Wing in Ground: Is WiGgy Coming Back?

Soviet WiG Plane

About 9 years ago, I had a post about Wing in Ground aircraft, Going WiGgy which was a look at the fearsome Soviet Wing in Ground planes of the old days.

WingShip photo

Now it appears a South Korean company WingShip Technology Corp. is looking to revive the concept in a big way. According to The Economist, things are moving right along despite the sad history of previous failures in WiG:

But hope springs eternal, and the Wing Ship Technology Corporation, a South Korean company, is trying to revive the idea. The country’s armed forces have already agreed to buy some and the firm says it hopes to announce its first commercial sales (to an oil-and-gas firm and a Mediterranean ferry company) shortly.

Corporate video:



WingShip suggests a number of uses for their design here, including military:

Similar to development and operation of previous WIG crafts for military purpose by Soviet Union, WSH series is considerably attractive in military market. She could be used for special purpose because it’s hard to detect her during operation.

Hmmm.

North Korea: Overthrow or Just "Health Issues" at the Top?

When dictators go missing, rumors fly, as reported by North Korea News in September: Kim Jong Un a virtual no-show: Kim’s absence, continuing position changes lead to uncertainty and speculation about the regime:

As of October 3, North Korea’s Supreme Leader

KJU in the land of the funny hats and haircuts

Kim Jong Un has officially been missing from public view for 30 days, his longest absence ever. This has, as expected, led to many questions and speculation about what’s happened to Kim and what it means for the regime in Pyongyang.
***
It didn’t take long for observers to notice the unusual lack of state media appearances by Kim and, consequently, to begin questioning it. A rumor soon spread that Kim, who allegedly developed a fondness for Swiss Ementaller cheese while studying abroad there, had imported large quantities to North Korea for his own personal consumption. Kim was also seen sporting a limp since July. This, combined with his physical size, smoking habit, and rumored love of cheese, has led to speculation that Kim may be afflicted with gout, which often causes pain in the joints of the feet and ankles.

Pyongyang did, uncharacteristically, publicly announce that Kim was indeed suffering from health problems, but they provided no details. North Korea later denied rumors that Kim underwent ankle surgery.

This situation has additionally led to speculation about who is currently in charge in Pyongyang and whether or not there will be any major change in the structure of the regime. The Seoul-based think tank North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity (NKIS) suggested that Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un’s younger sister, may presently be responsible for running the regime while her brother is being treated for his health problems.

More on why this "known unknown" is a bad thing at The National Interest After Kim: Why the Mystery Surrounding North Korea is a Very Bad Thing:

Today, talk is rife that North Korea’s Kim Jong-un might be about to undergo the same fate as Khrushchev. To be sure, experts downplay the likelihood that Kim has been or will be overthrown. Yet the recent flurry of conjecture about North Korea’s future only highlights the extent to which outsiders do not know what takes place along Pyongyang’s corridors of power. The level of uncertainty is far beyond even that which characterized U.S.-Soviet relations during the Cold War and makes it almost impossible for the United States, South Korea and others to develop judicious policies for handling the infamously volatile North Korean regime.

Hope the ROK is on alert.

Yes, even with the new agreements to talk with the NORKs, South and North Korea Agree to New Talks:

South and North Korea agreed on Saturday to resume high-level talks this year, raising hopes for a thaw in the long-tense relations on the divided Korean Peninsula.
***
The North Korean delegation’s visit and the agreement to resume talks were all the more unexpected, given the North’s recent vitriol toward the South Korean president, Park Geun-hye. On Thursday, the North called Ms. Park “a rabid dog” after she vowed that pressing the North to end human rights abuses would be a key goal of her government.

The two Koreas have technically been at war since the Korean War ended in 1953 with a truce rather than a peace treaty, and their relationship has been particularly sour during the past few years. But signs of a possible thaw have emerged in recent months.

Shocker: North Korea threatens South . . . Well, Not So Much A "Shocker" Exactly

Pretty thin-skinned those NORKs. Especially after weeks, months and years of threats to pretty much the whole world, except perhaps China, Russia, Iran and Cuba.

