N. Korea frees 2 U.S. journalists after Clinton trip

Former President Bill Clinton and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il pose for a picture in Pyongyang in this photo released by North Korean official news agency KCNA Aug 4. Talk about stiff...

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea released two jailed American journalists on Tuesday after a visit from former U.S. President Bill Clinton in the highest-level U.S. contact with Pyongyang since Clinton was president nearly a decade ago.

UPDATE: A spokesperson for former President Bill Clinton on Tuesday confirmed that he and the two U.S. journalists who have been freed in North Korea, have left the country. "President Clinton has safely left North Korea with Laura Ling and Euna Lee. They are en route to Los Angeles where Laura and Euna will be reunited with their families," Matt McKenna said in a statement. They are scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles Wednesday morning.

North Korea's KCNA news agency said North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had issued a "special pardon" to the two journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling of U.S. media outlet Current TV, which was co-founded by Clinton's vice president, Al Gore.

The two journalists were arrested on the North Korea-China border in March and accused of illegal entry. A North Korean court sentenced both of them last month to 12 years of hard labor for what it called grave crimes.

Photos of journalists Laura Ling (left) and Euna Lee displayed during a public vigil in San Francisco, June 24.

There were immediate questions about what Clinton had discussed with Kim beyond the fate of the two reporters during a visit that gave Kim what he craved -- direct U.S. attention and a visit from a highly placed emissary.

The news agency insisted that Clinton "courteously conveyed a verbal message of U.S. President Obama expressing profound thanks for this and reflecting views on ways of improving the relations between the two countries."

The White House had denied that Clinton carried any sort of message from Obama, but Obama officials otherwise remained silent while awaiting the diplomatic negotiations to unfold.

Clinton, husband of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, was the highest-level American to visit the reclusive communist state since his secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, went there in 2000.

He was greeted warmly on his arrival and had what KCNA described as an "exhaustive conversation" over dinner with Kim and his top aides.

Former President Bill Clinton is welcomed with flowers upon his arrival at Sunan airport in Pyongyang.

The North Koreans immediately sought to put their stamp on what they felt had happened during Clinton's visit.

"Clinton expressed words of sincere apology to Kim Jong Il for the hostile acts committed by the two American journalists against the DPRK after illegally intruding into it. Clinton courteously conveyed to Kim Jong Il an earnest request of the U.S. government to leniently pardon them and send them back home from a humanitarian point of view," KCNA said.

Obama adviser David Axelrod had told MSNBC that Clinton was on a "private humanitarian mission" and that "I don't think it's related to other issues."

KCNA attempted to portray the visit in terms of what was possible in the future, saying Clinton's visit would "contribute to deepening the understanding between the DPRK and the U.S. and building the bilateral confidence."

Side Benefit?

Clinton's visit could have a side benefit of improving the atmosphere between the United States and North Korea that could restart talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons.

North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye-gwan, was among those greeting Clinton, whose administration was believed to have been close to agreement with the North before he turned over power to George W. Bush in 2001.

Many analysts predicted Pyongyang would use the journalists as leverage to wring concessions from Washington, which sought to place U.N. sanctions on the North for a May nuclear test.

Clinton's trip followed months of military provocations by the impoverished North, which has turned its back on negotiations with regional powers, including the United States and China, to convince it to give up ambitions to build an atomic arsenal.

In Washington, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said it was not clear whether Clinton had been authorized to discuss policy issues.

"It would be nice if it's the foundation for a better relationship," Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told NBC's "Today Show."

People watch a news program at a railway station in Seoul, reporting former President Bill Clinton's visit to North Korea Aug 4.

Yun Duk-min of the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security in Seoul said the visit held out the possibility of "a dramatic turnaround by North Korea that could lead to a new phase of negotiations."

Wrong Signals

It was the second time a former U.S. president went to North Korea to try to defuse a crisis. Former President Jimmy Carter flew there in 1994 when tensions were running high, again over the North's nuclear weapons program.

Carter helped broker a deal at that time in which Pyongyang suspended construction of a 50-megawatt plutonium reactor in exchange for heating oil and other energy aid.

