SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea is highly likely to attack South Korea again, the South’s spy chief said on Wednesday, as a flotilla of American warships led by an aircraft carrier left South Korean waters after a deadly attack.
“There is a high possibility that the North will make an additional attack,” Won Sei-hoon, director of the National Intelligence Service, told a parliamentary committee meeting.
The South’s Defense Minister, Kim Tae-young, has also warned there was an “ample possibility” the North might stage another provocation once a U.S.-South Korea exercise ended on Wednesday.
Won said wire-taps in August indicated Pyongyang was preparing for an attack off the west coast designed to smooth the way for Kim Jong-il’s son to take over as leader, Yonhap news agency reported.
“In August this year, we confirmed North Korea’s plan to attack five islands in the West Sea through wiretapping,” he said. “We didn’t expect the (North’s) shelling on civilians, as North Korea has often made threatening remarks.
Last week, North Korea fired a barrage of artillery rounds at Yeonpyeong island in the first such attack on civilians on South Korean soil since the end of the 1950-53 Korean war. Two civilians were among the four killed.
Analysts say the attack was an attempt to force the resumption of international negotiations that could bring it aid, or could be seen as an attempt to boost the militaristic credentials of the country’s leader-in-waiting, Kim Jong-un.
Won said the attack on Yeonpyeong island came as “internal complaints are growing about the North’s succession for a third generation (of Kim family rule), and its economic situation is worsening.”
Kim Jong-un is the youngest son of ailing leader Kim Jong-il.
CHINA STANDS BY NORTH
China steadfastly stood by its ally, North Korea, on Wednesday, refusing to bow to international pressure and condemn its actions at the United Nations.
Beijing said it would not favor any side but wanted to help resolve the dispute as a “responsible great power.”
China, North Korea’s only powerful ally, protected Pyongyang from censure by the U.N. Security Council for last week’s deadly bombardment of Yeonpyeong, an attack many analysts believe was an attempt to force the resumption of international negotiations that could bring it aid.
“Our general goal is for all sides to exercise calm and restraint and to make every effort to avoid such incidents recurring,” Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said as South Korea planned further military drills for next week after U.S. warships leave Wednesday.
“Since the exchange of fire between North and South Korea, China has made a series of efforts to prevent the situation from escalating and deteriorating. China decides its position based on the merits of each case and does not seek to protect any side,” Yang said.
Yang spoke as Chen Zhili, vice-chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, met a delegation from North Korea. China wants to hold an emergency meeting of the six regional powers, but the proposal has met with a lukewarm response.
An attempt by France and Britain to push the U.N. Security Council to condemn North Korea’s nuclear program and the attack on Yeonpyeong was on the verge of collapse because of China’s unwillingness to apportion blame, envoys said.
The reason for the virtual breakdown of talks on two Security Council statements to rebuke Pyongyang was China’s demand for removal of words such as “condemn” and “violation.”
The United States and South Korea are pressing China, which has not blamed North Korea for the island attack or for the sinking of a South Korean naval vessel in March, to do more to rein in its ally.
Meanwhile, a four-day show-of-force military exercise with the United States, which included the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, concluded and the vessels headed to another joint maneuver with Japan.
There were no further attacks and markets were assuaged.
Wednesday, stocks ended up 1 percent and the won currency was up 0.7 percent, but credit default swaps rose to a three-month high Wednesday, Reuters data showed, indicating continued risk concerns.
“People know that it’s not the end and North Korea can come out again any time after the exercise ends with a sort of violations,” said a foreign exchange trader at a Singaporean bank in Seoul.
South Korea is planning further artillery drills, “including waters close to the Yellow Sea border (with the North)” starting Monday, Yonhap said.
Oil traders, meanwhile, said the U.S. Navy was seeking a medium-range oil tanker to move at least 30,000 tons of jet fuel from Japan to South Korea, suggesting it was stockpiling.[nL3E6N108J]
The route is unusual for jet fuel, but the U.S. military said such shipments were standard for operational use.
Nearly 30,000 U.S. troops are based in South Korea, which is still technically at war with the North, having only signed a truce to end fighting in the 1950-53 war.
(Additional reporting by Yoo Choonsik and Yeonhee Kim in Seoul; and Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations; Writing by Nick Macfie; Editing by Ron Popeski)
The private press in this country has always been criticised for a number of perceived misdemeanours.
Prominent critics of the local media, a majority of whom are in the current government usually claim the private press is hell-bent on portraying the country in a bad light. Our critics say we are not patriotic because we tend to concentrate on ‘negative’ news. We are said to be paranoid and spreading that paranoia to the rest of the nation.
However, we have not been apologetic about our specific role, as a watchdog in this country. Since the advent of the Khama presidency, media reports have shown a worrying pattern of a public under siege. Citizens of this country have complained of an intrusive security apparatus that seeks to clandestinely monitor them. We have carried these stories. We have championed the cause of civil liberties in this country. Everyone from individuals to politicians across the political divide have expressed this concern.
We know that there are legal avenues that have to be taken by security institutions in case they need to place a suspect under surveillance. It is a well-laid out procedure. Officers have to go to court to apply for permission.
They have to explain to a judge why they have to be given permission to violate the rights of a targeted individual. Members of Parliament, following rising public outrage at the increasing illegal tapping of phones, sought to get answers from Ramadeluka Seretse when he was minister in charge of security. Both Seretse and even President Ian Khama always argue that Batswana, who think they are under surveillance by intelligence operatives are paranoid.
