North Korea’s Kim orders more rocket launches

Citing the North’s nuclear test last month and long-range rocket launch on February 7, which was widely viewed as a ballistic missile test, Park said it was clear Pyongyang had no intention of discussing denuclearisation.

The impoverished North could potentially deploy a nuclear missile if left alone, Park told the South Korean parliament. The request is based on a 2014 United Nations report that appeared to confirm the presence of concentration camps in North Korea where prisoners were starved, tortured and murdered.

In a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council, Darusman recommended that the Council arrange an official communication, sent directly to Kim and signed by Darusman or U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein. For in parallel to such military responses, the US and South Korea should also contemplate launching more direct discussions with Beijing about the scenarios which will follow North Korea’s collapse.

Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo had said on Sunday the North was taking 70% of wages from the jointly run park and spending it on weapons and luxuries.

He used the claim to justify Seoul’s decision last Wednesday to abruptly withdraw from the Kaesong industrial complex – where South Korean firms operated factories that employed North Korean workers – to punish Pyongyang for its latest nuclear and missile tests staged in violation of United Nations resolutions. Over 750 email accounts have been hit since last June, and most of the account holders have been found to have occupations related to North Korean issues.

Seoul officials said North Korea was able to divert the Kaesong payments because the workers there were not paid directly.

Park’s comments are certain to anger North Korea as they were made as the country marks the birthday of late dictator Kim Jong Il, the father of current leader Kim Jong Un.

A formal truce between the United States and North Korea to end 76 years of hostility is necessary if the West wants Kim Jong-un to stop developing nuclear weapons.

Kim allegedly explained the reasoning behind launching the satellite as a reaction to “the hostile forces… getting evermore frantic to suffocate” North Korea, possibly referring to the extensive criticism following a nuclear test that Kim’s regime has insisted was the detonation of a hydrogen bomb.

Washington and Seoul are seeking support from Beijing, Pyongyang’s main ally, for tougher sanctions against North Korea for the rocket launch and January’s nuclear test.

North Korea has set up a new unit equipped with mobile launchers created to fire long-range ballistic missiles.

The North on Thursday called the action “a declaration of war” and expelled the South’s workers.

Seoul admitted Monday it was not clear how much of the wages paid to North Korean workers at a joint industrial zone were used to fund Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile development.