1.
North Korea
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North Korea, officially the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, is a country in East Asia, constituting the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang is both the capital as well as its largest city. To the north and northwest the country is bordered by China and by Russia along the Amnok, the country is bordered to the south by South Korea, with the heavily fortified Korean Demilitarized Zone separating the two. Negotiations on reunification failed, and in 1948 two separate governments were formed, the communist Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea in the north, an invasion initiated by North Korea led to the Korean War. The Korean Armistice Agreement brought about a ceasefire, and no peace treaty was ever signed. North Korea officially describes itself as a self-reliant socialist state and formally holds elections, critics regard it as a totalitarian dictatorship. Various outlets have called it Stalinist, particularly noting the elaborate cult of personality around Kim Il-sung, International organizations have assessed human rights violations in North Korea as belonging to a category of their own, with no parallel in the contemporary world. Over time, North Korea has gradually distanced itself from the world communist movement, Juche, an ideology of national self-reliance, was introduced into the constitution as a creative application of Marxism–Leninism in 1972. The means of production are owned by the state through state-run enterprises, most services such as healthcare, education, housing and food production are subsidized or state-funded. From 1994 to 1998, North Korea suffered from a famine that resulted in the deaths of between 0.24 and 3.5 million people, and the continues to struggle with food production. North Korea follows Songun, or military-first policy and it is the country with the highest number of military and paramilitary personnel, with a total of 9,495,000 active, reserve, and paramilitary personnel. Its active duty army of 1.21 million is the fourth largest in the world, after China, North Korea is an atheist state with no official religion and where public religion is discouraged. The name Korea derives from the name Goryeo, the name Goryeo itself was first used by the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo in the 5th century as a shortened form of its name. The 10th-century kingdom of Goryeo succeeded Goguryeo, and thus inherited its name, the modern spelling of Korea first appeared in the late 17th century in the travel writings of the Dutch East India Companys Hendrick Hamel. After the division of the country into North and South Korea, the two sides used different terms to refer to Korea, Chosun or Joseon in North Korea, in 1948, North Korea adopted Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea as its new legal name. After the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, Korea was occupied by Japan, Japan tried to suppress Korean traditions and culture and ran the economy primarily for its own benefit. Korean resistance groups known as Dongnipgun operated along the Sino-Korean border, some of them took part in allied action in China and parts of South East Asia. One of the leaders was the communist Kim Il-sung, who later became the leader of North Korea
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site
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Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site is North Koreas only known nuclear test site and is located in Kilju County, North Hamgyong Province. The site is where the 2006,2009,2013 and 2016 North Korean nuclear tests took place. The site is located in mountainous terrain 2 km south of Mantapsan,2 km west of Hwasong concentration camp and 12 km northwest of the Punggye-ri village, the most proximate place to the possible nuclear underground test site is Chik-tong, a small populated place located at 41°1600N 129°0600E. Sungjibaegam is a settlement located 24 kilometres from the tremor of the 2013 test, Punggye-ri railway station is located at 41. 130833° N,129. 163611° E. In January 2013, Google Maps was updated to include locations in North Korea. On 8 April 2013, South Korea had observed activity at Punggye-ri and it was later believed that the tunneling activity that started in April was for a long term project, and that a nuclear test wouldnt occur soon. On 6 January 2016, North Korean state media announced that they had tested a hydrogen bomb at the location
4.
Kilju County
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Kilju, sometimes romanized as Kilchu, is a county in North Hamgyong province, North Korea. The county seat is Kilju Town, the area around Kilju was part of the ancient Goguryeo kingdom, and was long inhabited by various Jurchen tribes. In 1107 it was annexed by Goryeo, whou gave it its current name, during the Japanese occupation, the county was used for manufacturing telecommunications equipment and electric insulation. Kilju is located in the part of North Hamgyong. It borders Myŏngchŏn on the east, Kimchaek and Hwadae to the south, Myŏnggan, to the west it borders Tanchŏn in South Hamgyŏng and Paegam in Ryanggang. Kilju stands at the junction of the Hamgyŏng Mountains and the Maryŏng Mountains, the average annual temperature is 7.5 °C. ) The Pukkwan Victory Monument, located in this county before the 1950s redistricting, is now located just across the border in what is now Kimchaek city. In addition to its airport, the county is served by the Pyongra Line railway, the city is also linked by road to Hamhung and Chongjin. A number of facilities are known or believed to be located in Kilju. These include the Hwadae-ri atomic weapons training facility, the Musudan-ri missile facility is located in nearby Hwadae county, and a separate Scud facility has been reported in the area. The county is divided into one town, five workers districts, and 22 villages
5.
Thermonuclear weapon
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A thermonuclear weapon is a nuclear weapon that uses the energy from a primary nuclear fission reaction to compress and ignite a secondary nuclear fusion reaction. The result is greatly increased power when compared to single-stage fission weapons. It is colloquially referred to as a bomb or an H-bomb because it employs the fusion of isotopes of hydrogen. The first full scale thermonuclear test was carried out by the United States in 1952, similar devices were developed by the Soviet Union, United Kingdom, China, and France. The radiation implosion mechanism is an engine that exploits the temperature difference between the secondary stages hot, surrounding radiation channel and its relatively cool interior. This temperature difference is maintained by a massive heat barrier called the pusher. If made of uranium, as is almost always the case, it can capture neutrons produced by the reaction and undergo fission itself. In many Teller–Ulam weapons, fission of the pusher dominates the explosion, detailed knowledge of fission and fusion weapons is classified to some degree in virtually every industrialized nation. Born secret is rarely invoked for cases of private speculation, in a small number of prior cases, the U. S. government has attempted to censor weapons information in the public press, with limited success. According to the New York Times, physicist Kenneth Ford defied government orders to remove classified information from his new book, Building the H Bomb, the state of public knowledge about the Teller–Ulam design has been mostly shaped from a few specific incidents outlined in a section below. At a bare minimum, this implies a primary section consists of an implosion-type fission bomb. The energy released by the primary compresses the secondary through a process called radiation implosion, at which point it is heated, surrounding the other components is a hohlraum or radiation case, a container that traps the first stage or primarys energy inside temporarily. The outside of this case, which is also normally the outside casing of the bomb, is the only direct visual evidence publicly available of any thermonuclear bomb components configuration. Numerous photographs of various thermonuclear bomb exteriors have been declassified, generally, a research program with the capacity to create a thermonuclear bomb has already mastered the ability to engineer boosted fission. The secondary is usually shown as a column of fusion fuel, around the column is first a pusher-tamper, a heavy layer of uranium-238 or lead that serves to help compress the fusion fuel. Inside this is the fuel itself, usually a form of lithium deuteride. This dry fuel, when bombarded by neutrons, produces tritium, inside the layer of fuel is the spark plug, a hollow column of fissile material that, when compressed, can itself undergo nuclear fission. The tertiary, if one is present, would be set below the secondary, separating the secondary from the primary is the interstage
6.
Nuclear fission
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In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is either a nuclear reaction or a radioactive decay process in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts. The fission process often produces free neutrons and gamma photons, Frisch named the process by analogy with biological fission of living cells. It is a reaction which can release large amounts of energy both as electromagnetic radiation and as kinetic energy of the fragments. In order for fission to produce energy, the binding energy of the resulting elements must be less negative than that of the starting element. Fission is a form of nuclear transmutation because the fragments are not the same element as the original atom. The two nuclei produced are most often of comparable but slightly different sizes, typically with a ratio of products of about 3 to 2. Most fissions are binary fissions, but occasionally, three positively charged fragments are produced, in a ternary fission, the smallest of these fragments in ternary processes ranges in size from a proton to an argon nucleus. Nuclear fission produces energy for power and drives the explosion of nuclear weapons. Both uses are possible because certain substances called nuclear fuels undergo fission when struck by fission neutrons and this makes possible a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction that releases energy at a controlled rate in a nuclear reactor or at a very rapid uncontrolled rate in a nuclear weapon. Nuclear fission can occur without neutron bombardment as a type of radioactive decay and this type of fission is rare except in a few heavy isotopes. In engineered nuclear devices, essentially all nuclear fission occurs as a nuclear reaction — a bombardment-driven process that results from the collision of two subatomic particles, in nuclear reactions, a subatomic particle collides with an atomic nucleus and causes changes to it. Nuclear reactions are driven by the mechanics of bombardment, not by the relatively constant exponential decay. Many types of reactions are currently known. Nuclear fission differs importantly from other types of reactions, in that it can be amplified. In such a reaction, free neutrons released by each fission event can trigger yet more events, the chemical element isotopes that can sustain a fission chain reaction are called nuclear fuels, and are said to be fissile. The most common nuclear fuels are 235U and 239Pu and these fuels break apart into a bimodal range of chemical elements with atomic masses centering near 95 and 135 u. Most nuclear fuels undergo spontaneous fission only very slowly, decaying instead mainly via an alpha-beta decay chain over periods of millennia to eons. In a nuclear reactor or nuclear weapon, the majority of fission events are induced by bombardment with another particle, a neutron
7.
National Intelligence Service (South Korea)
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The National Intelligence Service is the chief intelligence agency of South Korea. The agencys broad powers allowed it to intervene in politics. The agency took on the name Agency for National Security Planning in 1981, the ANSP is colloquially known as 안기부 Angibu in South Korea. In 1999, the agency assumed its current name, the advent of democracy in the Sixth Republic of South Korea has seen many of the duties and powers of the NIS curtailed, in response to public criticisms about past abuses. The agencys origins can be traced back to the Korean Counterintelligence Corps, the KCIA was founded on June 13,1961 by Kim Jong-pil, who drew much of the organizations initial 3, 000-strong membership from the KCIC. Kim, a Korean Military Academy graduate and nephew of Park Chung-hee by marriage, is credited for masterminding the 1961 coup detat that installed Park before he was elected president of Korea. The KCIA developed a reputation for interfering in politics and international affairs that were beyond its jurisdiction. In 1968 KCIA agents kidnapped seventeen Koreans living abroad in West Germany and they were transported back to Seoul, where they were tortured and brought up on charges of having violated the National Security Law by engaging in pro-Northern activities. The victims became a cause célèbre as the created a firestorm of international criticism that almost brought the Bonn government to break off diplomatic relations with South Korea. On the other hand, it is almost certain that West German authorities had been involved in the kidnappings, the KCIAs virtually unlimited and completely unchecked power to arrest and detain any person on any charge, created a climate of extreme fear and repression. Domestically, the KCIA made itself the philanthropical arm of the government by being a supporter of the arts, promoter of tourism. In 1979, Kim Jae-kyu, the director of many years, assassinated President Park Chung Hee, in the aftermath. The new director, Chun Doo-hwan, used his tenure from April to July 1980 to expand his power base beyond the military, the organization was renamed the Agency for National Security Planning in 1981, and its powers were redefined in presidential orders and legislation. The ANSP, like its predecessor, was a cabinet-level agency directly accountable to the president, the director of the ANSP continued to have direct presidential access. In March 1981, the ANSP was redesignated as the agency for collecting and processing all intelligence. The requirement for all agencies with intelligence-gathering and analysis functions in their charters to coordinate their activities with the ANSP was reaffirmed. By 1983 the ANSP had rebounded and again was the preeminent foreign, nevertheless, the ANSPs domestic powers were indeed curtailed under the Sixth Republic. Prior to the change, the ANSP had free access to all government offices and files, in May 1988, however, overt ANSP agents, along with agents of other intelligence agencies, were withdrawn from the National Assembly building
8.