AFP-JIJI

North Korea threatens South after protesters burn effigies of revered leaders :

North Korea’s military Tuesday threatened archrival South Korea with imminent “sledge-hammer” retaliation unless Seoul apologizes for anti-Pyongyang protestors burning effigies of its revered leaders.

South Korea called the North’s ultimatum “regrettable” and vowed a tough response to any military provocation.

"Sledge-hammer" retaliation - let's see, is that better or worse than a "nuclear sea of fire?"

Imminent?

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

North Korea: Games the DPRK Plays

North Korea is shuffling the missiles of April, The Japan Times reports in "North Korea sows confusion over launch":

North Korea has been repeatedly moving multiple missiles around in an apparent bid to confuse outside intelligence gatherers ahead of an expected launch, Yonhap reported Thursday.

Musudan Missiles

According to intelligence analysis cited by the South Korean news agency, two midrange Musudan missiles have been repeatedly moved in and out of a warehouse facility in the eastern port city of Wonsan.

At the same time, at least five mobile launch vehicles have also been spotted swapping positions in South Hamgyeong Province. They are believed to be launch platforms for short-range Scud missiles, which have a range of 300 to 500 km, and medium-range Nodong missiles, which can travel 1,300 to 1,500

Polish Scud on launcher

km.

“There are signs the North could fire off Musudan missiles any time soon,” an intelligence source said. “But the North has been repeatedly moving its missiles in and out of a shed, which needs close monitoring.”

Nodong

Another source suggested Pyongyang was hoping to “fatigue” South Korean and U.S. intelligence gatherers who have been on a heightened state of surveillance alert since Wednesday.

In addition, the South Korean government has verified hacking done by the NORKs, as reported by Yonhap in "Gov't confirms Pyongyang link in March cyber attacks":

Amid escalating tension on the Korean Peninsula, the South Korean government on Wednesday announced that North Korea was behind the massive hacking attack that paralyzed networks of local financial firms and broadcasters last month.
***
The March 20 incident marks the latest attack in Pyongyang's growing pursuit of technological warfare. While the communist state has denied allegations, it has been blamed for a series of cyber attacks on the Web sites of South Korean government agencies and financial institutions in the past few years.

North Korea is known to operate a cyber warfare unit of 3,000 elite hackers who are trained to break into computer networks to steal information and distribute malware.

North Korea: War Signals?

As you are aware, there has been a lot of "war talk" from the North Korean leadership in past few days.

"The Current Kim-in-Charge"/photo from Kyodo News/AP

For some observers, one of the "this is really serious" trip wires on the Korean peninsula has been the industrial park jointly operated by the North and South Koreans at Kaesong. So long as it is kept operating, the argument goes, things are "not yet really serious."

As noted in the Korean The Chosun Ilbo, now Pyongyang Threatens to Shut Joint-Korean Industrial Park

North Korea on Saturday threatened to shut down an industrial park that is the last remaining showcase of inter-Korean cooperation.

The Kaesong Industrial Complex "will be mercilessly shut down" unless South Korea stops "damaging our dignity," the North Korean agency in charge warned according to the official KCNA news agency.

The threat came just a day after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed an order putting missile units on standby to attack U.S. military bases in South Korea and the Pacific.
***
An unnamed North Korean spokesman for the industrial complex accused South Korean media of "seriously insulting" the North with reports saying that Pyongyang will not shut down the complex since it needs the money and that it employs a two-faced strategy over Kaesong. He urged South Korean companies in the complex to protest against the "groundless" reports.
***
South Korea stands to lose money if the industrial park is closed, but the losses would be restricted to the companies operating there, whereas the North Korean regime would take a much bigger hit.

The regime would have to relinquish some $87 million a year it makes from the wages of 54,000 North Korean workers there. A worker makes an average of $134 a month, but most of it goes straight into the regime's coffers.

And the families of North Korean workers as well as some 250,000-300,000 residents in Kaesong and surrounding areas would be heavily affected. "If the water that is pumped into the city via the industrial complex is shut off, the locals will have to start digging wells," said a government official here.

Also reported in the LA Times:

"We've seen reports of a new and unconstructive statement from North Korea," said National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden in a statement. "We take these threats seriously and remain in close contact with our South Korean allies. But we would also note that North Korea has a long history of bellicose rhetoric and threats and today's announcement follows that familiar pattern.

