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After the S.K. gov't and media were downplaying a possible nuclear test by the DPRK for a while, like usual, at least since last week it seems that they're alarmed by some strange developments in the North.

Here just some of the latest S.K. reports about the issue, published in the last week:

Seoul alert after Pyongyang warns of 'countermeasures'

(Yonhap, 8.27)

South Korea's government and military was kept on alert Sunday following the North's warning one day earlier that it would respond to U.S.-imposed financial sanctions with "countermeasures."

North Korea said in a Foreign Ministry statement released Saturday that it would take all necessary countermeasures against what it calls intensifying U.S. financial restrictions on the communist country. The warning came amid reports of the North's alleged steps to conduct its first nuclear test.

Government and military sources said the North's spoken-of countermeasures would include nuclear tests or additional long-range missile launches, adding that Seoul is preparing itself for such "worst-case scenarios." The North test-fired the latest missiles despite international appeals not to do so in early July.

Officials were also put on alert by the report of a pro-Pyongyang newspaper published in Japan earlier on Saturday. "We are not able to conclude that North Korea will not conduct a nuclear test to bolster its deterrent effect against the U.S. if the Bush administration decides to take a tougher stance (against the North)," the Chosun Sinbo said in a commentary, which often represents the North's official position.

The sources agreed that the North, which already declared it possesses a nuclear deterrent on Feb. 10 last year, is capable of carrying out the nuclear test.

"The North might have received the know-how of how to conduct a nuclear test from Pakistan, and constructing the underground tunnel for the nuclear test is not so difficult," said Kim Tae-woo, a senior researcher of the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, a state-run research organization.

The government is closely monitoring developments around the clock to see whether the North will carry out a nuclear test. Earlier this month, it dispatched six soldiers to a local earthquake detection center to check for any signal of such a test...

http://english.yna.co.kr/Engnews/20060827/610000000020060827162202E9.html

Nuclear Test Could Backfire: Experts (K. Times, 9.01)
 
South Korea’s preparation for an action plan to cope with a possible North Korean nuclear test does not indicate any imminence of the worst-case scenario, but is rather meant to send a strong warning signal to Pyongyang, according to experts.

Should the North go ahead with the test, however, it would spoil almost everything for the already isolated country _ producing additional sanctions by the United States and Japan and soured ties with China and Russia, they added...
 
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200609/kt2006090118383711990.htm

And today's(9.03) K. Times wrote this(even German, UK, Israel.. media were reporting about the same issue):

Missile Activity Detected in North
 
An interceptor missile, launched from the Ronald W. Reagan Missile Defense Site at Vandenberg Air Force Base, moves to its target in California on Sept. 1. / AP-Yonhap 
South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities have detected suspicious movements of large trucks at a North Korean missile launch site, a sign for a possible missile test, a government source said on Sunday.

The move came after the U.S. military announced over the weekend it had successfully intercepted a dummy long-range warhead that in some respects, according to defense experts, resembled a warhead from a North Korean rocket.

``I was told that intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States have recently spotted several large vehicles moving around at the launch site located in Kitaeryong, Kangwon Province, the source was quoted as saying by the Yonhap News Agency in Seoul. ``Now, we do not exclude the possibility of the North conducting additional missile-firing.''

...

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200609/kt2006090316594310440.htm

But actually there are more important and serious issues/"problems" between S.K. and the DPRK:

North Seeks New Partner for Golf Courses ^^

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^=^

harrharr.. as you can/will(just wait a bit more..) see - today I have only nonsense in my head.. (aeh.. sorry!! but as you know... it's not the first time^^)

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9.01, WORLD PEACE DAY..

..with special greetings from the int'l jihad

by Sheikh Terra & The Soul Salah Crew

ae~ of course I know that's not funny, not really..

btw.. although this clip was recorded two years ago, till now it is a "smash hit" in the communities of young muslims(at least in u.k.).

(Kuffar, arabic = infidel, someone who is not believing in "god", a.k.a. Allah)

Actually 9.01 is marking the World Peace Day, for to remember the beginning of the WW II by Germany/the German Nazis - the most extreme/massive mass murder ever in the human history.

