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| 15 Sep 2015 06:43 PM |
(Bloomberg) -- North Korea said it is ready to use nuclear weapons against the U.S. at any time and that its main nuclear facility was fully operational, allowing the country to improve both the quality and the quantity of its nuclear weapons.
The statement, along with a pledge to launch a satellite with missile technology banned by the United Nations Security Council, comes as the Kim Jong Un regime prepares to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers’ Party. The comments fit a pattern of saber rattling by the authorities in Pyongyang before the celebration of such milestones.
“It’s sending a message to the U.S. that its nuclear threat will only get worse if the country continues to be treated with sanctions and pressure rather than with negotiations,” Koh Yu Hwan, a professor of North Korea studies at Seoul’s Dongguk University, said by phone. “It’s North Korea’s traditional playbook: First start a crisis with words before actually making action.”
North Korea has often used heightened tensions to seek economic and political concessions from South Korea and the U.S., and the belligerent rhetoric also comes as at time when Pyongyang is facing pressure from China, its traditional ally, to drop its nuclear arms development. Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to discuss the North Korean nuclear threat when he meets with U.S. President Barack Obama later this month in Washington.
North Korea’s Atomic Energy Institute said Tuesday that the Kim Jong Un regime has been improving the quantity and quality of its nuclear weapons and confirmed the Yongbyon nuclear complex was fully operational after being restarted in 2013.
The plant had been mothballed in 2007 as part of the six- nation disarmament talks that broke down in 2009. The negotiations, which also included China, Japan, and Russia, collapsed in 2009 after North Korea walked out in response to UN condemnation of a long-range rocket launch.
China has been pushing to get the talks back on track with a government think tank hosting a forum on Sept. 18-19 with officials from the six nations to discuss the issue.
“China reiterates the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and our stance is consistent and clear,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Tuesday in Beijing. North Korea probably won’t immediately follow up with a long- range rocket launch or another nuclear test, Dongguk’s Koh said. The statements “help show off Kim’s exploits during his leadership both at home and abroad ahead of the anniversary.”
Uranium Enrichment
The Kim regime last launched a long-range rocket in December 2012, when it put a satellite into orbit, prompting the UN rebuke. It conducted its third nuclear test two months later, triggering a tightening of existing sanctions. In April 2013, North Korea announced that it would restart Yongbyon, which had been temporarily mothballed under the failed six-nation disarmament talks.
Military analysts have documented signs of uranium enrichment at Yongbyon in recent years, but Tuesday’s statement, released on the government-run Korean Central New Agency, was the first official confirmation. Uranium, if highly enriched, provides a second track to developing nuclear bombs in addition to the country’s existing stockpile of plutonium.
On the possible rocket launch, North Korea said the new satellite was a “peaceful project” intended to help improve its economy, KCNA reported. It didn’t give any time frame for a launch.
‘Clear Violation’
North Korea hasn’t shown any signs of an imminent launch, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min Seok said in a briefing in Seoul Tuesday. Any launch would be a “grave provocation,” and South Korea and the U.S. are cooperating to detect “all situations” regarding North Korea’s long-range missiles, he said.
“Any satellite launch using ballistic missile technology would be a clear violation of those resolutions,” U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a briefing Sept. 14 in Washington.
Kim remains diplomatically isolated since the 2013 nuclear test that further strained ties with China, North Korea’s biggest ally. In July, the regime said it isn’t interested in an Iran-like dialogue on freezing or dismantling its nuclear- weapons program, KCNA reported at the time, citing an unidentified foreign ministry spokesman.
The following month, Kim put his troops on a war footing after South Korea blamed North Korea for a land mine blast in the demilitarized zone and resumed propaganda broadcasts that had been suspended for more than a decade. The standoff led to an agreement to ratchet down tensions that Kim later praised as a “turning point” for ties. That deal was followed by an agreement to restart next month the reunions of families separated by the Korean War that ended more than 60 years ago without a peace treaty.
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| 15 Sep 2015 06:44 PM |
| implying north korea has functioning nuclear weapons |
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| 15 Sep 2015 06:47 PM |
its g0ing to be pearl harb0r all ovr again!1!!
chingflong |
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| 15 Sep 2015 06:59 PM |
| Screw that, I'm moving to Canada. |
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circirak
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| Joined: 22 Dec 2014 |
| Total Posts: 15312 |
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| 15 Sep 2015 07:12 PM |
| north korea wouldn't even be able to hit hawaii, seriously, they suck at being terrorists |
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| 15 Sep 2015 07:20 PM |
I'm scared if they nuke DC since I'm like 1 hour away from DC.