As far as Khama and Seretse are concerned, there is no illegal tapping of phones by law enforcement officers. We in the media, with a much more accurate check on the pulse of public concerns, knew better. Early this week, a court heard testimony about government’s attempts to buy phone-tapping equipment. It has been alleged the police sought to clandestinely eavesdrop on peoples’ communication through mobile phones using the equipment. So Batswana were right all along? We want to urge those in leadership positions to attempt as much as they can to be as honest to the public as possible. After all they are nothing but servants of the public who put them in those positions in the first place.
December 1, 2010: Israel has decided to encrypt the video data coming from its UAVs, to prevent Hezbollah and Hamas from looking in on the currently unencrypted video transmission. The U.S. decided to do this last year, after they found Islamic terrorists in Iraq using freely available hardware and software to eavesdrop. This capability was apparently supplied by Iran, which also provides help for Hezbollah and Hamas.
The Iranians had discovered that a $26 bit of software (SkyGrabber) enabled someone with a satellite dish and a laptop to intercept and capture video being sent to the ground. Normally, this is used by people to hijack Internet data being sent down via a satellite link. The idea for adapting this to grabbing Predator video transmissions did not require a lot of technical knowledge. In Iran, where satellite dishes are illegal, many people have responded by hiding small dishes, and doing whatever they can (often illegally) to obtain satellite based broadcasts. The electronic media in Iran is state controlled and censored by a bunch of Islamic conservative clerics. The Iranian secret police have thus come to learn all about stuff like SkyGrabber, and tipped off their brethren in the Quds organization (which takes care of support for foreign terrorists). U.S. troops discovered the terrorist use of SkyGrabber two years ago.
As for why the Predator video was liable to this kind of capture. Well, sometimes, you take a chance. And then you get caught. For years, the video from UAV was unencrypted. This was to save communications capacity (“bandwidth”), which was always in short supply. To encrypt the video would require more bandwidth, and specialized equipment on the UAVs and ground receivers. There would also be a slight delay for the guys on the ground using the video. For all these reasons, the video remained unencrypted. This was not a secret, it was known to people in the business. Now everyone knows, and encryption, and all its costs, will be added to UAV video broadcasts in more and more countries.
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Sitting on a train headed back to central London after a day of exploring the sprawling city, I stared out the window as the landscape flew by. Travelling on public transportation had become my favorite time to sit, think, and, admittedly, eavesdrop.
As I nonchalantly flipped the pages of “The Guardian” and skimmed the headlines, I tuned in to the conversation going on in the seats across the aisle.
An Englishman sporting a dapper suit and tie was engaged in an intense conversation with a man who, I later found out, had just moved to London from Africa.
From the way the man carefully chose his words, it was obvious that he was still learning English.
“When you speak, focus on what your face reflects to the person you are conversing with.
Right now your face looks strained because you are focusing on speaking English,” the Londoner said. “Use your hands to speak. Practice in the mirror every day and soon it will become more natural.”
What is he talking about, I wondered. But as the conversation progressed, I began to catch on.
The Englishman was explaining to this man the subtleties of Western communication – the things that we don’t even think about but that play a huge role in our social interactions: our facial expressions, gesticulations, sarcasm, irony and humor.
Sarcasm was a difficult notion to explain. “You say something that you don’t mean in a tone that insinuates the opposite of what you said.” The man pondered this for a moment before saying in a strange tone, “Ah, I don’t see what you are saying” and hopefully smiling at his instructor. “Well, technically I guess that is sarcasm,” the Brit replied.
The conversation got me thinking about how we communicate with other people.
Though the African man could be talking about his love of kittens, flowers and rainbows, his furrowed brows and mouth turned down in concentration would affect how someone might perceive what he is saying.
The old saying “actions speak louder than words” takes on a new meaning when you apply it to this scenario.
According to Bloomberg BusinessWeek, only seven percent of communication involves actual words, while 55 percent is visual (body language, eye contact) and 38 percent is vocal (tone, speed, volume, etc.).
An episode of the sitcom “30 Rock,” starring Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin, humorously pointed out how body language and tone overshadow the content of communication.
In it, guest star Queen Latifah played a grandstanding congresswoman with an affinity for impromptu speeches.
As she began to rant with the bravado of an impassioned preacher about the inequalities at NBC, she continued with the same gusto, “Now I may have lost my train of thought several minutes ago, but if I continue to talk like this no one will notice and when I stop, you will applaud my energy. Thank you!”
She received a standing ovation.
Often, our actions relay a message that we may not have intended. Or conversely, someone might deliberately deceive through the manner in which he communicates.
More than ever, I have become aware of how I communicate and the behaviors that accompany my words.
Whether meeting a new person, talking to a friend or interviewing for a job, visual and vocal communication are paramount to success.
Claire Cudahy is a junior English major.
The Indian government says it’s reached an agreement that will allow government agencies in that Asian nation to eavesdrop on traffic emanating from the BlackBerry Messenger Service. It’s a temporary solution, but India’s government says a permanent deal should be in place by Jan. 31, 2011.
India first threatened to shutter the service a few months ago. So BlackBerry’s parent company, Research In Motion, found itself in quite a pickle – either risk losing access to a market of more than 1 billion people, or agree to subvert its own customers’ privacy. Obviously, the threat of taking a big financial hit won out.
India and several other nations in Asia and the Middle East have expressed concern that terrorists can use texting services like BBM to carry out their activities, and without government monitoring, they might be able to do so unchecked. The United Arab Emirates came to a similar agreement with RIM a couple of weeks ago, although BBM wasn’t specifically mentioned.