One analyst said Clinton's visit was rewarding North Korea's "bad behavior."

Clinton's arrival coincided with mounting speculation over succession in Asia's only communist dynasty. Several reports suggest an increasingly frail-looking Kim Jong-il, 67, has settled on his third son to take over.

"It's just what they (North Korea's leaders) need," said B.R. Myers, an expert on the North's state ideology at the South's Dongseo University.

(Additional reporting by Yoo Choonsik in Seoul, Lucy Hornby in Beijing, David Morgan and Ross Colvin in Washington; Writing by Steve Holland; Editing by Patricia Wilson and Peter Cooney)

Source: Reuters, BNO

Obama to N. Korea: 'our military is fully prepared'

President Barack Obama sits for an exclusive interview with CBS News' Harry Smight. (CBS photo)

All last week we heard that North Korea is preparing for a long-range missile test next month, possibly launching a rocket in the direction of Hawaii.

In an exclusive interview with CBS News' Harry Smith, scheduled to air on The Early Show Monday, Obama said his administration and the U.S. military are fully prepared for any contingencies and that the international community is united against N. Korea's provocative actions (bullying).

During the politically correct interview, there was no mention of tiny dicks.

Below is an excerpt:

Harry Smith: North Koreans have basically said that their intention is to fire a missile toward Hawaii on or about the 4th of July. Secretary Gates has said there has been a military adjustment and to watch out for something like that happening. But beyond the sanctions and beyond the isolation that has already been tried, what has to happen to get North Korea to at least act like they're part of the community of nations?

President Obama: Well, first of all, let's be clear. This administration--and our military--is fully prepared for any contingencies. And-

Harry Smith: Is that a warning of a military response?

President Obama: No. It's just we are prepared for any contingencies. I don't want to speculate on hypotheticals. But I do want to give assurances to the American people that the T's are crossed and the I's are dotted in terms of what might happen. More broadly, I think the international community has spoken.

When you've got Russia and China as well as South Korea and Japan, the United States, the entire Security Council--saying unequivocally that North Korea has violated international law, that--and, and is willing to impose tougher sanctions -

Harry Smith: They're still defiant, though.

President Obama: Well, [what] that sends a signal, though, is of a unity in the international community that we haven't seen in quite some time. And one of the things that we have been very clear about is that North Korea has a path towards rejoining the international community. And we hope they take that path. What we're not going to do is to reward belligerence and provocation in the way that's been done in the past.

The N. Koreans will probably wipe their butts with anything Obama--or anyone--says, or use it against him somehow, as bullies do.

There's unity in the international community now, but where the rubber meets the road, who do you think will get stuck fighting these fuckers on its own?

Source: CBS News

Bullies in the water--U.S. tracks North Korean ship

Right: The U.S. military is tracking the North Korean ship shown here, called the Kang Nam. (Fox News photo)

The U.S. military is preparing for a possible intercept of a North Korean flagged ship suspected of proliferating weapons material in violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution, several news outlets reported Friday.

The N. Korean-flagged ship, identified as the Kang Nam, has carried "proliferation materials" in the past and is known to be a "repeat offender," CNN reported.

The USS John McCain destroyer is positioning itself in case it gets orders to intercept the Kang Nam as soon as it leaves the vicinity off the coast of China, Fox reported citing a senior U.S. defense official.

The U.N. resolution does not allow forcible boarding of a suspect N.Korean ship but allows for a permission request to search it, UPI reported. The resolution also allows for any country where the suspect ship docks to inspect it for any illicit items.

At a news conference Thursday, Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the U.S. would not forcibly board a N. Korean ship but would request permission to search it or press for its inspection at any port where it stops. He did not mention the ship's name.

An official who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said the N. Korea-based ship became "a subject of interest" after leaving a N. Korean port on Wednesday. The ship appears to be heading toward Singapore, Fox reported citing the senior U.S. military source.

