THE DICTATOR OUT FOR BLOOD, AND HIS PANDERERS.
UN PRESS RELEASE: Security Council Condemns Underground Nuclear Test by Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, with Members Calling for Tougher Sanctions
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 9/ 4/ 17 (link source)
Strongly condemning the recent underground nuclear test conducted by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Security Council, during an emergency meeting today, discussed options that would promptly de-escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Jeffrey Feltman, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, said that, as tensions rose, so did the risk of misunderstanding, miscalculation and escalation. Stressing that the latest serious developments required a comprehensive response to break the cycle of provocations from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, he said such an action must include wise and bold diplomacy to be effective. As the Council considered its reaction, he emphasized that the Secretary-General reiterated the importance of responding to humanitarian imperatives regardless of the political situation.
Many Council members expressed alarm, calling for adopting fresh sanctions to economically choke the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s nuclear programme. “Enough is enough,” said the representative of the United States, stressing that the stakes could not be higher, especially since 24 years of sanctions and half-measures were not enough, and announcing that her delegation would soon table a draft resolution on the matter. “We must now adopt the strongest possible measures.”
Echoing that theme, Senegal’s delegate said the credibility of the Council was being put to the test, considering the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea routinely violating resolutions by the illegal testing of nuclear weapons. The Council must speak with one voice, he said.
“Time is ticking,” France’s delegate said, calling for new, more robust sanctions, including measures adopted by the European Union.
Supporting that view, the representative of the Republic of Korea said the Council must respond with the adoption of a new resolution containing tougher actions. That must include additional measures to further block funds that could possibly flow into the country’s illegal weapons-of-mass-destruction programme, corresponding to the magnitude and gravity of the most recent test and to compel Pyongyang to seriously engage in dialogue.
Several Council members emphasized the need to resolve tensions through diplomatic channels. China’s representative highlighted a proposal that had been made by his country and the Russian Federation to establish a peace mechanism that required Pyongyang to suspend its nuclear programme, and the Republic of Korea and the United States to halt its military exercises.
Many speakers agreed that sanctions alone would not solve the problem. Sweden’s delegate stressed that negotiations must prevail to resolve the current tensions. Others emphasized that no military solution had addressed the ongoing tensions and diplomatic measures were needed.
Also delivering statements were representatives of Japan, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Italy, Bolivia, Russian Federation, Uruguay, Kazakhstan, Egypt and Ethiopia.
US MISSION TO THE UN: " His abusive use of missiles, and his nuclear threats show that he is begging for war. War is never something the United States wants. We don’t want it now. But our country’s patience is not unlimited. We will defend our allies and our territory."---Ambassador Nikki Haley, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations
From a press release issued 9/ 4/ 17 (link source)
Thank you, Mr. President. And we want to thank you for allowing us to have this prompt meeting, as it’s very urgent. And we also want to thank the Ambassador of Egypt and his team for the steady hand and the calm way in which he lead in this past month.
For more than 20 years, this Security Council has taken actions against North Korea’s nuclear program. And for more than 20 years, North Korea has defied our collective voice. It’s worth taking a few moments to recount some of the history.
In 1993, the Council approved Resolution 825 calling on North Korea to remain in the Nonproliferation Treaty. That didn’t work. North Korea withdrew from the treaty and continued its nuclear pursuit.
In 2006, the Six Party Talks faltered, and North Korea conducted several ballistic missile launches. That led to Resolution 1695 condemning them.
The same year, North Korea conducted its first nuclear test. That led to Resolution 1718, establishing a UN sanctions regime, aiming to stop all nuclear, ballistic missile, and other weapons of mass destruction programs.
After Six Party Talks fell apart again in 2009, North Korea conducted additional missile launches and its second nuclear test. That led to Resolution 1874, which expanded sanctions, including an arms embargo and cargo inspection obligations.
In 2012, the Leap Day Deal failed, and North Korea conducted two new space launches. The Security Council responded with the adoption of Resolution 2087.
Following North Korea’s third nuclear test in 2013, the Council adopted Resolution 2094, expanding sanctions to restrict financial, maritime, aviation, and diplomatic activities.
By 2016, North Korea had conducted its fourth nuclear test and another space launch. They followed that with more missile launches. In response, the Council adopted multiple resolutions expanding sanctions even further, targeting whole sectors of North Korea’s economy.
Finally, this year, the Council got even more serious.
First, we adopted Resolution 2356 designating high-ranking North Korean government officials and the military’s Strategic Rocket Forces Command for individual sanctions. Then, just last month, after the regime’s first two ICBM launches, we adopted Resolution 2371 – the strongest sanctions we have ever imposed on North Korea.
