N Korea nuclear talks must be revived: S Korea

South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak called for new international talks with North Korea on shutting down its nuclear programme, apparently softening his stance towards the negotiations.(We) have no choice but to resolve the problem of dismantling North Korea’s nuclear program diplomatically through the six-party talks, Lee said of the discussions, which began in 2003 and have been stalled for two years. Lee has taken a tough line with the North since its deadly bombardment last month of a South Korean border island, which caused outrage in Seoul.His government, along with the United States and Japan, has been cool in response to efforts by Russia and China to resuscitate the six-party forum in an attempt to ease high tensions. Seoul and its allies say the North must first mend ties with the South and show sincerity about denuclearization. The president said the international community is pressed for time because the North has set 2012 the centenary of the birth of founder Kim Il-Sung as the year to become a great, powerful and prosperous nation.

Israel destroyed Syrian nuclear reactor: WikiLeaks

WikiLeaks disclosed that Israel destroyed a Syrian nuclear reactor in an air raid on September 6, 2007. According to WikiLeaks Israel destroyed the nuclear reactor built by Syria secretly, apparently with North Koreas help, then US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice wrote in the cable published in Yediot Aharonot newspaper.

Our intelligence experts are convinced that the attack targeted by the Israelis is in fact an atomic reactor of the same type built by North Korea in Yongbyon, she wrote in the message dated April 2008. We have good reason to believe that the reactor was not built for peaceful purposes, she said, adding the attack came only weeks before the reactor was to become operational.Rice also noted the secrecy surrounding the construction of the nuclear facility, with the Syrian authorities refusing to invite the International Atomic Energy Agency or any media to inspect the site.

Israel has for its part never denied that its air force attacked a target in Syria, without ever officially claiming responsibility for the action.

South Korea Raises Rhetoric Against the North

South Korea on Friday threatened to bomb North Korea if it tries a repeat of last week’s attack, raising its rhetoric after the United States warned of an “immediate threat” from Pyongyang.

Kim Kwan-jin, a retired general, was speaking at a parliamentary meeting confirming him as new defense minister, a day after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said North Korea threatened the region and the world.

“If there are further provocations, we will definitely use aircraft to bomb North Korea,” Kim said when asked how he would respond to another attack after last week’s North Korean bombardment of an island near their disputed border, killing two South Korean marines and two civilians.

The North alone has more than 5,000 multiple-launch rockets pointed at the capital Seoul which, with its satellite cities, is home to some 25 million people. South Korea has about 490 combat aircraft.

For nearly 60 years, the two Koreas have faced each other across one of the world’s most heavily armed borders. They have never signed a peace treaty to end the 1950-53 Korean War.

US and Japan Stage Joint Drill Amid Regional Tensions

U.S. and Japanese forces began military maneuvers on Friday, heaping pressure on North Korea which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said posed an “immediate threat” to the region and a long-term threat to the world.

South Korea, which joined U.S. forces in military drills this week days after North Korea shelled a South Korean island, has for the first time joined the maneuvers as an observer as the three countries seek to rein in the reclusive North.

Two marines and two civilians were killed in the attack on Yeonpyeong, prompting a return of fire by the South minutes later, ramping up tension between the two sides that have technically been at war since their 1950-53 conflict which ended in a truce, not a treaty.

The exercises that began on Friday will involve about 44,500 military personnel from both countries in waters east of the southern island of Okinawa, home to a controversial U.S. military base, and elsewhere.

About 60 ships, including the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington and 400 aircraft, will take part in eight days of drills.

“North Korea poses an immediate threat to the region around us, particularly to South Korea and Japan,” Clinton said in the Kyrgyzstan capital Bishkek, according to a transcript released by the State Department.

“It poses a medium-term threat if it were to collapse to China, because of refugees and other instability. And it poses a long-term threat to the entire world, because of its nuclear program, and its export of weapons around the world.”

She said South Korea had exercised “great restraint.”

CHINA ROLE

The United States has been pushing China, North Korea’s only major ally, to bring the reclusive country to heel. China has refused to blame North Korea for last week’s attack, or for the earlier sinking of a South Korean naval vessel. A team international investigators said the North torpedoed the ship.

On Wednesday, South Korea’s spy chief said it was highly likely the North would attack its wealthy neighbor again.

