South Korea

North Korea Says It Has Entered State Of ‘War’ Against South Korea, Will Deal With Every Inter-Korean Issue In Wartime Manner

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I guess there are many who are monitoring this situation very closely now, because of Major Ed Dames’ predictions:


YouTube Added: 24.01.2013

Description:

Former military Major in charge of remote viewing, Ed Dames, discusses predictions of coming events.

– North Korea Says It Enters “War” Against South Korea, And North Korea Kaption Kontest (ZeroHedge, March 29, 2013):

Ordinarily this would be Good Friday humor (unless we are very wrong, and it turns out to be Good Friday Global Thermonuclear War) because when one cries wolf a few too many times, this is what happens (from Yonhap):

North Korea announced Saturday that it has entered a state of war against South Korea.

In a special statement, the North said it will deal with every inter-Korean issue in a wartime manner.

Read moreNorth Korea Says It Has Entered State Of ‘War’ Against South Korea, Will Deal With Every Inter-Korean Issue In Wartime Manner

North Korea Warns South Korean Border Residents To Flee Ahead Of ‘Thunderous Attacks’

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FYI.

– S.Korea border island calm despite N.Korea threat (AFP, March 17, 2013):

SEOUL — Residents of a South Korean island closest to the tense sea border with North Korea have shrugged off a warning from Pyongyang urging them to flee ahead of “thunderous attacks”, an official said on Sunday.

The North’s official website, Uriminzokkiri, told residents of five islands south of the border to leave, warning of “devastating consequences” if recent cross-border tension escalates into a full-scale conflict.

“The wisest choice when the fire of thunder rains down on you is running afar,” it said in an editorial published late Friday.

Read moreNorth Korea Warns South Korean Border Residents To Flee Ahead Of ‘Thunderous Attacks’

North Korea Demands Apology From South Korea For ‘Open Declaration Of War’

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– North Korea demands apology from South Korea for ‘open declaration of war’ (RT, March 10, 2013):

Recent statements by Seoul have angered Pyongyang to the extent that the latter considers them a cry for war. This follows North Korea’s nullifying all non-aggression pacts and cutting the hotline with its southern neighbor.

According to North Korea’s official news agency KCNA, Pyongyang’s senior official with the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea demanded an apology on Saturday, reacting to the South Korean Defense Ministry’s threat that North Korea “will vanish from earth”, should it choose to strike first. Pyongyang has said that it views the statement as “an open declaration of war.”

Read moreNorth Korea Demands Apology From South Korea For ‘Open Declaration Of War’

North Korea Forces Await ‘Final Strike Order’ From Leader Kim Jong-un

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– North Korea Forces Await ‘Final Strike Order’ from Kim Jong-un (IBTimes, March 10, 2013):

South Korea vows strong response if provoked

North Korea’s armed forces are reported to be awaiting a “final order” from the country’s supreme leader Kim Jong-un before launching a campaign against South Korea.

Ahead of a ten-day joint computer-simulated drill to be conducted by the US and South Korea on 11 March, the North’s most widely circulated mouthpiece Rodong Sinmun said: “Our front-line military groups, the army, the navy and the air force, the anti-aircraft units and the strategic rocket units, who have entered the final all-out war stage, are awaiting the final order to strike.”

The mouthpiece said the North’s nuclear weapons are also in full readiness.

“Puppet regimes in the US and South Korea will be turned into a sea of fire in the blink of an eye,” said the daily, raising tensions further in the Korean peninsula.

Read moreNorth Korea Forces Await ‘Final Strike Order’ From Leader Kim Jong-un

North Korea Scraps Armistice, Cuts Hotline With South Korea

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– North Korea scraps armistice, cuts hotline with South following threats (RT, March 11, 2013):

Pyongyang has nullified the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War, also cutting a communication hotline with the South on Monday. US-South Korean military drills and fresh UN sanctions against North Korea were cited as reasons for the move.

The Korean armistice agreement has been “scrapped completely,” North Korea’s ruling party official newspaper said on Monday, citing a senior military spokesman.

There was no formal announcement confirming the report, nor has the North Korean government openly declared its hotline with the South cut.

But according to Seoul’s Unification Ministry, attempts to contact the North by telephone at 9am failed. The hotline is used to communicate between Seoul and Pyongyang, which do not have diplomatic relations.

The news comes after the communist state said last week it was ending all non-aggression pacts with South Korea and threatened to sever a hotline with UN forces in the South, at the border truce village of Pammunjom.