"As [Defense] Secretary [Chuck] Hagel said on Thursday, we remain fully prepared and capable of defending and protecting the United States and our allies," she added. "We continue to take additional measures against the North Korean threat, including our plan to increase the U.S. ground-based interceptors and early warning and tracking radar, and the signing of the ROK-U.S. counter-provocation plan." ROK refers to formal name for South Korea.

Analysts say a full-scale conflict is extremely unlikely, noting that the Korean Peninsula has remained in a technical state of war for 60 years. But the North's continued threats toward Seoul and Washington, including a vow to launch a nuclear strike, have raised worries that a misjudgment between the sides could lead to a clash.

DPRK propaganda photo

You will note the NORKs have not actually shut down the industrial park but are merely threatening to do so.

Of course, waiting for the NORKs to close the facility as a war warning indicator may be waiting too long.

DPRK propaganda photo

 North Korean neighbor and sometime sponsor, China, is sending some sort of signals, I think, of some sort of support for the NORKs, but . . . see this NY Times piece, "Penalty for Chinese Editor Critical of Korea Stance":

DPRK propaganda photo

China backed a new round of sanctions imposed by the United Nations in the wake of the third nuclear test. But as is often the case with sanctions, the question became how seriously China would enforce them.

DPRK propaganda photo

Official Chinese statements routinely say that sanctions are not the solution to the North Korean problem.
***
“It is entirely possible that a nuclear-armed North Korea could try to twist China’s arm if Beijing were to fail to meet its demand or if the U.S. were to signal good will towards it,” Mr. Deng wrote.

North Korea, he argued, did not view its relationship with China through the same lens of “friendship sealed in blood” that came from Chinese soldiers’ fighting and dying in the Korean War against the United States. “North Korea does not feel like this at all towards its neighbor,” he wrote.

I think Mr. Deng has a clear view of the world view of the DPRK - once they are a "nuclear power" the whole neighborhood they live in will be under the cloud of nuclear blackmail from the failing state.

Interestingly, the photo links from the "Official" News Agency have gone to pictures of some war games - and removed those of the Current Kim-in-Charge which were there last week. I have placed four of these recent pictures above.

Hmmm.

North Korea: A Wolf in Wolf's Skin

Okay, imagine the worst case of North Korea and you will have this Foreign Policy piece, "Think Again: North Korea" - By David Kang and Victor Cha , which clearly indicates the DPRK is a regional threat that could blossom into something more:

North Korea today can threaten all of South Korea and parts of Japan with its conventional missiles and its conventional military. The North can fire 500,000 rounds of artillery on Seoul in the first hour of a conflict. Stability has held for 60 years because the U.S. security alliances with South Korea and Japan make it clear to the North Korean leadership that if they attacked South Korea or Japan, they would lose both the war and their country. And, for half a century, neither side believed that the benefits of starting a major war outweighed the costs. The worry is that the new North Korean leader might not hold to the same logic, given his youth and inexperience.

Further, the NORKS are willing to sell what they have - essentially nuclear technology and missiles to other regional "bad boy" countries.

Point taken, the DPRK as a regional threat should not be taken lightly, especially if you happen to live, say, in South Korea. And, down the road, they could get worse.

Right now, the NORKs could kill a lot of South Koreans and rip up parts of South Korea - for a little while.

Maybe.

Unlike in the 1950s, the South Koreans today are not unarmed and unprepared. Nor are they without allies.

On the other hand, the DPRK is not part of a powerful alliance. It has trouble feeding itself. It has no oil and gas to sustain lengthy military operations.

Will the NORKs foolishly count on the Chinese to save them again? Why would the Chinese do that? Other than regional hegemony, what dog does China have in a fight between the DPRK and the ROK? Clearly, China has moved on from the 1950s. Will China recognize that the DPRK is the past and not the future?

Would Russia intervene on the DPRK side? Why? Well, they share a border.

Can the DPRK look to its "friends" ("customers" is perhaps a better term) in the world? Like Pakistan, Iran, Syria?

