National Post

In North Korea, Pyongyang now glitters, while the rest of the country shivers in the dark
The heart of this city, once famous for its Dickensian darkness, now pulsates with neon. Glossy new construction downtown has altered the Pyongyang skyline. Inside supermarkets where shopgirls wear faux French designer labels, people with money can buy Italian wine, Swiss chocolates, kiwifruit imported from New Zealand and fresh-baked croissants. They can get facials, lie in tanning booths, play a round of mini golf or sip cappuccinos.

Nearly 2 million people are using cell phones. Computer shops can’t keep up with demand for North Korea’s locally distributed tablet computer, popularly known here as “iPads.” A shiny new cancer institute features a $900,000 X-ray machine imported from Europe.

Beyond the paved main streets of the capital, life remains grindingly tough. Food is rationed, electricity is a precious commodity and people get around by walking, cycling or hopping into the backs of trucks. Most homes lack running water or plumbing. Health care is free, but aid workers say medicine is in short supply. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

Graphic: The Military Balance on the Korean Peninsula
Tensions in the Korean Peninsula have soared with a series of provocations from North Korea as well as a revelation in a U.S. intelligence report that suggested the Hermit Kingdom now has the ability to arm a ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead — even if the weapons would lack reliability. Some analysts fear a miscalculation by Kim Jong-un, or an accident, could provoke a regional war dragging in even China and Russia.

politicalprof:

“Scary” North Korea. Or, you know, not.

So this posthas been running around the interwebs, graphically depicting the size of North Korea’s…

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Of course the graphic wasn’t created to imply North Korea is a threat to the U.S., but to suggest an answer to the question of “why no one has started bombing them yet?”

With the world staring down the barrel of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, intercontinental missiles, and biological and chemical weapons, sane people might be wondering why no one has started bombing them yet? The answer is simple.

The repercussions would be disastrous. While North Korean arms are mostly antiquated, much of it dating back half a century, what they lack in modernity they make up for in both volume and location.

ilovecharts:

The whole North Korean army in one place

Graphic: A look at literally every single conventional weapon in North Korea’s arsenal
Some people might be wondering why no one has attacked North Korea yet. It might have to do with the giant, giant pile of arms they have. 

Click the link/graphic for the full size version, of which this is but a small snippet. 

North Korea missile launch probability ‘considerably high’ as April 15 milestone nears
The prospect of a North Korean missile launch is “considerably high,” South Korea’s foreign minister told lawmakers Wednesday as Pyongyang calmly prepared to mark the April 15 birthday of its founder, historically a time when it seeks to draw the world’s attention with dramatic displays of military power.

The missile is expected to be a medium-range missile with a range of 3,500 kilometers capable of flying over Japan, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se told lawmakers in Seoul. Earlier, a Defense Ministry official said preparations appeared to be complete, and that the launch could take place at any time.

Gary Clement’s Week in Review

North Korea tells embassies in Pyongyang to plan for evacuation
North Korea has asked embassies in Pyongyang that might wish to get staff out if there is a war to submit plans to it by April 10, Britain said on Friday, as it upped the pressure as part of a war of words that has set the Korean peninsula on edge.

Initial reports by Russia’s Foreign Ministry and China’s Xinhua news agency suggested that North Korea had suggested that embassies should consider closing because of the risk of conflict.

The request came amid a military buildup by the United States in South Korea following the North’s warnings that war was inevitable due to U.N. sanctions imposed for a nuclear test and what it terms “hostile” U.S. troop drills with South Korea.

Anonymous declares war on North Korea as it breaks into the regime’s Twitter and Flickr accounts
Hackers apparently broke into at least two of North Korea’s government-run online sites Thursday, as tensions rose on the Korean Peninsula.

The North’s Uriminzokkiri Twitter and Flickr accounts stopped sending out content typical of that posted by the regime in Pyongyang, such as photos of North’s leader Kim Jong-un meeting with military officials.

Instead, a picture posted Thursday on the North’s Flickr site shows Kim’s face with a pig-like snout and a drawing of Mickey Mouse on his chest. Underneath, the text reads: “Threatening world peace with ICBMs and Nuclear weapons/Wasting money while his people starve to death.”

Graphic: What Are North Korea’s Intentions?
North Korea has a fearsome collection of biological and chemical weapons, including rockets that have the potential to strike at most of its close neighbours and the potential to reach Europe, much of the U.S. and all of Australia. (Richard Johnson/National Post)

North Korea says it has final approval to launch ‘merciless’ strike on the U.S.
The North Korean army said on Wednesday that it had final approval to launch a “merciless” strike on the United States, AFP reported.

“The merciless operation of [our] revolutionary armed forces in this regard has been finally examined and ratified,” the statement published by the official North Korean news agency said.

The statement also said that war could break out in the Korean peninsula either today or tomorrow.

In the face of escalating threats from North Korea, the Pentagon said Wednesday it will deploy a missile defense system to Guam to strengthen the Asia-Pacific region’s protections against a possible attack. (UNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images)

In show of force, U.S. nuclear-capable stealth bombers make practice run over South Korea
The U.S. announced on Thursday that two of its nuclear-capable B-2 bombers dropped munitions on a South Korean island as part of joint military drills.

The move is a show of force following weeks of provocation from North Korea, and is likely to further enrage Pyongyang. North Korea has already issued a flood of ominous statements to highlight displeasure over the drills and U.N. sanctions over its nuclear test last month. A Wednesday statement from North Korea’s state-run news agency, KCNA, said that ”the hearts of all service personnel and people of the DPRK are burning with hatred for the enemies” and spoke of “madcap nuclear war drills.” But there were signs Thursday that it is willing to go only so far. (AFP Photo / Yonhapyonhap / AFP / Getty Images)

North Korea forces at ‘highest alert’ against U.S., South Korea ‘imperialist aggressors’
North Korea’s artillery and rocket forces are at the highest combat posture, the country’s military warned on Tuesday in the latest in a line of threats aimed at South Korea and the United States.

The North Korean army’s Supreme Command said it will take “practical military action” to protect national sovereignty and its leadership in response to what it called U.S. and South Korean plots to attack.

The statement, carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency, cited the participation of nuclear-capable B-52 bombers in South Korea-U.S. drills. (AFP Photo / KCNA via KNS)

Gary Clement’s Week in Review