The Kang Nam is the first ship to be monitored under the U.N. sanctions adopted last week after N. Korea raised tensions by test-firing missiles, restarting a plant to produce arms-grade plutonium, and conducting a nuclear test.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Washington is also concerned about the possibility of N. Korea firing off more missiles, possibly in the direction of Hawaii, between July 4 and July 8.

"Without telegraphing what we will do, I would just say we are in a good position, should it become necessary, to protect American territory," he said.

In recent weeks, N. Korea has raised tensions in North Asia, responsible for one-sixth of the global economy, with missile launches, threats to attack the South, and the May 25 nuclear test that led to U.N. sanctions.

N. Korean companies might get blacklisted

Meanwhile, a U.N. sanctions committee is considering blacklisting more N. Korean companies and individuals for supporting its nuclear and missile programs, Reuters reported. The 15-nation Security Council gave the committee 30 days from last Friday to add new names to the sanctions list.

The sanctions are intended to target only companies and individuals that are connected to Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and missile programs. The committee blacklisted three North Korean firms in April for aiding those programs.

North Korea responded by saying it would take "firm military action" if the U.S. and its allies tried to isolate it.

Are they asking for it or what?

Did or did we not see this coming?

First were the bullies in the sky, now the water. What's next--land?

The shit is going to hit the fan if these fuckers continue heading in this direction without any indication of slowing down.

WTF are they doing? Why? And why now?

Surely they must have their reasons and a long-term plan that these tactics are serving, that is, unless they're total dunces acting 100% on impulse. As much as I don't want to give them any credit, I must admit I doubt that's the case.

I don't know enough about N. Korea (somebody please help me!) to even try to speculate about the political motives and what role this ship is playing in the bullies' scheme, but y'all know what I think is at the core of their angst. Do I need to say it again?

Fine. Tiny dicks.

Sources: Reuters, UPI, CNN, Fox News
Copyright © 2009

Obama vows U.S. will protect South Korea from North's nuclear threats

President Obama and South Korean leader Lee Myung Bak head for a news briefing at the White House on Tuesday in which they vowed to make North Korea think twice about its nuclear threats. (Alex Wong, Getty Images)

President Obama vowed Tuesday to protect South Korea from North Korea's nuclear threats, and end the North's longtime habit of firing off test missiles to win economic assistance, USA Today reported late Tuesday.

Obama said that, in recent years, N. Korea's provocations have been "rewarded" as Western countries offered fuel, food and loans in exchange for promises of good behavior that are eventually broken.

"We are going to break that pattern," Obama said after a White House meeting with South Korean President Lee Myung Bak. Obama told reporters assembled in the Rose Garden that N. Korea "will not find security or respect through threats and illegal weapons."

Lee, via a translator, said he is less fearful of a North Korean attack because of a "new plateau" of support with the U.S.

"When they look at the firm partnership and alliance that we have between our two countries, they will think twice about taking any measures that they will regret," Lee said.

The two leaders were less united with regard to a long-stalled free-trade agreement. Obama said officials are trying to work out differences over terms of trade for Korean beef and American cars.

Lee's visit came after weeks of aggressive actions by North Korea. They include a nuclear test, missile tests, the arrest of two American journalists and renewed threats against South Korea.

Sources: USA Today
Copyright © 2009

N. Koreans wave uranium-enriched tiny dicks

I'm definitely not in the mood for this, but I can't blow it off. How can we ignore words like uranium and plutonium--right?

It's not that I don't take the prospect of a nuclear war seriously; it's just that I think N. Korea is a bully with a runaway mouth. All it would take is one definite offensive move toward them, and they would crap their pants...if you ask me.

Nevertheless, you never know--right? Some trigger-happy or color-blind dude over there could press the red button instead of the green one and, poof, there we goes the world.

But this Oracle doesn't see that happening anytime soon.

Anyway...here's the latest on this model of democracy's bullying campaign.

North Korea responded to new U.N. sanctions with more defiance, promising Saturday to step up its nuclear bomb-making program by enriching uranium and threatening war on any country that dares to stop its ships on the high seas, AP reported.

North Korean officials with tiny dicks said they were enriching uranium and would weaponize all plutonium, according to KCNA, the state-run North Korean news agency, as reported by CNN.