Will the great Iranian fleet sail to deliver sustainment goods? It's a very long trip, isn't it? What would be the risks to a fleet carrying goods to an outlaw state at war with the rest of the world?

Syria seems to be preoccupied.

Pakistan? Right.

If the DPRK should unleash its forces, what does it do? Shoot off all of its rockets and artillery and kill lots of South Koreans and perhaps some Japanese? For what purpose? Might as well smack a hornet's nest.

Does it invade the South as it did in the 1950s? And then what? Can it sustain its army in the field or will it be rolled again as its supply lines are cut? Will it attempt to live off the land?

Will it try to nuke the U.S.? To what end?

It is good to acknowledge that a lot of artillery tubes, some rockets and a large army are a threat.

It is also good to think about what the DPRK sees as a desired end-state should it unleash those forces and whether there is any possible way for it to get there by destroying itself - which is surely the most likely result if it takes action.

Is the current Kim-in-Charge really so young and naive as all that? Is he willing to, in effect, commit his country and himself to a suicide path?


UPDATE (3/30/13): Nice piece in The American Spectator by George H. Wittman, "Peace Through Bluster and Missiles" on the DRPK's possible motivations in rattling their sabers. Note the EMP threat of a NORK aerial nuclear blast.

China: A Maritime Strategy

From the China Daily, a Chinese view of maritime strategy in "Safeguard maritime rights and interests":

. . . China's maritime strategy should focus on the following:

First, it should clarify its maritime strategy based on the three pillars of traditional and non-traditional maritime security; marine economy and technology; and its diplomatic strategy, making full use of international law, including the Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Second, it should strive for an understanding with the US and explore a bilateral coordination mechanism to maintain a dynamic balance of competition and cooperation. China has no intention of challenging the US' maritime hegemony, so the US should respect China's maritime rights and interests "on its doorstep".

Sino-Russian and Sino-Indian cooperation should be expanded and Sino-Japanese competition controlled.

China and Russia are making efforts to safeguard their legitimate maritime rights and interests and held a large-scale joint military exercise in the Yellow Sea in April.

Third, it must avoid getting isolated while dealing with the territorial disputes with Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Fourth, China must resolutely and effectively defend its maritime territorial sovereignty and core interests. It must resolve disputes caused by overlapping exclusive economic zone and fishery and oil, gas and mineral resources disputes through negotiations and consultations, and safeguard the security of sea-lanes through regional multilateral cooperation.

Fifth, China should establish an institutional mechanism to develop its marine economy and integrate the use of law enforcement, diplomatic, military and other means, strengthen department coordination, and coordination between the central government and coastal provinces, and set up a national institution specifically responsible for dealing with marine affairs.

Earlier in the piece is this:

. . . [T]he specific territorial disputes between China and some neighboring countries, which have been aggravated by the lack of strategic trust between the United States and China. The maritime sovereignty disputes between China and Japan, Vietnam, and the Philippines are complex and troublesome, and the last thing China wants is to see these countries and the US joining hands against China. In fact, China and the US have no maritime sovereignty disputes, they are contending for sea power and influence.

Hmmm "lack of stratgic trust?" Does that mean standing up for allies with those claims contrary to China's?

"Sea power and influence" . . . time to dig out my Mahan again.

South Korea wants its "Mystery Missiles"

Patriot Missile

Following up on an earlier post, Waiting for the "good" explanation, concerning a whole bunch of Patriot missiles found adrift on a the Thorco Shipping vessel MS Thor Liberty, it now seems that the South Koreans (a) have claimed the missile cargo and (b) want delivery.

As reported here, there will new protections provided for the vessel and its cargo as the way is went to the ROK:

South Korea is seeking U.S. cooperation to ensure safe shipment of missiles that were detained in Finland, government sources said Thursday.

One source said a British-registered ship, named Thor Liberty, has been authorized to leave the port in Kotka, southern Finland.

The ship, carrying 69 surface-to-air missiles from Germany to South Korea, was impounded there last month.

It sought safe harbor in Finland to avoid a typhoon. Local authorities, however, discovered that the vessel did not have proper transit documents for its shipment of missiles and other explosives, since it was not initially scheduled to make a stop there.

With the ship about to depart for South Korea after clearing administrative issues, safety concerns have emerged, the source said.

