This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: North Korea

  • Coffins at intra-Korean border

    Stars & Stripes reports that the US Defense Department has sent 100 wooden “temporary transit cases” to the border between North and South Korea in preparation for the repatriation of the remains of folks who died in North Korea during the war.

    Meanwhile, it was sending 158 metal temporary transfer cases that could be used to send the remains home from Seoul’s Yongsan Army Garrison south to Osan Air Base, the command said.

    The planned location for the return was not yet known, but officials said they were stationing the temporary coffins at the JSA since it is the closest point.

    It would be the first such repatriation in more than a decade and would be the first tangible benefit stemming from the summit.

    No date has been set for the transfer, DoD is just getting prepared for a dignified repatriation of Americans.

    It is believed that more than 5,000 sets of remains are still in North Korea, while another 2,000 Americans are still undiscovered in South Korea.

  • North Korea may turn over remains in near future

    One of our ninjas sends us a link to CNN which reports that the Trump Administration is expecting the return of the remains of US troops from North Korea;

    The Defense Department estimates there are up to 5,300 sets of US servicemember remains still somewhere in North Korea. A total of 7,697 personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Some are pilots who were shot down, some are ground troops, others may be those who died in prisoner of war camps.

    North Koreans are telling the US that one forensic reason they believe the remains are those of Americans is that the bones resemble those of westerners more than Asians, an official said. The official added that the remains of other nationalities killed during the war could be included in returned remains.

    The Pentagon’s website notes, “On several occasions in the past, DPRK officials have indicated they possess as many as 200 sets of remains they had recovered over the years. The commitment established within the Joint Statement between President Trump and Chairman Kim would repatriate these as was done in the early 1990s and would reinforce the humanitarian aspects of this mission.”

  • Gurkhas to provide security for Trump-Kim summit

    Gurkhas to provide security for Trump-Kim summit

    The Associated Press reports that the fearsome and famous Nepalese Gurkhas will be providing security for the Trump-Kim summit meeting this month in Singapore.

    Selected among young men from impoverished Nepal, Gurkhas have been part of Singapore’s police force since 1949. There are reportedly about 1,800 Gurkha officers in Singapore, and they are a regular presence at high-security events. On Monday, they were seen standing guard at the heavily fortified St. Regis Singapore, where Kim arrived Sunday afternoon.

    “This is a moment of pride to see the Gurkhas responsible for guarding such an important event,” said Krishna Kumar Ale, who served for 37 years in the British army before retiring back home in Nepal. “It shows that we Gurkhas have reached a point where we are trusted with the security of two of the most important people in the world.”

    From Quartz;

    Armed with assault rifles and traditional 18-inch khukri knives, the Gurkhas are a contingent of highly-skilled Nepali soldiers that have been part of Singapore’s police force since 1949, more than a decade-and-a-half before the nation received independence from British rule. Since then, they’ve played an important role in quelling race riots and guarding the Malaysia-Singapore border, besides protecting VIPs.

  • HotelPlanner to foot hotel bill for North Korea

    HotelPlanner to foot hotel bill for North Korea

    The niggardly North Korean government requires that other nations pay for their hotel accommodations when they participate in the summit later this month. President Trump claims that US taxpayers won’t foot the bill according to Fox News;

    “We are not paying for their travel,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told Fox News on Thursday.

    State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert also confirmed this week that the U.S. is not paying for accommodation costs for the North Korean delegation in Singapore.

    US company HotelPlanner has stepped up;

    “We faxed the invitation to the North Korean consulate in China, but they have yet to respond,” a spokesperson for HotelPlanner told Fox News Thursday.

    HotelPlanner CEO Tim Hentschel told Fox News that his company is “qualified” to pay for the arrangements.

    “We think it’s the right thing to do. We can help and we want to help,” Hentschel told Fox News. “Obviously this is a very important step to world peace.”

    Hentschel said he anticipated the cost for lodging, food and beverage for the delegation to be approximately $100,000.

    Thanks to Michael for the link.

  • North Korea plans nuke dismantling event

    North Korea plans nuke dismantling event

    The Associated Press reports that North Korea plans to ceremoniously dismantle their nuclear weapons later this month;

    Kim had revealed plans to shut down the country’s northeastern testing ground by the end of May during his summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in last month. Analysts say the closure of the site is mostly symbolic and doesn’t represent a material step toward denuclearization.

    In a statement carried by state media, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said that all of the tunnels at the site will be destroyed by explosion, and that observation and research facilities and ground-based guard units also will be removed.

    The North plans to invite journalists from the U.S., South Korea, China, Russia and Britain to inspect the process, the statement said.

    More than two decades ago, Jimmy Carter went to Korea and enabled the hermit regime to continue their nuclear program in secret while we paid them. Just last year, Carter wrote in the Washington Post;

    Until now, severe economic sanctions have not prevented North Korea from developing a formidable and dedicated military force, including long-range nuclear missiles, utilizing a surprising level of scientific and technological capability. There is no remaining chance that it will agree to a total denuclearization, as it has seen what happened in a denuclearized Libya and assessed the doubtful status of U.S. adherence to the Iran nuclear agreement.

    Wrong again, Peanut Boy.

    Just a few weeks ago the media and Democrats in congress were wringing their hands worried over a nuclear war with North Korea.