Read moreNorth Korea Scraps Armistice, Cuts Hotline With South Korea

More Than 100 New Nuclear Reactors Planned In Asia In The Next 20 Years

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–  #Radioactive Asia: There Will Be 100 Additional Nuclear Reactors in Asia in 20 Years (EX-SKF, Feb 16, 2013):

As far as Asians are concerned, the Fukushima nuclear accident seems to have encouraged them to embark on new nuclear projects.

They probably look at Japan, and say, “Well their government has said all along there is no bad effect from triple meltdowns and melt-throughs, and people don’t seem to care anyway, so what’s there to lose? Not much.”

Read moreMore Than 100 New Nuclear Reactors Planned In Asia In The Next 20 Years

Another South Korean Nuclear Reactor Shut Down Due To Malfunction

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– Another S Korea nuclear reactor shut down due to malfunction (Platts, Jan 17, 2013):

Another South Korean nuclear reactor was shut down Thursday due to a malfunction just two weeks after two of three troubled reactors were restarted amid mounting electricity demand due to a prolonged cold spell.

No. 1 reactor at the Uljin nuclear power plant on the east coast, a pressurized water reactor with a generation capacity of 0.95 GW, halted operations at 11:19 a.m. Seoul time (0219 GMT) due to a problem with the reactor’s energy system.

The Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, the state-run operator of nuclear power plants, said there was no immediate danger of any radiation leak. An investigation was currently under way to identify the exact cause of the problem, it said.

Read moreAnother South Korean Nuclear Reactor Shut Down Due To Malfunction

7 Out Of 10 Asian Countries Abandon The U.S. Dollar And Peg Their Currency To The Chinese Yuan

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– Asian economies turn to yuan (China Daily, Oct 24, 2012):

A “renminbi bloc” has been formed in East Asia, as nations in the region abandon the US dollar and peg their currency to the Chinese yuan — a major signal of China’s successful bid to internationalize its currency, a research report has said.

The Peterson Institute for International Economics, or PIIE, said in its latest research that China has moved closer to its long-term goal for the renminbi to become a global reserve currency.

Since the global financial crisis, the report said, more and more nations, especially emerging economies, see the yuan as the main reference currency when setting their exchange rate.

And now seven out of 10 economies in the region — including South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand — track the renminbi more closely than they do the US dollar. Only three economies in the group — Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Mongolia — still have currencies following the dollar more closely than the renminbi, said the report, posted on the institute’s website.

The South Korean won, for example, has appreciated in sync with the renminbi against the dollar since mid-2010.

Read more7 Out Of 10 Asian Countries Abandon The U.S. Dollar And Peg Their Currency To The Chinese Yuan

US Permits 800 Km-Range South Korean Ballistic Missiles

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– US gives nod to 800km-range S. Korean missiles (RT, Oct 6, 2012):

The US has permitted its ally South Korea to develop ballistic missiles with more than double the range it was allowed earlier. The proliferation-harming move is meant as a reaction to Pyongyang’s military build-up.

The deal was announced Sunday by Chun Young-woo, top secretary to President Lee Myung-bak for foreign and security affairs of the Korean government, after weeks of expectation.

Read moreUS Permits 800 Km-Range South Korean Ballistic Missiles

China Buys North Korea’s Gold Reserves As South Korea Increased Gold Reserves By 30 Percent

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– China Buys North Korea’s Gold Reserves As South Korea Increased Gold Reserves By 30% (ZeroHedge, Sep 25, 2012):

…

The IMF reported that various countries continued diversifying into gold in July, some significantly.

South Korean gold reserves rose a sharp 16 tonnes for a 30% increase in total gold reserves.

Paraguay became the latest central bank to begin diversifying into gold. Their gold reserves rose sharply – from a few thousand ounces to over 8 tonnes.

Desperate North Korea has exported more than 2 tons to gold hungry China over the past year to earn US $100 million. Even in tough times during the Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il regimes, North Korea refused to let go of its precious gold reserves.

Chosun media reports that “a mysterious agency known as Room 39, which manages Kim Jong-un’s money, and the People’s Armed Forces are spearheading exports of gold, said an informed source in China. “They are selling not only gold that was produced since December last year, when Kim Jong-un came to power, but also gold from the country’s reserves and bought from its people.”

This is a sign of the desperation of the North Korean regime and also signals China’s intent to vastly increase the People’s Bank of China’s gold reserves.

