North Korea Launches Four Missiles in Two Days

North Korea ratcheted up tensions on the Korean peninsula this weekend with the launch of four (4) short-range guided missiles into the the East Sea (3) and the Sea of Japan (1).

This comes on the tail of months of inflammatory, sabre-rattling rhetoric from North Korea after recent warnings from the communist DPRK of "impending nuclear war."

While North Korea's launching of short-range, tactical missiles is not as alarming as the launching of long-range ballistic missiles, it is further evidence of North Korean leader Kim Jung-un's misunderstanding of global tensions and his backward nation's place in the world.

That these most recent provocations did not result in a shooting war between the two Koreas  is nothing short of a miracle.  

One misstep in Korea could put thousands, if not millions of lives at risk.

North Korea gives nuclear-war warning (Al Jazeera Report)

AL JAZEERA:  North Korea gives nuclear-war warning

"Moment of explosion approaching fast" after Pentagon move to deploy missile defence system to Pacific island.

First, consider the country (North Korea) and secondly, consider the source of this story, Al Jazeera.  Still, read on . . . 

The North Korean army has warned the US that its military has been cleared to wage an attack using "smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear" weapons.

"The moment of explosion is approaching fast," the military said, warning that war could break out "today or tomorrow".

The statement, carried by the Korean Central News Agency early on Thursday, said troops had been authorised to counter US aggression with "powerful practical military counteractions".

The warning, the latest in a series of escalating threats against the US and South Korea, came after the Pentagon said it would deploy a missile defence system to the US Pacific territory of Guam to strengthen the region's protections against a possible attack.

Meanwhile, a  South Korean news agency reported that the North had moved a mid-range missile to its eastern coast..

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, said that he was "deeply concerned" over rising tensions on Thursday.

'Clear danger'

In an address to the National Defence University in Washington on Wednesday, Chuck Hagel, US defence secretary, labelled North Korea's recent rhetoric as a threat to the US and its Asia-Pacific allies.

"Some of the actions they've taken over the last few weeks present a real and clear danger," he said.

Hagel added that the US was doing all it could to defuse the situation.

Deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence System is the latest step the US has taken to bolster forces in the region in a far-reaching show of force aimed at countering the North Korean threat.

The Pentagon already has sent dispatched bombers, stealth fighters and ships.

The land-based missile defence system includes a truck-mounted launcher, tracking radar, interceptor missiles and an integrated fire control system.

The Pentagon said the system would boost defences for US citizens in Guam, a US territory, and US forces stationed there.

North Korea has railed for weeks against joint US and South Korean military exercises taking place in South Korea and has expressed anger over tightened sanctions for a February nuclear test.

Following through on one threat on Wednesday, North Korean border authorities refused to allow entry to South Koreans who manage jointly run factories in the North Korean city of Kaesong.

Meanwhile, North Korea barred entry to a joint industrial complex it shares with the South for a second day, the South Korean Unification Ministry has said.

The ministry also said on Thursday that it would allow 222 South Korean workers to leave the zone through the day.

Shut down threat

North Korea also repeated its threat to shut down Kaesong industrial zone, where 123 South Korean firms operate factories, if the South's government continued to insult it and worsen the situation by mentioning a possible military action against it.

"If the South's puppet conservative group and its media continue bad-mouthing ... we will be taking the stern measure of pulling out all of our workers from the Kaesong industrial zone," KCNA news agency quoted the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland as saying.

Kaesong brings in $90m annually in wages to 53,000 North Korean workers and is one of the impoverished North's few sources of ready cash.

South Korean workers were banned from entering the site, located 10km inside the North, on Wednesday amid a tense standoff with North Korea pitted against South Korea and the US.

Al Jazeera's Harry Fawcett, reporting from the Paju border crossing, said that the longer Kaesong remains inaccessible to Seoul, "the bigger and more serious the situation becomes".

The real test will come over the weekend when the factories in the complex begin to run low on supplies, he said.

'Contingency plan'

The gates between North and South Korea will open 10 times on Thursday to allow workers to leave.

After the 222 South Korean workers leave between 10am and 5pm (01:00-08:00 GMT), another 606 workers from the South will remain in the Kaesong complex.

The operating stability of the complex is seen as a bellwether of inter-Korean relations, and its closure would mark a clear escalation of tensions beyond all the military rhetoric.

South Korea's defence ministry said it had contingency plans, including possible military action, to ensure the safety of its citizens working in the joint industrial zone. 

