Archive for the ‘Energy’ Category

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Iranian defector ‘saw North Korean technicians’ in Tehran

Tuesday, December 7th, 2010

Image via Arms Control Wonk

According to AFP (via Zawya):

A former Iranian diplomat who defected to the West said on Tuesday that he had regularly seen North Korean technicians at Tehran airport between 2002 and 2007.

Western intelligence agencies suspect North Korea may be helping Iran to develop long-range ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons technology. Tehran insists it simply wants to develop civilian nuclear power.

Mohammed Reza Heydari, Iran’s former consul in Norway, sought political asylum in December amid protests in his homeland in the aftermath of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election.

On Tuesday he told reporters at a meeting organised by the Paris-based think tank the Centre of Political and Foreign Affairs that he had seen North Koreans when he had been a foreign ministry official at Tehran airport.

“I saw them with my own eyes,” he said. “They were treated in a very discreet manner, in order to pass through without being seen.”

Heydari said he was “100 percent certain” that these contacts continue and alleged he had spoken to members of Iran’s hardline Revolutionary Guards Corps who confirmed that Iran plans to build a bomb.

“I was able to confirm that Iran has two goals — to develop the range of its ground-to-ground missiles and to obtain a nuclear weapon with the help of North Korea,” he said.

Since defecting, Heydari has sought to convince more Iranian diplomats to abandon the regime and form an opposition movement in exile.

Describing his view of the political scene back in Tehran, Heydari said a group of conservatives around the speaker of parliament Ali Larijani were increasingly opposed to a more religious faction backing Ahmadinejad.

According to the defector, while Larijani’s group wants to govern Iran, Ahmadinejad’s supporters have a more “global agenda” and are awaiting the return of the “hidden imam”.

Some Shiite Muslims believe that the 12th Imam, known as the Mahdi, who disappeared in the year 874, will return to bring justice to the world.

Heydari said Ahmadinejad’s faction is pushing Iran’s nuclear agenda. “According to our information, this inner circle believes that with only two bombs they can ensure the survival of the country and of Islam,” he said.

The usual defector caveats apply.  According to Bob Baer, Iran’s nuclear program has been an intelligence black hole.  Of course so was the DPRK’s—and they managed to surprise everyone by bulding a LEU facility right in the middle of Yongbyon.  There is no shortage of evidence that the two countries are working together on a number of political, economic, and military initiatives, however, so it is entirely possible that this Iranian defector is telling the truth.

As an aside, many Americans are nervous about visiting both Iran and the DPRK, but having visited nearly 45 countries, I can tell you that Iran and the DPRK are in the top three for me.  Of course, I live on the beach and prefer to “rough it” on vacation.

Read the full story here:
Iranian defector ‘saw North Korean technicians’ in Tehran
AFP (via Zawya)
12/7/2010

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Posted in Iran, Nuclear | 1 Comment »

DPRK-PRC trade up 26.7 percent

Friday, December 3rd, 2010

Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES)
NK Brief No.10-12-3-2
12/3/2010

North Korean trade with China has jumped 26.7 percent during the first eight months of the year, with the bulk of its imports made up of crude oil, and its largest export being coal. Despite the increasingly severe food shortages in the North, food imports from China were actually down 7.5 percent, while on the other hand, fertilizer imports shot up by 162 percent.

The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) looked into the Chinese government’s import and export figures and determined that North Korean exports to China during the first eight months of the year were worth 650,000 USD, 20.6% more than during the same period last year, while DPRK imported 1.345 billion USD-worth of goods (30% increase), for trade worth a total of 1.995 billion USD, 26.7 percent more than 2009.

“Mineral fuel and mineral oil” topped the list of North Korean imports (321,000 USD), with crude oil (229,000 USD) and oil (63,000 USD) making up 90.7 percent of imported goods. However, while crude imports were 53 percent more expensive, the amount of oil imported only rose by 2.3 percent; the sharp increase in expenditure was due to climbing international oil prices. The second- and third-largest imports were listed as “nuclear reactor, boiler, and machinery” (127,000 USD) and “electromagnetic machinery, sound and video equipment” (106,000 USD). Other imports included cars and car parts, steel and steel goods, plastic and plastic goods, artificial filament, fertilizer, and grain. A KOTRA official stated that while “nuclear reactor” was listed among the goods imported by the North, there is no way to verify the Chinese statistics.

