[North Korea] The Dear Loser comes into his own.

[Max Peck]

The fact that they are changing the story from poison needles to food poisoning is basically an admission of guilt. If they hadn't done it then why bother changing the story?

That twitter account isn't what you think it is...

[Scraper]

Should I tell him, or does someone else wanna do it?

Wait is that fake news about North Korea's fake news?
The true meaning of "Fake News".

[coopasonic]

Should I tell him, or does someone else wanna do it?

Wait is that fake news about North Korea's fake news?
The true meaning of "Fake News".

Popehat runs that account.

[Isgrimnur]

Proof

Popehat was fake news before fake news was cool.

[Isgrimnur]

If you want their real fake news, the preferred outlet is the Korean Central News Agency

Kim Jong Un Guides Test-fire of Surface-to -surface Medium Long-range Ballistic Missile
...
Kim Jong Un Guides Winter River-crossing Attack Tactical Drill
...
Kim Jong Un Provides Field Guidance to Construction Site of Ryomyong Street
...
Minju Joson Ridicules Inane Behavior of S. Korean Lackeys before New U.S. Defense Secretary

[Victoria Raverna]

The fact that they are changing the story from poison needles to food poisoning is basically an admission of guilt. If they hadn't done it then why bother changing the story?

Because poison needles story is wrong?

The updated story is more interesting, the two women that killed kim jong nam claimed that they were duped. They thought they're playing a prank on the victim for a tv prank show.

Both Siti and the other female suspect, a Vietnamese woman, claimed to police they were persuaded to attack Mr Kim as part of a "prank".

Aishah had been approached by a mysterious man at the nightclub where she worked in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, and offered $100 to help with the stunt, reported Indonesian news-site Kumpuran.

The report, which could not be independently verified, suggested that Siti went ahead with the deal because she needed the money, but had no idea who Kim Jong-nam was. It claimed she did not know the other suspects in the case, and thought they were a film crew in a comedy reality television show.

According to Kumpuran, Siti, from Serang, northern Indonesia, was an uneducated divorced mother of one son, who did not live with her. She had previously worked as a domestic helper in Jakarta, Indonesia, before moving to Malaysia in 2013 with her now ex-husband.

[Max Peck]

Because poison needles story is wrong?

He was responding to a parody Twitter account, not the evolving alt-fake news stories.

[stessier]

Here's the guardian article on it.

I'm actually impressed - if true, that's a very creative way to do it.

[Isgrimnur]

"It's just a prank, bro!"

[Jaymann]

I blame The Onion. They created the universe where this is possible.

[Max Peck]

China suspends North Korean coal imports, striking at regime’s financial lifeline

China will suspend all imports of coal from North Korea until the end of the year, the Commerce Ministry announced Saturday, in a surprise move that would cut off a major financial lifeline for Pyongyang and significantly enhance the effectiveness of U.N. sanctions.

Coal is North Korea’s largest export item, and also China’s greatest point of leverage over the regime.

The ministry said the ban would come into force Sunday and be effective until Dec. 31.

China said the move was designed to implement November’s United Nations Security Council resolution that tightened sanctions against the regime in the wake of its last nuclear test.

But experts said the move also reflected Beijing’s deep frustration with North Korea over its recent missile test and the assassination of Kim Jong Un’s half brother in Malaysia.

Kim Jong Nam had been hosted and protected by China for many years, and his murder, if proved to be conducted on Pyongyang’s orders, would be seen as a direct affront to Beijing, experts said.

[Max Peck]

Malaysia says VX nerve agent used in killing of North Korean

The banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used to kill Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean ruler's outcast half brother who was poisoned last week at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, police said Friday. The announcement raised serious questions about public safety in a building that was never decontaminated.

The substance, deadly even in minute amounts, was detected on Kim's eyes and face, Malaysia's inspector general of police said in a written statement, citing a preliminary analysis from the country's Chemistry Department.

"Our preliminary finding of the chemical that caused the death of Kim Chol was VX nerve," said Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar. Kim Chol is the name on the passport found on the victim, but a Malaysian official previously confirmed he is North Korea leader Kim Jong Un's older half brother.

Khalid said police were still investigating how the lethal agent entered Malaysia.

