War warning? DPRK advises countries to consider evacuating Pyongyang embassies.

NYTIMES: MOSCOW — The North Korean government on Friday advised Russia and other countries to consider evacuating their embassies in Pyongyang amid rising tension there, Russia’s foreign minister said.
British officials said that they had received a similar communication, but that there were no immediate plans to evacuate the British Embassy.

Analysts in Russia and South Korea suggested that the North’s advisory was not an indication that Pyongyang was considering military action but was instead part of an unrelenting drumbeat of threats calculated to frighten the United States and its Asian allies, possibly to force concessions including much-needed aid.

“I don’t think they are doing this because they think there is going to be a war,” said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean studies in Dongguk University in Seoul, South Korea. “Rather, this is part of a calculated, psychological campaign to increase a sense of crisis and get international attention.”

Aleksandr Zhebin, a leading Korean expert at the Russian Academy of Sciences, also played down the significance in a statement to the Interfax news agency: “If Pyongyang were getting ready for an armed conflict in earnest, it would hardly have asked the foreign missions to leave the country,” because the presence of diplomats, especially from Russia and China, could help shield the city in case of military conflict.

He also said North Korea’s advisory was not accompanied by any moves indicating that the North was preparing for large-scale hostilities, like mobilizing reservists, and suggested that Friday’s warning might be aimed at enlisting help from Moscow and Beijing, both potential advocates, as the United States strengthens its military presence in the region.

In any case, the advisory appeared to cause confusion among the countries that were notified, a relatively small group, since few nations maintain embassies in the isolated and often belligerent North.

Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said Russia was pushing for clarification.

“We are very concerned about the increase in tension, so far verbal,” he told reporters traveling with him in Uzbekistan, according to an official transcript. “We want to understand the reasons for this proposal to evacuate embassies.” He said it also remained unclear if the North Koreans were actually ordering diplomats to leave despite their indication that it was a proposal meant to guarantee diplomats’ safety in the event of a conflict.

Mr. Lavrov said Russia was consulting with officials from the United States, China, South Korea and Japan on the matter.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry released a statement condemning the rising tensions.

“Prevention of military operations on the Korean Peninsula is imperative,” the statement said. “We consider the policy of stirring up military tension as absolutely unacceptable, and we hope for the parties’ maximum restraint.”

The British Foreign Office also expressed confusion, first issuing a statement suggesting that the North had said it would be unable to guarantee the safety of embassies “in the event of conflict from April 10,” raising the possibility that it was planning some action. But the foreign office later said that was a misinterpretation and that the North had asked diplomats to let Pyongyang know by that date if they needed help moving from the embassies.

In a statement, the foreign office also condemned North Korea for ratcheting up tensions “through a series of public statements and other provocations.”


Julia Werdigier contributed reporting from London.

B-1Bs practicing to pound North Korea - and on their way to Guam.

I intercepted an interesting communication off a military satellite (most likely UFO) yesterday.

 A B-1B (SLAM ONE) was training to hit a "missile facility"possibly a practice run for a mission in the DPRK - but with a school bus depot in Snyder, Texas standing in for the real thing.

Here's the recorded audio snippet: http://www.webbfeatproductions.com/satcom.mp3

You can ascertain the coordinates for Snyder, Texas from the audio.

Here's a link to those coordinates on Google Maps: http://goo.gl/maps/Ss4UP

The B-1 was  from Ellsworth AFB  and practice-bombed (no real ordinance was expended) a school bus depot (yard) in Snyder, Texas.

Now using a little educated guesstimation based on the look of the yard on Google Maps - the school buses could have been a decent stand-in for mobile missile launchers and the building next to it the "missile maintenance" center.

You'll also notice they mention SA-6 and SA-8 - these are mobile ground-to-air missile launchers similar to this Russian example:

 

SLAM ONE was cleared to use 2000 lb GBU 3 JDAMS to take out the hypothetical target.

All communications were made in the clear. 

Also:

Late last night I monitored "DARK" flight of seven on PRIME (311.000 MHZ STRATCOM PRIMARY) asking for current weather for UAM. 

On the frequency of 251.100 Mhz DARK flight also was calling for "GASSR 11 and GASSR 12" (KC-135s)  for "Tanker drag to BAB." BAB is Beal AFB in California.