North Korea’s grain import expenditures increased by five percent, to 34,000 USD, but overall grain imports fell 7.5 percent, to 102,000 tons, due to increased costs. More specifically, rice import expenditures were up 8.4 percent to 16.6 million USD, but the amount of rice imported fell by six percent, to 38,400 tons. Corn expenditures dropped by one percent to 16.3 million USD while the amount imported fell by ten percent, to 62,000 tons. The cost of barley imports grew 190 percent, to 353,000 USD, with the amount of barley brought into the country up 89 percent to 1,011 tons. 277,000 tons of fertilizer were imported, 162 percent more than last year, at a cost of 40 million USD, 85 percent more than 2009. Almost all of the fertilizer was nitrogenous.

North Korea’s exports to China were made up largely of mining and fisheries. Coal topped the list (191,000 USD), although the amount sent across the border was 31 percent less than last year. Iron ore was second, and was not only down by 34 percent, it brought in 134 percent less than 2009, as it was worth only 111 million USD. Textiles and accessories worth 81 million USD, steel worth 64 million USD, and mollusks worth 32 million USD were also sent to China.

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Posted in China, Coal, Energy, Food, Institute for Far Eastern Studies, International trade, Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), Oil, Statistics, Trade Statistics | Comments Closed

DPRK bank transfers for nuclear program alarms EU

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010

According to Bloomberg:

North Korea’s use of international banks to facilitate nuclear weapons-related trade requires financial institutions to step up their vigilance, the European Union said.

North Korea exports $100 million in weapons and missiles each year in violation of United Nations sanctions, a UN panel wrote in a report released on Nov. 10. The EU said it’s concerned that some of the country’s trade involves prohibited nuclear technologies.

The 27-nation EU today urged all members of the International Atomic Energy Agency to “exercise particular vigilance over exports and financial transfers” in order “to prevent a contribution to proliferation-sensitive activities.”

Tensions with North Korea have increased in recent weeks. The country has built a new facility for extracting uranium, the key ingredient for nuclear weapons, a U.S. scientist reported on Nov. 20. Three days later, North Korea fired artillery at Yeonpyeong island, killing soldiers and civilians.

North Korea’s new nuclear facilities “could bolster its pursuit of a weapons capability and increases our concerns about prospects for onward proliferation of fissile material and of sensitive technologies to other parties,” U.S. Ambassador Glynn Davies said in a statement at IAEA’s meeting in Vienna.

The U.S. has been pressuring banks to cut ties with the North Korea’s regime, State Department documents posted today on WikiLeaks.org showed.

Reputation

Austria’s Financial Market Authority told the U.S. that it “exercised additional surveillance regarding North Korean financial activities” and that one bank cut ties with the country “to maintain its good reputation,” according to a February 2006 cable.

The U.S. and Japan will hold a week of naval drills beginning tomorrow. The aircraft carrier USS George Washington will join a force of about 400 aircraft and 60 warships. Drills will include responding to ballistic missile attacks on Pacific islands, the Joint Staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces said in a statement.

“We will not accept North Korea as a nuclear-weapon state,” Davies said. “We seek an immediate halt of all nuclear activities in North Korea, including enrichment.”

Recent posts about the DPRK’s nuclear program can be found here. 

Recent posts on Yonpyong can be found here.

Read the full story here:
North Korean Use of Bank Transfers for Atomic Work Alarms Europe
Bloomberg
Jennifer M. Freedman, Andrew Atkinson
12/2/2010

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Posted in Banking, EU, Finance, Fiscal & monetary policy, Nuclear | Comments Closed

Nuclear test no. 3?

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010

The Japanese and South Korean media have asserted that the DPRK is potentially preparing for a third nuclear test. I have no idea if this is the case, but the North Koreans certainly want us to see them conducting activities at their test site in Kilju county. Below I have placed some pictures of the area from both Google Earth and Digital Globe (taken  at different dates) of the test site:

Tunneling Activity:

Image data: Location: 41°16’34.70″N, 129° 5’16.99″E.  Dates: 2005-2-15, 2009-10-9, 2010-10-16. The top two images are from Google Earth. The image on the bottom is from DigitalGlobe.

