Security
Impact studies to begin on additional US interceptor sites
Jul 16th
A U.S. interceptor missile system designed to deter and defend against missiles from North Korea and other nations will take a step forward this week when the U.S. Missile Defense Agency kicks off work on environmental impact statements on four proposed sites.
On Wednesday, the MDA is expected to publish a notice informing residents in nearby neighborhoods of the start of a 60-day comment period that begins the process. The entire study is expected to take about two years and are intended to assess the environmental impact that the proposed missile defense bases will have to local land, water, air quality and other factors.
The sites are More >
North Korea “is still a threat to all of us,” says Hagel
Jul 12th
Japanese Minister of Defense Itsunori Onodera and U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel sure are getting along well.
The two met with reporters at The Pentagon on Friday afternoon as part of Onodera’s current visit to the U.S. and spent the first five minutes of their 25-minute briefing talking about Onodera’s trip to Hagel’s home state of Nebraska and his alma-mater, the University of Nebraska. Hagel then spoke of a pair of waterproof headphones he had received from Onodera at a previous meeting (Sony, as Onodera later mentioned) and gave him a University of Nebraska tennis shirt.
It was enough to make the Wall Street Journal remark on More >
Kerry pushes China on DPRK sanctions
Jul 11th
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry took the opportunity of a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping to push the Chinese government to do a little more to enforce sanctions against North Korea.
Speaking at a joint news conference after the meeting, Kerry said they discussed “the importance of enforcing UN Security Council resolutions that impose sanctions on North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.”
Here’s the relevant video:
Later Thursday at the State Dept.’s daily briefing, spokeswoman Jen Psaki was asked if the discussion meant China has agreed to carry out enforcement of sanctions with a little more conviction More >
US says “concerned” over DPRK missile launches
Jul 10th
The U.S. government said Wednesday that it is concerned about a fourth round of missile launched by North Korea, in part because the country didn’t notify shipping and aviation traffic of its plans.
Speaking at a scheduled news conference, State Dept. Spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters the launches won’t bring security to the DPRK.
“We once again note with concern North Korea’s apparent failure to provide prior notification to merchant ships, fishing vessels, and passenger and cargo aircraft in the vicinity, despite international provisions to do so,” she said. “We once again urge North Korea to refrain from taking provocative actions, and More >
North Korea doubles hackers in two years, says Yonhap
Jul 7th
North Korea has roughly doubled the number of hackers it employs to conduct cyber-attacks, South Korea’s Yonhap News said on Sunday.
The news agency quoted an unidentified military source as saying North Korea “appears to have” 5,900 personnel for cyber-warfare, up from about 3,000 people two years ago.
Yonhap didn’t disclose how its source had access to the current information.
The South Korean government often uses anonymous leaks to put intelligence regarding North Korea into the public domain. It sometimes uses similar leaks to disclose false or unverified information for political purposes.
The 3,000-person figure was provided at a cyber-security conference in Seoul in 2012 by Kim More >
US drone makes first operational flight from Japan
Jun 21st
The U.S. Air Force didn’t waste much time in putting into use two high-tech drones that it moved from Guam to Japan earlier this month.
The drones arrived at Misawa Air Base in northern Japan on May 24 and the first operational mission was flown on June 6, according to information released Friday by the U.S. Air Force.
Precise details of the mission or its destination were not disclosed, but from their base in Misawa the drones are much closer to North Korea and so can spend longer flying over the country if needed.
The U.S. Air Force’s 35th Fighter Wing said weather on June More >
US brings Global Hawk drone to Japan
May 26th
The U.S. Air Force’s Global Hawk drone landed in Japan for the first time on Saturday.
The aircraft is one of the most advanced unmanned craft in the world and is typically used for surveillance and eavesdropping missions from its perch at around 60,000 feet — well above the level of commercial aircraft but lower than the maximum altitude of the U2 spy plane.
Usually based at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, the Global Hawk landed at Misawa Air Base in northern Japan on Thursday, May 24, as part of a bilateral deal with Japan signed by U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel in October last year. More >
North again denies involvement with drones
May 12th
North Korea strongly denied again on Sunday having anything to do with unmanned aircraft discovered crashed on the South Korean side of the inter-Korean border.
Last week, the South Korean government said it had concluded an investigation into the incident and concluded the three drones were launched from North Korea.
Among its evidence, Seoul said the onboard computer contained a program to fly from North Korea over the south and then back again.
North Korea’s National Defence Commission, through an article sent on the official Korean Central News Agency, called the investigation a “farce” and said it had been implicated to “do harm More >
Chinese retailer denies involvement with drones found in South Korea
Apr 23rd
A Beijing-based drone retailer has denied having anything to do with two drones that were recently discovered in South Korea near the country’s border with the north.
The company, China TranComm Technologies, sells the Sky-09P drone, which in images appears very similar to the drones that crashed in South Korea.
The similarity between the drones found in South Korea and the Sky-09P was highlighted by North Korea Tech on Monday. On Tuesday, the company was contacted by the South China Morning Post for comment on the report.
“We have nothing to do with this,” a spokeswoman for China TranComm Technologies, who declined to be More >
More on the Chinese Sky-09 drone
Apr 22nd
More photos have emerged of the Chinese Sky-09P drone that appears similar to at least one of the drones that was discovered crashed in South Korea. The new photos provide a clearer view of the underside of the drone and the slingshot launching system.
The photos are published on the website of China Trancomm Technologies (北京中交通信科技有限公司), a Beijing-based company that appears to sell the Sky-09P and two other variants, the Sky-09 and Sky-09H, and other drones.
As can be seen in the photo below, the drone has a series of what appear to be rubber pads on its base and it rests on a launching frame at More >
