ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Today, North Korea urged a number of foreign embassies in Pyongyang to evacuate their staffs because the country would, according to the U.K.’s reading of the warning it received, “be unable to guarantee the safety of embassies and international organizations in the country in the event of conflict from April 10.” In other words, North Korea is telling foreign diplomats, including that of nominally friendly Russia, “war might be coming, so you better skip town.” North Korea is known for issuing threats it doesn’t see through and warning about wars that never come. Still, this move, potentially a first for North Korea, came as a big surprise. But it wouldn’t have been so surprising if you’re a regular reader of the JoongAng Daily, a major South Korean broadsheet newspaper with a sizable readership and a reputation for leaning a touch to the right. Three weeks ago, JoongAng ran a story, citing a single, anonymous official with South Korean intelligence, predicting that this is exact...

The U.S. Geological Service has detected a magnitude 6.2 seismic event just on the Russian side of the country’s border with North Korea. The closest North Korean town, Aoji Ri, is only 25 miles miles from the epicenter, which is also very close to China. The event occurred at exactly two seconds after midnight, local time. The event was almost certainly an earthquake, but it comes at an inauspicious moment: North Korea is severely ratcheting up its talk of nuclear war today, urging foreign embassies in Pyongyang to evacuate their staff. The move is ostensibly because war is imminent, although North Korea is known to often issue such alarms and provocations without actually following through. Still, seismic activity within North Korea is sometimes a sign of a nuclear weapons test. The epicenter is far enough from the border, and thankfully not within North Korea itself, that the world can safely conclude that this was not a nuclear event. The danger, though, is that the region is alre...

By Peter Hart April 04, 2013 "Information Clearing House" -" FAIR " -  It's not easy to figure out what's going on with North Korea. We hear that new leader Kim Jong-Un is making threats to attack the United States, South Korea or both–and that's leading to some rather alarming, and alarmist, coverage. As ABC World News reporter Martha Raddatz put it (3/31/13): "The threats have been coming almost every day, and each day become more menacing, the threat of missile strikes on the U.S., invading armies into South Korea and nuclear attacks." The dominant narrative would have you believe that the United States was basically minding its own business when North Korea began lashing out. On CBS Evening News (3/29/13), Major Garrett explained: North Korean saber-rattling is common every spring when the United States and South Korea engage in military exercises. So there are "exercises" right next door, conducted by the world's...

Pyongyang, April 3 (KCNA) -- The U.S. navy sent SBX-1 to waters around south Korea, south Korean KBS reported on April 2. It also sent latest destroyer capable of intercepting missiles in waters around south Korea. The U.S. imperialist warmongers took this step next day when they introduced F-22s into south Korea, blustering that these are aimed to closely monitor the movement of the DPRK and cope with missile launch. The U.S. is increasing the danger of war, ceaselessly introducing lots of nuclear war hardware into south Korea and in the vicinity of the Korean Peninsula in a bid to bring dark clouds of a nuclear war to hang over Korea.

"I believe we have the right to take preemptive action," he said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y, says that the U.S. could preemptively launch a strike on North Korea, if provoked. “If we have good reason to believe there’s going to be an attack, I believe we have the right to take preemptive action to protect ourselves,” he said on CNN. “I don’t think we have to wait until Americans are killed or wounded or injured in any way,” King continued. “I’m not saying we should be rushing into war, don’t get me wrong, but if we have solid evidence that North Korea’s going to take action, then I think we have a moral obligation and an absolute right to defend ourselves.”