Read moreChina Buys North Korea’s Gold Reserves As South Korea Increased Gold Reserves By 30 Percent

Kim Warns North Korea Troops To Prepare For ‘Sacred War’ During US-South Korea Exercises

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South Korean police in gas masks take part in a drill Saturday in Seoul as part of joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises

– Kim warns troops to prepare for ‘sacred war’ during US-South Korea exercises (CNN, Aug 18, 2012):

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told his troops to be vigilant during upcoming training exercises between South Korea and the United States, saying they should be ready to lead a “sacred war,” state media reported Saturday.

Kim’s comments came during a visit on Mu Island with troops who participated in the 2010 shelling of South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island, an attack that North Korea at the time said South Korea provoked by holding war games off their shared coast.

“He ordered the service persons of the detachment to be vigilant against every move of the enemy and not to miss their gold chance to deal at once deadly counter blows at the enemy, if even a single shell is dropped on the waters or in the area where the sovereignty of (North Korea) is exercised,” the state-run KCNA news agency reported.

Read moreKim Warns North Korea Troops To Prepare For ‘Sacred War’ During US-South Korea Exercises

The Hunt For Red Pyongyang: South Korea On Alert For Naval Attack After ‘Losing’ 4 North Korean Subs

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– The Hunt For Red Pyongyang: South Korea On Alert For Naval Attack After “Losing” 4 North Korean Subs (ZeroHedge, April 6, 2012):

Just because the imminent launch of a North Korean rocket along a trajectory which will likely force Japan to strike it down, something which Pyongyang said would be equivalent to an act of war, was not enough, it now appears that South Korea has commenced the hunt for Red Pyongyang or four, as it is now “searching for four North Korean submarines that disappeared after leaving their bases on the tense peninsula.” ABC News reports that “A military source quoted in a South Korean newspaper says up to four North Korean submarines slipped out of port in recent days and have so far avoided detection. The source was also quoted as saying that Pyongyang has stepped up submarine infiltration drills as the weather has warmed.” As a result, “Seoul is now on alert for a possible strike against a South Korean naval ship.” This won’t be the first time a North Korean sub is implicated in potential wrongdoing: “The South accuses the North of using a midget submarine to sink the corvette the Cheonan two years ago, which left 46 South Korean sailors dead.”

Just more posturing, Or will Kim Jong Un force the hand of either Seoul or in a few days, Tokyo? From Al Jazeera:

Japan has completed the deployment of a land-based system of interceptor missiles in preparation for a planned North Korean rocket launch later this month.

The exercise was finalised in Okinawa on Thursday, days after a similar deployment was completed on Monday in Naha, the capital of Okinawa prefecture.

The interceptors would be ready to shoot down any parts of the rocket that veer into Japan’s airspace.

Read moreThe Hunt For Red Pyongyang: South Korea On Alert For Naval Attack After ‘Losing’ 4 North Korean Subs

AND NOW: Dr. Smartphone!

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– Korean research, a first step toward Dr. Smartphone? (Reuters, Jan 23, 2012):

Tired of long waits at the hospital for medical tests? If Korean researchers have their way, your smartphone could one day eliminate that — and perhaps even tell you that you have cancer.

A team of scientists at Korea Advanced Institute of Science of Technology (KAIST) said in a paper published in Angewandte Chemie, a German science journal, that touch screen technology can be used to detect biomolecular matter, much as is done in medical tests.

Read moreAND NOW: Dr. Smartphone!

Radioactive Rain At 20 MicroSieverts/Hour In South Korea (Video)

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See also:

– South Korea: Radioactive Seaweed At 0.76 MicroSieverts/Hour From East Coast

2011 Nov 30th South Korea rain radiation 20 microSv/hr from joytek on Vimeo.

Description:

rain sample collected from a car hood in Chuncheon, South Korea on November 30th, 2011. All cars were covered by a powdery substance that fell with the rain.

2011 Nov 30th radioactive rainout in South Korea 16 microSv/hr from joytek on Vimeo.

Description:

radioactive rain sample from South Korea, Chuncheon collected from a car hood on November 30th, 2011.

South Korea, Chuncheon, Dec 13, 2011, neighborhood radiation (0.7 microSv/hr +) from joytek on Vimeo.

Description:

This is the reading on my street in Chuncheon, South Korea, on December 13th, 2011. The pavement is reading at more than 0.7 microSv/hr while the at chest height the reading is about 0.4.

measuring device: Inspector Alert

South Korea: Radioactive Seaweed At 0.76 MicroSieverts/Hour From East Coast

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2012 Jan 2nd, South Korea, Seaweed radioactivity test (part 1) from joytek on Vimeo.