"Foreign news wires have reported that the ship has Patriot missiles, and it is possible that pirates and international terrorists could try to seize the ship," the source said. "The government has asked the U.S. to use their intelligence assets to help ensure safe travel of this ship."

The source said the U.S. is operating satellites monitoring situations in the Pacific Ocean and has installed long-range sea surveillance radars in Hawaii and other places.

Another source said the United States will begin real-time monitoring of suspected pirate ships around the planned route for Thor Liberty once the ship leaves Finland.

"I understand the U.S. also plans to dispatch their naval destroyer from nearby once a pirate ship or a suspected one moves closer to the cargo ship," the second source said.

Well, at least there is a plan.

Maybe.


I'm sure that if there are armed security guards on board the UK-flagged vessel as it transits pirate infested waters or other dangerous areas, those guards will be in full compliance with whatever guidelines Parliament may come up with in its efforts to clarify the use of deadly force on UK-flagged ships transiting with armed security guards (see here).

I hope the crew of MS Thor Liberty has a quiet passage for the remainder of this trip. It surely hasn't started out that way.

Somali Pirates: Starting the Week with a Bang

As of Sunday, reports of Pirate Action Groups and attacks from here put on a map:

In case you missed it, the Indian Navy and Coast Guard sank a pirate mother ship and rescued some hostages as well as arresting several pirates. See here and here (reporting a 12 hour "battle" between the pirates and the Indian forces).

India has now announced a "zero tolerance" for pirates "messing" in Indian waters, see here:

The Navy's sinking of a pirate 'mother vessel' off the Lakshadweep Islands will send a "strong message" to the sea brigands that India will not tolerate their nefarious designs anywhere near its waters, Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma told TOI on Sunday.

"There is no question of anybody messing in our waters or area... it's absolutely unacceptable to us," Admiral Verma said.

This comes after naval fast attack craft INS Cankarso sank Prantalay, a hijacked Thai trawler being used as a mother vessel by Somali pirates to carry out attacks for the last nine months, after a hot chase on Friday night. In the well-executed operation, the Navy apprehended 15 pirates as well as rescued 20 Thai and Myanmar nationals who had been taken hostage on board Prantalay. "The pirates are being interrogated... they are being brought to Mumbai for legal proceedings," Admiral Verma said.

In the meantime, an attack off the coast of Iran is the northernmost reported attack by Somali pirates to date (see here). New reports are that an Iranian frigate helped break up the attack. See Vesseltracker.com report:

Star of Abu Dhabi from Shipspotting.com by Dragec (used iaw terms of Shipspotting.com)

Star Of Abu Dhabi was attacked 30-JAN-11 .....19.6nm SW of Chabahar Port, Iran . . . by a PAG consisting of 2 skiffs with 3 pirates in each . . . The PAG broke off their attack when an Iranian Warship arrived in the area. The vessel was enroute . . . to Port Khomeini in Iran.

SAS Mendi

It appears that the South African Navy may soon deploy one of its new ships to assist in fighting East African piracy -see here:

. . . [O]ne of the navy's new frigates, the SAS Mendi, headed for Durban a week ago in anticipation of the signing of an agreement aimed at protecting Mozambique against piracy.

UPDATE: The South Koreans did a perp walk with the 5 Somali pirates captured by ROK forces when they retook the Samho Jewelry (see here and here):

RMN photo

Malaysia, too, has its captured 7 pirates (see here for post on their capture) in custody as reported by the "BBC" in its article titled (and scare quoted) as Seven Somali 'pirates' held in custody by Malaysia:

Seven Somali men accused of being pirates have arrived in Malaysia where they could face prosecution.

AFP Photo

They were captured by the Malaysian navy 10 days ago as they allegedly tried to hijack a tanker in the Gulf of Aden.
Legal experts in Malaysia are now studying whether they can be charged.

Somali Pirates: Threaten Korean Hostages Due to Attack

Report by the Chosun Ilbo -Somali Pirates Threaten to Kill Korean Hostages:

Somali pirates on Sunday threatened to kill any Korean sailors they take hostage in the future in revenge against the Korean Navy killing eight pirates on Friday when it stormed a hijacked vessel in the Indian Ocean to rescue the crew.