"We have prepared a contingency plan, including possible military action, in case of a serious situation," Defence Minister Kim Kwan-jin told ruling party MPs in a meeting on Wednesday. 

Border crossings for Kaesong had until Wednesday been functioning normally despite soaring tensions in recent weeks between the North and the South.

Pyongyang has been ramping up its threats since it was hit by international sanctions following its third nuclear test earlier this year. 

How Will the US Respond to a North Korean Attack on South Korea?

What will the United States do if there is a live-fire exchange between North and South Korea?

There has been a lot of "pooh poohing" of the rants / threats coming out of South Korea in recent days, with the White House even saying there is "no evidence that the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un was mobilizing troops or other military forces for any imminent attack.

Yet, at the same time, the US has moved a Navy destroyer off the coast of North Korea and has made mock bombing runs over South Korea with its B-2 stealth bombers, a highly unusual move for the US.

While the US has made these moves (along with its 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea), the military of North Korea says it is at its highest level of alertness, and continues to insist that a state of war exists between the two Koreas.

Equally disturbing is the fact that South Korean President Park Geun-hye has ordered her military to "deliver a strong and immediate response to any North Korean provocation."  In fact, she has said (rightly so), "If the North attempts any provocation against our people and country, you must respond strongly at the first contact with them without any political consideration."

This contrasts with the stance historically taken by South Korean.  Park is taking a much harder stance than her predecessor, Lee Myung-bak, who did not respond after a 2010 North Korean artillery attack killed four South Koreans.

So, we currently have:

• An unpredictable N. Korean making military threats against S. Korea and the US
• The US moving warships and planes into the region and conducting maneuvers there
• S. Korea pledging to respond to any attack militarily
• Reports of the Chinese military mobilizing near the border with N. Korea
• N. Korea reportedly re-starting a shuttered nuclear reactor

If the two countries trade missiles, bombs or gunfire, how will the United States respond given the currently explosive situation on the Korean peninsula?  A military exchange could take place by accident or on purpose.  No matter what the provocation, with 28,500 American troops in South Korea, would the US be forced to attack North Korea?

If US troops were targeted, or accidentally harmed, what would be the United States' response?  

Further, if the North attacks the South, it appears that military leaders in the south have been given the "green light" by their civilian leadership to respond, unilaterally.

This has all the makings of a catastrophe just waiting to happen, if one or more of the players makes a misstep.

Tensions Mount on Korean Peninsula:

US Moves Destroyer Off of North Korea,

Chinese Troops Mobilize Near Border

(Summarized from NBC News)

The U.S. Navy is shifting a guided-missile destroyer in the Pacific to waters off the Korean peninsula in the wake of ongoing rhetoric from North Korea, U.S. defense officials said.

The USS McCain is capable of intercepting and destroying a missile, should North Korea decide to fire one off, the officials said.

Still, U.S. defense officials insist that there is nothing to indicate that North Korea is on the verge of another launch. 

As North Korean state TV shows constant images of the army bombarding South Korea, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un is saying his missiles are at the ready and has cut off emergency communications.

The McCain in December 2012 was moved to be in position to defend against a impending North Korean rocket launch.

On Sunday, The United States sent F-22 stealth fighter jets to South Korea as part of military exercises in a move aimed at further deterring threats from North Korea against its neighbor.

S. Korean President Gives Military "Green Light" to Strike Back

Also Monday, South Korean President Park Geun-hye appeared to give her country's military permission to strike back at any attack from the North without further word from Seoul.

"As commander-in-chief of the armed forces, I will trust the military's judgment on abrupt and surprise provocations by North Korea," she said, according to Yonhap.

The deployments and Park's remarks came as tensions approached an all-time high between Pyongyang and Washington.  

Kim Jong Un has ratcheted up the rhetoric against both South Korea and the United States in recent months, and in February violated U.N. sanctions by ordering a nuclear weapons test.

On Saturday, North Korea said it had entered a "state of war" against South Korea, according to a statement reported by the North's official news agency, KCNA. 

The greatest danger right now appears to be the possibility of a miscalculation. 

- US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta

"The reality is we don’t have as much insight as we should," Panetta said of Kim's motives.

Kim has also recently threatened to "settle accounts" with the U.S. and posed near a chart that appeared to detail bombings of American cities.

In North Korea, meanwhile, KCNA reported on an Easter service at which it said "the participants renewed the firm resolution to put the warmongers [the US and South Korea] into the red hot iron-pot of hell as early as possible."

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