– Breaking News: 0.76 microSv/h from Seaweed from Korean east coast (Fukushima Diary, Jan. 3, 2012):

On 1/2/2012, they measured 0.76 microSv/h from seaweed, which is from the east coast of Korea.(Unopened)

The background was 0.227 microSv/h. It picked up around by 0.53 microSv/h immediate on the package.

This suggests the sea contamination has spread to not only Pacific ocean but also the Korean / Japanese sea.

Related article http://fukushima-diary.com/2011/12/tsunami-boat-found-in-korean-japanese-sea/

Bank of Korea Boosts Gold Holdings

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Flashback:

– Hilarious: Ron Paul: ‘Why Do Central Banks Hold Gold?’ Ben Bernanke: ‘Tradition’ (Video)

– Bank of Korea Says It Boosted Gold Holdings in Foreign-Exchange Reserves (Bloomberg, Dec 2, 2011):

The Bank of Korea, which controls the world’s eighth-biggest foreign-exchange reserves, boosted gold holdings for the second time this year as investors sought safer assets amid Europe’s debt crisis.

The central bank bought 15 metric tons last month, boosting holdings to 54.4 tons, which is equivalent to 0.7 percent of its total reserves, Lee Jung, head of the investment strategy team at the bank’s Reserve Management Group, told reporters in Seoul.

Central banks are expanding reserves for the first time in a generation as the precious metal is in the 11th year of a bull market. Purchases of as much as 450 tons in 2011 may be repeated next year as Asian nations and emerging economies diversify their reserves, UBS AG said Nov. 30.

“They want to diversify,” Gavin Wendt, the founder and senior resource analyst at Sydney-based Mine Life Pty., said by phone today. Investors and “central banks are pretty nervous about all currencies, not just the U.S. dollar.”

Gold has risen about 23 percent this year, reaching an all- time high of $1,921.15 an ounce on Sept. 6 and beating equities, treasuries and other commodities. The U.S. dollar, which typically moves inversely to bullion, is down about 1 percent this year against a basket of six major (worthless fiat) currencies.

Read moreBank of Korea Boosts Gold Holdings

Japan Government To Approve Exports Of Nuclear Technology Worldwide

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– Lower House committee approves nuke export deals with four nations (Japan Times, Dec. 3, 2011):

While the battle goes on to bring the Fukushima No. 1 plant under control, the government moved a step closer Friday to resuming exports of Japan’s nuclear technology as a Lower House committee approved ratification of accords with four countries.

The Democratic Party of Japan and Liberal Democratic Party both voted in favor of the bilateral agreements with Jordan, Vietnam, South Korea and Russia at the Lower House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The full chamber was to vote on the pacts later Friday, but at the request of opposition parties the action was postponed till Tuesday.

Despite the delay, the treaties are expected to be approved by the Lower House and will likely clear the Upper House before the current Diet session closes Dec. 9.

Read moreJapan Government To Approve Exports Of Nuclear Technology Worldwide

‘RoboCop’ Guards To Patrol South Korean Prisons

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Robot guards with sensors to detect abnormal behaviour will soon begin patrolling South Korean prisons to ease the burden on their human counterparts, researchers said on Thursday.


Prison guard robot: Three robots will be tested at a correctional facility in the southeastern city of Pohang next March when development is completed Photo: EPA

– ‘RoboCop’ guards to patrol South Korean prisons (Telegraph, Nov. 24, 2011):

A group of scientists has developed the robot warders under a one billion won (£546,000) project organised by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.

The robots – 1.5 metres (five feet) high and running on four wheels – will mostly be used at night.

They can connect prisoners with officers through a remote conversation function, according to a statement from the Asian Forum for Corrections (AFC), a South Korea-based group of researchers in criminality and prison policies.

Read more‘RoboCop’ Guards To Patrol South Korean Prisons

Radiation Hot Spot Detected in South Korean Pavement (VOA News, Nov. 3, 2011)

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Hot spot?

These are hot spots:

– Tokyo’s High Radiation Supermarket: It’s Radium Again, Emitting 40 Millisieverts/Hr Radiation

– AND NOW: 110 Microsieverts Per Hour Detected At Tokyo Supermarket

– Kashiwa Government Insists Being Unable To Handle Radiation Hotspot On Its Own (Daily Yomiuri, Oct. 28, 2011)

– 80-120 Microsieverts Per Hour in Koriyama City, 60 Km From Fukushima Nuclear Plant

– Extremely High Levels Of Radiation Detected At 2 Schools In Chiba Prefecture

– Kashiwa City’s Radioactive Dirt: 276,000 Bq/Kg of Cesium!!!!!