China, which said it would not play favorites in the dispute, has proposed emergency talks of the six countries — the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States — involved in North Korean denuclearization negotiations. Only Russia has given its support.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu responded to criticism that China was not doing enough with a thinly disguised slap at the U.S.-South Korea military maneuvers.

“Those who brandish weapons are seen to be justified, yet China is criticized for calling for talks. Is that justified?”

The foreign ministers of the United States, Japan and South Korea are to meet in Washington on Monday to discuss North Korea. China is not included.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said the talks would focus on the shelling of Yeonpyeong and include North Korea’s nuclear advances. A ministry official said the aim was to produce a written statement to that effect.

Six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear program were suspended in December 2008 after North Korea walked out.

US lawmakers fume over China’s Iran links

WASHINGTON: US lawmakers united Wednesday in anger over China’s insidious links with Iran, but also blamed Washington for failing to impose sanctions on Beijing for aiding Tehran’s nuclear program.

The harsh criticism came from both Republicans and Democrats after leaked secret cables showed US diplomats frustrated at China’s apparent reluctance to block missile parts shipments from North Korea to the Islamic republic ahead of talks between world powers and Tehran over its nuclear drive.

“There seems to be no doubt that Chinese companies are pursuing energy investments and selling Iran refined petroleum. The Chinese acknowledge it,” said Howard Berman, the Democratic chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

“I’d like to know why we haven’t sanctioned any of the Chinese companies engaged in clearly sanctionable actions,” he told the committee gathered

China says North Korea ties have survived "tempest"

SEOUL: China, pushed again by Washington to bring North Korea to heel after last week’s artillery attack on the South, told Pyongyang their relationship had withstood international “tempests.”

On Wednesday, South Korea’s spy chief said it was highly likely the isolated North would attack its wealthy neighbour again. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last week’s bombardment threatened the stability of the region, home to three of Asia’s biggest economies.

China has refused to blame its ally for shelling the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong which destroyed dozens of houses and killed four people, or for the sinking of a South Korean naval vessel in March.

“The traditional friendship of China and North Korea has withstood the tests of international tempests and changes and replenished itself over time,” Wu Bangguo, China’s

Escalation of Korean tensions must be prevented: China

BEIJING: China’s foreign minister on Wednesday called for all parties involved in the Korean peninsula crisis to avoid actions that “inflame the situation”, state-run Xinhua news agency said.

The comments came as the US and South Korean navies ended a major exercise in the Yellow Sea intended as a warning to North Korea following last week’s deadly artillery strike on the South — war games strongly opposed by China.

“The parties concerned should keep calm and exercise restraint, and work to bring the situation back onto the track of dialogue and negotiation,” the agency quoted Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi as saying.

China had come under growing international pressure to step in forcefully to restrain the unpredictable regime in Pyongyang after the shelling, which left four people dead and led to increased tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Beijing has

South Korea’s Lee warns North against further attacks

SEOUL: South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Monday labeled North Korea’s artillery attack on a southern island a crime against humanity and said Pyongyang will pay the price for any further provocation.

Lee made his first address to the nation since last Tuesday’s attack as U.S. as South Korean war ships took part in day two of military maneuvers, prompting concern in regional power China and threats of all-out war from North Korea.

“North Korea will pay the price in the event of further provocations,” Lee said. “Attacking civilians militarily is an inhumane crime that is strictly forbidden in a time of war.”

The bombardment of the island of Yeonpyeong killed two Marines and two civilians, prompting outrage among South Koreans who say their government has been too weak in its response.

China has proposed emergency talks amid global pressure on

South Korea military says artillery fired heard in North

Nov 26 (Reuters) – South Korea’s military said sounds of distant artillery fire were heard on Friday from within North Korea, but no shells landed in South Korean territory.

A Reuters witness on Yeonpyeong island heard what he said sounded like artillery fire. AGENCIES

US Stands Shoulder to Shoulder With SKorea: Barack Obama

President Barack Obama is telling his South Korean counterpart that the U.S. stands “shoulder to shoulder” with its close ally and will work with the international community to strongly condemn what the White House branded as an “outrageous” attack by North Korea that killed two South Korean marines.

Obama called South Korean President Lee Myung-bak (lee myuhng bahk) following a meeting with his national security advisers to discuss the attack early Tuesday on a South Korean island that set off an exchange of artillery.

The White House says the two presidents agreed to hold combined military exercises and enhanced training in the days ahead to continue the close security cooperation between the two countries.

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