North Korea 'approves' US strike

Chinese and South Korean officials comment on rising tensions in the Korean Peninsula as North blocks workers from entering and exiting shared industrial zone. Jessica Gray reports.

• North Korean army says it has 'final approval' for nuclear attack
• United States to move anti-missile system to Guam
• Two advanced missile destroyers moved closer to North Korea

NORTH Korea has declared it has given 'final approval' for a nuclear attack on the United States.

The North Korean army said it would launch "merciless" military strikes on the United States, involving the possible use of "cutting-edge" nuclear weapons.

In a statement published by the official KCNA news agency, the General Staff of the Korean People's Army said it was formally informing Washington that US threats would be "smashed by... cutting-edge smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear strike means".

"The merciless operation of (our) revolutionary armed forces in this regard has been finally examined and ratified."

The declaration came minutes after the United States announced it would deploy a land-based missile defence system to Guam to counter North Korean threats of a nuclear strike.

THE THREAT THAT WON'T GO AWAY.

WE WILL DEFEND OUR ALLIES: UNITED STATES.

RUDD SEES CHINA SHIFT ON NORTH KOREA.

The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile during a test. The United States is to deploy a THAAD missile defense battery to defend its bases on the Pacific island of Guam.

The United States Department of Defense issued a statement saying the truck-mounted launcher and radar system will be moved in next few weeks.

The missile system joins two destroyers deployed to the region in the past few days. The ships are also capable of shooting down intercontinental ballistic missiles.

North Korea has been making increasingly hysterical threats against South Korea and the United States in recent weeks. However, the United States Department of Defense says it has not detected any unusual military movements or activity around missile sites within the rogue country.

North Korea's threats and recent actions represent a "real and clear danger" to the United States as well as its allies South Korea and Japan, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said.

"They have nuclear capacity now, they have missile delivery capacity now," Hagel said after giving a major strategy speech at the National Defense University, calling Pyongyang's "bellicose dangerous rhetoric" problematic.

"We take those threats seriously, we have to take those threats seriously," he added.

"We are doing everything we can, working with the Chinese and others to defuse that situation on the peninsula.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) sailing in the waters off the Korean Peninsula.

"I hope the North will ratchet its very dangerous rhetoric down."

LOST IN TRANSLATION: NORTH KOREA'S TWEETS.

MOST EXCELLENT PICTURES OF KIM JONG-UN.

North Korea on Wednesday blocked access to the key Kaesong joint industrial zone with South Korea - the only surviving example of inter-Korean cooperation and a crucial source of hard currency for Pyongyang.

The move represented a sharp escalation of a military crisis that has also seen the North threaten missile and nuclear strikes against the United States and its ally South Korea in response to UN sanctions and joint military drills.

Tensions have been soaring on the Korean peninsula since the North launched a long-range rocket in December and conducted its third nuclear test in February.

In a rare show of force in the region, Washington has deployed nuclear-capable US B-52s, B-2 stealth bombers and two US destroyers to South Korean air and sea space.

The Sea-based, X-band Radar (SBX 1) transits the waters of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The United States has deployed a sophisticated sea-based radar to the ocean east of Japan to track any North Korean ballistic missile launches.

"We've been trying to work with the North Koreans to try to persuade them it's not in their interest, and certainly not in the Korean peninsula interest... to pursue nuclear weapons," Hagel said.

"There is a pathway that is responsible, for the North to get on the path to peace, working with their neighbours... but they've got to be a responsible member of the world community."

Forces deployed on the Korean Peninsula.

An anti-missile defence system.

View the original article here

Korea leader vows to strike back

As the industrial zone jointly run by the two Koreas continues to operate, South Korean President Park Geun-hye pledges a strong and swift military response to any North Korean provocation. Sarah Toms reports.

SOUTH Korea's new president has promised a strong military response to any North Korean provocation after Pyongyang announced the two countries are now in a state of war.

President Park Geun-Hye's warning came as North Korea's rubber-stamp parliament formalised the country's status as a nuclear weapons state and appointed a sacked economic reformer for a fresh term as prime minister.

It also coincided with a US announcement that it had deployed stealth fighters to South Korea as part of an ongoing joint military exercise.

At a meeting with senior military officials and Defence Minister Kim Kwan-Jin, Park said she took the nearly daily stream of bellicose threats emanating from the North over the past month "very seriously".

"I believe that we should make a strong and immediate retaliation without any other political considerations if (the North) stages any provocation against our people," she said.

Her defence minister made it clear that the South would carry out pre-emptive strikes against the North's nuclear and missile facilities in the event of hostilities breaking out.

"We will ... establish a so-called 'active deterrence' aimed at neutralising the North's nuclear and missile threats quickly," Kim said.

The US military said on Monday it had deployed F-22 Raptor stealth fighters to South Korea as part of the ongoing Foal Eagle military exercise.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has vowed to respond to any threat from the North.