2013 North Korean nuclear test
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On 12 February 2013, North Korean state media announced it had conducted an underground nuclear test, its third in seven years. In response, Japan summoned an emergency United Nations meeting for 12 February, on 12 February 2013, a spokesman for North Koreas army command said it had successfully conducted a third underground nuclear weapons test, according to the Yonhap. North Korea also said the test had used a nuclear device with greater explosive power. A large tremor, first estimated at magnitude of 4.9, was detected in North Korea, the USGS upgraded the magnitude of the possibly nuclear tremor from 4.9 to 5.1, located 24 kilometres east-northeast of Sungjibaegam, North Korea. The tremor occurred at 11, 57am KST, and the USGS said the hypocenter of the event was one kilometer deep. The China Earthquake Networks Center also reported this event, putting the magnitude at Ms 4.9, the tremor caused by the test could be felt by residents of the neighboring city of Hunchun and Antu, in Yanbian, Jilin Province, China. A citizen of Hyesan, Ryanggang Province of North Korea,80 km west from the nuclear test site, reported that many 5- and 7-floor buildings shook very severely, the explosion was registered by 94 seismic stations and two infrasound stations in the CTBTOs global monitoring system. The CTBTO radionuclide network later made a significant detection of noble gases that could be attributed to the nuclear test. South Koreas defense ministry said the event reading indicated a blast of 6–7 kilotons, the Korea Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources estimated the yield as 7. 7–7.8 kilotons while the Japanese put the estimation between 8 and 10 kilotons. Some experts estimate the yield to be up to 15 kilotons, the Russian Defence Ministry said the power of North Koreas nuclear test blast surpassed 7 kilotons. NORSAR compared the data from all three North Korean nuclear tests and estimated the yield of the 2013 test as approximately 10 kilotons. The Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, a geology research institute in Germany. However, this estimation has since revised to 14 kilotons of TNT after the January 2016 North Korean nuclear test was conducted. In comparison, the nuclear bombs dropped by the Enola Gay on Hiroshima. On 15 February 2013, North Korea had told China that they were preparing for one or two nuclear tests that year. On 8 April 2013, South Korea had observed activity at Punggye-ri and it was later believed that the tunneling activity that started in April was for a long-term project, and that a nuclear test wouldnt occur soon. According to a U. S. expert, North Korea has everything in place for an explosion but is hesitating due to the fear that it would anger China. A professor from Georgetown University predicted that test would occur in spring 2014 at latest, on 17 December 2013, a member of South Koreas parliamentary intelligence committee said that a nuclear and missile test would occur soon to draw attention away from the execution of Jang Sung-taek
9.
University of Science and Technology of China
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The University of Science and Technology of China is a national research university in Hefei, Anhui, China, under the direct leadership of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It is a member of the C9 League formed by nine top universities in China, founded in Beijing by the CAS in September 1958, it was moved to Hefei in the beginning of 1970 during the Cultural Revolution. USTC was founded with the mission of addressing urgent needs to improve Chinas economy, defense infrastructure and its core strength is scientific and technological research, and more recently has expanded into humanities and management with a strong scientific and engineering emphasis. In 2012 the Institute of Advanced Technology, University of Science, USTC was founded in Beijing by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in September 1958. The Director of CAS, Mr. Guo Moruo was appointed the first president of USTC, uSTCs founding mission was to develop a high-level science and technology workforce, as deemed critical for development of Chinas economy, defense, and science and technology education. The establishment was hailed as A Major Event in the History of Chinese Education, CAS has supported USTC by combining most of its institutes with the departments of the university. USTC is listed in the top 16 national key universities, becoming the youngest national key university, in 1969, USTC was moved to Hefei, the capital of Anhui province. USTC set up the first graduate school in China in 1978, the campus for graduate study in Hefei was established in 1986. Original campus for study in Beijing was later renamed the Graduate School of the CAS in 2001. In 1995, USTC was amongst the first batch of universities obtaining support through the National 9th Five-Year Plan, in 1999, USTC was singled out as one of the 9 universities enjoying priority support from the nations Plan of Vitalizing Education Action Geared to the 21st Century. Since September 2002, USTC has been implementing its Project 211 construction during the 10th National Development Plan, professor Zhou Guangzhao, USTC Honorary President, Chairman and Honorary Chairman of the China Association of Science and Technology, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It upholds the combination of science technology, teaching with research. In a short period, USTC has turned into a national key university of science and technology, with emphasis on the forefront of science and high. USTC also offers management studies involved with science and technology and the humanities, USTC is regarded by the Ministry of Science and Technology as one of the 4 universities with best scientific research performance in China. It ranks among the best in the review of Chinese top universities by the US journal Science, USTC offers 43 undergraduate specialties,17 first-category Ph. D. degree programs,89 second-category Ph. D. degree programs,105 second-category masters degree specialties. It becomes the key base for the education of the Ph. D. students within the CAS, USTC has three national research institutions and 6 key laboratories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It also has some key scientific research such as the CAS Research Center for Thermal Safety Engineering. There are more than 3600 faculty and staff numbers,46 CAS, the number of students accepting normal higher education at USTC totals around 13794,8243 undergraduate students,3873 masters degree students, and 1498 Ph. D. students among them
10.
2006 North Korean nuclear test
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The 2006 North Korean nuclear test was the detonation of a nuclear device conducted by North Korea on October 9,2006. On October 3,2006, North Korea announced its intention to conduct a nuclear test, the blast is generally estimated to have had an explosive force of less than one kiloton, and some radioactive output was detected. United States officials suggested the device may have been an explosive that misfired. An anonymous official at the North Korean Embassy in Beijing told a South Korean newspaper that the output was smaller than expected. A scientific paper later estimated the yield as 0.48 kilotons and it was reported that the government of the Peoples Republic of China was given a 20-minute advance warning that the test was about to occur. Eventually, North Koreas existing nuclear facilities were to be dismantled, however, in 2002, rumors circulated that North Korea was pursuing both uranium enrichment technology and plutonium reprocessing technologies in defiance of the Agreed Framework. North Korea later clarified that it did not possess weapons yet, in late 2002 and early 2003, North Korea began to take steps to eject International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors while re-routing spent fuel rods for plutonium reprocessing for weapons purposes. Throughout the course of 2003, North Korean and American officials exchanged harsh words, in early 2004 former Los Alamos National Laboratory director Siegfried S. Hecker, as part of an unofficial U. S. delegation, was allowed to inspect North Koreas plutonium production facilities. In 2007, the senior scientist of Pakistan, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan claimed that North Koreas nuclear program was well advanced before his visit in 1993 with Benazir Bhutto. In September 2004, though, North Korean officials announced they had successfully processed Yongbyon plutonium into a nuclear deterrent. Through 2005 more diplomatic talks were attempted between the United States, North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan, and Russia but little concrete change occurred. Because North Korea had not conducted a successful test of a nuclear device, as of 2013 there was agreement in the U. S. Rumours of an impending nuclear test circulated during 2005 and early 2006, though none came to immediate fruition. On October 3,2006, however, North Korea claimed that it would conduct a nuclear test, and on October 9,2006. On October 10,2006, an unnamed North Korean official was quoted as saying that North Korea could launch a nuclear missile unless the United States sits down for face-to-face talks. However, few, if any, military and defense experts believed that the North Koreans possessed the technology to mount a nuclear warhead to a ballistic missile. On October 11, the Associated Press reported that North Korea has threatened war if attempts are made to them through further sanctions. This statement occurred even as Japan moved to tighten sanctions on the country, South Korea said they were ensuring their troops were prepared for nuclear war. On October 20,2006, Kim Jong-il allegedly said that he was sorry over his countrys nuclear test, and wished to return to talk with the United Nations
11.
2009 North Korean nuclear test
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The 2009 North Korean nuclear test was the underground detonation of a nuclear device conducted on Monday, May 25,2009 by the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. This was its second nuclear test, the first test, a fizzle, following the nuclear test, Pyongyang also conducted several missile tests. A scientific paper later estimated the yield as 2.35 kilotons, the test was nearly universally condemned by the international community. Following the test, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1874 condemning the test and it was widely believed that the test was conducted as a result of a succession crisis in the country. After Kim Jong-Il suffered a stroke in the summer of 2008, arrangements were made for his son, Kim Jong-un. It is believed the North Koreans conducted the nuclear test to show that, even in a time of possible weakness, the launch was condemned by several nations, describing it as an intercontinental ballistic missile test. The state-run Korean Central News Agency released an announcement claiming, in part, South Korea and Japan reported seismic activity at 09,50 KST. The United States Geological Survey reported a magnitude 4, the Japan Meteorological Agency measured the seismic activity at magnitude 5.3. The Korea Institute of Geoscience & Mineral Resources reported seismic activity in the same area, the Russian Defence Ministry confirmed it had detected a nuclear detonation in North Korea and was analysing the data to determine the yield. Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences has registered underground nuclear explosion conducted in North Korea on May 25,2009, registration time of this explosion was 0,54 a. m. In China, tremors were felt in the prefecture of Yanbian, which borders North Korea, the test is believed to have taken place at Mantapsan in the vicinity of Punggyeri, which was the site of the nuclear test held in 2006. Analysts have generally agreed that the nuclear test was successful, despite uncertainty of the exact yield, the U. S. intelligence community assessed that North Korea probably had conducted a nuclear test with a yield of a few kilotons. The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization Preparatory Commission assessed the yield at only slightly larger than the 2006 test, russia placed the yield of the test significantly higher at 10 to 20 kilotons. This was approximately the yield of the Fat Man and Trinity bombs developed by the United States during World War II. However, the Russians had also estimated a far higher yield of 5 to 10 kilotons when other sources estimated a yield of 0.5 to 0.9 kilotons in the 2006 test as well. Defense Minister Lee Sang-Hee of South Korea said that data were needed. Analyst Martin Kalinowski at the University of Hamburg estimated the yield at being from 3 to 8 kilotons, hans M. Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists cautioned that early news media reports about a Hiroshima-size nuclear explosion seem to be overblown. The group concluded that the failed to detonate correctly
12.