PS:  A source in Oklahoma says Tinker AFB just sent 2 E-6 Mercury aircraft up. The controller remarked on their departure:  "Be safe and see you back in a few weeks. Come back in one piece!"

-Steve Douglass

UPDATE" "USPAF: US Not sending B-1s to Guam."

PPS: You can listen in to the heavy iron flying westward on the live radio feed at the top of this page.

Please note: There are two receivers on the feed - civil and military ATC communications. Sometimes you'll hear an overlap. 

My monitoring post 

My DIY UHF SATCOM antenna

Anonymous hacks DPRK's Twitter Account

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- 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."

Another posting says "We are Anonymous" in white letters against a black background. Anonymous is a name of a hacker activist group. A statement purporting to come from the attackers and widely circulated online said that they had compromised 15,000 user records hosted on Uriminzokkiri.com and other websites. The authenticity of the statement couldn't be confirmed, but the North's official website did not open Thursday.

Tweets on the North's Twitter account said "Hacked" followed by a link to North Korea-related websites. One tweet said "Tango Down" followed by a link to the North's Flickr page.

North Korea opened its Twitter account in 2010. It has more than 13,000 followers. The North uses the social media to praise its system and leaders and also to repeat commentaries sent out by North's official Korean Central News Agency.

Tensions have been high in recent days between North and South Korea, and the North's military warned Thursday that it had been authorized to attack the U.S. North Korea is angry about sanctions against its nuclear program and joint military drills between the U.S. and South Korea.

Breaking: North Korea moving medium range missile to the coast

CNN: South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin told a parliamentary committee in Seoul that the North has moved a medium-range missile to its east coast for an imminent test firing or military drill. The missile doesn't appear to be aimed at the U.S. mainland, Kim said, according to the semi-official South Korean news agency Yonhap.

The movement of the missile is "of concern, certainly to the U.S. military and to Japan," said Mark Fitzpatrick, director of the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Program at the International Institute for Strategic Studiesin London.

He said he believed the missile in question was a Musudan, a weapon the North hasn't tested before that is based on a Soviet system with a range of about 2,400 kilometers (1,500 miles), far enough to reach Japan but not Guam.

The U.S. military, which has a string of bases and thousands of troops in Japan, has already moved two warships and a sea-based radar platform closer to the Korean Peninsula to monitor possible missile activity, U.S. defense officials said earlier this week.

"The concerning development is if they test a Musudan and it works, then they have a new proven system that could reach anywhere in Japan," Fitzpatrick said.

Another worry is that the missile's test flight could pass over Japan, straining nerves in an already jittery region.

North Korea isn't believed to have an operational missile that can reach the U.S. mainland at the moment.

The medium-range missile will probably take about two weeks to prepare, Fitzpatrick said, which means a potential launch could coincide with the April 15 anniversary of the the birth of Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea and grandfather of its current leader, Kim Jong Un.

Known as "the Day of the Sun," Kim Il Sung's birthday is a major public holiday in North Korea that is usually accompanied by large-scale parades.

KCNA: North Korea says it has approval to nuke US/South Korea

The North Korean army said Thursday it had final approval to 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 (KPA) said it was formally informing Washington that reckless 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 statement said.

“The US had better ponder over the prevailing grave situation,” it added.
North Korea had threatened a “pre-emptive” nuclear strike against the United States a month ago, and last week the supreme army command ordered its strategic rocket units to combat status for strikes on the US mainland and US bases in Guam and Hawaii.

“The moment of explosion is approaching fast,” Thursday’s statement said, adding that a war could break out on the Korean peninsula “today or tomorrow”.

“In view of this situation, the KPA General Staff in charge of all operations will take powerful practical military counteractions in succession,” it said.

Despite a successful long-range rocket launch in December, most experts believe North Korea is years from developing a genuine inter-continental ballistic missile that could strike the mainland United States.

Hawaii and Guam would also be outside the range of its medium-range missiles, which would be capable, however, of striking US bases in South Korea and Japan.

The army statement said responsibility for the current crisis “entirely rests” with the United States, citing the participation of nuclear-capable US B-52s and B-2 stealth bombers in ongoing joint military drills with South Korea.

“Never has the whole Korean peninsula been exposed to such danger of a nuclear war as today,” it added.

AFP