North Korea: Is this for real? (2 Viewers)

The problem with taking an offensive approach here is that Seoul, population 10.5 million (2.3 million more than New York City, is 31 miles from North Korea (roughly the distance from New Orleans to Slidell). I don't doubt for a single minute that North Korea would relish going out in a blaze of glory and taking Seoul with it. I think you have to either wait it out or wait until he forces your hand, because the outcome will be truly terrible if it escalates.

Tokyo isn't that far away either as the crow flies and they hate Japan as much as they do South Korea. . NK isn't serious until they start massing troops on their southern border. If that happens,look out.
 
Tokyo isn't that far away either as the crow flies and they hate Japan as much as they do South Korea. . NK isn't serious until they start massing troops on their southern border. If that happens,look out.

They're not starting a war!

This is typical North Korean bluster with a new vigor under the youthful leader. It isn't real. All of the "threats" contain self-defense language in them ("we have authorized nuclear force to defend ourselves"). The missile firing, if it happens, is a test - as they have tested before.

I just turned on CNN and Wolf Blitzer is acting like it's August 31, 1939. It's just feeding this hysteria and giving the North Koreans exactly what they want: fear and attention.

It's nothing but bluster and we're dancing just how he wants us to.

It's ridiculous.
 
The thing about the "Boy Who Cried Wolf" is the story eventually ends badly. Maybe not today.
 
They're not starting a war!

This is typical North Korean bluster with a new vigor under the youthful leader. It isn't real. All of the "threats" contain self-defense language in them ("we have authorized nuclear force to defend ourselves"). The missile firing, if it happens, is a test - as they have tested before.

I just turned on CNN and Wolf Blitzer is acting like it's August 31, 1939. It's just feeding this hysteria and giving the North Koreans exactly what they want: fear and attention.

It's nothing but bluster and we're dancing just how he wants us to.

It's ridiculous.

Yeah, watching the media (and, quite frankly, many people I know) act like war is imminent and its only a matter of time before they strike is really bizarre. The rhetoric is more bellicose than we usually hear from them, but it's still just rhetoric.
 
Yeah, watching the media (and, quite frankly, many people I know) act like war is imminent and its only a matter of time before they strike is really bizarre. The rhetoric is more bellicose than we usually hear from them, but it's still just rhetoric.

A horrific mixture of political rhetoric... and the medias need to sensationalize everything in order to increase viewership.
 
The biggest worry is a small incident starts a war due to unnecessary tensions. The president of South Korea is not likely to put up with the sinking of a small ship or the lobbing of a few shells into the empty parts of SK like NK has done in the past. She is very likely to respond in full. I hope NK understands this
 
They're not starting a war!

This is typical North Korean bluster with a new vigor under the youthful leader. It isn't real. All of the "threats" contain self-defense language in them ("we have authorized nuclear force to defend ourselves"). The missile firing, if it happens, is a test - as they have tested before.

I just turned on CNN and Wolf Blitzer is acting like it's August 31, 1939. It's just feeding this hysteria and giving the North Koreans exactly what they want: fear and attention.

It's nothing but bluster and we're dancing just how he wants us to.

It's ridiculous.

CNN's fear mongering is beyond ridiculous. The problem is that they are throwing gasoline on to an already burning fire. I'm concerned too that a relatively small incident may be escalated into full scale war. The constant overblowing of this situation may manipulate the public into thinking that war is the only answer to the situation. As we all know the U.S. military is already stretched incredibly thin thanks to Iraq and Afghanistan. Asking those same troops to fight a well equipped army in the Southeast Asia sounds is well beyond reasonable. Never mind the fact that Jong-Un is has a few nuclear toys to play with.

The U.S. should be working with China to do something in their mutual interest - removing Kim Jong-Un and unifying Korea. For the U.S. a unified Korea would remove an unpredictable nuclear threat and allow them to remove troops. For China a unified Korea would prevent their biggest customers from spending billions on war that will devastate their environment and would eventually bring in millions of new consumers for their products.
 
Because if this thing goes down, hundreds of thousands of people will die. If you line em up and they fire one warning shot , you now have to respond. This is a very difficult situation.

I understand that.

How would you like to be the president that ignored the country that repeatedly took a hostile stance while stating over and over they are going to hit the U.S. with a nuke and actually followed through?

Our top advisors are now saying that they likely have the capability. Even if they are off a couple hundred miles, if they aim for St. Louis then they'll pretty much land a long range nuke on U.S. soil.

As much as I'd like to completely ignore NK, if they have the technology then ignoring them is taking a huge risk as well.
 
They're not starting a war!

This is typical North Korean bluster with a new vigor under the youthful leader. It isn't real. All of the "threats" contain self-defense language in them ("we have authorized nuclear force to defend ourselves"). The missile firing, if it happens, is a test - as they have tested before.

I just turned on CNN and Wolf Blitzer is acting like it's August 31, 1939. It's just feeding this hysteria and giving the North Koreans exactly what they want: fear and attention.

It's nothing but bluster and we're dancing just how he wants us to.

It's ridiculous.

While true that they claim "self-defense" in their rhetoric their actions suggest provocative action. In the past they have made claims of self defense and then shelled South Korean civilians on islands offshore. And then there is the sinking of the South Korean naval vessel in the same area in 2010. All these actions came on strong warnings from the North as the West put pressure on them. So now they want to launch a missile. What happens if it falls on Japan or South Korea and civilians are killed? The North will continue to ramp up the provocative and aggressive actions until they lose control and then the real shooting starts...
 
The rhetoric is more bellicose than we usually hear from them, but it's still just rhetoric.

I think that's more of a sign of weakness than anything else. At the moment, his power comes more from the military's allegiance to his aunt and uncle than to him. Saber rattling is a good way to prove that he can "hang" to the old guard, many of whom are old enough to remember and serve under Kim Il-sung.

Asking those same troops to fight a well equipped army in the Northeast Asia sounds is well beyond reasonable. Never mind the fact that Jong-Un is has a few nuclear toys to play with.

Fify

The U.S. should be working with China to do something in their mutual interest - removing Kim Jong-Un and unifying Korea. For the U.S. a unified Korea would remove an unpredictable nuclear threat and allow them to remove troops. For China a unified Korea would prevent their biggest customers from spending billions on war that will devastate their environment and would eventually bring in millions of new consumers for their products.

A unified Korea is absolutely not in China's best interest.

If the NK government falls, the refugees are going to pour by the millions north into China -- the southern border is too heavily mined and barricaded. The humanitarian costs for them would be huge. Not to mention that the result would be an expansion of US power and influence in the region, something China isn't thrilled about.

Granted, China absolutely doesn't want a war. But the best outcome for them is a continuation of the status-quo. NK serves as a buffer state, helps to divert the US's strategic attention, and keeps their starving masses locked up in death camps south of the Yalu and Tumen Rivers.

Our top advisors are now saying that they likely have the capability. Even if they are off a couple hundred miles, if they aim for St. Louis then they'll pretty much land a long range nuke on U.S. soil.

There is zero evidence that North Korea has an ICBM that can hit the Lower 48. Their most advanced rocket is the three stager that barely put a "weather satellite" into space in December. Technically a tactical version of that could maybe reach the West Coast...but considering the repeated failures of the design, probably not.
 
Tokyo isn't that far away either as the crow flies and they hate Japan as much as they do South Korea. . NK isn't serious until they start massing troops on their southern border. If that happens,look out.

I called this one. A lot of Korea (north and south) never got over what the Japanese did them.
 

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