Underground nuclear weapons testing
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Underground nuclear testing is the test detonation of nuclear weapons that is performed underground. When the device being tested is buried at sufficient depth, the explosion may be contained, the extreme heat and pressure of an underground nuclear explosion causes changes in the surrounding rock. The rock closest to the location of the test is vaporised, farther away, there are zones of crushed, cracked, and irreversibly strained rock. Following the explosion, the rock above the cavity may collapse, if this chimney reaches the surface, a bowl-shaped subsidence crater may form. From then until the signing of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in 1996, most nuclear tests were performed underground, although public concern about fallout from nuclear testing grew in the early 1950s, fallout was discovered after the Trinity test in 1945. Intense fallout from the 1953 Simon test was documented as far as Albany, the fallout from the March 1954 Bravo test in the Pacific would have scientific, political and social implications that have continued for more than 40 years. The multi-megaton test caused fallout to occur on the islands of the Rongerik and Rongelap atolls, prior to this test, there was insufficient appreciation of the dangers of fallout. The test became an international incident and it becomes a big issue in the media. Theyre very concerned about, first of all, why the United States even has the right to be carrying out those kinds of tests in the Pacific, theyre also concerned about the health and environmental impact. The Prime Minister of India voiced the heightened international concern when he called for the elimination of all nuclear testing worldwide, knowledge about fallout and its effects grew, and with it concern about the global environment and long-term genetic damage. Talks between the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, and the Soviet Union began in May 1955 on the subject of an agreement to end nuclear tests. Agreement was facilitated by the decision to allow underground testing, eliminating the need for on-site inspections that concerned the Soviets, following analysis of underwater detonations that were part of Operation Crossroads in 1946, inquiries were made regarding the possible military value of an underground explosion. The Joint Chiefs of Staff thus obtained the agreement of the Atomic Energy Commission to perform experiments on both surface and sub-surface detonations. The island of Amchitka was initially selected for tests in 1950, but the site was later deemed unsuitable. The first underground nuclear test was conducted on 29 November 1951 and this was the 1.2 kiloton Buster-Jangle Uncle, which detonated 5.2 m beneath ground level. The test was designed as an investigation of the effects of a 23 kiloton ground penetrating gun-type device that was then being considered for use as a cratering. The explosion resulted in a cloud that rose to 3,500 m, the resulting crater was 79 m wide and 16 m deep. The next underground test was Teapot Ess, on 23 March 1955, the 1 kiloton explosion was an operational test of an atomic demolition munition
13.
United States Geological Survey
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The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its resources. The organization has four science disciplines, concerning biology, geography, geology. The USGS is a research organization with no regulatory responsibility. The USGS is a bureau of the United States Department of the Interior, the USGS employs approximately 8,670 people and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia. The USGS also has major offices near Lakewood, Colorado, at the Denver Federal Center, the current motto of the USGS, in use since August 1997, is science for a changing world. The agencys previous slogan, adopted on the occasion of its anniversary, was Earth Science in the Public Service. Prompted by a report from the National Academy of Sciences, the USGS was created, by a last-minute amendment and it was charged with the classification of the public lands, and examination of the geological structure, mineral resources, and products of the national domain. This task was driven by the need to inventory the vast lands added to the United States by the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the legislation also provided that the Hayden, Powell, and Wheeler surveys be discontinued as of June 30,1879. Clarence King, the first director of USGS, assembled the new organization from disparate regional survey agencies, after a short tenure, King was succeeded in the directors chair by John Wesley Powell. Administratively, it is divided into a Headquarters unit and six Regional Units, Other specific programs include, Earthquake Hazards Program monitors earthquake activity worldwide. The National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colorado on the campus of the Colorado School of Mines detects the location, the USGS also runs or supports several regional monitoring networks in the United States under the umbrella of the Advanced National Seismic System. The USGS informs authorities, emergency responders, the media, and it also maintains long-term archives of earthquake data for scientific and engineering research. It also conducts and supports research on long-term seismic hazards, USGS has released the UCERF California earthquake forecast. The USGS National Geomagnetism Program monitors the magnetic field at magnetic observatories and distributes magnetometer data in real time, the USGS operates the streamgaging network for the United States, with over 7400 streamgages. Real-time streamflow data are available online, since 1962, the Astrogeology Research Program has been involved in global, lunar, and planetary exploration and mapping. USGS operates a number of related programs, notably the National Streamflow Information Program. USGS Water data is available from their National Water Information System database
14.
Nuclear weapon
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A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from small amounts of matter. The first test of a bomb released the same amount of energy as approximately 20,000 tons of TNT. The first thermonuclear bomb test released the same amount of energy as approximately 10 million tons of TNT, a thermonuclear weapon weighing little more than 2,400 pounds can produce an explosive force comparable to the detonation of more than 1.2 million tons of TNT. A nuclear device no larger than traditional bombs can devastate a city by blast, fire. Nuclear weapons are considered weapons of destruction, and their use. Nuclear weapons have been used twice in nuclear warfare, both times by the United States against Japan near the end of World War II, the bombings resulted in the deaths of approximately 200,000 civilians and military personnel from acute injuries sustained from the explosions. The ethics of the bombings and their role in Japans surrender remain the subject of scholarly, since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear weapons have been detonated on over two thousand occasions for the purposes of testing and demonstration. Only a few nations possess such weapons or are suspected of seeking them, israel is also believed to possess nuclear weapons, though in a policy of deliberate ambiguity, it does not acknowledge having them. Germany, Italy, Turkey, Belgium and the Netherlands are nuclear weapons sharing states, south Africa is the only country to have independently developed and then renounced and dismantled its nuclear weapons. Modernisation of weapons continues to occur, all existing nuclear weapons derive some of their explosive energy from nuclear fission reactions. Weapons whose explosive output is exclusively from fission reactions are commonly referred to as bombs or atom bombs. This has long noted as something of a misnomer, as their energy comes from the nucleus of the atom. The latter approach is considered more sophisticated than the former and only the approach can be used if the fissile material is plutonium. A major challenge in all nuclear weapon designs is to ensure that a significant fraction of the fuel is consumed before the weapon destroys itself. The amount of energy released by fission bombs can range from the equivalent of just under a ton to upwards of 500,000 tons of TNT, all fission reactions necessarily generate fission products, the radioactive remains of the atomic nuclei split by the fission reactions. Many fission products are highly radioactive or moderately radioactive. Fission products are the radioactive component of nuclear fallout
15.
Boosted fission weapon
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A boosted fission weapon usually refers to a type of nuclear bomb that uses a small amount of fusion fuel to increase the rate, and thus yield, of a fission reaction. The neutrons released by the fusion reactions add to the neutrons released due to fission, the rate of fission is thereby greatly increased such that much more of the fissile material is able to undergo fission before the core explosively disassembles. The fusion process itself adds only an amount of energy to the process. This type of bomb was referred to by Edward Teller as Alarm Clock, the idea of boosting was originally developed between late 1947 and late 1949 at Los Alamos. This would eliminate the need for a pusher and uranium tamper and the explosives needed to push them. In a fission bomb, the fuel is assembled quickly by a uniform spherical implosion created with conventional explosives. In this state, many of the released by the fissioning of a nucleus will induce fission of other nuclei in the fuel mass, also releasing additional neutrons. This is due to several reasons, Their high velocity creates the opposite of time absorption, when these energetic neutrons strike a fissile nucleus, a much larger number of secondary neutrons are released by the fission. The fission cross section is both in absolute terms, and in proportion to the scattering and capture cross sections. The energy released by the fusion of the 5 g of fusion fuel itself is only 1. 73% of the released by the fission of 1,338 g of plutonium. Larger total yields and higher efficiency are possible, since the reaction can continue beyond the second generation after fusion boosting. The combination of reduced weight in relation to yield and immunity to radiation has ensured that most modern weapons are fusion-boosted. The fusion reaction rate typically becomes significant at 20 to 30 megakelvins and this temperature is reached at very low efficiencies, when less than 1% of the fissile material has fissioned. Elimination of this hazard is an important advantage in using boosting. It appears that every weapon now in the U. S. arsenal is a boosted design, according to one weapons designer, boosting is mainly responsible for the remarkable 100-fold increase in the efficiency of fission weapons since 1945. Early thermonuclear weapon such as the Joe-4, the Soviet Layer Cake. These weapons had a core surrounded by a layer of lithium-6 deuteride. Some designs had several layers of these materials
16.
North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
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North Korea and weapons of mass destruction concerns North Korea, which declared in 2009 that it had developed a nuclear weapon, and possessed a small stockpile of relatively simple nuclear weapons. North Korea may also have a chemical weapon and/or biological weapons capability, since 2003, North Korea is no longer a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The nuclear program can be traced back to about 1962, when North Korea committed itself to what it called all-fortressization, in 1963, North Korea asked the Soviet Union for help in developing nuclear weapons, but was refused. The Soviet Union agreed to help North Korea develop a nuclear energy program. Later, China, after its nuclear tests, similarly rejected North Korean requests for help with developing nuclear weapons, in 1979 North Korea indigenously began to build in Yongbyon a second research reactor, an ore processing plant and a fuel rod fabrication plant. North Koreas nuclear weapons program dates back to the 1980s, in 1985 North Korea ratified the NPT, but did not conclude the required safeguards agreement with the IAEA until 1992. In early 1993, while verifying North Koreas initial declaration, the IAEA concluded that there was strong evidence this declaration was incomplete, when North Korea refused the requested special inspection, the IAEA reported its non-compliance to the UN Security Council. In 1993, North Korea announced its withdrawal from the NPT, under the 1994 Agreed Framework, the U. S. government agreed to facilitate the supply of two light water reactors to North Korea in exchange for North Korean disarmament. Such reactors are considered more proliferation-resistant than North Koreas graphite-moderated reactors, implementation of the Agreed Framework floundered, and in 2002 the Agreed Framework fell apart, with each side blaming the other for its failure. By 2002, Pakistan had admitted that North Korea had gained access to Pakistans nuclear technology in the late 1990s, on October 9,2006, North Korea announced it had successfully conducted its first nuclear test. An underground nuclear explosion was detected, its yield was estimated as less than a kiloton, on January 6,2007, the North Korean government further confirmed that it had nuclear weapons. In April 2009, reports surfaced that North Korea has become a fully fledged nuclear power, on May 25,2009, North Korea conducted a second nuclear test, resulting in an explosion estimated to be between 2 and 7 kilotons. The 2009 test, like the 2006 test, is believed to have occurred at Mantapsan, Kilju County, on February 11,2013, the U. S. Geological Survey detected a magnitude 5.1 seismic disturbance, reported to be a third underground nuclear test. North Korea has officially reported it as a nuclear test with a lighter warhead that delivers more force than before. Multiple South Korean sources estimate the yield at 6–9 kilotons, while the German Federal Institute for Geosciences, however, the German estimates has since revised to a yield equivalent of 14 kt when they published their estimations in 2016 Jan. On January 6,2016 in Korea, the United States Geological Survey detected a magnitude 5.1 seismic disturbance, North Korea claimed that this test involved a hydrogen bomb. This claim has not been verified, within hours, many nations and organizations had condemned the test. Expert U. S. analysts do not believe that a bomb was detonated
17.
