LLAW’s All Things Nuclear #791, Friday, (10/25/2024)
LLAW’s All Things Nuclear #791, Friday, (10/25/2024)
"End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity” ~llaw
In early- to mid-October, thousands of North Korean soldiers have been spotted traveling through Vladivostok, Russia’s largest Pacific port, and being split across several military training sites in eastern Russia. It is still not clear why they are in Russia. (Credit: Photo by Bumble-Dee / depositphotos.com)
LLAW’s NUCLEAR VIEWS, ISSUES & COMMENTS, Friday, (10/25/2024)
There seems to have recently been a warming of relations between Russia and North Korea, or more precisely, Vladimir Putin and Kim. Jong Un. Visits back and forth between the two have been frequent and now we see that North Korean soldiers are being trained in Russia to possibly be sent to Ukraine to fight alongside Russian troops.
The reasons? Like the headline to the related article by the “Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists” says, The reason(s) are “left to be seen” ~llaw
North Korea sent troops to Russia. The reason(s) are “left to be seen”
By François Diaz-Maurin | October 25, 2024
In early- to mid-October, thousands of North Korean soldiers have been spotted traveling through Vladivostok, Russia’s largest Pacific port, and being split across several military training sites in eastern Russia. It is still not clear why they are in Russia. (Credit: Photo by Bumble-Dee / depositphotos.com)
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed Wednesday that North Korean troops were in Russia conducting military exercises, following a claim last week by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that his government had received intelligence information that 10,000 North Korean soldiers were being prepared to fight alongside Russian forces in Ukraine.
Zelensky did not provide details during his visit to NATO headquarters to discuss his “victory plan” to end the war with Russia. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell would not confirm the claim either, saying only that the United States and its allies were “alarmed” by North Korea’s increasing military support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
But details soon emerged of North Korean troops being spotted in Russia.
Troop buildup with an unclear mission. On Wednesday, national security spokesperson John Kirby said that, in early- to mid-October, more than 3,000 North Korean soldiers had traveled through Vladivostok, Russia’s largest Pacific port, and were split across several military training sites in eastern Russia. The same day, South Korean intelligence services said that another contingent of 1,500 North Korean troops had entered Russia, and Ukrainian officials claimed that overall more than 12,000 North Koreans had already arrived in the far east of Russia.
Both North Korea and Russia denied the movements, even as several video footage reportedly showed North Korean military personnel arriving at a Russian military base in the village of Sergiivka in the Primorsky Krai, about 200 kilometers from the border with North Korea, and others receiving uniforms and equipment at a Russian training base in Sergeevka, near Russia’s border with China.
Austin said the United States does not know whether the North Korean troops would join the war in Ukraine alongside the Russian military. “What exactly they’re doing—left to be seen,” he told reporters on Wednesday. Kirby added that this is “certainly a highly concerning probability.” Visibly alarmed, Austin said: “It will have impacts not only in Europe—it will also impact things in the Indo-Pacific as well.”
It did not take long for South Korea to react, threatening to supply weapons to Ukraine if North Korea’s troops were sent to fight for Moscow. On Monday, South Korean and Ukrainian media reported that Seoul was considering sending intelligence officers and tactical experts to Ukraine in response to North Korea’s actions.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that if North Korean soldiers went to Ukraine, it would mark a “significant escalation” in the war there.
Ramifications in the Korean Peninsula. The revelation comes amid heightened cross-border tensions between North Korea and South Korea.
In January, two experts on North Korea, Robert Carlin and Sig Hecker, co-authored a controversial article suggesting that North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un may be preparing for war. Washington and Seoul are so blindly convinced that their “ironclad” deterrence will keep Kim in check that “Pyongyang could be planning to move in ways that completely defy our calculations,” they wrote. However, “the literature on surprise attacks should make us wary of the comfortable assumptions that resonate in Washington’s echo chamber but might not have purchase in Pyongyang.” Carlin and Hecker are not alone in suggesting that current US policy makes North Korea more likely to use nuclear weapons first.
Earlier this month, North Korea reportedly blew up parts of unused road and rail routes that once connected it with South Korea. News reports qualified it as a “symbolic display of anger” over the South Korean conservative government’s stronger stance toward the North. But analysts dismissed the possibility that this could be in preparation for an imminent preemptive, large-scale attack on South Korea, pointing to the risk of an almost certain massive retaliation by superior US and South Korean forces.