New Vehicles:

Image Data: Location: 41°16’41.21″N, 129° 5’14.97″E.  Date: 2010-10-16.  Source: DigitalGlobe.

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Posted in Nuclear | Comments Closed

The DPRK’s Damn Dams

Monday, November 15th, 2010

Kumya Dam
A dam is being constructed in Kumya County, South Hamgyong Province, to provide electrical power. Kim Jong-il last visited in August 4, 2010. It is just one of several dams under currently under construction in the DPRK.

Here is a satellite image of the Kumya dam’s construction (Google Earth: 11/25/2008,  39.574232°, 127.104736°)

This new reservoir will flood the locations of three villages (리): Ryongnam-ri (룡남리), Ryongsang-ri (룡상리), and Ryongchon-ri (룡천리).

Estimates of the reservoir size are made by me, but it is fairly obvious where the North Korean engineers expect the reservoir to flood because they have already relocated the villages from their former locations in the flood zone.

Here are the former locations of Ryongchon-ri, Ryongsong-ri, and Ryongnam-ri:

All of the homes, buildings, and factories have been moved (lock, stock, and barrel) to another location. I am not sure where.

Imnam Reservoir
The dislocation caused by the Kumya Dam, however, pails in comparison to the dislocation caused by the creation of the Imnam Reservoir (임남저수지) in Changdo County (창도군).

The Imnam Reservoir bisected the county and flooded nearly half of it, including its capital city and at least 14 villages (리): Jisok-ri (지석리), Pankyo-ri (판교리), Sinsong-ri (신성리), Songdo-ri (성도리), Kisong-ri (기성리), Tangsan-ri (당산리), Tohwa-ri (도화리), Tumok-ri (두목리), Myongchon-ri (면천리), Imnam-ri (임남리), Taejong-ri (대정리), Jon-ri (전리), Onpae-ri (언패리), and Cholpaek-ri (철벽리).

Below is a picture of the Imnam Reservoir along with locations of the various population centers that were flooded.

It appears that the North Koreans constructed a new county capital north of the reservior at 38.652243°, 127.711817° (although this city is not on any maps of North Korea that I have seen). This new city, however, has itself seen severe flood damage (caused by excessive rainfall).  Some of this devastation can bee seen on Google Earth, but the full extent of it is not available with current imagery.

The poor people of Changdo county can’t seem to catch a break.

Lake Paekma
Lake Paekma lies at the head of the Paekma-Cholsan Waterway in Phihyon County ( 40.082356°, 124.695685°).  Two villages were lost to the construction of this reservoir: Sangko-ri(상고리) and Ryongun-ri(룡운리).  In the images below you can see the locations of the remnants of these villages as well as their disappearance under the waters.

Military losses to dam construction
Civilians are not the only ones to have suffered dislocation at the hands of the DPRK’s energy policy. The airforce lost a couple of facilities as well.

Thaechon County:
The North Korean air force lost one training facility to a  new dam on the Taeryong River (대령강) in Thaechon County ( 39.865138°, 125.562139°).  Here and here are the before and after pictures.

Tongrim County:
And most recently, the an airfield and heliport in Tongrim County ( 39.918570°, 124.840542°) appears to be in danger of flooding as a result of the rising Maepong Reservoir (매봉저수지)–a lake on which “someone” has a very nice house:

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Posted in Dams/hydro, Electricity, Energy, Google Earth, Military, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Food and the winter of 2010-11

Wednesday, November 10th, 2010

Click image to see all the prices

According to the Daily NK:

Winter is a tough time for average North Koreans, with a number of demanding economic issues to deal with. This year, as the traditional season for making “kimchi”, the indispensible side dish on any Korean dining table, approaches, ingredient prices in the market are become a focus for concern.

This is only the second winter since the currency redenomination of November 30th, 2009. Since then, prices have fluctuated unpredictably throughout the year due to various economic and political uncertainties. As a result, the overall situation now is not radically different from the period of high prices before the redenomination.

According to one inside source from North Hamkyung Province who spoke with The Daily NK on November 9th, “Wealthy people will have already finished preparations for heating and kimchi by the end of October; however, those belonging to underprivileged groups have not even prepared the kimchi for winter yet.”