1993 North Korean missile test
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A North Korean missile test occurred on May 29 and 30,1993. North Korea fired a Nodong-1 missile into the Sea of Japan, from a base in Hwadae County near Wonsan, the target was a buoy floating in the Sea of Japan. The North Koreans were testing the missile so they could export it to Iran in return for oil, japanese and United States officials waited a few days before disclosing the launch of the missile. Afterwards, North Korea reaffirmed its commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and it began in March 1993, with North Korea receiving several shipments of special metals designated for the construction of missile launch pads. Later, a Russian report indicated that North Korea was in the market for missile specialists in order to turn their missile production into a profitable venture. Russian officials were further incensed after detaining a group of Russian nuclear physicists, North Korea later pledged not to use Russian scientists and technicians, after being threatened with cut diplomatic ties by Russia. In January of that year, the commander of the Iranian Revolution Guard Corps, Mohsen Rezaee, around the same time, the Iranian delegation came to watch the final Nodong-1 tests and North Korea announced its withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It was suspected upon successful testing of the missiles, Iran intended to trade oil for the Nodong missiles, strategic Rocket Forces North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
18.
2006 North Korean missile test
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Two rounds of North Korean missile tests were conducted on July 5,2006. The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea reportedly fired at least seven separate missiles and these included one long-range Taepodong-2 missile and short-range Scud derived missiles including the enlarged Nodong missile. The Taepodong-2 was estimated by United States intelligence agencies as having a potential range reaching as far as Alaska, the country warned of stronger physical actions if it were put under pressure by the international community. On July 8, CNN reported that the U. S. had deployed the USS Mustin, a spokeswoman said that the deployment was not related to the test-firings, and it had been previously planned. It was also reported that two missiles landed in Russian territorial waters, only the Taepodong-2 was launched from Musudan-ri. The Scuds and Nodongs were launched from Gitdaeryung, Anbyun, the United States State Department has said that the Taepodong-2 missile failed in mid-air after about 42 seconds of flight and probably continued for 2 minutes in total. The first missile was launched Wednesday, July 5 at 03,33 KST, the first launches came minutes before the successful launch of Space Shuttle Discovery in Florida. Some have speculated that the missile tests were used as decoys to divert attention from the Taepodong-2 missile. The range of the missile was estimated to be 6000 km. East Asian stock markets were shaken by the launches, with investors expressing concerns that moves like this could lead to a conflict in the Southeast and East Asian areas. Crude oil prices have risen since the missile tests. The table below shows the time for all the seven missiles launched, of particular interest is the 4th launch, a Taepodong-2 rocket. Reports that the missile flew for only 42 seconds were contradicted by a report by South Koreas National Intelligence Service. They contended, according to a Chosun-Ilbo article published July 6,1 Reports of the 6th missile are disputed. Source, White House Press Briefing and Japanese Defense Agency and GlobalSecurity. org report 2 Russia claims that North Korea launched 10 missiles, see also U. S. North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003. Recently during Six-party talks North Korea agreed in principle to end its nuclear program as part of a comprehensive package of measures to normalize relationships. Diplomatic efforts at resolving the North Korean situation are complicated by the different goals, while none of the parties desires a North Korea with nuclear weapons, Japan and South Korea are very concerned about North Korean counterstrikes in case of military action against North Korea. China and South Korea are also worried about the economic
19.
2013 North Korean missile tests
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The following lists events that happened in 2013 in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. Premier, Choe Yong-rim, Pak Pong-ju Supreme Leader, Kim Jong-un January 1 – North Koreas leader Kim Jong-un makes a rare New Year broadcast, calling for an improved economy and a reunified Korea. January 22 – The United Nations Security Council passes Resolution 2087, condemning North Koreas December 2012 rocket launch, January 24 – North Korean authorities announce a new nuclear weapon and long-range missile test, threatening their publicly manifested arch-enemy, the United States, as their primary target. January 25 – North Korea threatens to take strong physical countermeasures if South Korea co-operates with new United Nations Security Council resolutions against it. January 29 – Google expands its Google Maps map data coverage of North Korea, updating what had been blank in most of that satellite images. January 31 – South Korean media reports claim that North Korea has been placed under martial law with another nuclear test considered to be imminent, February 12 – North Korea confirms that it has successfully tested a nuclear device, claiming that it is small enough to be weaponized. The South Korean officials report that an earthquake has occurred in North Korea suggesting that a nuclear test has occurred. The test was condemned internationally. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, condemned the test, North Korea tells China that it is prepared to stage one or even two more nuclear tests this year in an effort to force the United States into diplomatic talks. February 19 – North Korea threatens the destruction of South Korea during a United Nations conference on disarmament. March 7 –2013 North Korean nuclear test North Korea threatens its enemies with the possibility of a nuclear strike. The United Nations Security Council approves unanimously new sanctions against North Korea for its recent nuclear test. S. was unwilling to negotiate a treaty to replace the armistice. JoongAng Ilbo reported that American vessels equipped with weapons were participating in the exercise. March 8 – North Korea ends all peace pacts with South Korea, North Korean generals affirm they are aiming their long range missiles at the U. S. mainland in retaliation for the recently approved U. N. sanctions. The U. S. s GMD program uses land-based missiles to intercept incoming missiles in the midcourse phase of their flight. GMD is designed to defend against intercontinental ballistic missiles, admiral James A. Winnefeld, Jr. KN-08 missiles were first displayed on 16-wheel carrier trucks during a 2012 military parade, but there are doubts about their authenticity. In addition, Secretary Hagel said that the U. S. is planning to deploy an additional AN/TPY-2 radar and this second radar will provide improved early warning and tracking of any missile launched from North Korea at the U. S. or Japan. A first land-based AN/TPY-2 radar was positioned in northern Japan and has been operational since 2006, a second installation was scheduled to be emplaced in central Japan
20.
2017 North Korean missile tests
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On 12 February 2013, North Korean state media announced it had conducted an underground nuclear test, its third in seven years. In response, Japan summoned an emergency United Nations meeting for 12 February, on 12 February 2013, a spokesman for North Koreas army command said it had successfully conducted a third underground nuclear weapons test, according to the Yonhap. North Korea also said the test had used a nuclear device with greater explosive power. A large tremor, first estimated at magnitude of 4.9, was detected in North Korea, the USGS upgraded the magnitude of the possibly nuclear tremor from 4.9 to 5.1, located 24 kilometres east-northeast of Sungjibaegam, North Korea. The tremor occurred at 11, 57am KST, and the USGS said the hypocenter of the event was one kilometer deep. The China Earthquake Networks Center also reported this event, putting the magnitude at Ms 4.9, the tremor caused by the test could be felt by residents of the neighboring city of Hunchun and Antu, in Yanbian, Jilin Province, China. A citizen of Hyesan, Ryanggang Province of North Korea,80 km west from the nuclear test site, reported that many 5- and 7-floor buildings shook very severely, the explosion was registered by 94 seismic stations and two infrasound stations in the CTBTOs global monitoring system. The CTBTO radionuclide network later made a significant detection of noble gases that could be attributed to the nuclear test. South Koreas defense ministry said the event reading indicated a blast of 6–7 kilotons, the Korea Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources estimated the yield as 7. 7–7.8 kilotons while the Japanese put the estimation between 8 and 10 kilotons. Some experts estimate the yield to be up to 15 kilotons, the Russian Defence Ministry said the power of North Koreas nuclear test blast surpassed 7 kilotons. NORSAR compared the data from all three North Korean nuclear tests and estimated the yield of the 2013 test as approximately 10 kilotons. The Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, a geology research institute in Germany. However, this estimation has since revised to 14 kilotons of TNT after the January 2016 North Korean nuclear test was conducted. In comparison, the nuclear bombs dropped by the Enola Gay on Hiroshima. On 15 February 2013, North Korea had told China that they were preparing for one or two nuclear tests that year. On 8 April 2013, South Korea had observed activity at Punggye-ri and it was later believed that the tunneling activity that started in April was for a long-term project, and that a nuclear test wouldnt occur soon. According to a U. S. expert, North Korea has everything in place for an explosion but is hesitating due to the fear that it would anger China. A professor from Georgetown University predicted that test would occur in spring 2014 at latest, on 17 December 2013, a member of South Koreas parliamentary intelligence committee said that a nuclear and missile test would occur soon to draw attention away from the execution of Jang Sung-taek
21.
Korean People's Army
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The Korean Peoples Army constitutes the military force of North Korea and, under the Songun policy, the central institution of North Korean society. Kim Jong-un is the Supreme Commander of the Korean Peoples Army, the KPA defence force consists of five branches, Ground Force, the Navy, the Air Force, the Strategic Rocket Forces, and the Special Operation Force. The Worker-Peasant Red Guards also come under control of the KPA, the KPA faces its primary adversaries, the Republic of Korea Armed Forces and United States Forces Korea, across the Korean Demilitarized Zone, as it has since the Armistice Agreement of July 1953. As of 2016, with 5,889,000 paramilitary personnel and this number represents 25% of the population. North Korea officially dates the foundation of the KPA back to the establishment of Kim Il-sungs anti-Japanese guerrilla army, in 1978, Military Foundation Day was changed from 8 February to 25 April, the nominal day of establishment of this army in 1932. In 1939, the Korean Volunteer Army, was formed in Yanan, the two individuals responsible for the army were Kim Tu-bong and Mu Chong. At the same time, a school was established near Yanan for training military, by 1945, the KVA had grown to approximately 1,000 men, mostly Korean deserters from the Imperial Japanese Army. During this period, the KVA fought alongside the Chinese communist forces from which it drew its arms, by September 1945, the KVA had a 2,500 strong force at its disposal. The headquarters felt a need for a unit for security around railways. That unit was activated on 15 August of the year to supervise existing security forces. Military institutes such as the Pyongyang Academy and the Central Constabulary Academy soon followed for education of political, after the military was organized and facilities to educate its new recruits were constructed, the Constabulary Discipline Corps was reorganized into the Korean Peoples Army General Headquarters. The previously semi-official units became military regulars with distribution of Soviet uniforms, badges, the State Security Department, a forerunner to the Ministry of Peoples Defense, was created as part of the Interim Peoples Committee on 4 February 1948. In addition, the Ministry of State for the Peoples Armed Forces was established, before the outbreak of the Korean War, Joseph Stalin equipped the KPA with modern tanks, trucks, artillery, and small arms. On 4 November, China openly staged a military intervention, on 7 December, Kim Il-sung was deprived of the right of command of KPA by China. The KPA subsequently played a minor role to Chinese forces in the remainder of the conflict. By the time of the Armistice in 1953, the KPA had sustained 290,000 casualties, in 1953, the Military Armistice Commission was able to oversee and enforce the terms of the armistice. Soviet thinking on the scale was replaced since December 1962 with a peoples war concept. The Soviet idea of warfare was replaced with a Maoist war of attrition strategy
22.