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"Dear Friends,

This letter is to inform you of an urgent situation of labor repression unfolding in South Korea and to ask for your support. In an act of repression against migrant workers and an affront to all workers in Korea, the Korean government is blocking the Migrants Trade Union's President Anowar from participating in the 14th ILO Asian regional meeting and threatening to arrest and deport him.

...

The 14th ILO Asian Regional Meeting is scheduled to take place in Pusan, South Korea from Sept. 1. to Sept 4. KCTU selected President Anowar as a representative to the ILO.  He is scheduled to speak during a session that will address the issue of migrant labor.

After receiving the list of KCTU representatives the  South Korean Ministry of Labor intentionally declined to report President Anowar's name to the ILO general office, saying he could not participate because of his illegal status.  Further, the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Justice are now threatening to arrest and deport President Anowar.  This is a clear act of labor repression.

This incident demonstrates clearly the extend to which the Korean government ignores the principles and purpose of the ILO and is instead operating on a principle of labor repression.  The Korean government is afraid that the world will see its repression of migrant labor and anti-labor policies and is therefore trying to stop President Anowar from participating in the ILO.

Blocking President Anowar's participation in ILO and threatening to deport him is not only a threat to MTU.  It is a threat to KCTU's right to choose is own representatives and its autonomy.  Therefore it is a threat to all workers in Korea.  

Because this matter concerns the Noh Moohyun government's image, international support is essential.  We are therefore asking your assistance in pressuring the government to stop its threats and allow President Anowar's participation.

..." 

But perhaps this text must be edited before it can be sent...(??)^^

For to read the entire appeal please check out:

"END THE REPRESSION OF MIGRANT WORKERS! STOP THREATENING.."

http://migrant.nodong.net

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URGENT CALL FROM PYEONGTAEK

Stop US Military Base Expansion in Pyeongtaek!

On May 4, 2006 South Korean military troops and riot police officers put up a barbed wire fence along parts of Daechuri and Doduri in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, and began occupying the land.  The SK government proclaimed that farming is “prohibited” in the villages of Daechuri and Doduri because they are designated as a special protection area for military facilities. 

Residents are now required to go through inspection at checkpoints to enter their village where they have lived for generations. The South Korean government also announced that all residents must move out of their homes by June 30, or face forced eviction.

The two peaceful villages Daechuri and Doduri, Pyeongtaek suddenly became a restricted zone for civilians.  Residents are required to present their resident card in order to enter the village and all others are denied access, at will, by the police.  The entry restriction is to pave the way for the upcoming construction of the US base expansion, for which the South Korean government is ruthlessly committing violence against its people and denying people’s basic right to stay in and right to enter their own neighborhood.

The US base has brought tremendous tension between the people of Korea and their government.  The South Korean military troops and police officers are committing a  serious crime against its people by using physical force and violating people’s basic human rights.  Thus, the Pyeongtaek people’s community and their peaceful way of life are gravely undermined.

In 1952, the Daechuri and Doduri residents were once more evicted out of their homes in the middle of the night by US military troops that brought bulldozers to build an air force station.  At the time, the displaced residents could not bring their belongings nor bring the burial stone of their ancestors (that Koreans consider sacred).  But people were determined to live in their hometown so they began building a community in the periphery of the new air force station.  It was the seawater that these displaced people converted into a fertile farmland by bringing soil from outside and rehabilitating it with their hand, little by little.  The land now produces Korea’s top quality rice.  It took Pyeongtaek residents more than 50 years to cultivate the land that they consider as their life.

The government falsely proclaims that the farmers will be adequately compensated if they surrender ownership of their land and move out.  What is missing in this equation is the quality of life, that cannot be compensated with money.  The farmers who are mostly in their 60s, have built a thriving community in Pyeongtaek.  Life outside of Pyeongtaek is unimaginable. In fact, the elderly farmers have nowhere else to go.   How is it possible for elderly people to suddenly make a living outside of what they are most familiar with and have so much love for?  Who dares place any monetary value on the life that these farmers have created for themselves at all odds.  In Doduri, this land grab is even more serious because the farmers here are tenant farmers who cannot even be compensated for the land that they do not own.  In fact, they are the people who have incurred high debt to become tenant farmers and have built their homes in this town.