According to Carlin and Hecker, if left with no good options to keep his nuclear arsenal, Kim may find himself in a “use-it-or-lose-it” situation in which launching a surprise nuclear attack on South Korea in the hope of staving off a possible massive disarming strike could appear as worth the risk. Destroying cross-border roads and railways—even if currently unused—could delay or alter the capacity of the United States and South Korea to retaliate with conventional forces. On Thursday, South Korean sources reportedly saw North Korean forces constructing several unidentified structures on the eastern inter-Korean road they had blown up earlier, with South Korean officials saying the structures resemble concrete barriers or bunkers, and South Korea’s Unification Ministry confirmed on Friday new blockades were being built along inter-Korean railways to fortify the border areas.*
Top South Korean officials said in a statement that the presence of North Korean troops in Russia is “a grave security threat” to South Korea and pledged to take proportionate countermeasures. Officials worry that Russia may offer North Korea advanced weapons technologies to boost nuclear and missile programs that are geared toward South Korea.
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TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Fruday, (10/25/2024)
All Things Nuclear
NEWS
Big Tech Embraces Nuclear Power to Meet Growing Energy Needs - Business Insider
Business Insider
Big Tech, including Amazon and Microsoft, is pursuing nuclear power to meet soaring energy demands for generative AI and data centers.
NextEra Ponders Nuclear Plant Restart as Backlog Climbs - Yahoo Finance
Yahoo Finance
NextEra Energy's CEO is considering restarting the Duane Arnold nuclear plant as electricity needs, particularly from data centers, are growing.
South Korea warns it may send Ukraine weapons after North Korea sent troops to Russia
90.5 WESA
So far, South Korea has helped Ukraine by providing arms to the U.S. and other countries. But South Korea's government said that could change with ...
Nuclear Power
NEWS
US Power Grid Added Battery Equivalent of 20 Nuclear Reactors In Past Four Years - Slashdot
Slashdot
whitroth writes: People here and elsewhere have been yelling for more nuclear power, and that renewables can't meet demand.
The US Nuclear Energy Revival Has a Major Blind Spot
James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies
... Nuclear Power Plant in Georgia. The AP1000 technology was viable, as was demonstrated by the startup of four Chinese AP1000 reactors the following ...
The Global Race for Advanced Nuclear Is On - Clean Air Task Force
Clean Air Task Force
It is clear that the success of advanced reactor demonstration and deployment is directly linked to government funding and support. In the United ...
Nuclear Power Emergencies
NEWS
FEMA finds Northeast ready for nuclear emergencies, preliminary results show - FOX56
FOX56
This includes Luzerne County and Columbia County, who are within the jurisdiction of the Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant.
Essex handing out iodine pills in case of Fermi nuclear emergency - Windsor Star
Windsor Star
... Power Plant stacks are shown in the distance from the Amherstburg ... The pills are intended to ensure residents are prepared “in the unlikely event of ...
US Power Grid Added Battery Equivalent of 20 Nuclear Reactors In Past Four Years - Slashdot
Slashdot
whitroth writes: People here and elsewhere have been yelling for more nuclear power, and that renewables can't meet demand.
Nuclear War
NEWS
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Issues Nuclear War Warning - Newsweek
Newsweek
The former presidential candidate said that Kamala Harris is backed by a faction that "desires war" with Russia.
North Korea sent troops to Russia. The reason(s) are “left to be seen”
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Thousands of North Korean soldiers may fight alongside Russia in Ukraine. South Korean officials worry the North may get Russian advanced weapons ...
This year's Nobel Peace Prize rings the alarm about the nuclear threat - The Hill
The Hill
There are five main drivers of the alarming rise in the threat of nuclear weapons use, each of which demand global attention and American ...
Nuclear War Threats
NEWS
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Issues Nuclear War Warning - Newsweek
Newsweek
What has Vladimir Putin said on nuclear war. Russia has increasingly made threats, both subtle and explicit, about a nuclear confrontation with the ...
This year's Nobel Peace Prize rings the alarm about the nuclear threat - The Hill
The Hill
While public discussion of the dangers of nuclear weapons has declined, the threat ... nuclear war Nuclear weapons Russia Ukraine United States ...
Ukraine war: Use or threat of use of nukes 'unacceptable', says India-Germany joint statement
The Economic Times
... war and unacceptable nuclear threats. They condemned terrorism, highlighted the need for global food and energy security, and stressed the ...
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IAEA Weekly News
25 October 2024
Read the top news and updates published on IAEA.org this week.
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