The death of Kim Jong Nam, whose daylight assassination in a crowded airport terminal seems straight out of a spy novel, has unleashed a diplomatic crisis that escalates by the day. With each new twist in the case, international speculation has grown that Pyongyang dispatched a hit squad to Malaysia to kill the exiled older sibling of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

North Korea has denounced Malaysia's investigation as full of "holes and contradictions" and accused the authorities here of being in cahoots with Pyongyang's enemies.

[Blackhawk]

Cahoots, I tells ya!

[Moliere]

North Korea Executes Officials as Malaysia Probe Continues


I just want to squeeze those chubby cheeks!

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un executed at least five senior officials in the country’s Ministry of State Security using antiaircraft guns, the head of South Korea’s intelligence services told lawmakers on Monday.

The execution, which was punishment for unspecified “false reports” that were made to Mr. Kim, according to the intelligence report, came amid fresh allegations from Seoul that the Pyongyang government had ordered and coordinated the killing of Mr. Kim’s half brother in Malaysia.

How has he not been overthrown? Do these people just keep going willingly to the gallows?

[Freyland]

Because it's not everyday that you get to see anti-aircraft guns fired up close?

[Kurth]

The fact that the North Koreans used VX to kill this guy in Malaysia strikes me as a very big deal. Isn't that one of the most deadly chemical weapons known to man? Did we already know they have a stockpile of the stuff? How big a leap is it from deploying it in in an assassination to weapons zing it? Do we know if they've already made that leap?

I feel like this has been somewhat under covered in the news, as is everything these days not involving our giant orange President.

[Scraper]

The fact that the North Koreans used VX to kill this guy in Malaysia strikes me as a very big deal. Isn't that one of the most deadly chemical weapons known to man? Did we already know they have a stockpile of the stuff? How big a leap is it from deploying it in in an assassination to weapons zing it? Do we know if they've already made that leap?

I feel like this has been somewhat under covered in the news, as is everything these days not involving our giant orange President.

That's really not a fair assessment. I mean I wouldn't call him giant.

[Combustible Lemur]

The fact that the North Koreans used VX to kill this guy in Malaysia strikes me as a very big deal. Isn't that one of the most deadly chemical weapons known to man? Did we already know they have a stockpile of the stuff? How big a leap is it from deploying it in in an assassination to weapons zing it? Do we know if they've already made that leap?

I feel like this has been somewhat under covered in the news, as is everything these days not involving our giant orange President.

That's really not a fair assessment. I mean I wouldn't call him giant.

His hands are so small it creates forced perspective on the rest of his body

[Isgrimnur]

Like a bad HS art project.

[Max Peck]

The fact that the North Koreans used VX to kill this guy in Malaysia strikes me as a very big deal. Isn't that one of the most deadly chemical weapons known to man? Did we already know they have a stockpile of the stuff? How big a leap is it from deploying it in in an assassination to weapons zing it? Do we know if they've already made that leap?

I feel like this has been somewhat under covered in the news, as is everything these days not involving our giant orange President.

Everything that is not-Trump is still getting coverage. Whether anyone pays attention is the real question.

AP Explains: What chemical weapons does N. Korea possess

ONE OF WORLD'S LARGEST STOCKPILES

North Korea is not a signatory to the international Chemical Weapons Convention. It has been producing chemical weapons since the 1980s and is now estimated to have as many as 5,000 tons, according to a biennial South Korean defense white paper. Its stockpile, one of the world's largest, reportedly has 25 types of agents, including sarin, mustard, tabun and hydrogen cyanide. It also is thought to have nerve agents, such as the VX allegedly used by two women - one Vietnamese and the other Indonesian - to kill the North Korean leader's half brother, Kim Jong Nam. North Korea also has 12-13 types of biological weapons, said Lee Illwoo, a Seoul-based commentator on military issues. It can likely produce anthrax, smallpox and plague, the South Korean defense paper said. If war breaks out, North Korea would likely target Seoul's defenses with chemical and biological weapons dropped from aircraft or delivered via missiles, artillery and grenades, experts say.

Using it to assassinate a single person is actually more sophisticated than using it as a WMD.

