North Korea appears to be moving ahead with the building of a light-water reactor that could be used to support its nuclear weapons program, according to satellite images released Wednesday.

The signs of progress come amid fears that the secretive communist state is planning a new nuclear test, although experts said that the new reactor is likely still years away from being operational.

Commercial satellite images, taken on April 30 and analyzed by Johns Hopkins University’s US-Korea Institute, showed advances at the site of a new reactor at the Yongbyon complex with added concrete, steel and roof work.

“It appears that the North may now be nearing completion of the reactor containment building,” said a blog entry on the institute’s website, 38north.org.

It is a grave mistake to claim that military bases have been good for Hawai'i and therefore would be good for Jeju Island.

The U.S. invaded and occupied the sovereign country of Hawai'i in order to build a military outpost. This included the taking of more than 200,000 acres of land for military bases, training and other activities. The result has been the destruction of the environment with more than 900 military contamination sites identified by the Department of Defense. The military’s toxic cocktail includes PCB, perchloroethylene, jet fuel and diesel, mercury, lead, radioactive Cobalt 60, unexploded ordance, perchlorate, and depleted uranium.

When the U.S. took over, especially during WWII, the military seized thousands of acres of Hawaiian land. Whole communities were evicted, their homes, churches and buildings razed or bombed for target practice, their sacred sites destroyed by bombs or imprisoned behind barbed wire.

Commander of U.S. Pacific Command Admiral Samuel Locklear said Washington had a range of options to consider in response to any further provocation by the North.

"I don't think it would be appropriate to comment on how we would pursue any future military operation, but I can tell you that with the alliance, that we are continually looking at all options," he said when asked whether a surgical strike on the North's nuclear test site was being considered.

The 90-ton rocket launched with a larger than anticipated flare. But U.S. officials said that the missile is believed to have crashed into the sea.

The United States on Tuesday demanded that the UN Security Council respond “credibly” to any rocket launch by North Korea which would breach international sanctions.

Susan Rice, US ambassador to the United Nations, said the major powers had already held informal talks on the looming event and that 15 UN Security Council members agreed it would be a “provocative act” by the nuclear-armed state.

“The council will need to convene and to respond credibly” to a launch, Rice told reporters.

Two days ahead of North Korea's announced window for a rocket launch, countries are deploying vessels and planes to address the situation.

An NHK helicopter on Tuesday spotted a US aegis cruiser near a southwestern island in Okinawa Prefecture.

The USS Shiloh was stationary at about 80 kilometers northeast of Miyako Island. The area is near the projected flight path of what the North calls "a satellite", a de facto missile.

More than 150,000 North Koreans are incarcerated in a Soviet-style, hidden gulag despite the communist government's denial it holds political prisoners, a human rights group reported Tuesday.

The U.S.-based Committee for Human Rights in North Korea said it based its report on interviews with 60 former prisoners and guards. It includes satellite images of what are described as prison labor camps and penitentiaries.

Pyongyang said last month it would launch what it claims is an observation satellite, the Kwangmyongsong-3 (Shining Star), using a three-stage rocket during celebrations for the 100th anniversary of North Korean founder Kim Il-Sung's birth.

Experts say the launch of the Unha-3 (Milky Way 3) rocket, which is expected to take place between April 12 and 16, may also be used to test long-range missile technology, which could then be used in possible attacks on neighbouring states.

Three interceptor ships near Japan and the Philippines, as well as U.S.-based interceptors, are ready to shoot down the North Korean missile if space-, land-, and sea-based sensors determine its flight path is targeted at the United States or U.S. allies, said officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. ...

The Pentagon recently activated its global missile shield in anticipation of North Korea’s launch of a long-range missile, according to defense officials.

The measures include stepped-up electronic monitoring, deployment of missile interceptor ships, and activation of radar networks to areas near the Korean peninsula and western Pacific.

Three interceptor ships near Japan and the Philippines, as well as U.S.-based interceptors, are ready to shoot down the North Korean missile if space-, land-, and sea-based sensors determine its flight path is targeted at the United States or U.S. allies, said officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

President Obama’s warnings of dire “consequences” if North Korea fires a long-range rocket next month encountered a quick and firm rebuff today from Pyongyang that underscored the North's determination to keep up its nuclear and missile programs in the face of widespread international condemnation.

The emphasis on “economic development” appeared as a rebuff not only of President Obama but also of China’s President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Both of them, in talks with Obama on the sidelines of the two-day nuclear security summit, expressed concern about North Korea’s insistence on firing the rocket. They clearly did not have a rocket launch in mind when they urged the North to focus on economic development.

North Korea will face a "strong response" if it launches a long-range rocket next month despite international calls to desist, a special adviser to US President Barack Obama said on Friday.

"If they go ahead anyway, we will want to work with our allies and partners for a strong response," Gary Samore, arms control coordinator at the National Security Council, told South Korea's Yonhap news agency in an interview.

The North's announcement of the launch came only weeks after it reached a deal with the United States, suspending uranium enrichment and nuclear and missile tests in return for 240,000 tonnes of US food aid.

Washington says any rocket launch is likely to jeopardise that deal.

The North's National Defence Commission (NDC) described the exercise as "unpardonable war hysteria" and said its army and people would "foil" the US and South Korean moves with "a sacred war of our own style".

The threat is the latest instance of Pyongyang taking a hostile tone towards Seoul since Kim Jong-un, the youngest son of the late leader Kim Jong-il, took over following the death of his father in December.

The United States and South Korea are to mount two major annual joint military exercises, one in the coming week and the other in March.