– Researchers Find 6.15 MILLION Becquerels Per Square Metre In Fukushima City (Over 290,000 People), 4 Times Higher Than Chernobyl Mandatory Evacuation Area

– Radiation Hot Spot Detected in South Korean Pavement (VOA News, Nov. 3, 2011):

South Korea’s Institute of Nuclear Safety says it has discovered a patch of pavement in Seoul is emitting radiation at levels 10 times higher than normal.

The government-funded research institute says the radioactive pavement was identified during a field investigation Wednesday in the residential Wolgye-dong neighborhood.

The institute says the pavement is emitting radiation from cesium-137 at 10 times the normal background level. The institute says a more precise reading will be released in “three to five days” after further evaluation, but it stresses that the level detected is not dangerous to humans.

Read moreRadiation Hot Spot Detected in South Korean Pavement (VOA News, Nov. 3, 2011)

Central Banks Net Buyers of Gold for First Time in 20 Years (Financial Times)

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Probably out of ‘tradition’! ROFL!

– Hilarious: Ron Paul: ‘Why Do Central Banks Hold Gold?’ Ben Bernanke: ‘Tradition’

Got PHYSICAL gold (and silver!)?

Gold (and silver!) is money, the real money of the elitists, everything else is just worthless paper.

Protect your assets!

– Central Banks Net Buyers of Gold for First Time in 20 Years (Financial Times, Sep. 19 2011):

?European central banks have become net buyers of gold for the first time in more than two decades, the latest sign of how the turbulence in the currency and debt markets has revolutionized the bullion market

The purchases are minuscule compared with the size of the global gold market, but highlight a remarkable turnaround from a wave of heavy selling by European central banks.

The role of central banks in the gold market will be a central topic of debate at the annual London Bullion Market Association conference, the largest gathering of the gold industry, in Montreal this week.

The switch from large selling to buying has helped propel the gold price more than 25 percent higher so far this year, hitting a nominal record of $1,920 a troy ounce this month. The shift in Europe comes as central banks in emerging markets are also loading up on gold.

Mexico, Russia, South Korea and Thailand have all made large purchases this year, in a move to reduce their exposure to the dollar. Globally, central banks are set to buy more gold this year than at any time since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system 40 years ago – the last time the value of the dollar was linked to gold.

Read moreCentral Banks Net Buyers of Gold for First Time in 20 Years (Financial Times)

US Military Drone Forced Down By North Korean Electronic Attack

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– US Military Plane Forced Down By North Korean Electronic Attack (AFP,  Sep. 2011):

SEOUL – A US military reconnaissance plane came under electronic attack from North Korea and had to make an emergency landing during a major military exercise in March, a political aide said Friday.

The aide said the plane suffered disturbance to its GPS system due to jamming signals from the North’s southwestern cities of Haeju and Kaesong as it was taking part in the annual US-South Korea drill, Key Resolve.

The incident was disclosed in a report that Seoul’s defense ministry submitted to Ahn Kyu-baek of parliament’s defense committee, the aide to Ahn said.

Spokesmen for the defense ministry and US Forces Korea declined to comment.

Jamming signals — sent at intervals of five to 10 minutes on the afternoon of March 4 — forced the plane to make an emergency landing 45 minutes after it took off, the aide quoted the report as saying.

The signals also affected South Korean naval patrol boats and speedboats, as well as several civilian flights near Seoul’s Gimpo area, according to the report.

Read moreUS Military Drone Forced Down By North Korean Electronic Attack

Fighting The Fed Has Reached A New Stage: All Out Currency Wars: Brazil Calls Off Truce, South Korea Reviews ‘All Possibilities’, Philippines Threatens ‘Prudential Limits’

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See also:

– Swiss National Bank Intervention Epic Fail #2

– Global Currency Wars Enter New Stage; Brazil Calls Off Truce, South Korea Reviews “All Possibilities”, Philippines Threatens “Prudential Limits” (Global Economic Analysis, August 04, 2011):

Fighting the Fed has reached a new stage: all out currency wars.

The Fed is desperate to tank the US dollar to stimulate exports and further fuel a stock market that is clearly back in bubble territory. However, central bankers in other countries have had enough.