[LawBeefaroni]

The fact that the North Koreans used VX to kill this guy in Malaysia strikes me as a very big deal. Isn't that one of the most deadly chemical weapons known to man? Did we already know they have a stockpile of the stuff? How big a leap is it from deploying it in in an assassination to weapons zing it? Do we know if they've already made that leap?

I feel like this has been somewhat under covered in the news, as is everything these days not involving our giant orange President.

I mentioned it in the assassination thread but it strikes me more as a product demonstration than a precursor to military deployment. NK needs money more than they need a full scale conflict. People are probably willing to pay a lot for a scary, headline grabbing, easily deployed, and stable chemical weapon.

That they did it in an airport is basically saying, "Huh, wonder what YOU could do with such a thing..."

[Max Peck]

The fact that the North Koreans used VX to kill this guy in Malaysia strikes me as a very big deal. Isn't that one of the most deadly chemical weapons known to man? Did we already know they have a stockpile of the stuff? How big a leap is it from deploying it in in an assassination to weapons zing it? Do we know if they've already made that leap?

I feel like this has been somewhat under covered in the news, as is everything these days not involving our giant orange President.

I mentioned it in the assassination thread but it strikes me more as a product demonstration than a precursor to military deployment. NK needs money more than they need a full scale conflict. People are probably willing to pay a lot for a scary, headline grabbing, easily deployed, and stable chemical weapon.

That they did it in an airport is basically saying, "Huh, wonder what YOU could do with such a thing..."

I read it more as a message to members of the DPRK elite who might be contemplating disloyalty and defection. Not quite as flashy as polonium tea, but still more unnerving than a bullet in a back alley.

[LawBeefaroni]

The fact that the North Koreans used VX to kill this guy in Malaysia strikes me as a very big deal. Isn't that one of the most deadly chemical weapons known to man? Did we already know they have a stockpile of the stuff? How big a leap is it from deploying it in in an assassination to weapons zing it? Do we know if they've already made that leap?

I feel like this has been somewhat under covered in the news, as is everything these days not involving our giant orange President.

I mentioned it in the assassination thread but it strikes me more as a product demonstration than a precursor to military deployment. NK needs money more than they need a full scale conflict. People are probably willing to pay a lot for a scary, headline grabbing, easily deployed, and stable chemical weapon.

That they did it in an airport is basically saying, "Huh, wonder what YOU could do with such a thing..."

I read it more as a message to members of the DPRK elite who might be contemplating disloyalty and defection. Not quite as flashy as polonium tea, but still more unnerving than a bullet in a back alley.

I thought that's what the AA guns were for.

[Max Peck]

The fact that the North Koreans used VX to kill this guy in Malaysia strikes me as a very big deal. Isn't that one of the most deadly chemical weapons known to man? Did we already know they have a stockpile of the stuff? How big a leap is it from deploying it in in an assassination to weapons zing it? Do we know if they've already made that leap?

I feel like this has been somewhat under covered in the news, as is everything these days not involving our giant orange President.

I mentioned it in the assassination thread but it strikes me more as a product demonstration than a precursor to military deployment. NK needs money more than they need a full scale conflict. People are probably willing to pay a lot for a scary, headline grabbing, easily deployed, and stable chemical weapon.

That they did it in an airport is basically saying, "Huh, wonder what YOU could do with such a thing..."

I read it more as a message to members of the DPRK elite who might be contemplating disloyalty and defection. Not quite as flashy as polonium tea, but still more unnerving than a bullet in a back alley.

I thought that's what the AA guns were for.

It's surprisingly difficult to sneak those past the airport security screeners, even in Malaysia.

[Isgrimnur]

With AA guns, you can deliver a bullet in a back alley when you're a timezone away. That would be pretty unnerving.

[Blackhawk]

If I'd known this would become the official NK thread, I'd have put more effort into the title than a clumsy Born Loser/Dear Leader joke.

[Paingod]

If I'd known this would become the official NK thread, I'd have put more effort into the title than a clumsy Born Loser/Dear Leader joke.

Other people might forgive you for that, but rest assured that I won't. ... You can still edit the original post, and thus the thread title.

It's hard to talk about the Dear Leader and North Korea without intertwining them. They are one in the same almost.