According to the source, Chinese cabbage, the core constituent of the most popular form of kimchi, was being sold for as much as 100 won/kg and white radish for 60 won/kg in the market in Hoiryeong in North Hamkyung Province in recent days. The core seasonings for many forms of kimchi, garlic and dried red chili pepper powder, were being sold for 3,800 and 4000 won/kg respectively.

On October 25th, 2009, shortly before the currency redenomination, Chinese cabbage was being sold for 200 won, white radish for 150 won, garlic for 3,000 won and dried red pepper powder for 7,000 won in the same market. Thus, many of the effects of the currency redenomination appear to have been disguised by price inflation.

For a family of four, 500kg of Chinese cabbage and 300kg of white radish is needed to see them through the winter. To meet that requirement in full would, at current prices, require 50,000 won for cabbage and 18,000 won for white radish. Add in the price of the seasonings, including salt and green onion in addition to garlic and red pepper powder, and the total price is close to 100,000 won.

Other aspects of winter life are no less problematic. Heating is one example. For a household burning coal, a couple of tons are burnt between November and March. Currently, the price of coal in Hoiryeong market is around 20,000 won per ton. Meanwhile, houses which are heated with wood need roughly enough to fill two ‘Seungli-58’ trucks, or approximately five tons. Such a quantity costs 50,000~60,000 won (7,000 won/cart in Hoiryeong) at the current market price.

Another key factor in a comfortable winter is vinyl for shielding houses against the winter wind. This is now selling for 400 won/m. Most North Korean houses have three windows, to which people living in North Hamkyung and Yangkang Province apply two layers of vinyl, meaning that each household needs ten meters on average, including that to cover the door.

Therefore, taking Hoiryeong market as the average, people need a minimum of 150,000 won to prepare for the winter. When the average North Korean worker’s salary is between 1,500~3,000 won, it is clearly very hard for most to endure the winter in comfort.

According to the source, “The conditions in a household are revealed by the amount of dried red pepper powder in their winter kimchi. An affluent family’s kimchi is red and appetizing, but an poor family’s kimchi is like white kimchi with a few pieces of dried red pepper powder on the top.”

Read the full story here:
The Chilly Economic Wind of Winter
Daily NK
Yoo Gwan Hee
11/10/2010

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Posted in Agriculture, Civil society, Coal, Economic reform, Energy, Fiscal & monetary policy, Food, Price liberalization | Comments Closed

DPRK weapons scientist arrested

Wednesday, November 10th, 2010

According to the Choson Ilbo:

A senior researcher at North Korea’s National Academy of Sciences has been arrested on espionage charges, it emerged on Tuesday.

A high-level North Korean source quoted rumors that Kim So-in, who is believed to have been in charge of the North’s nuclear and missile development, and his family were arrested by the State Security Department and taken to the notorious Yodok concentration camp in May.

A math prodigy who received his doctorate in his early 20s, Kim was said by the state media to have been behind the supposed launch of the North’s first satellite — an event widely believed to have been a long-range ballistic missile test.

The source said Kim is accused of assisting his father Kim Song-il, a researcher at the Yongbyon Nuclear Complex, in delivering top secret documents on nuclear development to a foreign agency.

The security department is nervous because many senior officials in various areas are suspected of attempting to earn dollars by selling confidential information, with top secret documents about the regime’s nuclear and missile development being leaked abroad, the source added.

Pak Kyong-chol, an official in the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, has also recently been sent to a labor camp for spying, and Kim Won-bom, the chief of the Wonsan office of the North Korean military bureau in charge of earning hard currency, has been arrested after US$1.5 million was found at his home.

And a senior official at the Kumgang bureau of the Majon Mine has been taken into custody for stashing away $100,000 after selling confidential information in conspiracy with military officers.

Senior officials are trying to sell confidential information because of economic difficulties since the botched currency reform late last year and the Chinese government’s recent crackdown on drug and counterfeit dollar transactions.

The security services have been ordered by regime heir Kim Jong-un to look out for “unusually rich” senior officials, the source added.

Read the full story here:
N.Korea’s Chief Nuke Scientist ‘Held for Spying’
Choson Ilbo
11/10/2010

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Posted in Energy, Ministry of State Security (MPSS, NSA, SSD), National Academy of Science, Nuclear | Comments Closed

DPRK steps up reporting of KJU

Friday, November 5th, 2010

According to the Daily NK:

The North Korean state media has stepped up the level of its Kim Jong Eun propaganda in an attempt to stamp his identity in the minds of the North Korean people.

