the plot thickens....tin foil hat stuff

Pyongyang: Cheonan was false-flag sinking

By Kim Myong Chol

(an "unofficial" spokesman of Kim Jong-il and North Korea)

With a huge electronic intelligence-gathering machine at its disposal, the Chinese Navy keeps a close watch on the movements of the United States Navy in the West Sea (Yellow Sea). China's emerging blue-sea navy is confronted with the US Seventh Fleet across the West Sea, the East China Sea and the rest of the Pacific.

cont.

Cheonan credibility gap widens

By Donald Kirk

SEOUL - The sinking of the Cheonan - or rather the result of the explosion that sank the South Korean corvette on March 26 - is proving a tough sell for South Korea's conservative leaders.

So many theories are floating around about how it happened that it's beginning to seem possible nothing happened at all, that the ship never exploded, that the two great pieces they hauled up from the Yellow Sea were all cardboard fabrications like North Korean satellites. And the torpedo they dredged up?

cont.

further reading here

Cheonan sinking: top ten conspiracy theories

Highly likely. Why do I jump to such a conclusion? Because they "found evidence" that it was a NK torpedoe incredibly quickly, but did nothing, not so much as spear rattling. It reeked of cover-up and scapegoat seeking.

The North Koreans have a huge conventional arsenal, pointed at the South's capital. They play brinkmanship to the limit, as they are basically starving and at the end of their capacity to look after themselves. There are many rumours that Kim is ill and looking to name his successor. Their military leadership is falling over themselves to take a position with the winning side. Perfectly possible they sank the vessel for a " bigger picture " geopolitical position, or a junior naval officer was out to impress.

The South do not " sabre rattle " if they can help it. Their economy is on the up and the last thing they want is a war which they may well win in the end with US firepower, but the cost to their population would be horrific. Their new leadership is conservative and the North knew, that they would be bound to take a dim view of the event. This to my mind is just what the North want. They hope that at the eleventh hour , China or the like will broker a deal giving the regime face with it's populace, and a turning on again of the aid tap, with a much greater flow.

We will see.

China will have to step in and play peacemaker if this situation worsens, no ifs or buts

North Korea rejects torpedo findings, threatens war

North Korea rejected Tuesday international findings that it sank a South Korean ship, warning at the United Nations that the dispute could lead to war.

"A war may break out any time," Ambassador Sin Son Ho said, accusing South Korea of "fabricating" the results of the investigation into the sinking of the Cheonan.

cont.

"A war may break out any time," Ambassador Sin Son Ho said, accusing South Korea of "fabricating" the results of the investigation into the sinking of the Cheonan.

Hopefully not as I will be in Korea soon

China denies military exercise aimed at U.S.

(Reuters) - China denied on Tuesday media reports that an artillery drill in the East China Sea was in response to a planned military exercise between South Korea and the United States.

Reuters AlertNet – US defence chief in Seoul for talks on North Korea

July 19 (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama's defence chief begins a visit to South Korea on Monday in one of the strongest shows of support for its military ally locked in a bitter feud with North Korea over a deadly torpedo attack. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will be joined later in the week by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for a high-profile meeting in Seoul to respond to the North and to discuss ways to deter it from any future attack. But the unprecedented meeting of top diplomats and defence officials between the allies risks angering China, with an expected announcement of U.S.-South Korean military exercises that have set off alarms in Beijing

Tension between North and South Korea remains high following the March sinking of the warship Cheonan, killing 46 South Korean sailors. Pyongyang has denied responsibility and escaped censure this month from the United Nations, which condemned the attack but, in deference to China, did not directly blame North Korea. North Korea held the first meeting with U.S.-led United Nations Command last week to talk about the Cheonan incident. The two sides were expected to schedule a new session to set up a meeting of generals. North Korea is also sending its foreign minister to a regional forum in Hanoi on Friday, attended also by the United States and China, where the South is expected to make another push for Pyongyang to admit responsibility. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said the talks in Seoul were aimed at assessing the next steps with North Korea, including whether and how to resume stalled talks about Pyongyang’s nuclear programme. North Korea said this month it was willing to return to disarmament talks, in limbo since 2007. But he stressed that an essential precondition for any new talks would be that Pyongyang cease its "provocative ways" and commit to denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. The visit has symbolic overtones as a show of U.S.-South Korean unity 60 years after the outbreak of the 1950-1953 Korean War. Gates will on Tuesday meet some of the 28,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea. The trip will culminate Wednesday in the first talks between the U.S. and South Korean secretaries of defense and state. U.S. officials say the top-level event shows the importance President Barack Obama places on relations with South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