The North's threats were the first public acknowledgment that the reclusive communist nation has been running a secret uranium enrichment program. Suspicions of the program touched off the latest nuclear crisis in 2002, AP reported.

The country also vowed never to give up its nuclear ambitions as a way to protect its sovereignty amid signs of preparations for naming its ailing leader Kim Jong Il's youngest son, Jong Un, as his successor.

"It has become an absolutely impossible option for [North Korea] to even think about giving up its nuclear weapons," the North's Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency, AP reported.

N. Korea also warned that any attempted blockade by the U.S. and its allies would be regarded as "an act of war and met with a decisive military response."

When enriched to a high degree, uranium can be used for weapons-grade material; plutonium can be used in atomic bombs.

N. Korea is believed to have about 110 pounds of plutonium, enough for a half dozen bombs, Yoon Deok-min, a professor at South Korea's state-run Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security said according to the AP report. Reprocessing 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods stored at N. Korea's Yongbyon nuclear complex could yield an additional 18 to 22 pounds of plutonium—enough to make at least one more atomic bomb, he said.

The U.N. Security Council voted for a resolution imposing sanctions against N. Korea.

The U.N. Security Council unanimously voted Friday to expand and tighten sanctions on N. Korea after the nation's recent nuclear test. The 15-0 vote on U.N. Resolution 1874 imposes an embargo on the shipment of arms from the communist regime and broadens a ban on the import of weapons, CNN reported.

"No matter how hard the U.S.-led hostile forces may try all sorts of isolation and blockade, the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea], a proud nuclear power, will not flinch from them," KCNA said. Democratic my ass.

The resolution comes amid rising tension surrounding N. Korea, which last month conducted a nuclear test, fired test rockets and threatened U.S. and South Korean ships near its territorial waters. It strengthens provisions already in U.N. Resolution 1718, passed in 2006, but there are also new provisions in the resolution, said Susan E. Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

The new resolution requires states to "exercise vigilance" over the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer to North Korea of small arms or light weapons, CNN reported.

The sanctions are aimed at depriving N. Korea of the financing used to build its rogue nuclear program. The resolution authorizes searches of N. Korean ships suspected of transporting illicit ballistic missile and nuclear materials, and prohibits nations from providing bunkering services, such as fuel, to N. Korean ships believed to be carrying contraband.

Late last month, two Defense Department officials said U.S. satellite imagery spotted "vehicle activity" at a N. Korean ballistic missile facility. The officials said the images showed vehicles used to transport Taepodong-2 missiles, but no missile parts. The Taepodong-2 is a long-range missile North Korea tested in April, CNN reported.

That test showed a significant improvement in range from N. Korea's initial long-range missile test in 2006.

This week, a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak on the record told CNN that Washington had "indications" that North Korea may be planning another test. The official would not provide any details, CNN reported.

U.S. President Barack Obama's special envoy to N. Korea, Stephen Bosworth, called "simply groundless" accusations by Pyongyang that its nuclear and rocket tests were in response to American aggression.

Despite repeated assurances from Washington, N. Korea has harbored deep-rooted suspicions that the U.S. could invade to topple its regime, AP reported. Washington officials have said the U.S. wants N. Korea to return to nuclear negotiations with the U.S., China, South Korea, Japan and Russia, known as the six-party talks.

Are we past talks?

Sources: CNN, The Associated Press, Getty Images, My Twisted Mind
Copyright © 2009

North Korea ups bully nuclear rhetoric

South Korean protesters burn a North Korean flag during a rally denouncing American journalists detained in North Korea, at a park in Seoul, South Korea, June 9. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

North Korea said Tuesday it would use nuclear weapons in a "merciless offensive" if provoked--its latest rhetoric apparently aimed at deterring any international punishment for its recent atomic test blast, AP/CBS News reported.

