North Korea puts rocket units on alert to 'attack US'

North Korea has elevated its artillery and strategic missile forces to "combat-ready posture" and said it is prepared to strike targets in South Korea, Japan, Guam, Hawaii and the continental US.

The announcement, carried by the KCNA state media, was in the name of the Supreme Command, which has attracted attention in South Korea because it is an emergency division of the government that is only operational during time of war.

In the announcement, North Korea said it would "show off our army and people's stern reaction to safeguard our sovereignty and the highest dignity through military actions."

The comments were condemned by the Pentagon in the US as “bellicose rhetoric”, who added that the US was ready “to respond to any contingency.” Read more >>

Driving Force Behind Massive Prison System is Cheap Labor

The Intel Hub
“Prison Industrial Complex” is a term that refers to private prison companies and businesses that supply goods and services to government prison agencies. What is interesting about this term and the concept of “prison labor” is how it’s rise parallels the rapid expansion of the US inmate population.

The Prison Industrial Complex is big growth industry. While other sectors of our economy continue to struggle in this recession, the private prison industry is booming! Is there a connection between this booming business and the record rise in incarceration in this country?

Let’s take a deeper look… Did you know that for every 100,000 Americans, 743 of them reside behind bars? That is nearly 1 out 100 Americans! Today, the United States has the highest prison population in the world with more than 2 million people either incarcerated in prison or in jail awaiting trail. The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate in the world, surpassing China, North Korea and Russia.

A study conducted by the Bureau of Justice in 2005 showed that a record 33-year continuous rise in the number of inmates in the United States despite falling crime rates. To put this concept into perspective, consider the following:

Russia Prepared to Use "Destructive Force Pre-emptively" Over Ballistic Missile Defense System

Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) in Europe (Czech Republic and Poland) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Russia says it is prepared to use "destructive force pre-emptively" if the US goes ahead with controversial plans for a missile defense system based in Central Europe. The warning came after the Russian defense minister said talks on missile defence were nearing a dead end.

Moscow fears that missile interceptors would be a threat to Russia's security. But the US and Nato say they are intended to protect against attacks from Iran or North Korea.

"A decision to use destructive force pre-emptively will be taken if the situation worsens," chief of the Russian defense staff Gen Nikolai Makarov said.

Two days of talks opened on Thursday in Moscow between Russia, the US and Nato.
Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said the talks were "close to a dead end", but Nato said it remained hopeful of reaching a deal. More...

South Korea reels as US backpedals

Image via WikipediaPeter Lee

The United States failed to organize a vigorous international backlash against North Korea for its apparent sinking of the South Korean frigate Cheonan, and has now exhibited disconcerting second thoughts about its own response.

In an atmosphere of open Chinese opposition and discrete Russian reservations, the United Nations Security Council failed to condemn the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Instead, the president of the UN Security Council issued a letter that deplored the sinking but did not identify North Korea as the culprit, let alone stipulate any sanctions.

It now appears that the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will come up with nothing stronger than the Security Council statement, and South Korea has indicated it may abandon the effort to extract any kind of meaningful condemnation from the regional grouping.

Joint US-ROK naval exercises, designed to build on UN condemnation with a massive show of united force and resolve, have instead turned into an embarrassing fizzle.

Initial plans for the exercises targeted the Yellow Sea between China and the Korean Peninsula and promised the intimidating presence of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington. The reports aroused a barrage of official criticism and popular anger inside China. In response, the expected location began to drift eastward, first toward the south of the peninsula and now into the oceans between the east coast of Korea and Japan.

The most recent report is that the US will, with Solomonic wisdom, split the difference in a dual-sea exercise, with the George Washington and three destroyers in the east and a face-saving smaller exercise in the west.

China, which as recently as two weeks ago looked to be facing an intransigent united front of the US, South Korea and Japan, received an unexpected gift thanks to this American muddling: an alliance showing distinct signs of dismay, demoralization and division.

South Korea, which for a time expected to ride the Cheonan crisis to a heightened global profile and recognition as the key US security partner in Asia - and be in a position to leverage Western support in the event of a North Korean security crisis triggered by Kim Jong-il's death - instead found itself shunted to the side as the two superpowers, China and the United States, once again dispose of the affairs of the Korean Peninsula between them. More...

S. Korea on alert as N. Korean subs disappear in East Sea

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SEOUL, May 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's military was tracking four North Korean submarines which disappeared from their east coast base after conducting naval training in the East Sea earlier this week, a military official in Seoul said Wednesday.

Locations of the North's four 300-ton-class submarines have been unknown for two days, the military official said, noting, "We are tracking the four submarines by mobilizing all naval capabilities in the East Sea."

The submarines left the Chaho base located near the Musudan-ri missile launch pad site in North Hamgyong province in North Korea's northeast coast, according to the official.

U.S. Prepares for Possible Nuclear War With NKorea

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Hwang Doo-hyong with Yonhap reports:
The United States is preparing for the possibility of nuclear war with North Korea and of a regime collapse in the isolated state, a Washington-based think tank said in a recent report.

In the analysis of an upcoming Defense Department review, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said a government team is examining several scenarios including "regime collapse in North Korea." It also said Washington may plan how to handle a confrontation with the North "that involves a nuclear strike."

The CSIS report, dated Aug. 27, offered a preview of the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review, the first to be released under the administration of Barack Obama. The paper is critical in setting defense policy.

Other contingencies for which the U.S. is preparing include a "loss of control over nuclear weapons in Pakistan" and a clash between China and Taiwan.

The possibility of regime collapse in North Korea has been a topic of discussion since rumors surfaced last year that leader Kim Jong-il suffered a stroke without a clear heir. In the months that followed, speculation has grown that Kim is grooming his third and youngest son, Jong-un, 26, to succeed him.

Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, said in July that the U.S. has come up with scenarios to cope with any contingency in North Korea in the event of the senior Kim's death.

"We are prepared to execute a wide range of options in concert with allies in South Korea and in discussions through (the Department of) State, which would have the lead, with countries in the region, and internationally if necessary," he said.

"I don't think it is axiomatic that the departure of Kim Jong-il means a national security crisis. We'd hope it wouldn't. But we are going to be prepared if it does mean that."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in February has also touched on the sensitive issue of North Korea's leadership change.

"There is an increasing amount of pressure because, if there is succession, even if it is a peaceful succession, that creates even more uncertainty and it also may encourage behaviors that are even more provocative as a way to consolidate power within the society," she said.

China has reportedly shunned proposals to discuss the possibility of a regime change or collapse in the North, apparently to avoid provoking its ally.

The CSIS draft analysis also said the U.S. faces "coordinated attacks on offshore energy production facilities, container ships and underwater communication lines that collectively are designed to upend the domestic and global economies."