Korean People's Army Strategic Force
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The Strategic Rocket Forces, also known as Missile Guidance Bureau is the strategic missile defence branch of North Korea. The SMF is an important division of the Korean Peoples Army that oversees North Koreas nuclear and it is mainly armed with surface-to-surface missiles of Soviet and Chinese design, as well as domestically developed long-range missiles. Some sources assert that North Korea had begun the production of rocket launchers in the early 1960s. In 1965, North Korea founded the Hamhŭng Military Academy to train North Korean defence personnel in rocket and missile research, by 1970, North Korea had procured surface-to-ship missiles and surface-to-air missiles from China. Pyongyang also sought assistance to establish its own independent sovereign missile defence development program, in September 1971, North Korea signed a defence agreement with China to procure, develop, and produce ballistic missiles. Around 1977 final details for bilateral cooperation grew when North Korean engineers participated in a joint development program for the DF-61, the DF-61 was ideally to be a liquid-fueled ballistic missile with a range of about 600 km and a 1,000 kg warhead. The program was cancelled in 1978 because of Chinese domestic political opinions, around this same time, Pyongyang was also seeking Soviet missiles and technology. The DPRK procured Soviet-made Scud-B ballistic missiles, the timing of the acquisition is unclear. One North Korean defector asserted that the Soviet Union provided about 20 Scud-Bs in 1972 and this claim has not been substantiated and is probably not credible. Just as North Korea was beginning to manufacture the Hwasŏng-5, Tehran approached Pyongyang in 1985 to purchase the missile for use in the “war of the cities” with Iraq. North Korea began to construct missile bases for the Hwasŏng-5 around 1985-86, the first Rodong deployments were in February 1995, even though the system only had two flight tests—one catastrophic failure and one successful flight at a reduced range. In 1999 different missile units, which were subordinate to the KPA Ground Force Artillery Command, were re-organized into a single missile force - the Missile Guidance Bureau. It would be only in 2012 when Kim Jong-un referred to the service as the Strategic Rocket Forces during his commemorative address honoring the year of Kim Il-sungs birth. The Strategic Rocket Forces is a branch of the KPA, and is subordinate to the supreme commander. Musudan-ri is a launching site in North Korea at 40°51′N. It lies in southern North Hamgyong province, near the tip of the East Korea Bay. The area was known as Taepo-dong, from which the Taepodong rockets take their name. Kittaeryŏng site is located in Kangwon province, which borders South Korea and it is used for launches of short to medium-range missiles and has a pad for mobile launchers
23.
Ryanggang explosion
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The Ryanggang explosion was a large explosion that took place in North Korea on 9 September 2004 in the northern province of Ryanggang. The nature and cause of the explosion is the subject of speculation. No neighboring nations have claimed any detection of radioactive isotopes characteristic of a nuclear explosion, the suspected explosion was located near Wŏltan Workers District in the county of Kimhyŏngjik in Ryanggang Province. This is in a region, about 1.5 km above sea level. The explosion was about 30 km from the border with China, the area contains several military installations, including munitions factories and a secret underground military base suspected to contain a uranium enrichment plant. Early reports said that activity had been detected early on 9 September 2004. Together these would indicate a large explosion, the date,9 September 2004, the 56th anniversary of the formation of North Korea, was taken as significant, North Korea has a history of making grand military gestures on significant dates. However, the reports have been contradicted by later reports denying that there was any explosion. The incident was not reported internationally until 12 September 2004, when the South Korean news agency Yonhap cited a source in Beijing, China, suspicion was raised by the fact that there was no mention of the explosion on internal North Korean media. The Ryongchon disaster earlier in 2004 was reported only several days after the event, there was immediate popular speculation that the explosion was nuclear in origin. United States Secretary of State Colin Powell said there was no indication that it was nuclear and it would be some days before the effects of a nuclear explosion would be unequivocally visible to apolitical authorities. North Korea initially denied that the explosion was nuclear, North Korea announced on 13 September 2004 that the British ambassador, David Slinn, would be permitted to visit the site. However, South Korea said the diplomats had been in the wrong place, North Korea was insisting on a delay before a fourth round of talks, citing recently revealed South Korean nuclear research programs. Since the initial days, there has been essentially no follow-up reporting in Western media, six-nation talks on the nuclear issue, which were due to resume, were instead suspended. As of this date, analysts believed North Korea had ruled out further talks until after the United States presidential election in November 2008, since then North Korea has conducted multiple nuclear weapons tests and made many threats of war on South Korea. As of April 2013, it is unlikely that North Korea will resume any disarmament talks until some time in the unforeseeable future, there has been a great deal of speculation on the nature of the incident. Hypotheses can be divided on several axes, things that could cause the physical phenomena observed, A large chemical explosive blast. The United States National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice, said maybe it was, the Yonhap news agency also quoted a source suggesting a forest fire
24.
Songun
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Songun is the military first policy of North Korea, prioritizing the Korean Peoples Army in the affairs of state and allocation of resources. Songun elevates the Korean Peoples Army within North Korea as an organization and as a function, granting it the primary position in the North Korean government. It guides domestic policy and international interactions and it is the framework for the government, designating the military as the supreme repository of power. The North Korean government grants the Korean Peoples Army the highest economic and resource-allocation priority, Songun is also the ideological concept behind a shift in policies since 1994 which emphasize the peoples military over all other aspects of state and society. The roots of Songun are traced to Kim Il-sungs activities during the struggle of the 1930s. The songun era began in 1960 when a young Kim Jong-il, together with his father Kim Il-sung and it was the first of Kim Jong-ils many visits to various Korean Peoples Army installations across North Korea. August 25 is now a holiday, the Day of Songun. Songun did not appear as a government policy until after Kim Il-sungs death in 1994. This was a shift from the governments previous guiding policy, Kim Il-sungs juche. By this point, the Peoples Army had also become synonymous with the people, the state, together, all of this indicates not only the centrality of Kim Jong-il to the songun ideology, but also its increasing rhetorical centrality to the state and society. Songun became a more prominent concept in January 1999, making its first appearance in the important New Years Day editorial published jointly by all the major news organs of North Korea. In foreign language publications, the translated term army-first substituted for Songun between 1999 and 2006, after which the Korean term has been used exclusively, in January 2003, the New Years editorial added military-first ideology to the pantheon of military-first concepts. In December 2003, the Essential Attributes of Military-First Politics was published as a new vision of the force of the revolution in the quasi-communist North Korea. It assigned the main force of the revolution to the Korean Peoples Army and this is a role that traditionally, in communist societies, is assigned to the proletariat or, in China, to the peasantry. For North Korea, however, only the army meets the criteria of loyalty, revolutionary spirit, cohesiveness, Songun has continued to expand in importance and is even now included in the ideological discussion of reunification with South Korea. The North Korean press stated, ongun politics is the guarantee that will secure the re-unification of the Fatherland, North Korea also credits songun with safeguarding the peace on the peninsula and claims that it is the only thing preventing the United States from attacking North Korea. Songun has become intrinsic to North Koreas domestic politics, foreign policy, a thirteenth wonder is reported to have been created in 2016. The first nine of these sites have been promoted by North Korean authorities and have become tourist destinations
25.
Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center
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The Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center is North Koreas major nuclear facility, operating its first nuclear reactors. It is located in the county of Nyŏngbyŏn in North Pyongan Province, the center produced the fissile material for North Koreas nuclear weapon tests in 2006 and 2009, and since 2009 is developing indigenous light water reactor nuclear power station technology. Magnox spent fuel is not designed for storage as both the casing and uranium metal core react with water, it is designed to be reprocessed within a few years of removal from a reactor. On 15 September 2015, North Korea announced that the reactor had resumed operation, the center also has an IRT-2000 pool-type research reactor, supplied by the Soviet Union in 1963, operational since 1965. The reactor fuel is IRT-2M type assemblies of 36% and 80% highly enriched uranium, as the center has not received fresh fuel since Soviet times, this reactor is now only run occasionally to produce iodine-131 for thyroid cancer radiation therapy. Construction of the 5 MWe experimental reactor began in 1980, and this reactor was an initial small technology proving reactor for a following development program of larger Magnox reactors. The spent nuclear fuel reprocessing facility appeared to still be under construction in 1992, the 5 MWe experimental reactor operated intermittently until 1994 when it was shut down in accordance with the U. S. -North Korea Agreed Framework. Following the breakdown of the Agreed Framework in 2002, operation restarted in February 2003, the reactor fuel was replaced between April and June 2005. This construction was being dismantled in 2010, another 200 MWe Magnox full-scale power reactor was being constructed at Taechon,20 km north-west of Yongbyon, until construction was also halted in 1994 in accord with the Agreed Framework. By 2005 reconstruction of this reactor was uneconomic, in return for this North Korea will receive emergency energy assistance from the other 5 parties in the form of 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil. International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors arrived at the site on 28 June to discuss verification and this had been delayed from April due to a dispute with the United States over Banco Delta Asia. On 3 June an anonymous South Korean government official indicated that the shutdown may start following the first oil shipment later in the month, on 14 July, Sean McCormack stated that North Korea had told the US that the reactor had been shut down. He added that the US welcomed the news, and was awaiting verification from the IAEA team, the next day, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei announced the UNs confirmation that the reactor had been shut down. On 18 July 2007, the IAEA confirmed that all five nuclear facilities at Yongbyon had been shut down, all fuel rods from the 5 MWe Experimental Nuclear Power Plant and nuclear material generated by the disabling of the Nuclear Fuel Fabrication Plant were under IAEA containment and surveillance. On Friday 27 June 2008, North Korea destroyed the most visible symbol of its weapons program – the cooling tower at its main atomic reactor in the complex. The implosion was witnessed by a number of journalists and diplomats. The United States paid the US$2.5 million demolition fee, during 2008 tensions resurfaced between North Korea and the U. S. due to disagreements over the six-party talks disarmament process. On 8 October 2008, IAEA inspectors were forbidden by the North Korean government to conduct inspections of the site
26.
United Nations Security Council
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The Security Council held its first session on 17 January 1946. Like the UN as a whole, the Security Council was created following World War II to address the failings of an international organization. The Security Council consists of fifteen members, the great powers that were the victors of World War II—the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, France, Republic of China, and the United States—serve as the bodys five permanent members. These permanent members can veto any substantive Security Council resolution, including those on the admission of new member states or candidates for Secretary-General, the Security Council also has 10 non-permanent members, elected on a regional basis to serve two-year terms. The bodys presidency rotates monthly among its members, Security Council resolutions are typically enforced by UN peacekeepers, military forces voluntarily provided by member states and funded independently of the main UN budget. As of 2016,103,510 peacekeeping soldiers and 16,471 civilians are deployed on 16 peacekeeping operations and 1 special political mission. Following the catastrophic loss of life in World War I, the Paris Peace Conference established the League of Nations to maintain harmony between the nations, the earliest concrete plan for a new world organization began under the aegis of the US State Department in 1939. The term United Nations was first officially used when 26 governments signed this Declaration, by 1 March 1945,21 additional states had signed. The most contentious issue at Dumbarton and in successive talks proved to be the rights of permanent members. At the conference, H. V. Evatt of the Australian delegation pushed to further restrict the power of Security Council permanent members. Due to the fear that rejecting the strong veto would cause the conferences failure, the UN officially came into existence on 24 October 1945 upon ratification of the Charter by the five then-permanent members of the Security Council and by a majority of the other 46 signatories. On 17 January 1946, the Security Council met for the first time at Church House, Westminster, in London, United Kingdom. The Security Council was largely paralysed in its early decades by the Cold War between the US and USSR and their allies, and the Council generally was only able to intervene in unrelated conflicts. Cold War divisions also paralysed the Security Councils Military Staff Committee, the committee continued to exist on paper but largely abandoned its work in the mid-1950s. By the 1970s, the UN budget for social and economic development was far greater than its budget for peacekeeping. After the Cold War, the UN saw an expansion in its peacekeeping duties. Between 1988 and 2000, the number of adopted Security Council resolutions more than doubled, undersecretary-General Brian Urquhart later described the hopes raised by these successes as a false renaissance for the organization, given the more troubled missions that followed. In 1994, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda failed to intervene in the Rwandan Genocide in the face of Security Council indecision, in the late 1990s, UN-authorised international interventions took a wider variety of forms
27.