The Korean government cannot compensate for the loss of the Pyeongtaek farmers' quality of life.

On May 4, 2006 South Korean military and riot police officers along with hired thugs destroyed a local elementary school that the residents had built with their hearts and hands more than 50 years ago. Despite poverty, people collected bags of rice to pay for construction supplies and gladly took on hard manual labor to construct the school--all for the love of their children.  People wept as they watched their beautiful school demolished into pieces.  The demolition signaled a loss of their collective memories of their lives together in a thriving community that they had created for themselves.  This was a horrific act of violence committed by the Korean government.  This states loudly that the government has every intention to carry out their plan of forced eviction of the Pyeontaek farmers.

So, what is the real reason behind the US military base expansion in Pyeongtaek?

Last January, the foreign ministers of Korea and the US have agreed to the terms of the strategic flexibility of the US Forces in Korea (USFK).  This will radically change the characteristic of USFK from defensive to offensive by realigning and transforming them into a swift mobilization force that can be “rapidly” deployed anywhere in the world to intervene in conflicts outside of Korea.  Under the Bush administration’s plan of pre-emptive strike the Second Division Infantry stationed near the DMZ border will be transferred to Pyeongtaek in order to contain North Korea and China.  By agreeing to the strategic flexibility of the USFK the Korean government is acknowledging that Korea can intervene in conflicts without the consent of the Korean people.  This places Korea under a tremendous threat of war.

Therefore, the expansion of the US military base in Pyeongtaek will force Korea to become a training ground for US military troops, thus threatening peace not only in Korea but also in all of Northeast Asia.

The new plan will not only realign USFK but cost $110 billion dollars to strengthen military capability.  Ironically, the cost of transfer, clean-up and military build-up is being placed on the Korean government.  The money will come from the tax dollars of the Korean people.  The military base expansion in Pyeongtaek is not only taking land and housing from the farmers but it is also taking money from the Korean people.

By 2008 the number of USFK will be reduced to 25,000 troops.  Primary responsibilities including defense from NK will be shifted to the Korean troops while the operational command will be transferred to the commander of the Korean military.  There is talk about eliminating Korean-US Joint Command Office and further reducing or transferring the 8th Army of USFK.  As such, the USFK will continue to reduce its size.  This would imply that there is no need to expand a US military base whatsoever when existing bases can be used.   It is evident that the primary purpose of the expansion in Pyeongtaek is to provide a military base that serves a different purpose (than as agreed to in the Korea-US Mutual Defense Treaty).  The Pyeongtaek base expansion will be served to increase US military build-up and aggression.

The two issues of strategic flexibility and additional reduction in military troops were not reflected during the review of the agreement at the Assembly.  The Assembly did not have any opportunity to review or approve(?).  The Korean government failed to present accurate facts; thus, it is necessary to hold a hearing to review the problems of the agreement and to renegotiate the details of the military expansion.

Under these circumstances, KCPT(Pan-S.Korea solution Committee against US base extension in Pyeongtaek) demands that the Korean government re-review and renegotiate the plan.  The Korean government must provide accurate facts and review the expansion plan in entirety, as well as withdraw its plans of forced eviction.  All problems of the agreement must be resolved, including immediate removal of the barbed wire fence. The government must also make a sincere public apology to the public for committing violence against its people and immediately release all prisoners.

Should the government continue with its plan without coming to a sound resolution, a fierce resistance from the people will be unavoidable.

The Korean government announced that it will begin elevating the expropriated Pyeongtaek land in October.  The land is currently not suitable for use by the military.  This elevation of soil is expected to be as high as 2 to 3 meters, which means a significant amount of soil must be brought in from nearby mountain or ocean.  This is detrimental to the environment. 

Despite the clear evidence of problems and opposition from the people, the South Korean government claims that it must proceed with the expansion plan in order to safeguard its alliance with the US.  This is a contradiction.  When the Roh Moo Hyun administration fails to serve its people and places them under a threat of war, it seeks to maintain  foreign relations with another country?

