The Interview: Activist' sends DVDs into North Korea by balloon (BBC)

The Interview: Activist 'sends DVDs into N Korea by balloon'

Lee Min-bok said he hadn't found The Interview particularly funny but wanted to "tell the truth" to North Koreans

A South Korean activist says he has flown thousands of copies of controversial Sony film The Interview over the North Korean border.

China's ex-security chief charged with bribery (FRANCE 24, REUTERS)

China's ex-security chief charged with bribery, abuse of power

• Tweet
• inShare

• 0
• print

Latest update : 2015-04-03

Chinese prosecutors charged former domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang with bribery, abuse of power and intentional disclosure of state secrets on Friday, paving the way for a trial that could expose the inner workings of the Communist Party.

Zhou, 72, is the most senior Chinese official to be ensnared in a graft scandal since the party swept to power in 1949. The decision to prosecute Zhou underscores President Xi Jinping’s commitment to fighting graft at the highest levels.

The indictment accused Zhou of “taking advantage of his position to seek benefits for others”, “illegally accepting other people’s huge assets”, “abuse of power” and “causing heavy losses to public property, the state and the people”, China’s top prosecutor, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, said in a statement on its website.

South Korea raises military alert level

South Korea raised its military alert level on Wednesday upon intelligence that North Korea was preparing two mid-range missiles for a possible launch. The move comes amid weeks of mounting tensions between the two countries.

South Korea raised its military watch alert to "vital threat" Wednesday ahead of an expected North Korean missile launch, as UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned the Korean peninsula may be slipping out of control.
South Korean intelligence says the North had prepared two mid-range missiles for imminent launch from its east coast, despite warnings from ally China to avoid provocative moves at a time of soaring military tensions.

No significant N. Korean troop movements, says US

There is no sign North Korea is taking steps towards military action by mobilising troops or positioning its forces, despite its increasingly aggressive rhetoric, the White House said Monday as tensions mount on the Korean Peninsula.

The White House said Monday that despite days of bellicose rhetoric, North Korea had yet to back up its threats to the United States and South Korea with mass troop mobilisations or movements.
With tensions on the Korean peninsula rising ever higher, Washington reiterated that it took Pyongyang's war talk seriously but also noted that threats and warnings were nothing new from the isolated state.
"Despite the harsh rhetoric we're hearing from Pyongyang, we are not seeing changes to the North Korean military posture, such as large-scale mobilisations and positioning of forces," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
"We haven't seen action to back up the rhetoric," Carney said, adding, "what that disconnect between the rhetoric and actions means, I'll leave to the analysts to judge."
Washington has warned North Korea that it will take robust efforts to defend its allies in Asia and repeatedly tells Pyongyang to stand down its nuclear program and that its "unproductive" rhetoric is self-defeating.

US Navy deploys missile destroyer to Korean coast

A US Navy missile destroyer has been deployed off the Korean peninsula as a countermeasure against a possible missile strike by North Korea, a defence official told AFP Monday. The move follows weeks of increasingly bellicose rhetoric from Pyongyang.

The United States has placed a destroyer off the South Korean coast to defend against a possible missile strike, the latest in a series of publicised US deployments to counter North Korean threats.
The USS Fitzgerald was moved to the southwestern coast after taking part in annual military exercises, instead of returning to its home port in Japan, a US defence official told AFP Monday on condition of anonymity.

US sends missile defence to Guam on N. Korea threat

The Pentagon on Wednesday announced plans to install an advanced missile defence system in the US-administered Pacific island of Guam. The US defence secretary spoke of a "real and clear" danger of a North Korean missile attack.

The Pentagon said on Wednesday it was sending an advanced ballistic missile defense system to Guam in the coming weeks, as U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel cited a “real and clear” danger from North Korea.

North Korea warns US of 'diversified' nuclear strike

North Korea issued another stern warning to Washington Thursday, saying it was ready to respond with a "smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear strike" as the US military deployed a missile defence system to Guam to guard against a possible attack.

North Korea on Thursday issued another stern warning to Washington, saying it was ready to respond with a "smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear strike" as the US military sent a missile defence system to Guam to guard against a possible attack.