IAEA says North Korea's rapid weapons progress poses new, global threat

 

A North Korean flag flutters on top of a tower at the propaganda village of Gijungdong in North Korea, in this picture taken near the truce village of Panmunjom, South Korea, September 28, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

 

SEOUL (Reuters) - The United Nations nuclear watchdog's chief said on Friday North Korea's sixth nuclear test conducted on Sept. 3 showed the isolated country has made rapid progress on weapons development that posed a new, global threat.

 

Tensions on the Korean peninsula have increased markedly since the test, which led to a new round of sanctions against the North after a unanimous U.N. Security Council resolution.

 

"(The) yield is much bigger than the previous test, and it means North Korea made very rapid progress," International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director Yukiya Amano told reporters in Seoul.

 

"Combined with other elements, this is a new threat and this is a global threat," he said after a meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha.

 

Amano said the IAEA did not have the capacity to determine whether the North had tested a hydrogen bomb, as Pyongyang has claimed.

 

"What is most important for now is for the international community to unite," Amano said.

 

Tensions had already flared after North Korea tested two more intercontinental ballistic missiles and other launches as it pursues its nuclear and missile programmes in defiance of international pressure.

 

South Korea said on Thursday the North could engage in more provocations near the anniversary of the founding of the North Korean communist party and China's all-important Communist Party Congress.

 

Insults and threats hurled between the North's leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump have aggravated the situation further. Members of the international community have urged both countries to resolve matters peacefully while boosting pressure on Pyongyang to curb its weapons programmes.

 

A U.S. State Department official said on Thursday China was making progress in enforcing sanctions imposed on North Korea, and urged sceptical members of Congress not to rush to enact new measures before giving Beijing's efforts a chance to take effect.

 

(Reporting by Christine Kim; Editing by Paul Tait)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters

to quote an old blues song.....

 

"trouble trouble, on my mind."

"trouble trouble, way down inside."

Yep, things look pretty serious. There's an old Latin phrase proverbially used when things were desperate: "it's down to the Triarii now", adapting that - "it's down to the Chinese now". 

 

 

'ad triarios redisse

5 hours ago, webfact said:

IAEA says North Korea's rapid weapons progress poses new, global threat

they must have read the news

Is North Korea being set up to go the same way as Iraq?

 

"Dangerous dictator" . .  . "Weapons of mass destruction" . . . "Threat to world peace". . .  We've heard it all before and (excuse the poetry) it brought us shock and awe.

 

The big difference this time around is that Kim Jong-Un, unlike the late Saddam Hussein, is not only refusing to give up his WMD's but - having learned the lesson from the Iraqi dictator's gruesome demise - is threatening to use them.

 

In effect North Korea has effectively called Trump's nuclear bluff and it is clearly time to tone down the White House rhetoric and give diplomacy a chance - perhaps in the unlikely shape of basketball star Denis Rodman who appears to be the only American Kim listens to.

Edited September 29, 20178 yr by Krataiboy

1 hour ago, Krataiboy said:

Is North Korea being set up to go the same way as Iraq?

 

"Dangerous dictator" . .  . "Weapons of mass destruction" . . . "Threat to world peace". . .  We've heard it all before and (excuse the poetry) it brought us shock and awe.

 

The big difference this time around is that Kim Jong-Un, unlike the late Saddam Hussein, is not only refusing to give up his WMD's but - having learned the lesson from the Iraqi dictator's gruesome demise - is threatening to use them.

 

In effect North Korea has effectively called Trump's nuclear bluff and it is clearly time to tone down the White House rhetoric and give diplomacy a chance - perhaps in the unlikely shape of basketball star Denis Rodman who appears to be the only American Kim listens to.

Right.  Let's not believe what the IAEA says.  Let's deflect back to Iraq.  Too funny.

Those North Korean scientists are the best. Way better than the Persians. Wow. Iran better send some of their students to North Korean university rather than the best of the west.

4 minutes ago, IAMHERE said:

Those North Korean scientists are the best. Way better than the Persians. Wow. Iran better send some of their students to North Korean university rather than the best of the west.

You mean they are better at lying to the world, ignoring sanctions, committing global crimes to fund their research, etc?

 

 

Just now, craigt3365 said:

You mean they are better at lying to the world, ignoring sanctions, committing global crimes to fund their research, etc?

 

 

I mean they got a working bomb. With what they have to work with, they got a bomb. That is an accomplishment whether I like it or not.

1 hour ago, Krataiboy said:

Is North Korea being set up to go the same way as Iraq?

 

"Dangerous dictator" . .  . "Weapons of mass destruction" . . . "Threat to world peace". . .  We've heard it all before and (excuse the poetry) it brought us shock and awe.

 

The big difference this time around is that Kim Jong-Un, unlike the late Saddam Hussein, is not only refusing to give up his WMD's but - having learned the lesson from the Iraqi dictator's gruesome demise - is threatening to use them.

 

In effect North Korea has effectively called Trump's nuclear bluff and it is clearly time to tone down the White House rhetoric and give diplomacy a chance - perhaps in the unlikely shape of basketball star Denis Rodman who appears to be the only American Kim listens to.

no oil.