"The F-22s are advanced fighter aircraft and they're an important display of our commitment to the South Korean alliance," Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters in Washington.

North Korea has already threatened to strike the US mainland and US bases in the Pacific in response to the participation of nuclear-capable US B-52 and B-2 stealth bombers in the exercise.

Monday's gathering of the North's Supreme People's Assembly, or parliament, was notable for the promotion of a former prime minister who was sacked in a reported backlash against his pursuit of economic reforms.

Pak Pong-Ju, 74, was unanimously returned to the post of prime minister, which he had previously held from 2003-2007, when he spearheaded modest economic reforms of state enterprises.

An apparent backlash from the party and the military saw him suspended from duty in June 2006 and sacked the following year.

South Korean marines check a weapon on their K-55 self-propelled howitzer during an exercise against possible attacks by North Korea.

View the original article here

Nth Korea threatens nuke strike on US

North Korea threatens the United States with a preemptive nuclear strike, as the U.S. conducts military drills in the South. Travis Brecher reports.

THE UN Security Council has voted unanimously for tough new sanctions to punish North Korea for its latest nuclear test.

The move sparked a furious Pyongyang to threaten a nuclear strike against the United States.

The vote by the UN's most powerful body on a resolution drafted by North Korea's closest ally, China, and the United States sends a powerful message that the international community condemns the ballistic missile and nuclear tests - and repeated violation of Security Council resolutions.

Immediately before the vote, an unidentified spokesman for Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry said the North will exercise its right for "a preemptive nuclear attack to destroy the strongholds of the aggressors'' because Washington is pushing to start a nuclear war against the North.

It appeared to be the most specific open threat of a nuclear strike by any country against another.

Although North Korea boasts of nuclear bombs and pre-emptive strikes, it is not thought to have mastered the ability to produce a warhead small enough to put on a missile capable of reaching the US It is believed to have enough nuclear fuel, however, for several crude nuclear devices.

The new sanctions are aimed at reining in North Korea's nuclear and missile programs by making it more difficult for Pyongyang to finance and obtain material for these programs, tracking illegal diplomatic activity and intensifying inspections of cargo to and from the country.

Soldiers from Kim Il Sung Military University in training this week. (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon)

In a measure targeted at the reclusive nation's ruling elite, the resolution bans all nations from exporting expensive jewelry, yachts, luxury automobiles and racing cars to the North.  After the 15-0 vote, US Ambassador Susan Rice told reporters that "taken together, these sanctions will bite and bite hard.''

Responding to Pyongyang's nuclear strike threat, she said, "North Korea will achieve nothing by continued threats and provocation.''

She urged North Korea's leaders to heed President Barack Obama's call to follow the path of peace. If it doesn't, she said, the Security Council is committed in the resolution to take further measures.

China's UN Ambassador Li Bao Dong said the top priority now is to "bring down the heat'' and focus on diplomacy and restarting the six-party talks aimed at denuclearising the Korean peninsula.

In North Korea, Army General Kang Pyo Yong told a crowd of tens of thousands that North Korea is ready to fire long-range nuclear-armed missiles at Washington.

"Intercontinental ballistic missiles and various other missiles, which have already set their striking targets, are now armed with lighter, smaller and diversified nuclear warheads and are placed on a standby status,'' Gen Kang said. "When we shell (the missiles), Washington, which is the stronghold of evils, .... will be engulfed in a sea of fire.''

A military vehicle carrying what is believed to be a Taepodong-class Intermediary Range Ballistic Missile in Pyongyang. AFP PHOTO / PEDRO UGARTE

The statement by the North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman was carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

It accused the US of leading efforts to slap sanctions on North Korea. The statement said the new sanctions would only advance the timing for North Korea to fulfill previous vows to take "powerful second and third countermeasures'' against its enemies. It hasn't elaborated on those measures.

The statement said North Korea "strongly warns the UN Security Council not to make another big blunder like the one in the past when it earned the inveterate grudge of the Korean nation by acting as a war servant for the US in 1950.''

North Korea demanded the Security Council immediately dismantle the American-led UN Command that's based in Seoul and move to end the state of war that exists on the Korean Peninsula, which continues six decades after fighting stopped because an armistice, not a peace treaty, ended the war.

In anticipation of the resolution's adoption, North Korea earlier in the week threatened to cancel the 1953 cease-fire that ended the Korean War.

North Korean threats have become more common as tensions have escalated following a rocket launch by Pyongyang in December and its third nuclear test on February 12. Both acts defied three Security Council resolutions that bar North Korea from testing or using nuclear or ballistic missile technology and from importing or exporting material for these programs.

U.S. forces in South Korea conduct military training amid tensions on the peninsula after North Korea threatened the U.S. with a pre-emptive nuclear strike. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).

The United States and other nations worry that North Korea's third nuclear test pushed it closer to its goal of gaining nuclear missiles that can reach the US.

The international community has condemned the regime's nuclear and missile efforts as threats to regional security and a drain on the resources that could go to North Korea's largely destitute people.