That resolution banned North Korean exports of coal, iron, and seafood, and imposed several other measures that will significantly cut off the revenues needed to fund their nuclear program.
Why did I take the time to go through this history?
To make this point. The United Nations Security Council has spoken with unusual unity and consistency on North Korea. That’s a good thing. Along the way, there have been problems with implementation, and the Council has at times been too slow and too weak; but this is not a situation in which we have allowed divisions among us to stop any action.
Still, here we are.
Despite our efforts over the past 24 years, the North Korean nuclear program is more advanced and more dangerous than ever. They now fire missiles over Japanese air space. They now have ICBM capabilities.
They now claim to have tested a hydrogen bomb. And just this morning, there are reports that the regime is preparing for yet another ICBM launch.
To the members of the Security Council, I must say, “enough is enough.”
We have taken an incremental approach, and despite the best of intentions, it has not worked.
Members of this Council will no doubt urge negotiations and a return to talks. But as I have just outlined, we have engaged in numerous direct and multilateral talks with the North Korean regime, and time after time, they have not worked.
The time for half measures in the Security Council is over. The time has come to exhaust all of our diplomatic means, before it’s too late.
We must now adopt the strongest possible measures.
Kim Jong-Un’s action cannot be seen as defensive. He wants to be acknowledged as a nuclear power. But being a nuclear power is not about using those terrible weapons to threaten others. Nuclear powers understand their responsibilities. Kim Jong-Un shows no such understanding.
His abusive use of missiles, and his nuclear threats show that he is begging for war. War is never something the United States wants. We don’t want it now. But our country’s patience is not unlimited. We will defend our allies and our territory.
The idea that some have suggested of a so-called freeze-for-freeze is insulting. When a rogue regime has a nuclear weapon and an ICBM pointed at you, you do not take steps to lower your guard. No one would do that. We certainly won’t.
The time has come to exhaust all diplomatic means to end this crisis, and that means quickly enacting the strongest possible measures here in the UN Security Council. Only the strongest sanctions will enable us to resolve this problem through diplomacy. We have kicked the can down the road long enough. There is no more road left.
This crisis goes well beyond the UN. The United States will look at every country that does business with North Korea as a country that is giving aid to their reckless and dangerous nuclear intentions.
And what we do on North Korea will have a real impact on how other outlaw nations who seek nuclear weapons choose to conduct themselves in the future.
The stakes could not be higher. The urgency is now.
Twenty-four years of half measures and failed talks is enough. Thank you.
Additional Remarks at an Emergency UN Security Council Briefing on North Korea
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 9/ 4/ 17 (link source)
Mr. President, due to the urgency of the situation with the nuclear test, as well as the announcement by North Korea that they are planning for another ICBM test, we want to urge the Council to move very quickly on this. I think that North Korea basically has slapped everyone in the face in the international community that has asked them to stop, so the United States will be circulating a resolution that we want to negotiate this week and vote on on Monday. So just wanted to let the members know. I know that some are going to Addis, but we wanted to make sure that we will do that on Monday when we can get those negotiations finished. Thank you.
US STATE DEPT: Joint Statement on the Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 9/ 5/ 17 (link source)
The text of the following statement was released by the Governments of the United States of America and the Republic of Korea.
Begin Text:
North Korea’s dangerous and destabilizing pursuit of nuclear-armed ballistic missiles represents a threat to all nations in the region and beyond. These actions will not alter the ironclad commitment of the United States and the Republic of Korea (ROK) Alliance to defend the ROK. North Korea’s recent provocations and belligerent rhetoric only drives the United States and the ROK to work more closely to defend against and counter this grave threat.
In line with President Donald J. Trump’s and President Moon Jae-in’s decision to regularize the Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group (EDSCG), the foreign affairs and defense agencies of the two countries have approved a new framework for the group and committed to holding an EDSCG meeting in the near future. This codification highlights the commitment by both partners to more closely consult and coordinate across the whole of our respective governments to strengthen the Alliance’s posture and reinforce the U.S. commitment to extended deterrence.
Going forward, the EDSCG will hold a plenary session annually. A senior level Executive Session will take place in conjunction with the plenary session on years when a U.S.-ROK 2+2 ministerial meeting does not occur. The EDSCG will coordinate whole-of-government efforts to employ all elements of national power to strengthen extended deterrence. Designated officials from both countries will use the EDSCG mechanism to improve the Alliance’s deterrence posture vis-à-vis North Korea through deeper coordination on diplomatic, information, military, and economic actions; to inform the 2+2 ministerial on Alliance efforts and advance whole-of-government deterrence; and to consult on strategic policy issues impacting deterrence and assurance from a regional security perspective.