4 minutes ago, IAMHERE said:

I mean they got a working bomb. With what they have to work with, they got a bomb. That is an accomplishment whether I like it or not.

No doubt.  It'd be great if they used all that money and brain power to figure out how to feed their people! LOL

1 minute ago, sirmud63 said:

no oil.

It's a good think oil supplies were maintained.  Can you image what would happen if there was a severe disruption?  It's be catastrophic.

 

http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/182499/war-oil-myth-arnold-ahlert

Quote

As recently as December 2012, Iraq provided the United States with approximately 14.3 million barrels of oil out of a total of about 298 million barrels imported, or 4.8 percent of our total imports. And as this chart indicates, we were importing the highest amount of oil from Iraq before we went to war to oust Saddam Hussein.

 

We live in a global economy.  Nobody is isolated.

4 hours ago, IAMHERE said:

Those North Korean scientists are the best. Way better than the Persians. Wow. Iran better send some of their students to North Korean university rather than the best of the west.

There was a Pakistani N expert who purportedly went to work with NK weapons makers.  Since it's such a priority for Kim and his bemedalled boys, they will scour the world to find any experts, for near any price.  NK shares a long border with Russia also.  Russia would be a good source for specialized materials also, like beryllium. 

 

4 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

No doubt.  It'd be great if they used all that money and brain power to figure out how to feed their people! LOL

I think that's part of the N.K's strategy.  Keep the little people starving.  They think less clearly and become more dependent on what little hand-outs they can get.  Keep 'em dependent. 

Off-topic posts and replies removed.   There are plenty of thread about US-NK relations.   This thread is about the IAEA position on NK.   Stay on topic or face a suspension.  

20 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

Right.  Let's not believe what the IAEA says.  Let's deflect back to Iraq.  Too funny.

I am not disputing the IAEA's assessment of North Korea's nuclear capability, only their conclusion that Kim Jong-Un constitutes the biggest threat to world peace.

 

This distinction more rightfully belongs to the present incumbent of the White House, whose incoherent, bellicose rhetoric is clearly designed to provoke "rocket man" into making a move which could be used justify Trump's "annihilation" of not just him but millions of innocent civilians.

 

Iraq is relevant to the present situation, as is Libya, as both states were attacked and carved up by the West after their leaders had voluntarily abandoned WMD's - a costly error of judgement which Kim, for obvious reasons, is highly unlikely to emulate.

Edited September 30, 20178 yr by Krataiboy

36 minutes ago, Krataiboy said:

I am not disputing the IAEA's assessment of North Korea's nuclear capability, only their conclusion that Kim Jong-Un constitutes the biggest threat to world peace.

 

This distinction more rightfully belongs to the present incumbent of the White House, whose incoherent, bellicose rhetoric is clearly designed to provoke "rocket man" into making a move which could be used justify Trump's "annihilation" of not just him but millions of innocent civilians.

 

Iraq is relevant to the present situation, as is Libya, as both states were attacked and carved up by the West after their leaders had voluntarily abandoned WMD's - a costly error of judgement which Kim, for obvious reasons, is highly unlikely to emulate.

Agree with your assessment of Trump. LOL.  But not with Libya.  They weren't attacked and carved up because they abandoned nuclear weapons. LOL. 

1 hour ago, craigt3365 said:

Agree with your assessment of Trump. LOL.  But not with Libya.  They weren't attacked and carved up because they abandoned nuclear weapons. LOL. 

Are you being deliberately obtuse? My point was that had Gaddafi had not abandoned his weapons programme,  Libya's the Western "liberators" might have thought twice before destroying one of the most advanced societies in North Africa.

 

LOL.

9 minutes ago, Krataiboy said:

Are you being deliberately obtuse? My point was that had Gaddafi had not abandoned his weapons programme,  Libya's the Western "liberators" might have thought twice before destroying one of the most advanced societies in North Africa.

 

LOL.

Balming the downfall of a dictator on the West?  How about blaming it on himself for not treating his people properly.

 

https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/1.570727

Gruesome Details of Gadhafi's Rape of Teenagers and Other Crimes Revealed

BBC documentary has eyewitness accounts of murder, torture and sexual abuse by the Libyan dictator, who was shot by rebels in 2011.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jun/18/muammar-gaddafi-war-crimes-files

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-12532929

During nearly 42 years in power he invented his own system of government, supported radical armed groups as diverse as the IRA in Northern Ireland and the Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines, and presided over what may have been North Africa's most totalitarian, arbitrary and brutal regime.

 

"IAEA says North Korea's rapid weapons progress poses new, global threat"

 Well I guess SOMEBODY had to be the last one on the planet to get the word...

 

Another UN affiliate organization leading the way from far, far behind...

 

 

 

off topic post removed.  

15 hours ago, hawker9000 said:

"IAEA says North Korea's rapid weapons progress poses new, global threat"

 Well I guess SOMEBODY had to be the last one on the planet to get the word...

 

Another UN affiliate organization leading the way from far, far behind...

 

 

 

Unlike Trump who is leading the way via his behind..that is to say ass-backwards.