"We never planned to kill but now we shall seek revenge," a pirate who identified himself as Mohamed told Reuters by phone. "We shall never take a ransom from Korean ships, we shall burn them and kill their crew."

"We shall redouble our efforts. Korea has put itself in trouble by killing my colleagues," he added. The pirate is reportedly from Garad, one of the two pirate havens in Somalia.
***

More video of the Korean action.

Video of ROK Navy Recapture of Samho Jewelry

Follow up on original post found here, the video released by the ROK Navy of the assault:

South Korea Takes Back Ship from Somali Pirates

Samho Jewelry photo © Henk Noevers from MarineTraffic.com

South Korea chose not to wring its hands in despair over a Somali pirate captured ship and took positive action by storming and recapturing a vessel. Samho Jewelry, recently taken by Somali pirates, as reported in S. Korea rescues hijacked ship from Somali pirates:

Eight pirates were killed in the rescue mission, South Korea said.

South Korea launched a rescue operation before dawn with a Lynx helicopter providing covering fire and a South Korean destroyer, when the pirates left the vessel to hijack a Mongolian ship nearby, media reports stated.

"Three of our soldiers suffered light scratches on their bodies as they were fired upon by pirates on Tuesday," Col. Lee told BBC.

The captain of the ship had been shot but his injuries were not life threatening, he added. The captain had been airlifted to a hospital nearby.
***
"We will not tolerate any behavior that threatens the lives and safety of our people in the future," South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said in a televised statement.

UPDATE: More from the VOA:

The Norwegian-owned Samho Jewelry was heading to Sri Lanka from the United Arab Emirates when it was seized last Saturday, 650 kilometers southeast of the port of Muscat.

ROK Navy Photo of Operation

Mr. Lee added that other countries assisted with the raid but he did not elaborate. News reports say a navy ship from Oman was on the scene to support the South Korean operation.

On board the Malta-flagged chemical tanker was a crew of 11 Burmese, eight South Koreans and two Indonesians. It is operated by South Korea’s Samho Shipping.

Military officials in Seoul say a South Korean naval destroyer, the Choi Young, with 300 special forces aboard, tailed the hijacked ship for days before moving in early Friday.

300 troops? Probably more like 30.

UPDATE2: Other countries? A clue found in here:

Seoul ordered a destroyer on patrol in the Gulf of Aden to give chase and President Lee ordered "all possible measures" to save the crew.

General Lee said the commandos moved in after receiving information that the "mother ship" for the pirates was leaving a Somali port.

"Since we thought we could be in an extremely difficult situation if the pirates joined forces, we chose today to carry out the operation."

Lee praised the freighter's 57-year-old skipper Suk Hae-Kyun for his prudence. "Pirates sought to take the vessel to the Somalian coast fast but the skipper helped us earn time by manoevering the vessel in a serpentine manner."

To distract the pirates' attention, the destroyer fired warning shots and manoeuvred close to the hijacked vessel. A Lynx helicopter provided covering fire as the commandos stormed the ship.

The Koreans were assisted by a US carrier which also provided a helicopter to transfer the wounded Korean skipper.

"It was breathtaking news," said Suk Hyun-Wook, son of the 58-year-old skipper, describing his response to reports of the raid.

Well, it certainly took away the breath of some pirates.

Somali Pirates: South Korean Cargo Ship Taken in the Indian Ocean

Samho Jewelry photo © Henk Noevers from MarineTraffic.com

Reported
here:

A South Korean cargo ship with 21 crew members aboard was hijacked in the Indian Ocean on Saturday apparently by Somali pirates, an official at Seoul's foreign ministry said.

The crew of the 10,000-ton ship, carrying chemical materials, comprises eight South Koreans, two Indonesians, and 11 others from Myanmar, the official said, requesting anonymity.

The ship was sailing from the United Arab Emirates toward Sri Lanka when it was hijacked in the waters between Oman and India shortly after noon (Seoul time), he said, adding that the vessel belongs to Samho Shipping based in the southern port city of Busan.

UPDATE: Hijacking (blue arrow points to estimated spot) laid on the northern part of the latest NATO Shipping Center Warning map:

UPDATE: Changed photo to reflect right ship.