"Our nuclear deterrent will be a strong defensive means...as well as a merciless offensive means to deal a just retaliatory strike to those who touch the country's dignity and sovereignty even a bit," stated a commentary carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

The current state of affairs reminds me of Bullies in the Sky, the headline of the first N. Korea story I reluctantly posted long before this mickey mouse trial and bogus conviction. At the time, I didn't even know about the arrests. If I had known, I wouldn't have gone out of my way to be so nice to N. Korea and its large tiny-dick male population.

My friends, my fans, my benefactors (there I go talking to myself again...): if you didn't understand the meaning of this blog's name, now you should.

The statement comes as the families of two American journalists sentenced to 12 years in a North Korean labor prison urged it's hard-line government to grant them clemency, amid hopes the U.S. government would send an envoy to negotiate their release.

Regarding journalists Euna Lee, 36, and Laura Ling, 32, it is possible North Korean President Kim Jong Il will "return to a nuclear freeze and the journalists would be freed if the U.S. and the U.N. present a package of incentives," CBS News Foreign Affairs Analyst Pamela Falk reported.

"Fourteen years ago, Kim Jong Il released a downed American pilot less than a week after President Clinton agreed to ship $2.5 billion in U.S. aid and oil," Falk reported. "North Korea is looking for concessions, and the Obama administration is presented with the same box as was President Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush--but now the government of Kim Jong Il is getting closer to being able to deliver a nuclear weapon and the stakes are higher."

CBS News correspondent Barry Petersen reports that Washington's options for negotiating with the communist regime are limited. The U.S. doesn't even have an embassy in the North, and now there is concern for the health of the two women.

The families' statement noted that Ling has a serious medical condition, a reference to her ulcer, and that Lee's 4-year-old daughter is showing "signs of anguish over the absence of her mother."

Lee and Ling, who work for former Vice President Al Gore's Current TV, were arrested March 17 near the China-North Korea border where they were reporting about the trafficking of women. It's unclear whether they tried to sneak into the North or if aggressive border guards crossed into Chinese territory and grabbed them, as has happened before.

Sources: The Associated Press, CBS News
Copyright © 2009

Bullies in the sky

Photo source: unknow North Korea appears to be preparing to test-fire its longest range missile. Photo: EPA

I don't normally follow war news. What for? It's the same old story, one that has been told continually since mankind appeared on this planet. Here's how that story goes: "I'm right. You're wrong. If you don't agree, I'll blow you up."

If we blow up, we blow up; if we don't, we don't. I don't need to hear the details to decide that war sucks. I don't need to know who said what when and how to be of the opinion that neither side is right or wrong in the absolute sense. That's just my opinion, of course. Feel free to disagree...

But, since we've been warned repeatedly that North Korea and not the Middle East would be the world's greatest threat "nuclearly" speaking, I figured I might as well post something, you know, for the record, in case we blow up.

In a nutshell: North Korea is huffing and puffing, displaying its military in all its glory hoping, we have to assume, to scare somebody.

North Korea warned South Korea and the United States on Wednesday that South Korea's participation in a U.S.-led program to intercept ships suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction is equal to a declaration of war, AP reported.

How so very macho of them.

In a statement distributed by North Korea's Central News Agency, the North's military said it will respond with "immediate, strong military measures" against any attempt to stop and search North Korean ships under the Proliferation Security Initiative, according to AP's report. It added that it no longer considers itself bound by the armistice that ended the Korean War and accused the U.S., which signed the armistice, of "dragging" the South into the program under its "hostile policy" against the North, AP said.

North Korea also said it cannot guarantee safety for South Korean and U.S. navy ships sailing near the disputed western Korean sea border, according to the report.

Now, I'm really scared...Not!

South Korea announced its participation in the program Tuesday, one day after North Korea conducted a nuclear test, drawing international criticism, AP said. In other words: the shit started to sprinkle on the fan when them macho NK men launched five short-range missiles in two days, indicating it has restarted a weapons-grade nuclear plant.

Oh, I don't know, my friends...I read this stuff and in my mind I see a bunch of insecure bullies lining up in school hallways against locker-covered walls adjusting their tiny balls.

Sources: The Associated Press
Copyright © 2009, Primetime Oracle
All Rights Reserved