensions to gain a negotiating advantage.
The naval clash "does not in any way affect our decision" to send envoy Stephen Bosworth to Pyongyang, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in Singapore on Wednesday. "We think it is an important step that stands on its own."
Bosworth's trip is aimed at persuading communist North Korea to return to six-nation nuclear disarmament negotiations that it walked away from earlier this year.
Both sides blamed the other for Tuesday's two-minute clash in a crab-fishing area off the countries' west coast, where both sides regularly accuse the other of violating the disputed border. North Korea's military demanded that the South apologize.
The South deployed two more navy ships to deal with possible North Korean moves along the disputed western sea border, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Wednesday, citing an unidentified military source.
The Defense Ministry and Joint Chiefs of Staff said they could not confirm the report.
South Korea's National Intelligence Service said Tuesday's incident could not have been an accidental intrusion by North Korea, according to a ruling party lawmaker who is a member of parliament's intelligence committee. He did not elaborate and asked not to be identified, citing the issue's sensitivity.
Phone calls to the intelligence service seeking comment went unanswered late Wednesday.
South Korean Prime Minister Chung Un-chan had said Tuesday that the North Koreans may have been clamping down on Chinese fishing vessels in the area, and probably did not intend to violate the border.
South Korean officials said the North Korean ship was on fire and heavily damaged when it retreated. The South Korean ship was lightly damaged and there were no South Korean casualties, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
One North Korean officer was killed and three other sailors were wounded in the clash, a senior South Korean military officer told The Associated Press late Wednesday, confirming earlier South Korean media reports. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter involved intelligence.
Defense Minister Kim Tae-young told the National Assembly on Tuesday that he believed the North may take retaliatory actions, saying President Lee Myung-bak "also has such concerns."
South Korea has detected no unusual North Korean troop movements but placed its 680,000-strong military — one of the world's largest — on heightened alert, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
Relations between the two Koreas became badly frayed after Lee took office last year with a tough line on the North, which responded by cutting off ties and threatening war.
The situation further deteriorated following nuclear and missile tests by the North this year. Recently, however, North Korea has made a series of conciliatory gestures, such as releasing South Korean and American detainees and agreeing to resume joint projects with Seoul.
Lee's office said it doesn't want ties with North Korea to deteriorate as a result of the clash.
"We don't want it to be an obstacle to an improvement in South-North Korean ties," presidential spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye told reporters.
Japan also expressed hope that the clash would not harm North-South ties.
"It is our sincere hope that this incident will not aggravate the peace and stability in the Korean peninsula," Japanese government spokesman Kazuo Kodama said in Singapore on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
Yoon Deok-min, a professor at South Korea's state-run Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, said the North has a track record of provoking the south ahead of important negotiations.
"It is aimed at extracting concessions from the U.S. by making it seem as if hawks are pitted against doves in Pyongyang ahead of negotiations," he said.
A naval skirmish in 1999 was presumed to have killed 30 North Korean sailors and sank their vessel, while no South Korean soldiers were killed. In 2002, six South Korean sailors died and their ship was sunk after a surprise attack by the North. The North's casualty count remains unknown.
The two Koreas have remained technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War. The U.S., which fought with South Korea, has never had diplomatic relations with North Korea and 28,500 U.S. troops remain stationed in South Korea.
In Seoul, several hundred South Korean protesters gathered Wednesday to vent their anger at North Korea, burning two flags and pictures of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
___
Associated Press writers Kwang-tae Kim, Yewon Kang and AP photographer Jin-man Lee in Seoul and Matthew Lee and Elaine Kurtenbach in Singapore contributed to this report.

[wolfman86]

No one here seems too worried about it. It's always interesting having a tinpot dictator on your northern border, though.