But honestly, if they did nuke us, we'd have a couple nukes right back at them. Plus, as far as in Maryland, we have some nuclear detection things in the sky, so we'll know. |
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circirak
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| Joined: 22 Dec 2014 |
| Total Posts: 15312 |
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| 15 Sep 2015 07:27 PM |
@dx
They wouldn't even be able to hit south korea. |
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| 15 Sep 2015 07:48 PM |
"Screw that, I'm moving to Canada."
North Koreans probably can't tell the difference between USA and Canada anyway.
You should stop, drop, and not get back up. |
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GalaxyIII
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| Joined: 26 Apr 2013 |
| Total Posts: 885 |
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| 15 Sep 2015 07:59 PM |
"Screw that, I'm moving to Canada."
Please don't come over to our Country please dont... your Hypocrites enough on the damn game.
I'm from Manitoba btw, and i'm Canadian fully |
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ducky980
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| Joined: 01 Sep 2012 |
| Total Posts: 9083 |
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| 15 Sep 2015 08:04 PM |
"North Koreans probably can't tell the difference between USA and Canada anyway."
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL |
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Cybertro
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| Joined: 02 Jul 2011 |
| Total Posts: 1818 |
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| 16 Sep 2015 12:13 AM |
@Galaxy
Excuse me, but your country gave birth to the cancer that is Justin Bieber and the one hit wonder Carly Rae Jepsen. Your only national treasure is Celine Dion. |
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GalaxyIII
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| Joined: 26 Apr 2013 |
| Total Posts: 885 |
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| 16 Sep 2015 07:35 AM |
Excuse me, but who has the most Hypocrites in the world again? USA USA USA!
Excuse me, but who almost got destroyed by MUSLIMS? USA USA USA! |
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GalaxyIII
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| Joined: 26 Apr 2013 |
| Total Posts: 885 |
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| 16 Sep 2015 07:39 AM |
Who has to celebrate the 11th of September each year? USA USA USA!
Who has the worse Anime Dubs ever? USA USA USA (If you need a couple Canadian Dubs, listen to Prince Vegeta in the early DBZ)
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| 16 Sep 2015 07:46 AM |
One of our n[]kes can take out 100 mile radius Just a couple could wipe out that country N. Koreans are smarter than that, they know we could easily kill them off in a snap Thats why they havent done anything yet
Think of them as an edgy scene kid They're constantly gonna say theyre gonna do something when really theyre not |
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| 16 Sep 2015 07:46 AM |
lol because anime dubs contribute to a bad counry
http://www.roblox.com/siggy-item?id=296807250 |
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| 16 Sep 2015 07:47 AM |
country*
rip
http://www.roblox.com/siggy-item?id=296807250 |
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Exalae
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| Joined: 29 Jul 2015 |
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| 16 Sep 2015 11:39 AM |
"Think of them as an edgy scene kid They're constantly gonna say theyre gonna do something when really theyre not"
i love you |
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| 16 Sep 2015 02:32 PM |
| @Exa Until you realize One Direction lives there. |
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PUSH5
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| Joined: 06 Jun 2009 |
| Total Posts: 8793 |
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| 16 Sep 2015 02:43 PM |
@jingle
that last line is an inspirational quote |
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ducky980
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| Joined: 01 Sep 2012 |
| Total Posts: 9083 |
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| 16 Sep 2015 02:48 PM |
Is that implying Carly Rae Jepsen is bad!?!?!?!?
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Takamitsu
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| Joined: 15 Jul 2015 |
| Total Posts: 529 |
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| 16 Sep 2015 02:51 PM |
| oh yea US is in danger with all the terrorist threats from islamist terrorists been sending man. |
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Takamitsu
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| Joined: 15 Jul 2015 |
| Total Posts: 529 |
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| 16 Sep 2015 02:52 PM |
crap messed up my message lol With all the messages islamsit activist been sending to europe* |
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| 16 Sep 2015 04:14 PM |
"@jingle
that last line is an inspirational quote"
lol sorry |
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| 16 Sep 2015 04:32 PM |
lol they wont even be able to lauch 1 to usa
we could detect tht
i dont doubt we have hackrs set up by the government to watch north korea |
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