North Korea well along in preparations to launch its Unha-3 long-range missile into space

North Korea technicians watch live images of the rocket Unah-3 at the satellite control room of the space center on the outskirts of Pyongyang on April 11, 2012.

Read more at Press TV

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North Korea is well along in its preparations to launch its Unha-3 long-range missile into space and it could happen as early as this evening, stateside.

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North Korea says it is only launching a weather satellite… though most believe the launch is actually a disguised Ballistic Missile test… in which the North Koreans will be testing their capabilities to launch future missiles that will be able to carry nuclear warheads that would be able to hit the United States.

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If that wasn’t enough… South Korean security sources are now saying that after reviewing new satellite imagery… it is now looking like North Korea is also preparing for another nuclear test sometime shortly after the rocket launch.

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POST UPDATE:

Thursday evening April 12^th

6:20pm CDT

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South Korean Media Is Reporting That North Korea Has Launched Rocket. But… Fox news reports launch may have actually failed... making it off the launch pad OK but having problems later-on in the flight.

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** UPDATE **

7:00pm CDT

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It’s NOW Official:

North Korea’s Rocket Launch Failed!

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Yes… I can now report that North Korea’s Rocket Launch was a FAILURE and NEVER MADE IT out of the Earth’s atmosphere or into space.

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For the record… it was launched from its Sohae Satellite Launching Station at about 7:39am Friday morning, North Korea’s time… said South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min Seok during a televised press briefing in Seoul.

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Fox news is now reporting that according to their sources, the rocket broke up somewhere between 90 seconds and two minutes into flight. That would mean that it never made it past the first stage of the three stage rocket which would be a MAJOR failure on their part.

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Update:

Late Friday morning…

11:30am CDT

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There’s really nothing more to report about all of this, so I won’t. But for now… we all sit and wait to see if the North Korean’s go ahead and actually test another nuclear device sometime in the next few weeks.

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Being they are already on a roll… They might as well go ahead and Double Down on Stupid!

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AubreyJ………

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Cobra Gold 2010, Worlds Largest Multinational Military Exercise Begins February 1st

Six Nations Gear Up for Cobra Gold 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
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Cobra Gold, the largest multinational military exercise in the world, begins its 29th year of joint training and cooperation among six countries in the Asia-Pacific Theater in Thailand on February 1st.
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Cobra Gold 2010 marks the first time South Korea will participate in the exercise.
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“Thailand is one of our closest friends and partners in Asia, as well as being our oldest ally in Asia,” said Lt. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon, commander, U.S. Army Pacific. “The Cobra Gold exercise is the largest multilateral joint military exercise in the world.”
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Sponsored by U.S. Pacific Command and the Royal Thai Supreme Command, the three-week exercise includes a command-post exercise, a series of medical and engineering civic-action projects and joint and combined field training. The exercise continues to serve as a venue to build interoperability between the United States and its Asia-Pacific regional partners.
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The command-post exercise focuses on training a Thai, U.S., Singaporean, Indonesian, and South Korean coalition task force. The exercise also includes Japan participating within a United Nations Force staff. A team composed of representatives from Brunei, Chile, China, Germany, Laos, Mongolia, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Vietnam will observe the command-post exercise at the invitation of the Thai government.
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Among Cobra Gold 2010’s objectives is Pacom’s rapid deployment of a joint task force and subsequent coordination with U.N. forces, with the aim of improving Pacom’s ability to conduct multinational operations and increase interoperability with partner nations, officials said.
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In addition, officials noted, the military-to-military relationships developed during Cobra Gold exercises underscore a combined capability to face myriad issues in the Asia-Pacific theater, including terrorism, transnational threats, and humanitarian-assistance and disaster-relief efforts.

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By DoD’s American Forces Press Service - Taken from a U.S. Army Pacific News Release
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AubreyJ.........