[LawBeefaroni]

The fact that the North Koreans used VX to kill this guy in Malaysia strikes me as a very big deal. Isn't that one of the most deadly chemical weapons known to man? Did we already know they have a stockpile of the stuff? How big a leap is it from deploying it in in an assassination to weapons zing it? Do we know if they've already made that leap?

I feel like this has been somewhat under covered in the news, as is everything these days not involving our giant orange President.

I mentioned it in the assassination thread but it strikes me more as a product demonstration than a precursor to military deployment. NK needs money more than they need a full scale conflict. People are probably willing to pay a lot for a scary, headline grabbing, easily deployed, and stable chemical weapon.

That they did it in an airport is basically saying, "Huh, wonder what YOU could do with such a thing..."

I read it more as a message to members of the DPRK elite who might be contemplating disloyalty and defection. Not quite as flashy as polonium tea, but still more unnerving than a bullet in a back alley.

I thought that's what the AA guns were for.

It's surprisingly difficult to sneak those past the airport security screeners, even in Malaysia.

I mean you turn potential (and many non-potential) defectors into a red mist before they have a chance to leave.

[Isgrimnur]

The fact that the North Koreans used VX to kill this guy in Malaysia strikes me as a very big deal. Isn't that one of the most deadly chemical weapons known to man? Did we already know they have a stockpile of the stuff? How big a leap is it from deploying it in in an assassination to weapons zing it? Do we know if they've already made that leap?

I feel like this has been somewhat under covered in the news, as is everything these days not involving our giant orange President.

I mentioned it in the assassination thread but it strikes me more as a product demonstration than a precursor to military deployment. NK needs money more than they need a full scale conflict. People are probably willing to pay a lot for a scary, headline grabbing, easily deployed, and stable chemical weapon.

That they did it in an airport is basically saying, "Huh, wonder what YOU could do with such a thing..."

I read it more as a message to members of the DPRK elite who might be contemplating disloyalty and defection. Not quite as flashy as polonium tea, but still more unnerving than a bullet in a back alley.

I thought that's what the AA guns were for.

It's surprisingly difficult to sneak those past the airport security screeners, even in Malaysia.

I mean you turn potential (and many non-potential) defectors into a red mist before they have a chance to leave.

Turning potential defectors into kinetic disintegrators.

[Max Peck]

I mean you turn potential (and many non-potential) defectors into a red mist before they have a chance to leave.

At some point you still need to demonstrate an ability to reach out and touch someone if they do get out.

[milo]

The fact that the North Koreans used VX to kill this guy in Malaysia strikes me as a very big deal. Isn't that one of the most deadly chemical weapons known to man? Did we already know they have a stockpile of the stuff? How big a leap is it from deploying it in in an assassination to weapons zing it? Do we know if they've already made that leap?

I feel like this has been somewhat under covered in the news, as is everything these days not involving our giant orange President.

That's really not a fair assessment. I mean I wouldn't call him giant.

His hands are so small it creates forced perspective on the rest of his body

[Max Peck]

Oops, they did it again.

North Korea fired four ballistic missiles into the sea off Japan's northwest coast early on Monday, South Korean and Japanese officials said, days after the reclusive state promised retaliation over U.S.-South Korea military drills it sees as a preparation for war.

South Korea's military said the missiles were unlikely to have been intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) which could reach the United States, but flew on average 1,000 km (600 miles) and reached a height of 260 km (160 miles).

Some of the missiles landed in waters as close as 300 km (190 miles) to Japan's northwest coast, Japan's Defence Minister Tomomi Inada said in Tokyo.

"The launches are clearly in violation of (UN) Security Council resolutions. It is an extremely dangerous action," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in parliament, adding "strong protests" had been lodged with nuclear-armed North Korea.

South Korea's acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn condemned the launches as a direct challenge to the international community and said the country would swiftly deploy a U.S. anti-missile defense in the face of angry objections from China.

The missiles were launched from the Tongchang-ri region near the North's border with China, South Korean military spokesman Roh Jae-cheon told a briefing. It was too early to say what the relatively low altitude indicated about the types of missiles, he added.

"South Korea and the United States are conducting a close-up analysis, regarding further information," South Korea's Office of Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

The U.S. military said it detected and tracked what it assessed was a North Korean missile launch, but it did not pose a threat to North America.