Six-party talks
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The six-party talks aim to find a peaceful resolution to the security concerns as a result of the North Korean nuclear weapons program. Apparent gains following the fourth and fifth rounds were reversed by outside events, North Korea has also expelled all nuclear inspectors from the country. The main points of contention are, Security guarantee - this issue has been raised by North Korea since the Bush administration took office, North Korea labeled the Bush administration as hostile and accused it of planning to overthrow the North Korean government by force. This concern was elevated when President George W. Bush named North Korea as part of an axis of evil in his 2002 State of the Union Address and this agreement broke down after both sides defaulted, especially since 2002. Diplomatic relations - North Korea wants normalization of relations as part of the bargain for giving up its nuclear weapons program. The U. S. has at times disagreed and at times agreed to this condition, in addition, other parties such as China have taken actions such as the freezing of North Korean assets in foreign bank accounts, such as the US$24 million in Macaus Banco Delta Asia. With the nuclear test on October 9,2006, UNSCR1718 was passed and these funds have since been unfrozen by the US on March 19,2007 to reciprocate actions by their North Korean counterparts. The United States removed North Korea from its list of sponsors of terrorism in October 2008. Verifiable and Irreversible disarmament - Members of the six-party talks have disagreed on this, South Korea, China and Russia have agreed on a milder, step-by-step solution which involves the members of the six-party talks giving a certain reward in return for each step of nuclear disarmament. Agreement to hold the round of talks with full participation during the second quarter of 2004. S. Japan and North Korea will work to normalize relations, in accordance with the Pyongyang Statement by settling historical disputes, the other five Parties undertook to promote economic cooperation through strengthening bilateral/multilateral economic cooperation in energy, trade and investment. South Korea reaffirmed its proposal of 7/12/05 concerning the provision of 2 million kilowatts of electricity if the DPRK abandoned its nuclear arms program, the Korean Peninsula peace treaty to be negotiated separately. Words for words, actions for actions principle to be observed, Agreement to hold fifth round of talks in early November,2005. This is essentially the same as the previous statements, except for, Modifying the words for words and actions for actions principle to commitment for commitment. No agreement on when the talks will be held, though March 2006 looked likely at the time. In response, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1718 unanimously condemning North Korea, as well as passing Chapter VII, sanctions ranged from the economic to the trade of military units, WMD-related parts and technology transfer, and a ban on certain luxury goods. Both the Peoples Republic of China and the Russian Federation were quick to stress that these were not military-enforceable sanctions, on 31 October 2006, the Chinese government announced that six-party talks would resume. U. S. negotiator Christopher Hill later stated that the resumption could happen in the next month, the deadlock was broken by what BBC News called frantic behind-the-scenes negotiations by Beijing
28.
Chairman of the State Affairs Commission
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The post was first called as Chairman of the National Defence Commission of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. It was confirmed as the highest position in the country on 5 September 1998, the Supreme Peoples Assembly elects the Chairman for a period of five years. The election is held immediately subsequent to the election of a new Peoples Assembly, the past holder of the position was Kim Jong-il, who was elected on 9 April 1993, running unopposed, and was re-elected on 1998,2003 and 2009. He died on 17 December 2011, on 24 December 2011, the Politburo of the Workers Party of Korea formally appointed Kim Jong-un as the Supreme Commander of the Korean Peoples Army. There is debate as to whether highest office of state should be considered equivalent to head of state, Kim Il-sung, the first leader of North Korea, was declared Eternal President, but it appears that the office is a facet of his extensive cult of personality. However, a 2009 amendment to the countrys 1972 constitution named the Chairman of the National Defense Commission as the leader of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. This means the NDC chairman is the highest government official in the country, in reality, the chairman holds absolute authority in governing the country. Here are the duties and functions of the Chairman of the National Defense Commission as the leader of North Korea. At the 10th Supreme People’s Assembly, newly installed SPA President Kim Yong-nam spoke about the powers of the NDC Chairman, Central Military Commission of the Workers Party of Korea
29.
Kim Jong-un
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Kim Jong-un is the Chairman of the Workers Party of Korea and supreme leader of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, commonly referred to as North Korea. The People of Korea call him their Supreme Leader, Kim is the child of Kim Jong-il. Little is known for certain about Kim Jong-un, before taking power, he had barely been seen in public, and many of the activities of both Kim and his government remain shrouded in secrecy. Even details such as what year he was born, and whether he did indeed attend a Western school under a pseudonym, are difficult to confirm with certainty, Kim was officially declared the supreme leader following the state funeral of his father on 28 December 2011. Kim obtained two degrees, one in physics at Kim Il-sung University, and another as an Army officer at the Kim Il-sung Military University, on 9 March 2014, Kim Jong-un was elected unopposed to the Supreme Peoples Assembly. At 32 or 33 years of age, Kim is the first North Korean leader born after the countrys founding, Kim was named the Worlds 46th Most Powerful Person by the Forbes list of The Worlds Most Powerful People in 2013. Scarce information on Kim Jong-uns early life comes from North Korean defectors and people who have claimed to witness him abroad, such as during his school attendance in Switzerland. Some of the information has been conflicting and contradictory, perhaps confusing him with his brother, Kim Jong-chul, nevertheless, there has been some consensus on information about his early life. North Korean authorities have stated that his birthdate is 8 January 1982, former basketball star Dennis Rodman said that the birthdate is 8 January 1983 after meeting Kim in September 2013 in North Korea. According to reports first published in Japanese newspapers, he went to school in Switzerland near Bern, First reports claimed he attended the private English-language International School in Gümligen under the name Chol-pak or Pak-chol from 1993 to 1998. He was described as shy, a student who got along well with his classmates and was a basketball fan. He was chaperoned by a student, who was thought to be his bodyguard. He was described as a well-integrated and ambitious student who liked to play basketball, however, his grades and attendance rating are reported to have been poor. The ambassador of North Korea in Switzerland, Ri Chol, had a relationship with him. One of Pak-uns classmates told reporters that he had told him that he was the son of the leader of North Korea, one friend claimed that he had been shown pictures of Pak-un with Kobe Bryant and Toni Kukoč. In April 2012, new documents came to light indicating that Kim Jong-un had lived in Switzerland since 1991 or 1992, the head of the institute, Raoul Perrot, a forensic anthropologist, considers it most likely that the two pictures show the same person. It is believed that the student at the Gümligen International School may not have been Kim Jong-un and it is not known whether the student known as Pak-un in Liebefeld Steinhölzli lived in Switzerland prior to 1998. All the children of Kim Jong-il are said to have lived in Switzerland, Most analysts agree that Kim Jong-un attended Kim Il-sung University, a leading officer-training school in Pyongyang, from 2002 to 2007
30.
White House
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The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States, located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D. C. It has been the residence of every U. S. president since John Adams in 1800, the term White House is often used to refer to actions of the president and his advisers, as in The White House announced that. The residence was designed by Irish-born architect James Hoban in the Neoclassical style, construction took place between 1792 and 1800 using Aquia Creek sandstone painted white. When Thomas Jefferson moved into the house in 1801, he added low colonnades on each wing that concealed stables and storage. In 1814, during the War of 1812, the mansion was set ablaze by the British Army in the Burning of Washington, destroying the interior, reconstruction began almost immediately, and President James Monroe moved into the partially reconstructed Executive Residence in October 1817. Exterior construction continued with the addition of the semi-circular South portico in 1824, because of crowding within the executive mansion itself, President Theodore Roosevelt had all work offices relocated to the newly constructed West Wing in 1901. Eight years later in 1909, President William Howard Taft expanded the West Wing and created the first Oval Office, in the main mansion, the third-floor attic was converted to living quarters in 1927 by augmenting the existing hip roof with long shed dormers. A newly constructed East Wing was used as an area for social events. East Wing alterations were completed in 1946, creating additional office space, by 1948, the houses load-bearing exterior walls and internal wood beams were found to be close to failure. Under Harry S. Truman, the rooms were completely dismantled. Once this work was completed, the rooms were rebuilt. The Executive Residence is made up of six stories—the Ground Floor, State Floor, Second Floor, the property is a National Heritage Site owned by the National Park Service and is part of the Presidents Park. In 2007, it was ranked second on the American Institute of Architects list of Americas Favorite Architecture, in May 1790, New York began construction of Government House for his official residence, but he never occupied it. The national capital moved to Philadelphia in December 1790, the July 1790 Residence Act named Philadelphia, Pennsylvania the temporary national capital for a 10-year period while the Federal City was under construction. The City of Philadelphia rented Robert Morriss city house at 190 High Street for Washingtons presidential residence, the first president occupied the Market Street mansion from November 1790 to March 1797, and altered it in ways that may have influenced the design of the White House. As part of an effort to have Philadelphia named the permanent national capital, Pennsylvania built a much grander presidential mansion several blocks away. President John Adams also occupied the Market Street mansion from March 1797 to May 1800, on Saturday, November 1,1800, he became the first president to occupy the White House. The Presidents House in Philadelphia became a hotel and was demolished in 1832, the Presidents House was a major feature of Pierre Charles LEnfants plan for the newly established federal city, Washington, D. C
31.
Korean War
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The Korean War began when North Korea invaded South Korea. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal force, China came to the aid of North Korea, and the Soviet Union gave some assistance. Korea was ruled by Japan from 1910 until the days of World War II. In August 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, as a result of an agreement with the United States, U. S. forces subsequently moved into the south. By 1948, as a product of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, Korea was split into two regions, with separate governments, both governments claimed to be the legitimate government of all of Korea, and neither side accepted the border as permanent. The conflict escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces—supported by the Soviet Union, on that day, the United Nations Security Council recognized this North Korean act as invasion and called for an immediate ceasefire. On 27 June, the Security Council adopted S/RES/83, Complaint of aggression upon the Republic of Korea and decided the formation, twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force, with the United States providing 88% of the UNs military personnel. After the first two months of war, South Korean forces were on the point of defeat, forced back to the Pusan Perimeter, in September 1950, an amphibious UN counter-offensive was launched at Inchon, and cut off many North Korean troops. Those who escaped envelopment and capture were rapidly forced back north all the way to the border with China at the Yalu River, at this point, in October 1950, Chinese forces crossed the Yalu and entered the war. Chinese intervention triggered a retreat of UN forces which continued until mid-1951, after these reversals of fortune, which saw Seoul change hands four times, the last two years of fighting became a war of attrition, with the front line close to the 38th parallel. The war in the air, however, was never a stalemate, North Korea was subject to a massive bombing campaign. Jet fighters confronted each other in combat for the first time in history. The fighting ended on 27 July 1953, when an armistice was signed, the agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone to separate North and South Korea, and allowed the return of prisoners. However, no treaty has been signed, and the two Koreas are technically still at war. Periodic clashes, many of which are deadly, continue to the present, in the U. S. the war was initially described by President Harry S. Truman as a police action as it was an undeclared military action, conducted under the auspices of the United Nations. In South Korea, the war is referred to as 625 or the 6–2–5 Upheaval. In North Korea, the war is referred to as the Fatherland Liberation War or alternatively the Chosǒn War. In China, the war is called the War to Resist U. S
32.