To counter this injustice, KCPT is gearing up for two major events in the near future.  On September 24, the fourth major Peace March will be held calling for support from people nationwide and from all sectors.  Following this Peace March will be a Day of International Solidarity on October 21.

In order to adequately prepare for another major crack-down from the South Korean government, we urge you to hear the urgency of this matter and to share this story of the  resistance of Pyeongtaek farmers with your communities.  We must tell the entire world of the injustices of the US government.  It is planning a massive military build-up in Korea.  Once again, the US war agenda will continue to destroy people’s lives.

In order to understand this struggle we ask that you join the people of Pyeongtaek in Pyeongtaek.  It is important that you become an eyewitness to the struggle in the place of struggle.  Hearing the stories of resistance directly from the farmers will inspire you.

We know that the military power is overwhelming, but that will not stop us.  We must all take part in this struggle to put a stop to this inhumane venture.

Our message of solidarity needs to be delivered not only to the Korean government but also to the US government.

Our message needs to reach the Congress and the mainstream media.

If needed, we will send a delegation from South Korea to the US to carry out this mission. 

We hope that all of us can work together strategically in order to place real pressure on the US government to renegotiate this agreement.

As we are fully aware, the US military is occupying communities around the world.  It is creating war and causing destruction, death, pollution, illness and grave suffering.

The US needs to stop investing its taxpayers’ hard earned money into building up its war machine.  It is about time that taxpayers’ money be spent on education and on serving the needs of the community at large.

The suffering of all people must end now!

For more informations please check out:

http://www.antigizi.or.kr

http://www.saveptfarmers.org

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"Jinro Ltd., Korea's No. 1 soju maker, said yesterday it unveiled a low-alcohol soju..
Soju is a Korean-originated liquor distilled from a number of grains, including rice and potatoes." (JoongAng Ilbo, 8.25)

What a f.. stupid idea!!! ^^

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Until now nearly all Palestinian "resistance" groups are demanding the leberation of the entire Palestine (from the Red See till the borders to Lebanon, from the Mediterranian to the Jordan River/just check out several of the pictures on www.intifada.or.kr (만화/그림), for example. Hizbullah is demanding the same(and its mentors Iran and Syria of course too..). If you don’t believe, just check out their own statements on their own web sites!

London. "Anti-war" rally (Jews = blood drinking pigs**)

(Hizbullah "fighters"..)

* The Turkish Labour Party(Emek Partisi) is the "legal arm" of the Turkish Revolutionary Communist Party(TDKP/harrharr, or enemies are calling them a "Stalinist" party).

** for muslims and jews pigs are the most dirty animals

PS.(8.30):

Last Sunday the "Holy War Brigades(HWB)" - a Palestinian "resistance" group - released the two Fox TV reporters who were kidnapped about two weeks before in Gaza. Actually HWB wanted the release of Muslim prisoners from US jails. But of course the US administration refused.. So finally HWB, just for to achieve a something, forced the reporters to convert to Islam before they would be freed.....

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Following article was published in Guardian, 8.26:

Hizbullah: the new heroes on the streets of Ramallah
 
On the back wall of Mohammad Sharak's taxi dispatch office, next to the pictures of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and below gilded Qur'anic verses, are two new posters: portraits of Hassan Nasrallah, the Hizbullah leader.

Since war erupted between Israel and the Lebanese militia, Hizbullah has emerged as a new hero on Palestinian streets. Shops and cafes in Ramallah and other towns are sporting Hizbullah posters. Stalls are selling Hizbullah's yellow flag, alongside the Lebanese flag. In the eyes of many Palestinians, Hizbullah struck a rare blow against the Israeli military, despite the huge cost in civilian casualties and damage in Lebanon.

"The beauty of this war was that a force of just 6,000 or so with light weapons superseded an organised army that all the Arab countries are scared of," said Mr Sharak, 35. "I was surprised by Hizbullah's capabilities."

"The point about Nasrallah," interrupted another employee, Saeed Nimur, 58, "is that he says something and then does it. And that is very unusual among leaders in the Arab world. Hizbullah doesn't just threaten, it achieves."