Somalia/Pirates: On Ground Updates - May 05, 2009

Somalia/Pirates: On Ground Updates
Snapshot into the Somalia piracy reporting by the MSM
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
.About photo: A pirate ship, [this is what one would call the ‘MOTHER SHIP’,] 23 miles south of Aden port in Yemen, is being watched from a South Korean helicopter on Monday, May 4, 2009
Photo by the South Korean's Joint Chiefs of Staff
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* The Chosun llbo website brings us this report today and it starts of like this… South Korean naval forces have rescued a North Korean vessel from pirates off the coast of Somalia… The South Korean military says a destroyer in the Gulf of Aden dispatched a helicopter after the North Korean ship radioed for help early Monday. Officials say pirates who were approaching the North Korean ship retreated when the helicopter crew threatened to open fire. The military says the North Korean ship later radioed a "thank you" message…
Read the rest at link below…
S. Korea Rescues N. Korean Ship Near Somalia
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* The Southeast Missourian website reports it this way… South Korean snipers hovering in a helicopter Monday chased away pirates pursuing a North Korean freighter, a rare instance of cooperation between the two Koreas… The South Korean ship has been operating off Somalia since last month on a mission to protect its cargo ships from Somali pirates, whose acts of high-seas crime have exploded in recent years as the bandits continue to get ransoms in the millions of dollars… South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the 4,500-ton-class warship sent a Lynx helicopter to assist the North Korean vessel shortly after receiving a distress call that it was being chased by the pirate ship… The pirate vessel gave up chasing the North Korean vessel and sped away after snipers aboard the helicopter prepared to fire warning shots, the statement said… The incident took place 23 miles (37 kilometers) south of the Yemeni port of Aden, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Somalia and Yemen are separated by the Gulf of Aden...
Read this report in full at link below…
South Korean warship saves North's vessel
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* VOANews.com has this report… Somalia's shaky new government is accusing neighboring Eritrea of arming insurgent groups in Somalia. The allegation is a repeat of events two years ago, when the United Nations accused Eritrea of secretly sending weapons to Somalia's militant al-Shabab group… Somali Security Minister Omar Hashi Aden says planes loaded with weapons from Eritrea arrived last week in Somalia…
Read the full report at link below…
Somalia Accuses Eritrea of Illegal Arms Shipments
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* The Washington Post had this report on their website Sunday, May 03, 20009… Now before we get to their report, I just got to say this… Here’s a report that I loved reading! Don’t you KNOW those pirates pooped their pants when they finally figured out they were about to attack a FRENCH NAVAL SHIP instead of a poor old helpless commercial ship. The expressions on all those pirate faces would have been Priceless! Hats off to the French Navy for a job well done.
With that said… read the report at link below…
France captures 11 suspected Somali pirates
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* SKY News has the following article with LOTS of dramatic Images/Video of heavily armed Somali pirates being captured by the French navy. Great stuff!!!
Click it out at link below…
Pirate Video: Sea Bandits Captured On Film
Lots of photos too

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Russian Warship Frees Iranians.

About this News Video: The Iranian embassy in Moscow has said that a Russian warship has freed eight Iranian citizens who had been seized last week along with Somali pirates.
Video posted on You Tube by RussiaToday
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AubreyJ………

North Korea’s Missile Launch Friday Heightens Tensions on Korean Peninsula

Saturday, March 29, 2008
North Korea fired a volley of short-range missiles into the sea from its west coast at 10 a.m. on Mar. 28... ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff announced, “North Korea launched short-range missiles into the Yellow Sea. The test firing seems aimed at checking the performance and raising the operation capability of the missile.”...
Read this report in full at The Dong-A

Geopolitical tension on the Korean Peninsula increased significantly when North Korea test-fired several short-range missiles into the waters off its west coast on March 28, hours after it issued a statement denying allegations about a uranium enrichment program and nuclear cooperation with Syria, key sticking points in the six-party negotiations aimed at finding a diplomatic resolution to the nuclear standoff...
Read the rest of this report at The Hankyoreh

IHT.com has this report out today and it starts off like this... North Korea warned the South on Saturday their reconciliation process could be in jeopardy unless Seoul apologizes for a top military leader's comment about attacking the North... The North's military condemned the remark by the new head of the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff, who said Seoul would strike a suspected North Korean nuclear weapons site if Pyongyang attempted to attack the South with atomic bombs...
Read the rest at link below...
NKorea warns reconciliation with South in jeopardy after attack threat

North Korea Flag by CIA.gov website