North Korea to Test Launch Missile Tomorrow; Warns Foreigners to Evacuate South Korea

North Korea Missile testArticle authored by Charlotte Meredith and appeared on The Express.  Articles is courtesy of express.co.uk

North Korea has completed preparations for a mid-range missile launch tomorrow from its east coast, officials in Seoul have revealed – just hours after foreigners living in South Korea were warned to quit the country.

The worrying warning came as speculation heightened that North Korea is planning to pull its ambassador out of the UK after a shipping container was pictured outside the London embassy. [Read more...]

China Warns Escalating Tensions Must be ‘Defused’ in Deepening Korea Crisis

North Korea tensionsArticle authored by Malcolm Moore and appeared in The Telegraph.  Article is courtesy of telegraph.co.uk

The abrupt set of exchanges came after Pyongyang shut down the last shared link with the South by refusing entry to almost 500 South Korean workers who work in a cross-border industrial park.

Zhang Yesui, the deputy foreign minister, outlined Beijing’s “serious concern about the present situation”, and added that it expects the escalation of tension to cease. [Read more...]

China’s Anger at North Korea Overcomes Worry over U.S. Stealth Bomber Flights

B-2 FlightsArticle authored by Ben Blanchard and appeared on Yahoo News.  Article is courtesy of Yahoo News.

BEIJING (Reuters) – A show of force by U.S. stealth jets over the Korean Peninsula after talk of war by Pyongyang has caused only minor concern in China, a measure of Beijing’s belief that the North is to blame for the tensions and that hostilities are not imminent.

The presence of U.S. forces in places like South Korea and Japan has long worried Beijing, feeding its fears that it is being surrounded and “contained” by Washington and its allies, especially following the U.S. strategic pivot to Asia. [Read more...]

China Mobilizing Troops, Jets near Korea – Washington Free Beacon

Chinese troopsArticle authored by Bill Gertz and appeared on The Washington Free Beacon.  Article is courtesy of freebeacon.com

China has placed military forces on heightened alert in the northeastern part of the country as tensions mount on the Korean peninsula following recent threats by Pyongyang to attack, U.S. officials said.

Reports from the region reveal the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) recently increased its military posture in response to the heightened tensions, specifically North Korea’s declaration of a “state of war” and threats to conduct missile attacks against the United States and South Korea. [Read more...]

North Korea Threatens South with Final Destruction – Reuters

Kim Jong Un-9Article authored by Tom Miles and appeared on Reuters.  Article is courtesy of reuters.com    [learn more about Thomson Reuters]

(Reuters) – North Korea threatened South Korea with “final destruction” during a debate at the United Nations Conference on Disarmament on Tuesday, saying it could take further steps after a nuclear test last week.

“As the saying goes, a new-born puppy knows no fear of a tiger. South Korea’s erratic behavior would only herald its final destruction,” North Korean diplomat Jon Yong Ryong told the meeting. [Read more...]

The End of the Asian Miracle – Foreign Policy

Foreign Policy introduces “Trip Report,” a new feature that takes readers behind closed doors with some of the world’s sharpest minds for an intimate, unfiltered look at subjects ranging from the European economic crisis to the course of the war in Afghanistan. Think of it as a new kind of intelligence — a backstage pass to rooms you haven’t been cleared into before.

Where I went: I recently returned from a two-week trip to Asia, visiting India, Thailand, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, and South Korea. I’ve been to these countries many times over the past 25 years in my capacity as chief investment officer and later chairman of Emerging Markets Management and AshmoreEMM. During my trip I met with a number of high-level policymakers, bankers, company executives, investors, think tanks, and scholars. But where there was once almost universal optimism, this time I came away with a very different sense. A few years ago there was a widespread feeling that the developed world had fallen off its pedestal — that Asia had not only escaped the global financial crisis but that its system was somehow superior. That overconfidence seems gone now. Instead, there is a sense of vulnerability. There is more awareness of the political Achilles’ heel of their own path of development and even new economic concerns about challenges to their newly acquired competitive edge [continue reading in new window...]

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