[Max Peck]

North Korea clarifies their intentions with regard to their latest missile tests.

North Korea was practicing to strike American military bases in Japan with its latest barrage of missiles, state media in Pyongyang reported Tuesday.

Leader Kim Jong Un presided over the launches, “feasting his eyes on the trails of ballistic rockets,” the report from the Korean Central News Agency said, in language that will only heighten tensions in the region.

The four ballistic missiles fired Monday morning were launched by a military unit “tasked to strike the bases of the U.S. imperialist aggressor forces in Japan,” the KCNA report said.

The United States has numerous military bases in Japan, part of its post-war security alliance with the country.

Three of the four missiles flew about 600 miles over North Korea and landed in the sea, within Japan’s exclusive economic zone off the Oga peninsula in Akita prefecture, home to a Japanese self-defense forces base. The fourth fell just outside the EEZ.

[Holman]

Leader Kim Jong Un presided over the launches, “feasting his eyes on the trails of ballistic rockets,” the report from the Korean Central News Agency said, in language that will only heighten tensions in the region.

Beware. You've seen what he does to cheese.

[Max Peck]

North Korea's Kim Jong Un says engine test is 'new birth' of rocket industry

North Korea conducted a test of a newly developed high-thrust engine at its Tongchang-ri rocket launch station and leader Kim Jong Un said the successful test was "a new birth" of its rocket industry, the country's official media said on Sunday.

The engine will help the country achieve world-class satellite launch capability, KCNA said, indicating the test was likely of a new type of rocket engine for long-range missiles.

The United States and China have pledged to work together to get the North to take "a different course" and move away from its weapons programs after U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met his Chinese counterpart on Saturday.

North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests and a series of missile launches and is believed by experts and government officials to be working to develop nuclear-warhead missiles that can reach the United States.

Kim Jong Un has said the country is close to a test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

"He (Kim) noted that the success made in the current test marked a great event of historic significance as it declared a new birth of the Juche-based rocket industry," KCNA said. Juche refers to North Korea's homegrown ideology.

"He emphasized that the whole world will soon witness what eventful significance the great victory won today carries," KCNA said.

[Kraken]

To Donald Trump: "I'll see your invasion threat and raise you an ICBM."

The bet's back to you, Don.

[Moliere]

To Donald Trump: "I'll see your invasion threat and raise you an ICBM."

The bet's back to you, Don.

Bur Trump's a businessman. He can make a deal with anyone and make America Great Again in the process.

[Victoria Raverna]

To Donald Trump: "I'll see your invasion threat and raise you an ICBM."

The bet's back to you, Don.

What if Trump is crazy enough to launch a SLBM that strike inside North Korea?

is it going to be the start of WW3?

Or it is going to cause North Korea to back down because now Kim Jong Un faces someone crazier than him.

[Zarathud]

Kim Jong Un was raised more crazy than Trump. This game of chicken ends in disaster.

[Max Peck]

Kim Jong Un was raised more crazy than Trump.

It depends on what we mean by crazy.

Is North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un rational?

Is Kim Jong-un rational? The new US ambassador to the United Nations thinks he is not. Nikki Haley said after North Korea's simultaneous launch of four ballistic missiles: "This is not a rational person." But is she right?

Kim Jong-un may have many flaws. He is without doubt ruthless - the bereaved relatives of the victims of his regime, including within his own family, would testify to that. He may have driven through an economic policy that keeps his people living at a standard way below that in South Korea and, increasingly, China.

And he seems to have personal issues, such as eating a lot - photographs show his bulging girth - and being a fairly heavy smoker.

But whatever these failings and foibles, is he actually irrational - which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as "not logical or reasonable, not endowed with the power of reason"?

Scholars who study him think he is behaving very rationally, even with the purging and terrorising of those around him. Prof Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University in Seoul told the BBC: "He is perfectly rational. He sometimes overdoes it. He sometimes tends to apply excessive force. Why kill hundreds of generals when dozens will do?

"Most people he kills would never join a conspiracy but he feels it's better to overdo it. It's better to kill nine loyal generals and one potential conspirator than to allow a conspirator to stay alive.

"But he is rational."

A perfectly rational psychopath.