APAC North Korea & their nuclear threats

[MrDawn]

Your thoughts?

North Korea said Friday it had tested a purported underwater nuclear attack drone in response to a combined naval exercise between South Korea and the United States and Japan this week, as it continues to blame its rivals for raising tension in the region. The alleged drone test came days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared he would scrap his country's long-standing goal of a peaceful unification with South Korea and that his country would rewrite its constitution to define South Korea as its most hostile foreign adversary.

Tension on the Korean Peninsula is at its highest point in years, with Kim accelerating weapons demonstrations and threatening nuclear conflict and the U.S. and its Asian allies responding by strengthening their combined military exercises.

The test was not of a nuclear device but rather of an "underwater self-explosive drone," according to Shin Jong-woo, a military expert at the Seoul-based Korea Defense and Security Forum. Shin called it a "navigation test for their battery-powered underwater suicide drone," adding that North Korea was testing how the drone would perform over long distances and long periods of time.

North Korea says it tested underwater nuclear attack drone

North Korea said it tested an underwater nuclear attack drone in response to joint naval exercises by the U.S., Seoul and Tokyo.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[Mark]

His daddy didn’t scare anyone. He sure as fuck doesn’t scare anyone but his own people. Why he hasn’t been wiped off of the face of the earth is beyond me… the US went after Saddam for less, so why there has been such a hands-off approach to him and his threats is crazy to me.

 

[MrDawn]

so why there has been such a hands-off approach to him and his threats is crazy to me.

A few reasons:

• Going after him would trigger a world war with China and Russia.
• Even if the North were to suddenly go to war with the South or Japan, it is not guaranteed that China would not get involved as they have stated in the past that if Kim were to do that, they would withdraw their support of him.
• Sending a larger number of the Navy over to the region would be very costly.
• If the US were to remove Kim from power and unite Korea as a whole, it would destabilize South Korea's economy. Their government has stated many times that they don't want to unite. It would be a huge financial mess for them to clean up.
• There's no guarantee the US would win.

 

[Mark]

A few reasons:

• Going after him would trigger a world war with China and Russia.
• Even if the North were to suddenly go to war with the South or Japan, it is not guaranteed that China would not get involved as they have stated in the past that if Kim were to do that, they would withdraw their support of him.
• Sending a larger number of the Navy over to the region would be very costly.
• If the US were to remove Kim from power and unite Korea as a whole, it would destabilize South Korea's economy. Their government has stated many times that they don't want to unite. It would be a huge financial mess for them to clean up.
• There's no guarantee the US would win.

China and their cardboard military and Russia and their antiquated military that gets regularly stomped by farmers and volunteers? They’re the world stage equivalent of three dudes circle-jerking about how tough they are in a room by themselves.

North Korea doesn’t need to unite with the south to get rid of Kim, they just need to build a new government. After that, then they can worry about mending fences.

 

[Webster]

Your thoughts?

Kim Jong Fatboy ain't gonna pop a nuke because if he did his country (and his) life expectancy would be in the seconds.

 

[MrDawn]

Kim Jong Fatboy ain't gonna pop a nuke because if he did his country (and his) life expectancy would be in the seconds.

I was hoping someone high up in his military would stab him in the back and take over.

 

[Mark]

I was hoping someone high up in his military would stab him in the back and take over.

That’s ultimately what I expect to happen, some type of coup from within.

 

[MrDawn]

That’s ultimately what I expect to happen, some type of coup from within.

I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet. I was kind of expecting his sister to do it.

 

[Mark]

I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet. I was kind of expecting his sister to do it.

Anyone from that gene pool would be the last person I’d hope for, personally, but those kind of undertakings can go on for years behind the scenes before anything visibly happens that would make it outside of their media dragnet.

 

[Advocate for Ants! Mouth]

North Korea is very loud, but they're not stupid. The nuclear tests are deterrents until/unless they get the full backing of BOTH Russia and China to do anything more. With Russia hemorrhaging against Ukraine and China being loud about Taiwan again, that is extremely unlikely to happen anywhere close to now.