ECONOMIC TIES Clinton also plans to discuss the U.S.-South Korea economic relationship, where Obama has vowed to push through a long-stalled free trade agreement, as well as South Korea’s preparations to hold a G20 summit this year. U.S. officials say the talks are likely to yield at least one concrete result: the announcement in Seoul of a series of joint U.S.-South Korean military drills over a period of months in both the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan. "These are exercises that enhance our anti-submarine warfare capabilities. They will also, by extension, be a show of force to the North Koreans, and send a message — what we hope to be a very strong message — of deterrence," said Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell. China, North Korea’s sole ally, has voiced deep concerns about any U.S.-South Korean drills in the Yellow Sea, which separates China and the Korean peninsula, and urged regional powers to put the Cheonan incident behind them. U.S. officials, briefing reporters ahead of the trip, dismissed those concerns, saying drills in international waters in the Yellow Sea or elsewhere were "routine". "This is about sending a message to (North Korea). It’s not about sending a message to the Chinese. And it should not be interpreted as such," Morrell said. The U.S. military in Seoul said the 97,000-tonne aircraft carrier USS George Washington would visit the South Korean port of Busan on the day Gates and Clinton hold talks, with four destroyers from its strike group including USS John S. McCain making calls to other ports

Well someone's sabre rattling and it aint South Korea.

Well NK knows it can get away with this kind of nonsense as the Americans are rather tied up in a couple of other military adventures at present.

Personally I think the ship was sunk by a stray photon torpedo from a Klingon intergalactic star cruiser engaged in manouevres out in the Andromeda galaxy.

You know, I thought that...................

Well someone's sabre rattling and it aint South Korea.

SK has no gain from doing so, a war now on the Korean peninsular was be disaster

SK is a US colony so the US call all the shots

SK is a US colony so the US call all the shots

i think you will find that most koreans would say that unions call the shots in sk

North Korea warns of nuclear 'sacred war'

North Korea says it will use its "nuclear deterrent" in response to joint US-South Korean military exercises this weekend.

Pyongyang was ready to launch a "retaliatory sacred war" at any time, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

Washington and Seoul say the war games are to deter North Korean aggression.

Tensions between the two Koreas have been high since the sinking of a South Korean warship in March.

An international investigation said the ship was sunk by a North Korean torpedo, a claim strongly denied by Pyongyang.

The BBC's John Sudworth, in Seoul, says this is not the first time that North Korea has issued such a warning.

Although it is likely to be dismissed as the usual diplomatic brinkmanship, the rising tension will cause concern among governments in the region, he adds.

cont.

North Korea warns of nuclear 'sacred war'

North Korea says it will use its "nuclear deterrent" in response to joint US-South Korean military exercises this weekend.

Pyongyang was ready to launch a "retaliatory sacred war" at any time, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

Washington and Seoul say the war games are to deter North Korean aggression.

Tensions between the two Koreas have been high since the sinking of a South Korean warship in March.

An international investigation said the ship was sunk by a North Korean torpedo, a claim strongly denied by Pyongyang.

The BBC's John Sudworth, in Seoul, says this is not the first time that North Korea has issued such a warning.

Although it is likely to be dismissed as the usual diplomatic brinkmanship, the rising tension will cause concern among governments in the region, he adds.

cont.

A whopping 8,000 military personnel? I thought there were about 28,000 Americans and 750,000 South Koreans along the DMZ?

A whopping 8,000 military personnel? I thought there were about 28,000 Americans and 750,000 South Koreans along the DMZ?

the article quotes 8000 military personnel for the joint exercise, not defending the frontline

A whopping 8,000 military personnel? I thought there were about 28,000 Americans and 750,000 South Koreans along the DMZ?

the article quotes 8000 military personnel for the joint exercise, not defending the frontline

Sorry, what I meant was, what's the big deal if it is such a small exercise?

Sorry, what I meant was, what's the big deal if it is such a small exercise?

Probably the same deal as an exercise of 8000 North Koreans off the US coast...outside international waters of course

It is no exercise it is a taunt .....kids will be kids

Sorry, what I meant was, what's the big deal if it is such a small exercise?

Probably the same deal as an exercise of 8000 North Koreans off the US coast...outside international waters of course

It is no exercise it is a taunt .....kids will be kids

like 2 kids in a sandpit squaring off and showing who has the bigger shovel

Sorry, what I meant was, what's the big deal if it is such a small exercise?

Probably the same deal as an exercise of 8000 North Koreans off the US coast...outside international waters of course

It is no exercise it is a taunt .....kids will be kids

Bad analogy. A better one would be, a joint military exercise between Cuba and the USSR during the Cold War.

I'm going to add something to the oil thread related to this.

Bad analogy. A better one would be, a joint military exercise between Cuba and the USSR during the Cold War.

I'm going to add something to the oil thread related to this.

Turkey & Iran having joint maneuvers off gaza?