US DEFENSE DEPT: Mattis, Dunford Brief President on Military Options Available to Deal With North Korea
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 9/ 3/ 17 (link source)
WASHINGTON, Sept. 3, 2017 — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, standing in front of the White House this afternoon after the latest and largest nuclear test carried out by North Korea, said the United States has many military options for dealing with Kim Jong Un's provocations and that President Donald J. Trump wanted to be briefed on each one.
Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, joined Mattis for his announcement.
At about 11:30 p.m. EDT last night, the U.S. Geological Survey's Earthquake Hazards Program detected a magnitude 6.3 explosion, about 13 miles east-northeast of Sungjibaegam, North Korea, located near the site where North Korea has detonated nuclear explosions in the past, according to a USGS statement.
Other institutions and organizations specializing in seismic detection also reported the explosion and resulting seismic signature.
The Korean Central News Agency announced that North Korean scientists had carried out a test in the country's northern nuclear test ground of a hydrogen bomb built to sit on top of an intercontinental ballistic missile, describing the device as a two-stage thermonuclear weapon.
Media reports say that the test was the most powerful of the six, but there is no official measurement yet of the force of the hydrogen weapon.
Ironclad Commitment
In his remarks, Mattis said they had made clear to the president that the United States has the ability to defend itself and its allies -- South Korea and Japan -- from any attack.
"Our commitments among the allies are ironclad," the secretary added. "Any threat to the United States or its territories, including [the U.S. territory of] Guam or our allies, will be met with a massive military response, a response both effective and overwhelming."
This nuclear test was North Korea's sixth since 2006.
The weapon tested last night was a fusion bomb, also called a hydrogen bomb or thermonuclear weapon. Fission weapons, such as those that fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II, are sometimes called atomic bombs.
In a hydrogen bomb, according to a 2012 paper by Martin E. Hellman, a Stanford University professor, a primary element is an implosion fission weapon that is used to ignite the secondary fusion reaction.
The Air Force Technical Applications Center at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida, is the only federal organization whose mission is to detect and report technical data from foreign nuclear explosions. The center operates and maintains a 3,600-sensor global network of nuclear event detection equipment called the U.S. Atomic Energy Detection Systems, the largest sensor network in the Air Force.
Once a disturbance is detected underground, underwater, in the atmosphere or in space, the event is analyzed for nuclear identification, and the findings are reported to national command authorities.
Unified Voice
This afternoon, Mattis said that Kim Jong Un should take heed of the United Nations Security Council's unified voice.
"All members unanimously agreed on the threat North Korea poses, and they remain unanimous in their commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," he said.
"We are not looking to the total annihilation of a country, namely North Korea. But as I said, we have many options to do so," Mattis added.
In other headlines about North Korea
( in other words, the panderers of a tyrant, Russia & China)
The Guardian: North Korea nuclear crisis: Putin warns of planetary catastrophe
The Russian president Vladimir Putin has warned that the escalating North Korean crisis could cause a “planetary catastrophe” and huge loss of life.
REU: Sanctions doubts grow as N. Korea warns of 'gift packages' for U.S.
A top North Korean diplomat warned on Tuesday that his country is ready to send "more gift packages" to the United States as world powers struggled for a response to Pyongyang's latest nuclear weapons test.
CNN: 5 things to know about North Korea
North Korea tested a hydrogen bomb on Sunday, raising fears that Pyongyang is getting close to constructing a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the US.
AFP: China makes diplomatic protest to N. Korea over nuke test
China said on Monday it had lodged an official protest with its ally North Korea following Pyongyang's largest-ever nuclear weapons test.
WORLD & NATIONAL NEWS BRIEFS
From the UN NEWS CENTER:
Ahead of Hurricane Irma, UNICEF preparing supplies and communication lines to youth
6 September 2017 – If Irma stays on its current track as a category 5 hurricane, it will bring devastating damage within hours to parts of the Caribbean, affecting the lives of hundreds of thousands of children, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today cautioned.
Conflict, widespread poverty stall progress on education rates over past decade – UNICEF
6 September 2017 – Pervasive levels of poverty, protracted conflicts and complex humanitarian emergencies have led to stagnation in reducing the global out-of-school rate over the past decade, prompting the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to call for more investments.
NATION
AP: Charlottesville council votes to move 2nd Confederate statue
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The Charlottesville City Council in Virginia has voted to remove a second Confederate monument from a public park.
WP: Analysis | What we know about nearly 800,000 ‘dreamers’ in the U.S.
President Trump’s decision to wind down legal protections for undocumented immigrants who were brought into the United States as children will affect hundreds of thousands of people.
Daily Bible Verse: Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
John 14:23 NKJV
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