EU's MSC(HOA) report on the hijack here:

On the morning of 15 January, the MV SAMHO JEWELRY was pirated approximately 350 nautical miles South East of the port of Muscat, Oman.

The 19,609-tonne Product tanker is Maltese flagged and Norwegian owned. No further details of the attack are known at this stage. MV SAMHO JEWELRY has a crew of 21 (Myanmar, Korean and Indonesian) and is carrying chemicals. MV SAMHO JEWELRY was not registered with MSC(HOA) and had not reported to UKMTO.

There are unconfirmed reports that the crew initially took shelter in a "citadel" (safe room) but that the pirates were patient and nabbed the crew after waiting 24 hours - see here.

North Korea Shells South Korean Island

Somali Pirates: South Korean Fishing Boat Taken

EU MSC(HOA) reports "Fishing vessel GOLDEN WAVE pirated in the Somali Basin":

This morning, EU NAVFOR received the confirmation that the South-Korean fishing vessel GOLDEN WAVE (formerly named KEUMMI 305) has been pirated off the Kenyan coast on Saturday 9 October 2010.

Including the GOLDEN WAVE, Somali pirates are currently holding 19 vessels.

North Korea: Unhappy with U.S. and South Korea Naval Training

North Korea condemns US sanctions, naval drills:

North Korea on Thursday condemned imminent US-South Korea naval exercises as a threat to global peace as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Vietnam for Asia-Pacific security talks.

Meanwhile, crooks are condemning police training because trained police forces "cramp the style" of the crooks.

North Korea: South Korea Ratcheting Up, Threatens "Blockade" of North Korea

The Chosun Ilbo: Torpedo Sinks Inter-Korean Relations to Cold-War Depths:

The sanctions the government announced on Monday include steps to blockade North Korea, which became unavoidable after clear evidence showed that the sinking was an act of military aggression against the South. That ends 10 years of rapprochement on the Korean Peninsula and returns inter-Korean relations to the dark days before 1989, when the two sides agreed to step up exchanges.
***
The two Koreas are still technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended with merely a ceasefire. The South Korean public has once again been reminded of this reality. Lee in a public address Monday said the peninsula faces a "major turning point."

South Korean troops are preparing for action. They resumed so-called psychological warfare against North Korea on Monday, and plan to shift their rules of engagement from defensive to offensive mode. Around next month, U.S. and South Korean forces will hold joint anti-submarine exercises, and when maritime blockade drills begin during the second half of this year in line with the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative, North Korea will be forced to heighten its awareness for a prolonged period.

A naval blockade? Oh, my. That's pretty bold after losing a ship to a torpedo.

On the other hand maybe, "...[W]e've got ourselves another war. A gut bustin', mother-lovin' Navy war."

ReliefWeb has a report on the DPRK (that's North Korea) food status here. Oh, yes, while Kim Jong-il is investing in nukes and missiles, his people were having such food as they get catered to them from more useful countries:

Using the apparent per capita cereal consumption of about 140 kg per year in recent years and a population of about 24 million, the country would require about 3.36 million tonnes for human consumption. Considering other uses such as seed, feed, post-harvest losses and some stock changes, FAO estimates that the country would have import requirements of 1.10 million tonnes for the marketing year 2009/10 (November/October). However, given the ongoing economic constraints it is unlikely that this deficit could be covered by commercial imports. As of April 2010 only 177 000 tonnes of cereals have been recorded/declared as imports. Thus a significant international food aid is needed to meet the shortage.
***
The country continues to suffer from chronic food insecurity, high malnutrition rates and economic problems, and has great difficulties meeting the needs of its about 24 million people. The FAO/WFP Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission (CFSAM) conducted in the late 2008 confirmed a significant deterioration in food security in most parts of the country in recent years. The poor, especially those living in urban areas, continue to be affected by soaring food prices. It is very likely that the financial and economic situation of most households has worsened after recent monetary measures taken by the government to replace the devalued currency by a new legal tender for all transactions.