New Year's Day
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New Years Day, also called simply New Years or New Year, is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar. In pre-Christian Rome under the Julian calendar, the day was dedicated to Janus, god of gateways and beginnings, other global New Years Day traditions include making New Years resolutions and calling ones friends and family. Mesopotamia instituted the concept of celebrating the new year in 2000 BC, celebrated new year around the time of the vernal equinox, the early Roman calendar designated March 1 as the new year. The calendar had just ten months, beginning with March and that the new year once began with the month of March is still reflected in some of the names of the months. September through December, our ninth through twelfth months, were positioned as the seventh through tenth months. Roman legend usually credited their second king Numa with the establishment of the months of January and February and these were first placed at the end of the year, but at some point came to be considered the first two months instead. The January Kalends came to be celebrated as the new year at some point after it became the day for the new consuls in 153 BC. Romans had long dated their years by these consulships, rather than sequentially, still, private and religious celebrations around the March new year continued for some time and there is no consensus on the question of the timing for January 1s new status. Once it became the new year, however, it became a time for family gatherings, in AD567, the Council of Tours formally abolished January 1 as the beginning of the year. These days were also astronomically and astrologically significant since, at the time of the Julian reform, March 25 had been understood as the spring equinox and December 25 as the winter solstice. Medieval calendars nonetheless often continued to display the months running from January to December, among the 7th century pagans of Flanders and the Netherlands, it was the custom to exchange gifts on the first day of the new year. This custom was deplored by Saint Eligius, who warned the Flemish and Dutch, make vetulas, little deer or iotticos or set tables at night or exchange New Year gifts or supply superfluous drinks. Because of the leap year error in the Julian calendar, the date of Easter had drifted backward since the First Council of Nicaea decided the computation of the date of Easter in 325, by the sixteenth century, the drift from the observed equinox had become unacceptable. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII declared the Gregorian calendar widely used today, the Gregorian calendar reform also restored January 1 as New Years Day. Although most Catholic countries adopted the Gregorian calendar almost immediately, it was gradually adopted among Protestant countries. The British, for example, did not adopt the reformed calendar until 1752, until then, the British Empire – and its American colonies – still celebrated the new year on 25 March. Most nations of Western Europe officially adopted 1 January as New Years Day somewhat before they adopted the Gregorian Calendar, in Tudor England, New Years Day, along with Christmas Day and Twelfth Night, was celebrated as one of three main festivities among the twelve days of Christmastide. There, until the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar in 1752, Pope Gregory acknowledged 1 January as the beginning of the new year according to his reform of the Catholic Liturgical Calendar
33.
Korean Central Television
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Korean Central Television is a television service operated by the Korean Central Broadcasting Committee, a state-owned broadcaster in North Korea. KCTV is the official source of television news for North Koreans. KCTV was established on 1 September 1953 as Pyongyang Broadcasting Network after the Korean War ended, Kim Il-sung personally envisioned that the time was ripe for television broadcasting in North Korea, but this was not yet to happen. Thus, the PBN began an 8-year period of preparation for commencement of television broadcasts, PBN was renamed as Central Broadcasting Television System in 1961, and conducted on 1 September the same year its first test broadcasts. The network carried live the proceedings of the 5th Workers Party of Korea Congress held on 1 October 1970. The Central Broadcasting Television System would later be renamed Korean Central Television and was relaunched at 17,00 local time on 3 January 1973. The broadcasting hours were only on weekdays and closed on weekends, KCTV was the first live colour television channel to broadcast the New Years Eve in colour on 31 December 1974, and in 1975 began weekend broadcasts as well. KCTV started their full-time colour broadcasts on 1 September 1977, the first broadcast received by media telecommunication on satellite television was the 22nd Summer Olympic Games on 19 July 1980. KCTV started broadcasting on national holidays on 1 March 1981, on national holidays, the broadcasting time of each station is the same as weekends save for major ones. The channel was the official host broadcaster of the 1989 13th World Festival of Youth, on 19 January 2015, KCTV started high-definition television broadcasting via digital satellite as part of its modernization of the network. Nowadays, the KCTV broadcasts only 8 hours each day from 14,30 hours until between 22,40 PYT daily, and 14 hours from 08,30 to 22,40 PYT on Saturdays to Sundays and key national holidays. There is another exception, for the events in North Korea at night or daytime. The station is open until that event becomes normal, the stations output is dominated by propaganda programming focusing on the history and achievements of the ruling Korean Workers Party, the Korean Peoples Army and Kim Jong-un. Other program topics such as health and education are also aired, locally produced feature films, childrens programmes, and patriotic musical shows and filmed theatre shows are also shown on the networks. On national holidays, military parades, musical performances and movies, newscasters must strongly project their voices when on air. Newscasts start typically with a red or blue slide, followed by a slow fade to the anchor. The set has the background of Pyongyang with the Taedong river and this technological advancement allows live reportages, though it has not been used for that purpose. North Korean newscasts were known for being melodramatic
34.
Korean Central News Agency
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The Korean Central News Agency is the state news agency of North Korea that was established on December 5,1946. The agency portrays the views of the North Korean government for foreign consumption, in December 1996, KCNA began publishing its news articles on the Internet with its web server located in Japan. In addition to Korean, KCNA releases news articles in English, Russian, access to its website, along with other North Korean news sites, has been blocked by South Korea since 2004 and can be accessed only through the governments authorization. As well as serving as an agency, it is also alleged to conduct clandestine intelligence collection. In 2004, the agency had employed 2,000 people, according to its website, KCNA speaks for the Workers Party of Korea and the DPRK government. The agency has been described as the official organ, however, the agency is also said to offer a unique insight into the North Korean mentality. It must pay attention to each word, to each dot of the writings it releases because they express the standpoint of our Party. Nonetheless, it has on occasion acknowledged food shortages in the country, the Ryongchon disaster was also reported in April 2004, after a delay of two days. KCNA articles generally revolve on several themes, Detailing performances of cultural events. Decrying the actions and attitudes of the United States, Japan, South Korea and other nations, particularly concerning military cooperation, personal attacks on American, Japanese and South Korean leaders are not unknown. Airing the official DPRK position on ongoing disputes with Japan over such matters as Chongryon, noting the celebration of DPRK events and ideas in other countries. Calling for the reunification of Korea under the Juche idea, promoting the personality cults of Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-sung. Such instances would detail the daily routines of the leaders, or praise from friendly organisations in other countries, communications, visits and gifts to and from various like-minded or friendly nations. Regarding the number of gifts, KCNA claimed that former leader Kim Il-sung receives 2,910 a year,243 a month and 8 a day. New technological developments, such as a agent for the Kimjongilia flower. Emphasizing the names of Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, and Kim Jong-un by enlarging their names on the text, references to institutes, groups or centres for the study of the Juche idea. For example, a KCNA report from June 12,2011 claimed that The Brazilian Center for the Study of the Juche Idea was inaugurated with due ceremony at Sao Paulo University on June 4. The article also refers to a chairman, but this supposed event was not reported by a source other than KCNA as of the date of the article
35.
Saddam Hussein
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Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. In the early 1970s, Saddam nationalized oil and other industries, the state-owned banks were put under his control, leaving the system eventually insolvent mostly due to the Iran–Iraq War, the Gulf War, and UN sanctions. Through the 1970s, Saddam cemented his authority over the apparatuses of government as oil money helped Iraqs economy to grow at a rapid pace, positions of power in the country were mostly filled with Sunni Arabs, a minority that made up only a fifth of the population. Saddam formally rose to power in 1979, although he had been the de facto head of Iraq for several years prior. He suppressed several movements, particularly Shia and Kurdish movements, seeking to overthrow the government or gain independence, and maintained power during the Iran–Iraq War and the Gulf War. Whereas some in the Arab world lauded Saddam for his opposition to the United States, the total number of Iraqis killed by the security services of Saddams government in various purges and genocides is unknown, but the lowest estimate is 250,000. Saddams Baath party was disbanded and elections were held, following his capture on 13 December 2003, the trial of Saddam took place under the Iraqi Interim Government. On 5 November 2006, Saddam was convicted of charges of crimes against humanity related to the 1982 killing of 148 Iraqi Shiites and his execution was carried out on 30 December 2006. His mother, Subha Tulfah al-Mussallat, named her newborn son Saddam and he is always referred to by this personal name, which may be followed by the patronymic and other elements. He never knew his father, Hussein Abd al-Majid, who disappeared six months before Saddam was born, shortly afterward, Saddams 13-year-old brother died of cancer. The infant Saddam was sent to the family of his maternal uncle Khairallah Talfah until he was three and his mother remarried, and Saddam gained three half-brothers through this marriage. His stepfather, Ibrahim al-Hassan, treated Saddam harshly after his return, at about age 10, Saddam fled the family and returned to live in Baghdad with his uncle Kharaillah Talfah. Later in his relatives from his native Tikrit became some of his closest advisors and supporters. Under the guidance of his uncle he attended a high school in Baghdad. After secondary school Saddam studied at an Iraqi law school for three years, dropping out in 1957 at the age of 20 to join the revolutionary pan-Arab Baath Party, during this time, Saddam apparently supported himself as a secondary school teacher. Revolutionary sentiment was characteristic of the era in Iraq and throughout the Middle East, in Iraq progressives and socialists assailed traditional political elites. Moreover, the nationalism of Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt profoundly influenced young Baathists like Saddam. The rise of Nasser foreshadowed a wave of revolutions throughout the Middle East in the 1950s and 1960s, with the collapse of the monarchies of Iraq, Egypt, and Libya
36.
