Tag Archives: North

International, US

North Korea fires missiles into the sea as drills begin

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As South Korea and the United States were about to begin their annual military exercises in the area, North Korea protested the drills, once again, by firing two missiles into the sea on Monday.

According to Reuters, the two missiles were fired from a military base on the western coast of North Korea near Nampo City. The missiles reportedly traveled about 305 miles to the east, landing in the Sea of Japan.

The missiles were fired hours before the joint U.S. and South Korean military drills, known as Foal Eagle and Key Reserve according to CNN, were set to begin. North Korea has always been angered by the drills, saying they are nothing but a “smokescreen” used by the U.S. and South Korea so the two countries can invade their country.

North Korea’s state-run news outlet, KCNA, said, “The situation on the Korean peninsula is again inching close to the brink of a war.” They also noted how the North Korean military will not remain “passive” forever.

However, as many people know, this is not the first time North Korea has fired missiles in protest to the U.S. and South Korean military exercises.

The 2013 drills, in particular, led to the North Korean government threatening nuclear strikes over the drills, according to the BBC. The drills went on as planned and no retaliatory strikes were ever carried out by North Korea.

Kim Min-seok, the South Korean Defense Ministry spokesperson, said at a briefing Monday, “North Korea in the past did fire (projectiles) in a very similar manner… On several occasions, they fired (projectiles) from the west coast to sea off east of the Korean Peninsula.” Kim also said the drills were simply a warning against any “reckless” or “provocative” act the North Korean military may carry out.

KCNA however, said these drills are acts of “aggression” and they will be met with “merciless strikes.”

The South Korean Defense Ministry believes the missiles were either Scud-C or Scud-D missiles.

Civil Liberties, Featured, Police Accountability, Police State, US

Supreme Court rules an officer’s misunderstanding of a law is protected

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A Supreme Court ruling on Monday found police officers who pull over a car for a traffic stop can search and seize the vehicle, even if the officer does not have a full understanding of the law used to pull the vehicle over.

The ruling comes after Nicholas Heien, a North Carolina resident, was pulled over in 2009 on the premise of a single broken taillight.  After being pulled over, the officer searched the vehicle and found a baggie of cocaine, and the officer then arrested Heien.

However, North Carolina law only requires one working taillight, so when the officer pulled over Heien, it would appear he had no legal right to do so.

The case was brought up to a North Carolina appeals court who, according to VOX, agreed the stop was unlawful.  The case was then heard by the state’s highest court and the Supreme Court, who both ruled in favor of the officer, saying even if the officer does not know the technical aspects of a law, a search and seizure is still constitutional.

“This Court held  that reasonable mistakes of law, like those of fact, could justify a certificate of probable cause,” reads the Court’s ruling.  The vehicle search, therefore, does not violate the Fourth Amendment, as was argued by Heien, which protects citizens from unlawful searches and seizures without probable cause.  The Court said, “a search or seizure may be permissible even though the justification for the action includes a reasonable factual mistake.”

Ultimately, the Court found the Fourth Amendment requires officers to act reasonably, but not perfectly, since officers are human and make mistakes as well.  Chief Justice John Roberts said, according to the AP, an officer’s mistake of fact can rightly justify a traffic stop and therefore that misunderstanding can also satisfy the Constitution.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor was the only member of the Court to disagree with the decision, saying an officer’s mistake or misunderstanding of a law, “no matter how reasonable, cannot support the individualized suspicion necessary to justify a seizure under the Fourth Amendment.”

International, Politics

Absent leader raises questions from around the globe

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While part of the propaganda machine within North Korea thrives on presenting their country and leader as strong, powerful, and unconquerable, the recent absence of the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has many people asking what is happening with the supreme leader?

The last time Kim was seen in public was at the beginning of September when the leader was seen at a concert with his wife within the “hermit kingdom.”  Since then, Kim has missed several high profile events, according to Chron, and the absence of Kim’s media presence has led many to speculate on his disappearance.

One theory is the leader has been ousted from power by way of a coup, and an image showing a bloody Kim being seemingly dragged out of a hallway was said to be “evidence.”  However, this theory was proven false as the urban legend and rumour website Snopes pointed out the image in question was a near identical photo to one captured a few years ago while Kim visited a unit of the Korean People’s Army.

Health problems are a more plausible explanation for the leader’s absence, but what kind of health problems?

Gout, diabetes, a heart ailment, mental illness, a leg injury, and a brain hemorrhage, are all reasons people have said Kim has been absent, but none are confirmed. One North Korean lawmaker even asked Amd. Choi Yoon-hee, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in North Korea, if Kim was brain dead.  Choi promptly said there were no problems with Kim “severe enough to disrupt his status as ruler of the country.”

In fact, North Korea’s UN ambassador, Hyan Hak Bong, told the BBC Kim was healthy and there was no reason to worry about his health, despite North Korean media reports in early September saying Kim was suffering “discomfort.”

While the world is questioning Kim’s absence from the media, Scott Snyder, an expert on Korea who has been working with the Council on Foreign Relations, says the cult of personality established within the country is so strong, “the people feel Kim’s presence even when he is absent.”

Kim currently has no known heir, and the line of succession has followed the Kim family since Kim Il-sung ceased power in 1948.  This has led some to say Kim is indeed ill and his sister, Kim Yo-jong, has been acting with Kim’s voice.

What is strange though is in Kim’s absence, a three-man delegation was sent to Seoul, accompanied by a personal message to South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye, with the intention of opening North-South dialogue.  So if Kim is currently unable to make decisions from health ailments, or is incapacitated in some way, who is trying to open these dialogues?