Japan and Switzerland intervened heavily in the forex markets on Wednesday. Other countries, fed up with Fed policies and a weak dollar now threaten to do the same.

For a recap Wednesday’s intervention news, please see

What’s next is already at hand: Currency Wars Enter ‘New Stage’

“We seem to be entering a new stage of the currency wars where it’s not just the emerging markets that are responding to broad dollar weakness,” said Callum Henderson, global head of currency research at Standard Chartered Plc in Singapore, who has written books on currency markets. “Expect much more intervention in the future and further acrimony in terms of how the U.S. dollar is doing.”

Here are some highlights from the article.

Read moreFighting The Fed Has Reached A New Stage: All Out Currency Wars: Brazil Calls Off Truce, South Korea Reviews ‘All Possibilities’, Philippines Threatens ‘Prudential Limits’

South Korean Scientists Create Glowing GMO Dog

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– South Korean scientists create glowing dog: report (Reuters, Jul 27, 2011):

South Korean scientists said on Wednesday they have created a glowing dog using a cloning technique that could help find cures for human diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, Yonhap news agency reported.

A research team from Seoul National University (SNU) said the genetically modified female beagle, named Tegon and born in 2009, has been found to glow fluorescent green under ultraviolet light if given a doxycycline antibiotic, the report said.

Read moreSouth Korean Scientists Create Glowing GMO Dog

Japan’s PM Kan Forced Chinese and Korean Counterparts to Eat Fukushima Vegetables and Fruits

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I have ‘some’ great difficulty to buy that they have really eaten vegetables and fruits from Fukushima and here is why:

– I ate Hu Jintao’s dinner; China’s president, and the rest of the politburo eat only organic food:

A stone’s throw from the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square is Zhongnanhai, the walled compound where China’s top leaders live.

Each day the finest ingredients from all over China are delivered to the chefs in Zhongnanhai, by the Central State Organ for Special Food Supply.

Hu Jintao, China’s president, and the rest of the politburo get to eat specially-selected organic produce and wash it down with Red Robe tea, which only grows on a couple of bushes in Fujian.

Zhu Yong Lan, the head of the special food supply department, said no pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics, growth hormones, pollution, artificial additives, preservatives, or genetic modification would ever make its way into the food eaten in Zhongnanhai, a rare feat in a country where the label “organic” is sometimes rather loosely applied.

No one else in China can eat this forbidden food. The only foreigners who taste it are guests at state banquets.

And it really doesn’t matter whether they have eaten Fukushima produce or not, but if you eat it you will suffer greatly from it.


(In the photo, from the left: Fukushima Governor Sato, Japan’s PM Kan, Korean President Lee, and Chinese Premier Wen.)

–  Japan’s PM Kan Forced Chinese and Korean Counterparts to Eat Fukushima Vegetables and Fruits:

It was not enough for Prime Minister Kan to make the Emperor and Empress of Japan visit Fukushima, have them eat Fukushima food and bring some back home as souvenirs for the imperial household that has small children (including the future emperor of Japan).

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Korean President Lee Myung-bak had to go along with Kan, visit Fukushima, and do the obligatory “It’s so delicious it is safe” performance by eating cherries and cucumbers grown in Fukushima to counter “baseless rumors” that the food may be contaminated with radioactive materials. (Radiation is a rumor, and safety is a religion in Japan among TPTB, in case you haven’t noticed.)

They are in Japan for the trilateral summit (which by itself irks a growing number of Japanese, but that will be another post).

From Asahi Shinbun (10:29PM JST 5/21/2011):

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On the afternoon of May 11, the three premiers visited one of the evacuation shelters (a large gym run by the prefectural government) in Fukushima City. Prime Minister Kan approached Premier Wen and President Lee and invited them over to the table where the vegetables and fruits produced in Fukushima were displayed. There were asparagus, tomatoes, strawberries. The three sampled cherries and ate cucumbers.

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President Lee dedicated flowers and prayed for the earthquake and tsunami victims in Natori City, and said “All citizens of Korea have told me to convey their deep sympathy to the Japanese. The courage and the stoicism of the Japanese people (after the quake/tsunami) has so impressed the world.”

Well, I wish they hadn’t been so orderly and stoic. For their stoicity and perseverance, many of them are still living in shelters, sleeping on a floor of a gym and other cavernous public halls, partitioned by cardboard.

I have nothing more to say about this silly performance by old men eating Fukushima vegetables, other than: “When these people say it’s safe, don’t buy, don’t eat.”