Muammar Gaddafi
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Muammar Mohammed Abu Minyar Gaddafi, commonly known as Colonel Gaddafi, was a Libyan revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He governed Libya as Revolutionary Chairman of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and he was initially ideologically committed to Arab nationalism and Arab socialism, but he came to rule according to his own Third International Theory. Gaddafi was born near Sirte to an impoverished Bedouin family and he became an Arab nationalist while at school in Sabha, later enrolling in the Royal Military Academy, Benghazi. Within the military he founded a cell which, in a 1969 coup. Now in power, Gaddafi converted Libya into a republic governed by his Revolutionary Command Council, an Islamic modernist, he introduced sharia as the basis for the legal system and promoted Islamic socialism. In 1973, he initiated a Popular Revolution with the formation of General Peoples Committees, purported to be a system of direct democracy and he outlined his Third International Theory that year, publishing these ideas in The Green Book. In 1977, Gaddafi transformed Libya into a new socialist state called the Jamahiriya, officially he adopted a symbolic role in governance but remained head of both the military and the Revolutionary Committees responsible for policing and suppressing dissent. A particularly hostile relationship developed with the United States, United Kingdom, from 1999, Gaddafi rejected Arab socialism and encouraged economic privatisation, rapprochement with Western nations, and Pan-Africanism, he was Chairperson of the African Union from 2009–10. Amid the 2011 Arab Spring, protests against widespread corruption and unemployment broke out in eastern Libya, the situation descended into civil war, in which NATO intervened militarily on the side of the anti-Gaddafist National Transitional Council. The government was overthrown and Gaddafi, who had retreated to Sirte, was captured and killed by NTC militants, a highly divisive figure, Gaddafi dominated Libyas politics for four decades and was the subject of a pervasive cult of personality. Muammar Mohammed Abu Minyar Gaddafi was born in a tent near Qasr Abu Hadi and his family came from a small, relatively un-influential tribal group called the Qadhadhfa, who were Arabized Berber in heritage. His mother was named Aisha, and his father, Mohammad Abdul Salam bin Hamed bin Mohammad, was known as Abu Meniar, nomadic Bedouins, they were illiterate and kept no birth records. His parents only surviving son, he had three older sisters, Gaddafis upbringing in Bedouin culture influenced his personal tastes for the rest of his life, he preferred the desert over the city and would retreat there to meditate. According to later claims, Gaddafis paternal grandfather, Abdessalam Bouminyar, was killed by the Italian Army during the Italian invasion of 1911, at World War IIs end in 1945, Libya was occupied by British and French forces. Although Britain and France intended on dividing the nation between their empires, the General Assembly of the United Nations declared that the country be granted political independence. In 1951, the UN created the United Kingdom of Libya, a state under the leadership of a pro-Western monarch, Idris. Gaddafis earliest education was of a nature, imparted by a local Islamic teacher. Subsequently moving to nearby Sirte to attend school, he progressed through six grades in four years
37.
Kim Il-sung
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Kim Il-sung was the supreme leader of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, commonly referred to as North Korea, for 46 years, from its establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of Prime Minister from 1948 to 1972 and he was also the leader of the Workers Party of Korea from 1949 to 1994. Coming to power after the overthrow of Japanese rule in 1945, he authorized the invasion of South Korea in 1950, a cease-fire in the Korean War was signed on 27 July 1953. Under his leadership, North Korea became a workers state with a publicly owned planned economy. It had close political and economic relations with the Soviet Union, by the 1960s and 1970s, North Korea enjoyed a relatively high standard of living, outperforming the South, which was riddled with political instability and economic crises. Despite this, the country still received massive funds, subsidies, during this period, the DPRK also remained critical of capitalism and the United States, seizing the American ship USS Pueblo in 1968. A cult of personality around Kim Il-sung came to domestic politics. His birthday is a holiday in North Korea and is called the Day of the Sun. Controversy surrounds Kims life before the founding of North Korea, with some sources labeling him an impostor, several sources indicate that the name Kim Il-sung had previously been used by a prominent early leader of the Korean resistance, Kim Kyung-cheon. The Soviet officer Grigory Mekler, who worked with Kim during the Soviet occupation, however, historian Andrei Lankov has argued that this is unlikely to be true. Several witnesses knew Kim before and after his time in the Soviet Union, including his superior, Zhou Baozhong, historian Bruce Cumings pointed out that Japanese officers from the Kwantung Army have attested to his fame as a resistance figure. Historians generally accept that, while Kims exploits were exaggerated by the personality cult that was built around him, Kims family is said to have originated from Jeonju, North Jeolla Province. His great-grandfather, Kim Ung-u, settled in Mangyong-dae in 1860, Kim is reported to have been born in the small village of Mangyungbong near Pyongyang on 15 April 1912. Born to Kim Hyŏng-jik and Kang Pan-sŏk, who gave him the name Kim Sŏng-ju, according to Kim, his family was not very poor, but was always a step away from poverty. According to the version, Kim’s family participated in anti-Japanese activities. Like most Korean families, they resented the Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula, another view seems to be that his family settled in Manchuria, as many Koreans had at the time to escape famine. Nonetheless, Kims parents, especially Kims mother Kang Ban Suk and their exact involvement — whether their cause was missionary, nationalist, or both — is unclear nevertheless. Still, Japanese repression of opposition was brutal, resulting in the arrest and this repression forced many Korean families to flee Korea and settle in Manchuria
38.
Kim Jong-il
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Kim Jong-il was the supreme leader of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, commonly referred to as North Korea, from 1994 to 2011. By the early 1980s Kim had become the heir apparent for the leadership of the country and assumed important posts in the party and he succeeded his father and founder of the DPRK, Kim Il-sung, following the elder Kims death in 1994. Kims leadership is thought to have even more authoritarian than his fathers. During Kims regime, the country suffered from famine, partially due to economic mismanagement, Kim involved his country in state terrorism and strengthened the role of the military by his Songun, or military-first, politics. Kims rule also saw tentative economic reforms, including the opening of the Kaesong Industrial Park in 2003, in April 2009, North Koreas constitution was amended to officially refer to him as the supreme leader of the DPRK. The most common title given to him during his reign was The Dear Leader to distinguish him from his father Kim Il-sung. Following Kims failure to appear at important public events in 2008, Kim Jong-ils mother, Kim Jong-suk, was Kim Il-sungs first wife. Inside his family, he was nicknamed Yura, while his younger brother Kim Man-il was nicknamed Shura, however, Kim Jong-ils official biography states he was born in a secret military camp on Paektu Mountain in Japanese-occupied Korea on 16 February 1942. According to one comrade of Kims mother, Lee Min, word of Kims birth first reached a camp in Vyatskoye via radio. In 1945, Kim was four years old when World War II ended and his father returned to Pyongyang that September, and in late November Kim returned to Korea via a Soviet ship, landing at Sonbong. The family moved into a former Japanese officers mansion in Pyongyang, with a garden, Kim Jong-ils brother drowned there in 1948. Reports indicate that his mother died in childbirth in 1949, according to his official biography, Kim completed the course of general education between September 1950 and August 1960. He attended Primary School No.4 and Middle School No.1 in Pyongyang. This is contested by academics, who believe he is more likely to have received his early education in the Peoples Republic of China as a precaution to ensure his safety during the Korean War. Throughout his schooling, Kim was involved in politics and he was active in the Korean Childrens Union and the Democratic Youth League of North Korea, taking part in study groups of Marxist political theory and other literature. In September 1957 he became vice-chairman of his middle schools DYL branch and he pursued a programme of anti-factionalism and attempted to encourage greater ideological education among his classmates. Kim is also said to have received English language education at the University of Malta in the early 1970s, the elder Kim had meanwhile remarried and had another son, Kim Pyong-il. Since 1988, Kim Pyong-il has served in a series of North Korean embassies in Europe and was the North Korean ambassador to Poland, foreign commentators suspect that Kim Pyong-il was sent to these distant posts by his father in order to avoid a power struggle between his two sons
39.
TNT equivalent
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TNT equivalent is a convention for expressing energy, typically used to describe the energy released in an explosion. The ton of TNT is a unit of energy defined by convention to be 4.184 gigajoules. The convention intends to compare the destructiveness of an event with that of conventional explosives, the kiloton is a unit of energy equal to 4.184 terajoules. The megaton is a unit of equal to 4.184 petajoules. The kiloton and megaton of TNT have traditionally used to describe the energy output. The TNT equivalent appears in various nuclear weapon control treaties, and has used to characterize the energy released in such other highly destructive events as an asteroid impact. A gram of TNT releases 2673–6702 J upon explosion, the energy liberated by one gram of TNT was arbitrarily defined as a matter of convention to be 4184 J, which is exactly one kilocalorie. The measured, pure heat output of a gram of TNT is only 2724 J, alternative TNT equivalency can be calculated as a function of when in the detonation the value is measured and which property is being compared. A kiloton of TNT can be visualized as a cube of TNT8.46 metres on a side, the RE factor is the relative mass of TNT to which an explosive is equivalent, the greater the RE, the more powerful the explosive. This enables engineers to determine the proper masses of different explosives when applying blasting formulas developed specifically for TNT. For example, if a timber-cutting formula calls for a charge of 1 kg of TNT, then based on octanitrocubanes RE factor of 2.38, using PETN, engineers would need 1. 0/1.66 kg to obtain the same effects as 1 kg of TNT. With ANFO or ammonium nitrate, they would require 1. 0/0.74 kg or 1. 0/0.42 kg, *, TBX or EBX, in a small, confined space, may have over twice the power of destruction. The total power of aluminized mixtures strictly depends on the condition of explosions, guide for the Use of the International System of Units. National Institute of Standards and Technology, nuclear Weapons FAQ Part 1.3 Rhodes, Richard. The Making of the Atomic Bomb, cooper, Paul W. Explosives Engineering, New York, Wiley-VCH, ISBN 0-471-18636-8 HQ Department of the Army, Field Manual 5-25, Explosives and Demolitions, Washington, D. C. Pentagon Publishing, pp. 83–84, ISBN 0-9759009-5-1 Explosives - Compositions, Alexandria, VA, thermobaric Explosives, Advanced Energetic Materials,2004. THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS, nap. edu, retrieved September 2004
40.
Granite
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Granite is a common type of felsic intrusive igneous rock that is granular and phaneritic in texture. Granites can be white, pink, or gray in color. The word granite comes from the Latin granum, a grain, in reference to the structure of such a holocrystalline rock. By definition, granite is a rock with at least 20% quartz. The term granitic means granite-like and is applied to granite and a group of igneous rocks with similar textures and slight variations in composition. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a texture is known as a granite porphyry. Granitoid is a general, descriptive field term for lighter-colored, coarse-grained igneous rocks, petrographic examination is required for identification of specific types of granitoids. The extrusive igneous rock equivalent of granite is rhyolite, Granite is nearly always massive, hard and tough, and therefore it has gained widespread use throughout human history, and more recently as a construction stone. The average density of granite is between 2.65 and 2.75 g/cm3, its compressive strength usually lies above 200 MPa, and its viscosity near STP is 3–6 •1019 Pa·s. The melting temperature of dry granite at ambient pressure is 1215–1260 °C, it is reduced in the presence of water. Granite has poor primary permeability, but strong secondary permeability, true granite according to modern petrologic convention contains both plagioclase and alkali feldspars. When a granitoid is devoid or nearly devoid of plagioclase, the rock is referred to as alkali feldspar granite, when a granitoid contains less than 10% orthoclase, it is called tonalite, pyroxene and amphibole are common in tonalite. A granite containing both muscovite and biotite micas is called a binary or two-mica granite, two-mica granites are typically high in potassium and low in plagioclase, and are usually S-type granites or A-type granites. A worldwide average of the composition of granite, by weight percent, based on 2485 analyses. Much of it was intruded during the Precambrian age, it is the most abundant basement rock that underlies the relatively thin veneer of the continents. Outcrops of granite tend to form tors and rounded massifs, granites sometimes occur in circular depressions surrounded by a range of hills, formed by the metamorphic aureole or hornfels. Granite often occurs as small, less than 100 km² stock masses