According to a report carried by Chosun Central News Agency, Rodong Shinmun was expanded to ten pages on November 4th to include a full-page spread about Kim Jong Il and Jong Eun’s onsite inspection of Heecheon Power Plant in South Pyongan Province.

Rodong Shinmun normally covers six pages, although important events regularly lead to it being expanded.

On the first and second pages of the Heechon Power Plant edition there were photos and commentary about the inspection; the remaining pages contained nothing but photos.

Chosun Central TV also reported the news of the onsite inspection at around 5:10P.M. on the same day, and, in a highly unusual move, simultaneously released 145 pages of related images.

Of them, 86 were of Kim Jong Il and/or Kim Jong Eun, and 59 were of power plant facilities; 13 of 45 showed father and son together; and 8 showed only Kim Jong Eun, who appeared in the same style and color of overcoat as his father.

This is the second time this year that Rodong Shinmun has been expanded to report one of Kim’s onsite inspections while completely excluding other news; his onsite inspection at Ryongseong Food Factory and Pyongyang Flour Factory was released over 12 pages on January 24th.

The newspaper has also been expanded to more than ten pages in order to report Kim Jong Il’s public activities in detail alongside other news on a number of further occasions during 2010: an onsite inspection at Kim Il Sung University electronic library on April 13 covered eight of ten pages; another at Ryongseong Machinery Factory in Hamheung on May 22 took up nine of ten; Goksan Factory in Pyongyang on August 26 required six of ten; and the Party Delegates’ Conference on September 29 took up eight of ten.

Heecheon Power Plant, which is designed to generate 300,000kW of power, is under construction in the upper reaches of the Cheongcheon River. It is scheduled to be completed in 2012 alongside other “Strong and Prosperous State” construction projects including that of 100,000 houses in Pyongyang.

In addition, the Daily NK reports that the DPRK media is using honorific words to describe KJU.

North Korea’s state media has begun to apply the highest form of honorific speech to Kim Jong Eun’s name and descriptions of his movements, according to a Radio Press report released yesterday.

According to Radio Press, while broadcasting the movements of Kim Jong Il on October 27th, a Chosun Central Television announcer explained that a Chinese delegation had “given a gift to Chosun Workers’ Party Central Military Commission Vice Chairman, Comrade Kim Jong Eun”, using both the highest form of “to” and “give” available in the Korean language.

In addition, on the 29th of last month both Chosun Central Television and Pyongyang Broadcast announced the fact that the international media had reported the presence of Kim Jong Eun and Kim Jong Il at a mass rally with the highest form of “to” and by amending the verb “to attend” to reflect the esteem with which the successor is officially held..

Hitherto, only three people in North Korea have been spoken of in this way; national founder Kim Il Sung, son Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Il’s mother, Kim Jong Suk.

This method of referring to Kim Jong Eun appears to represent an important part of ongoing attempts by the authorities to idolize and elevate the successor’s status, while seeming also to reflect the speed with which the succession process is being undertaken.

Read the full stories here:
Cover-to-Cover Kim in Rodong Shinmun
Daily NK
11/5/2010

North Korean Media Speaking of Kim Jong Eun in Honorifics
Daily NK
Kim Tae Hong
11/4/2010

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Posted in Dams/hydro, Domestic publication, Electricity, Energy, Kim Jong Un, Political economy | Comments Closed

Samsu Dam construction disrupts local electricity service

Thursday, November 4th, 2010

According to the Daily NK:

Although it is just 10 kilometers from Hyesan, the capital of Ryanggang Province, no electricity has been supplied to Nojoong-ri since construction began on the Samsu Power Plant in 2004. In fact, there are no longer any transmission cables connected to the village at all.

The North Korean authorities, in preparation for the construction of the power plant in 2002, put in place relocation plans for the residents of the Unchong River Basin in areas they designated as “probable watersheds” for the lake which would form behind the proposed dam. District Four of Nojoong-ri was one of those areas, and as a result had all of its power cables removed.