I did not like to hear our race called sheep, and said I did not think they were.

"Still, it is true, lamb," said Satan. "Look at you in war -- what mutton you are, and how ridiculous!"

"In war? How?"

They’ve got to sell it to you like it’s good, that’s why they call themselves ‘pro-democracy’ groups, but as this clip lays bare, so-called pro-democracy groups don’t always promote democracy.
*
In fact, stirring the pot in favor of the U.S. government is, more often than not, far from promoting democracy and more akin to stirring up trouble…

A senior lawmaker says Iran's Majlis is considering a plan to cut off the country's economic transactions with South Korea's Samsung in reaction to the company's anti-Iran teaser.

Head of Majlis Energy Committee Arsalan Fat'hipour said the double-urgency plan, aimed at imposing a complete ban on buying all Samsung products, would make the company regret making the insulting teaser.

South Korea's giant manufacturer of electronic devices and home appliances produced a teaser shortly after the assassination of the Iranian scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan by Mossad agents in Tehran, in which Iran had been depicted as a primitive society.

The clip also implies that Israel is powerful enough to easily destroy Iran's nuclear facilities or assassinate the country's nuclear scientists.

Do you see how it works now? Do you see why we are always at war? Do you understand that as long as private central bankers control the economies of nations that wars murdering millions of innocents are inevitable?

As we’ve seen, it makes no sense to expect the scenario of a North Korean-furnished provocation to unfold. The more likely explanation for why US, South Korean and Japanese militaries are on high alert is because now is an ideal time for pressure on Pyongyang to be intensified, and because the triumvirate might be preparing to intervene militarily if conditions become propitious.

Months before the death of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, an array of UN food experts and nonprofit groups urged immediate food aid for the isolated north Asian nation. Three groups that investigated conditions in the country described the urgent need for food, reporting “acute malnutrition” among North Korean children, “widespread consumption of grass” and elderly people on “knife edge.”

Despite these dire assessments, and warnings that conditions are worsening, the Obama administration has balked on a decision over food aid for the isolated Asian nation. This week, just as promising talks were under way in Beijing between U.S. and North Korean envoys, the news broke that Kim had died. That change put the question of aid on the back burner again.

According to Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen, the cargo manifest of the M/S Thor Liberty on which 69 Patriot ground-to-air missiles were found, listed the weapons as "fireworks". She said that documents associated with the containers holding the missiles carried the name of a South Korean individual.
The vessel which sails under the flag of the Isle of Man, was known to be carrying 150 tonnes of legal explosives. These, however, were being transported in an unsafe manner.

A British cargo vessel detained at Kotka harbour has been found to be carrying a shipment of American-made Patriot missiles. According to information received by YLE, the missile shipment originated in Germany and is destined for South Korea. Onboard the ship are 69 of the missiles with their explosive warheads and propelling charges.

The National Bureau of Investigation confirmed Wednesday afternoon that the missiles are onboard the ship.

The Chinese military has sent 2,000 soldiers to the border close to North Korea shortly after the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, according to a human rights center.

All the soldiers came from the “16th Army,” the sources said. The center said that at the end of this month, some 30,000 additional PLA soldiers will be stationed at the border.

The Seven Step Mainstream Media Country Destruction Guide

1. First, they start by targeting a country ripe for “Regime Change”, and brand it a “rogue state”; then...

2. They arm, train, finance local terrorist groups through CIA, MI6, Mossad, Al-Qaeda (a CIA operation), drug cartels (often CIA operations) and call them “freedom fighters”; then...

3. As mock UN Security Council Resolutions are staged that rain death and destruction upon millions of civilians, they call it “UN sanctions to protect civilians”; then...

4. They spread flagrant lies through their “newsrooms” and paid journalists, and call it "the international community’s concerns expressed by prestigious spokespeople and analysts…” then…

South Korean police say nearly 40 officers were injured during a rally opposing the ratification of the country's free trade deal with the United States.

Hundreds of protesters have been staging near-daily demonstrations since the ruling party railroaded the U.S. trade deal last week. The protesters believe the deal favors Washington over South Korean workers.

About 2,200 people rallied in Seoul on Saturday evening. Police say some of them punched and kicked officers trying to disperse the crowd.

handi spoke of non-violence, but was not passive in his opposition to the British empire in India. Martin Luther King spoke of non-violence but was not passive in his actions against racial discrimination in the U.S. The Egyptians demonstrated non-violence in Tahrir Square and are still under fire from the military regime now controlling Egypt (and why not, for all the billions of dollars they receive from the U.S.?) The Palestinians practice non-violence on a daily basis, protesting against the illegal “wall” that is expropriating their territory, and in a large part by simply existing and being, proceeding with life trying to give it some sort of semblance of civility under occupation.

Seoul, South Korea - Thousands of South Koreans clash with riot police during protest against ratified free trade agreement with US

On 14 November South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo stated, "Hundreds of North Korean scientists and engineers are working at about 10 nuclear and missile facilities in Iran, including Natanz, The North Koreans are apparently rotated every six months." Russian technicians also remain at Iran’s first nuclear electrical energy facility, Bushehr. So, any aerial strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities could result in significant numbers of dead Russian and North Korean specialists as “collateral damage,” with all the diplomatic uncertainties that might ensue from Moscow and Pyongyang as the body bags start arriving home.

Hundreds of North Korean nuclear and missile experts have been collaborating with their Iranian counterparts in more than 10 locations across the Islamic state, a diplomatic source said Sunday.