World Food Program has a similar report:

Since 1995, WFP has played a central role in mobilizing and delivering food assistance to millions of the DPRK’s hungriest people, saving countless lives and helping to achieve significant reductions in malnutrition rates. Emergency operations between 1995 and 2005 secured more than four million tonnes of commodities valued at US$1.7 billion and directly supported up to one-third of the population.

In response to a government request for relief assistance and confirmed new food needs, WFP launched an emergency operation in September 2008. The US$504 million operation set out to target 6.2 million of the most vulnerable groups, mainly young children, pregnant and lactating women and the elderly, addressing immediate humanitarian needs of the population while simultaneously improving the nutritional quality over the medium-term.

Vitamin-and-mineral enriched foods produced at WFP-supported factories are given to young children and pregnant and nursing women, and cereal rations to underemployed workers through food-for-community-development schemes aimed at improving food security and mitigating natural disasters. All of these activities are vital investments in the future of the beneficiaries.

 And aiding in propping up a nasty, corrupt regime by feeding its huddled masses while the DPRK government spends money on weapons instead of plowshare.

Another "worker's paradise."

Sunken South Korean Warship Raised

From VOA Sunken South Korean Warship Raised.

Big crane!

Somali Pirates: S.Korea tanker with 24 crew hijacked

Reported here:

A South Korean oil tanker with 24 crew members was hijacked on Sunday off the coast of Somalia, apparently by pirates, Seoul's foreign ministry said.

The 300,000-ton ship, the Samho Dream, was on its way from Iraq to the US state of Louisiana with a crew of five South Koreans and 19 Filipinos, the ministry said.

The ministry said it called an emergency meeting to discuss the incident.

"The ship is presumed to have been hijacked by Somali pirates," it said in a statement, adding the government would do its best for the safety of the sailors.

South Korea has an anti-piracy warship patrolling Somali waters because of a rise in hijackings.

Somali pirates, targeting one of the world's busiest maritime trade routes, raked in an estimated 60 million dollars in ransoms last year.

South Korea: Cause of Ship Sinking Still Mystery

"Initial reports of almost any event are nearly always wrong," the military saying goes. As shown yesterday, there were already conflicting reports of what caused a Republic of Korea (that's South Korea) coastal patrol ship to sink off a South Korean Island that sits about 10 miles off the beaches of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (aka North Korea).

Confusion still seems to be the rule, as seen in this report from The Korea Herald:

A survivor from the sunken naval patrol ship Cheonan on Saturday raised the possibility of the 1,200-ton vessel sinking due to an attack from an outside force.

“There is no possibility whatsoever that the ship sank due to an internal explosion or a collision with a reef. I guarantee that,” a navy lieutenant was quoted as saying by participants in a briefing session organized by the Navy’s Second Fleet Command in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province -- the home port of the ill-fated ship.

“Another cause could be an attack from an outside force and that is not exact as of yet. The military is currently conducting an investigation and I am not in a position to comment on that,” he added.

About 300 relatives of the 46 missing sailors from the sunken ship attended the session, which was not open to the press. The vessel sank in waters near the western maritime border with North Korea at around 9:45 p.m. on Friday after an explosion ripped a hole in the rear bottom of the ship.
***
Fifty-eight sailors have so far been rescued. Thirteen of them suffered injuries and are now being treated at hospitals. No one is in critical condition, officials said.

In another briefing session held in the afternoon, commander Choi Won-il, who led the sunken ship, said the explosion appears to have been caused by “internal or external shocks.”

"Before" photo supplied by ROK Navy, "after" photo is from The Korea Herald.

The blog One Free Korea has thoughts (in an update):

It might just be that the South Koreans don’t know if they ran over one of their own mines. On the other hand, it might also be that President Lee does know and still hasn’t decided what he’s going to do about it. He might be hiding behind those doubts to give people a chance to calm down before he announces his decision.

UPDATE: More here:

North Korea's possible involvement was initially suspected, but Seoul government officials said it was premature to draw any conclusions.

"It is hard to say for sure now, but chances appear to be slim that North Korea was related," a senior official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "If North Korea's attack really caused the sinking, it means there is a serious loophole in our defense system."

Navy divers had planned to go underwater to search the sunken craft Cheonan which officials said is protruding from the shallow waters about 24 meters deep, but the effort was hampered by inclement weather.