However, in a follow-up plan completed right before groundbreaking on the project in 2004, the water storage capacity of the Samsu Power Plant was reduced on account of analysis that cautioned against over-filling the reservoir. This resulted in District Four of Nojoong-ri being re-designated as outside the flood zone, but none of the services were resumed, including the provision of electricity

After a year of living without power, the residents, who were still waiting to be assigned new homes, eventually pleaded their case to have the village’s power lines restored to the “Standing Committee on Flooding”, a special organ of government in charge of the relocation of flood-area residents. However, the response was that they were ineligible for aid because their village was not in a flood zone. The villagers then filed petitions with the Party at Hyesan City and provincial level, but to no avail. They were only to hear the same repeated response, “We were not the ones who removed the power lines.”

If electricity were to be provided to the area, quite a few power lines would need to be installed. But the only place where electricity for the village could be obtained is “Military Supplies Factory No. 95”, located four kilometers from the village on the other side of a hill. The 50-megawatt Samsu Power Plant stands adjacent to the village, but the electricity generated there is supplied exclusively to “Kim Jong Il Birthplace Heritage”, otherwise known as the “Baekdu Hideout”, in Samjiyeon. At one point there was talk of the residents putting their money together to provide for their own power cables, but the plan was prohibitively expensive.

Thus, the residents of this part of Nojoong-ri have been living without electricity for nearly seven years. They depend entirely on candlelight and firewood as they scrape a living off potato farming and alluvial mining.

“It is hard to say that it is even a place where people should live. People from as far away as South Pyongan and North Hamkyung come here to mine alluvial gold, but are shocked to find the state that the village is in,” according to an anonymous Yangkang Province source.

Of course, with the original designation came many more changes, including work and schooling. The one-way commute that the village’s men take every morning is seven to eight kilometers, while the women cannot easily reach the market to sell their produce. Children are also suffering the consequences; having to walk 15 kilometers a day to attend Nojoong-ri Middle School has led to a rising number of student dropouts.

Here are previous posts about the Samsu Dam: here, here, here and here.

Read the full story here:
Seven Years of Blackness
Daily NK
Kang Mi Jin
11/4/2010

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Posted in Construction, Dams/hydro, Electricity, Energy, Political economy | Comments Closed

DPRK estimated to have 40 kilograms of plutonium

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

According to Yonhap:

North Korea is believed to have produced some 40 kilograms of plutonium, the main ingredient of an atomic bomb, and to be miniaturizing nuclear weapons to improve their mobility, South Korea’s defense minister said Tuesday.

“We believe that North Korea owns 40kg of plutonium and continues attempts to miniaturize atomic weapons,” Defense Minister Kim Tae-young told lawmakers.

Kim’s assessment on North Korea’s plutonium stockpile is about 10kg less than what the United States estimates. The U.S. believes North Korea had produced about 50kg of the weapons material, which experts say would be enough for six to eight atomic bombs.

Kim said North Korea’s ballistic missiles could be used as “useful means” to carry nuclear bombs along with its fleet of bombers.

North Korea, which conducted two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, has shown no signs that it owns a working nuclear bomb.

Asked about the possibility of another nuclear test by North Korea, Kim replied, “There is a possibility, but no clear signs (of a third nuclear test) have been observed yet.”

South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities have been keeping a close watch on the movements of vehicles and personnel at the North’s previous nuclear test site, Kim said.

North Korea has also made progress in its uranium enrichment program, which could give Pyongyang a second way to develop nuclear weapons in addition to the plutonium-based program, Kim said.

“I think it’s quite possible for North Korea to build nuclear weapons through the uranium enrichment program,” the defense minister said.

North Korea officially quit six-party talks, a forum aimed at ending its nuclear development in exchange for incentives, in April last year and conducted the second nuclear test a month later.

The six-party talks, which also involve South Korea, China, the United States, Japan and Russia, were last held two years ago. Chances of their resumption have been dim after Seoul blamed Pyongyang for sinking one of its warships in March.

North Korea has been beckoning other members recently, saying that it is willing to rejoin the forum. South Korea demands that the communist neighbor shows in action its willingness to denuclearize and apologize for the ship sinking.

Read the full story here:
N. Korea estimated to have 40 kilograms of plutonium: defense minister
Yonhap
11/2/2010

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Posted in Energy, Military, Nuclear | Comments Closed

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