The UN resolution identifies three individuals, one corporation and one organisation that will be added to the UN sanctions list. The targets include top officials at a company that is the country's primary arms dealer and main exporter of ballistic missile-related equipment, and a national organisation responsible for research and development of missiles and probably nuclear weapons.

The success of a new round of sanctions could depend on enforcement by China, where most of the companies and banks that North Korea is believed to work with are based.

The UN resolution condemns the latest nuclear test "in the strongest terms'' for violating and flagrantly disregarding council resolutions, bans further ballistic missile launches, nuclear tests "or any other provocation,'' and demands that North Korea return to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. It also condemns all of North Korea's ongoing nuclear activities, including its uranium enrichment.

But the resolution stresses the council's commitment "to a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution'' and urged a resumption of six-party talks.

According to the resolution, all countries would now be required to freeze financial transactions or services that could contribute to North Korea's nuclear or missile programs.

To get around financial sanctions, North Koreans have been carrying around large suitcases filled with cash to move illicit funds. The resolution expresses concern that these bulk cash transfers may be used to evade sanctions. It clarifies that the freeze on financial transactions and services that could violate sanctions applies to all cash transfers as well as the cash couriers.

The resolution also bans all countries from providing public financial support for trade deals, such as granting export credits, guarantees or insurance, if the assistance could contribute to the North's nuclear or missile programs.

It includes what a senior diplomat called unprecedented new travel sanctions that would require countries to expel agents working for sanctioned North Korean companies.

The resolution also requires states to inspect suspect cargo on their territory and prevent any vessel that refuses an inspection from entering their ports. And a new aviation measure calls on states to deny aircraft permission to take off, land or fly over their territory if illicit cargo is suspected to be aboard

View the original article here

Perth public nurses poised for mass strike

NURSES at Perth's public hospitals are poised to strike if they don't get an acceptable resolution to wage talks.

The WA Industrial Relations Commissioner has directed the health department to respond at 10am (WST) on Friday to the Australian Nurses Federation's (ANF) wage claim of at least 12.75 per cent over three years.

Union members will vote at a mass meeting scheduled for 11am.

"If I have to go to a member meeting an hour later at 11 o'clock empty handed, I know that our members at that meeting will want to walk off the job today," ANF state secretary Mark Olson told Fairfax Radio.

Commissioner Pamela Scott asked the ANF to report back with the outcome of the vote at 4pm.

In addition to higher wages, the nurses want to do fewer menial tasks they say they've had to do because there are too few orderlies and cleaners.

The commissioner this week recommended lifting work bans that have closed one in five beds in many wards.

Premier Colin Barnett says no agreement can be signed during the caretaker period before the March 9 election.

View the original article here

Curiosity and chaos of a meteor strike

Shock wave from the asteroid cases mass panic at a Russian University

• Security footage reveals reactions to meteor
• Blast equivalent to 30 Hiroshima bombs
• Black market interest in meteor fragments
• Gallery: The Russian meteor blast

FIRST came confusion as a "second sun" streaked over Russia. Then, 2 minutes 24 seconds later, a city erupted in chaos as the meteor's shockwave struck.

The meteor - which injured nearly 1500 people and caused widespread property damage in Chelyabinsk city - was the largest recorded space rock to hit Earth since the 'Tunguska event' more than a century ago. Health officials said 46 of the injured remain hospitalised.

This collection of security camera footage from in and around central Russia on Friday shows curious and awestruck spectators swarming to windows to see the cause of the strange, blinding flash. Few expected the long delay before a sonic blast-wave shattered windows, tore doors off hinges and sent people running.

The meteor has since started something of a gold-rush with fragments generating strong black market interest.

Residents of nearby towns have been rushing out into the snow in the hunt for the tell-tale small holes that mark the presence of the precious objects.

Sales offers already are filling the Internet, and police are warning all purchasers to prepare for possible fraud.

A woman leaves a shop with a broken window in Chelyabinsk, Russia. Picture: Boris Kaulin

As workers continue replacing acres of broken glass worth an estimated $33 million, NASA has revealed the 10,000 ton meteor released 500 kilotons of energy - the equivalent to more than 30 Hiroshima bombs - when it exploded over Chebarkul Lake in Russia's Ural Mountains.

It was first sighted 6500km away, over Alaska, and burnt through the atmosphere for some 32.5 seconds.

The blast showered the ground with thousands of small fragments and left a six-meter-wide hole in the ice covering the lake.

Scientists from Urals Federal University say initial results show the remains, mostly less than a centimetre in size, belong to the condrite type of meteor which contains about 10 per cent iron.

"We would expect an event of this magnitude to occur once every 100 years on average," said Paul Chodas of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office.

In this photo distributed by the Urals Federal University Press Service a researcher examines pieces of a meteorite in a laboratory in Yekaterinburg.

"When you have a fireball of this size we would expect a large number of meteorites to reach the surface and in this case there were probably some large ones."

With agencies

View the original article here