Mr Sharak, who sipped sage tea as he spoke, has little but hostility for Israel - he served eight years in an Israeli jail after being convicted of attacking West Bank settlers. But he hopes the war might increase the chance of negotiation between Israel and the Palestinians. "Now Israel has a fear of these kind of military movements and they will find another path rather than war," he said.

While most people on both sides of the Israeli conflict acknowledge Hizbullah has strengthened its position in the Arab world, they argue about its implications for the Palestinians. Many fear negotiations are at a stalemate and that Hizbullah's display of military might will only encourage more violence from Palestinian militants.

In a small upstairs office, not far from the taxi dispatch firm, is the Minbar al-Islah, or the Platform of Reform, a Hamas newspaper. Sari Orabi, 26 and just six months out of an Israeli jail, is the deputy editor. "What happened in Lebanon increased the belief of people living in the area that resistance is the only language that the occupation understands," he said.

He sought to distinguish Hizbullah from the Palestinian militant movements, saying the group was a "national Lebanese faction" that fought not for Palestinians but for "pure Lebanese goals". "Maybe they provide emotional and political support for the Palestinian people but the military action carried out by Hizbullah was for the sake of Lebanon and only Lebanon," he said.

He noted the differences between the two sides, pointing to what he said were Hizbullah's tactical advantages.

"We don't enjoy support from outside the country like Hizbullah does," he said in an apparent reference to Syrian and Iranian backing for the Lebanese militia. "In fact our neighbours are tied to the Israelis through peace treaties. Remember also we are under direct occupation by the Israelis, not like Hizbullah."

But there were lessons too. "The first lesson is that we can see the belief of the Palestinian people in resistance has been strengthened," he said.

His newspaper carries a front-page advertisement showing 31 senior Hamas political leaders detained by Israel in recent weeks, among them cabinet ministers and Aziz Dweik, speaker of the Palestinian parliament. "Release them immediately," it says. The detentions, say analysts, are likely to add further impetus to Hamas hardliners and weaken the hand of those like the Palestinian prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, who argue in favour of a more political path.

"The way the war in Lebanon ended, coupled with the Israeli arrests of relatively moderate members of the government, has played into the hands of the more radical wing of Hamas that is based either outside Palestine or functions outside the Palestinian Authority," Ghassan Khatib, a former Palestinian cabinet minister, wrote in a recent analysis in the Bitter Lemons internet journal. He said the war would "contribute further to the trend of radicalisation evident in Palestine in the last five to six years".

For its part, the Israeli government still insists in public that the war successfully proved the deterrent effect of its military and served as a warning to others that any attack would be met with a swift and severe response.

But at the same time it has been struggling with a growing domestic backlash against the handling of the conflict. Prime minister Ehud Olmert's partial withdrawal plan for the West Bank has had to be shelved. As yet there is no alternative strategy, even though a newspaper poll on Friday showed 41% of Israelis wanted a negotiated solution with the Palestinians.

At a cabinet meeting this week, Yuval Diskin, Israel's security services chief, is said to have warned that Palestinians might imitate Hizbullah's tactics. "The terror organisations are trying to draw conclusions," he was quoted as saying in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper. "They have understood the power of the anti-tank weapons and guerrilla warfare, and the advantages of barricading in underground bunkers."

On the outskirts of Ramallah, close to al-Amari refugee camp, a young fighter from al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade spoke enviously of Hizbullah's arsenal. "If the same equipment were given to us the whole image of this region would change dramatically," said the man, who gave his name only as Abu Rida, and who said he had been in and out of Israeli jails since the age of 13. He is now 37. But, he added: "Even to try and smuggle a bullet into Palestinian land is very difficult for us to do."

Although there are many posters of Hassan Nasrallah in Ramallah, there are even more of Ramzi Obaid, a West Bank commander of the al-Aqsa militants, which is allied to the Fatah organisation. He was arrested by the Israelis this month. Abu Rida said there was little inclination to seek a political solution now. "The Israelis only understand the language of force. I think we'll be fighting them from here until judgment day."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1858716,00.html

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Some pages of the 1st grade elementary school textbook for "Korean language"(^^), published in the D.P.R.K., P.Y., 2005