    Fingers crossed for success this time around.

  • North Korea to release the three Kims

    North Korea to release the three Kims

    CBS News reports that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will be accompanied by the three US citizens held by North Korea when he leaves the country. Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang Duk, also known as Tony Kim are all but free today.

    U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to North Korea on Wednesday to finalize plans for a historic summit between President Donald Trump and the North’s leader, Kim Jong Un. Pompeo is expected to return from North Korea with three Americans who have been detained in the country, sources familiar with the matter told CBS News on Tuesday…The trip came just days after North Korea expressed displeasure with Washington for comments suggesting that massive U.S. pressure had pushed Kim Jong Un to the negotiating table.

    I’m not tired of winning quite yet.

  • Americans in North Korean prisons near release

    Americans in North Korean prisons near release

    The Washington Times reports that three Americans held in North Korean prisons are preparing for their release;

    The three Americans — Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang Duk, also known as Tony Kim — were released from a North Korean labor camp and sent to Pyongyang for medical treatment, the Financial Times reported.

    Though out of the brutal labor camp, the men remain in the grasp of Mr. Kim’s regime.

    They currently are believed to be convalescing in a hotel outside Pyongyang…National Security Adviser John R. Bolton had called for the release of the detainees, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly raised the issue during secret face-to-face talks with Mr. Kim last month in Pyongyang.

    The UK’s Daily Mail speculates that their release will be a hand-off to President Trump personally when the leaders meet;

    Trump had also stressed that their return remained a priority and that his administration was ‘fighting very diligently to get the three Americans back’.

    ‘We have been talking about them. We are negotiating now,’ Trump said at a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

    Now, how about the Americans held in Iran?

  • Guest post; Why North Korea is being friendly – A fictional meeting between Xi and Kim (or not?)

    Guest post; Why North Korea is being friendly – A fictional meeting between Xi and Kim (or not?)

    George V sends this thoughtful piece;

    So, the NORKS are talking nice to us. Wow – let’s all celebrate. Or maybe not.

    Maybe here’s what happened: China’s Xi invited Kim to lunch, and over some kimchee and rice Xi said “Kim, stop being an idiot. Pissing off the US will not get you anything, especially with a Republican president. Make them mad enough they will come at you. But if you play nice with them in a few months you can push them around like they have casters on their shoes. In 12 months you will be able to stick your hand in the back of their necks and make them say whatever you want.”

    “Learn from the Chinese example. 25 years ago we were a 3rd world joke. We made nice with the west, said things like “market economy” and “reforms” and “freedoms”. The western political and business leaders fought each other to get into China like a Black Friday crowd at Wal-mart.

    What?

    Oh, uh.. just..look it up on the internet. What? W-A-L-M-A-R-T, got that? Anyway, these fools agreed to all our terms, they let us own over half of what they built here, they f&*^ing GAVE us all their technology, they even taught our engineers in their universities and even put them on leading edge research projects. They let us pretty much take over half their manufacturing and now they can’t build a cheap toilet without us. And now, we can build anything they still make, like cars and airplanes because we learned how they have done it.”

    “And at the same time they pretty much dismantled their long range military assets while they got their private parts caught in the Middle East. Reminds me, I need to thank those Taliban guys in Afghanistan, maybe buy some drugs from them I can resell to those MS-13 weirdos in the States at a profit. The Taliban will buy some AKs or ammo from us so it all works. Wait, where was I?”

    “Oh yeah, so, now we’re popping out new weapons – ships, tanks, fighters and all sorts of new missiles and s&*t – we’re puttin’ em out like hens poppin’ out eggs at one of their factory farms. Those fools in Washington can’t touch us now. If they tried we would squash them like I had to do to that freakin’ spider in your crummy bathroom when I stopped by your place.”

    “And, now that we are not a 3rd world s^&*thole, and are d#$n near the biggest economy, to the point where everyone is signing up for our “Belt and Road” thing (and is that a great scam), we can go back to being what we’re supposed to be – a dictatorship. The citizens who now work in our new economy won’t rock the boat, aside from the occasional… what do they call them…“dissident?”. The people want their paycheck. The peasants actually haven’t seen a major difference in the past 25 years so they won’t care. This whole change in China has been a scam on the West and nobody on their side had a freakin’ clue. I swear, as long as you talk nice you can take off these guy’s pants, take their underwear, redress them, and when they get ready for bed they’ll wonder where their boxers went. No, Kim, no – do not not actually try this, please.”

    “So, again Kim, make nice with these guys. Feed them a line of BS how you’ll open your markets, treat your people better, and such. Smile and wave. They will give you whatever you want, at whatever terms you want, as long as they think they can make money. And you will have to let them make some – but it’s OK, you will come out ahead on any deal. And you will have to let your people have some stuff – but you will find your people will forget all the crap you and your family have done to them over the years. Once you’ve got your economy rolling, the families of folks you’ve been shooting with AA guns will bury you in cheers right up to your phenomenal whitewall haircut.”

    “And, after you’ve taken over another goodly chunk of their economy, fire up the nuke project, build some new tech weapons and quietly do away with anyone who makes noise against you. By the time they wake up, you’ll be able to shoot down, sink, or otherwise obliterate anything they sent your way.

    One last thing – if you don’t make nice to them, I’ll pound your head with a 50 ton hydraulic press.“