Pyongyang dares Washington - says it can wage nuclear war on the United Stsates

North Korea has brought up the subject of nuclear warfare once again - it has said that it has successfully tested a new intercontinental ballistic rocket engine from Sohae Space Center in the country's northwest and, armed with it, it now has the ability to stage nuclear strikes on the United States.
This has been reported in foxnews.com dated 8 April 2016.

In case ground test of the engine has really been carried out, it would be seen as a major step forward for the nuclear weapons program of North Korea - it had conducted its fourth atomic test earlier this year. The North would still require to do much more work before it can actually strike hit the U.S. mainland with nuclear missiles.
South Korea says that North Korea does not, as yet, have a reliable intercontinental ballistic missile - arming it with a nuclear warhead is a far cry.
The United States feels that the test is nothing but North Korean provocations Its launch of a medium-range ballistic missile last month had violated U.N. Security Council resolutions that prohibit any ballistic activities by North Korea.
It was the North's first medium-range missile launch since early 2014.
Incidentally, North Korea has threatened pre-emptive nuclear strikes against Washington and Seoul. It had fired short-range missiles and artillery into the sea. This was in an apparent response to the ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills apart from the tough U.N. sanctions that have been imposed on it over the recent nuclear test and a long-range rocket launch earlier this year.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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Strange things seem to be happening in North Korea on the nuclear front

Satellite images captured by a US website that monitors sensitive sites in North Korea would tend to suggest that "significant activity" is taking place at a North Korean laboratory that could separate plutonium for nuclear weapons. The website has indicated that in the course of the past five weeks exhaust plumes have been observed two or three times at the radiochemical laboratory complex at Yongbyon.
This is reported in news.sky.com dated 5 April 2016.

An obvious suggestion is that the buildings are being heated, but it is not clear as to why. In the opinion of satellite imagery specialists, the plumes suggest that the operators of the reprocessing facility are heating their buildings. An inference can be drawn that some significant activity is being undertaken, or will be in the near future. It could be additional separation of plutonium for nuclear weapons but that is no clear.
The lab is located in the place where North Korea separates weapons-grade plutonium from nuclear reactor waste. These activities come as China has imposed restrictions on imports of coal from North Korea and exports of jet fuel to Pyongyang - the move is in line with current United Nations sanctions on the secretive state.
North Korea had announced its intention to restart nuclear facilities in 2013. And, in January, it conducted its latest nuclear test explosion, followed within weeks by a long-range rocket launch.
US intelligence feels that North Korea could begin recovering material for nuclear weapons "within a matter of weeks to months" and, tensions on the peninsula have been fueled by the annual South Korea-US military drills. North Korea has threatened to retaliate with nuclear strikes on Seoul and Washington.


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Prepare for war, Kim Jong-Un tells his Army as US and South Korea begin naval drill

#KimJongUn #militaryexercises #nuclearweapons Kim Jong-Un, the Supreme leader of North Korea, has asked his military to prepare for war against the United States. He made the comments against the backdrop of the start of joint military exercises between America and South Korea. The eight-week long operation is scheduled to begin from Monday as reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 28 February 2015.
He has expressed that he wants 'to tear to pieces the Stars and Stripes'. He has added that America does not have a 'monopoly' on nuclear weapons and that ‘the U.S. is seriously mistaken if it thinks its mainland is safe.' Kim hitting out at the US is probably the U.S. has moved a step closer to imposing fresh sanctions on North Korea's banks. Once that takes effect, it would block North Korea’s access to hard cash.
The joint US-South Korea exercise is codenamed Operation Foal Eagle and it would involve nearly 200,000 South Korean troops along with some 3,700 U.S. personnel and will be spread out over land, sea and air.
There are reports that North Korea has also recently stepped up its own ground, air and naval drills, as tensions continue to rise in the Korean peninsula.

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