No one is going to come in and wipe out any member of that family precisely because they have the ability to something with nukes. While it's unlikely that they would, since it would likely lead to the instant destruction of everything they have, they would first be able to kill thousands if not millions of people (mostly in South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan). It's not MAD by any means, but it's enough.


Also changing this flag to APAC.

 

[Fool's Requiem]

The problem with NKorea is that if provoked, they will attack SKorea and/or Japan. Even if we go in and curbstomp their shitty military, people in those two countries will die for no reason. It's like firing a gun at a hornets nest from the safety of your home a hundred yards away but leaving the kids nearby the nest just minding their own business to deal with the angry hornets.

 

[Webster]

I was hoping someone high up in his military would stab him in the back and take over.

Given how paranoic everyone is in North Korea, that probably ain't happening either.

 

[MrDawn]

Given how paranoid everyone is in North Korea, that probably ain't happening either.

Look, Kim wants his people to have more sex and babies. Why would they want to have kids in his country when he doesn't give them money, food, or any support? He has imaginary high expectations. Kids are expensive.

 

[Fire Queen]

i for one think it’s just awful that there’s a country in the world where citizens are constantly surveilled, children are made to recite nationalistic creeds on a daily basis, and a disproportionate amount of money is spent on the military, all while the out of touch elites running the country do whatever they want with no way for the public to do anything about it

alu is right in that these are deterrents more than anything. after all, the korean war (and all the atrocities associated with it) is recent history. did you know that the 38th parallel was chosen as the dividing line between north and south by two americans who had never been to korea who made the decision in about 30 minutes?

it’s just not very useful to look at anything the DPRK does without recognizing the context that’s the reason any of this is even going on in the first place. anyone who fears a north korean nuclear attack is buying into the same xenophobic fears that fueled us involvement in korea in the 1950s

 

[Kat]

i for one think it’s just awful that there’s a country in the world where citizens are constantly surveilled, children are made to recite nationalistic creeds on a daily basis, and a disproportionate amount of money is spent on the military, all while the out of touch elites running the country do whatever they want with no way for the public to do anything about it

... Wait, which country are we talking about again?

Why he hasn’t been wiped off of the face of the earth is beyond me… the US went after Saddam for less, so why there has been such a hands-off approach to him and his threats is crazy to me.

Ehh, if you get rid of the leadership then you have to deal with the ensuing refugee crisis. Nobody wants to, so NK gets left alone.

 

[Mark]

... Wait, which country are we talking about again?

RIGHT? She beat that nail til there was no head left on it.

Ehh, if you get rid of the leadership then you have to deal with the ensuing refugee crisis. Nobody wants to, so NK gets left alone.

Fair point, but at what junction do people (citizens or “targets”) draw the line and say “enough of this shit”? We can pose the same question about the US and many other countries, but, it’s something I often think about when it comes to politics. Regardless of the issue being discussed, there’s so much polarization going on that we can’t help but view anything as a potential last straw.

 

[Kat]

Fair point, but at what junction do people (citizens or “targets”) draw the line and say “enough of this shit”?

Which people do you expect to say that? Do you really want to send our military over there and dump a bunch of resources into helping their citizens? I doubt that would get much support from American citizens. We can't even sort out our own problems, who are we to be trying to solve problems in the rest of the world?

I'm sure NK citizens are fed up, but they're not in a position to do much about it. They may not even know most places aren't like that.

Unfortunately, I feel like their best chance is probably to somehow end up with a benevolent dictator who actually wants to improve things. Which isn't very likely to happen any time soon.

 

[MrDawn]

I'm sure NK citizens are fed up, but they're not in a position to do much about it. They may not even know most places aren't like that.

I'm sure if Kim were to open up the border, a majority of them would migrate to the South. That's why the North is so anal about who is coming and going from the border. He wants to keep people in. Not let them out. The North is a prison.

 

[Mark]

Which people do you expect to say that? Do you really want to send our military over there and dump a bunch of resources into helping their citizens? I doubt that would get much support from American citizens. We can't even sort out our own problems, who are we to be trying to solve problems in the rest of the world?

The US aren’t the only ones North Korea are poking with a stick, I’d sooner expect a closer target to them to intervene before the US would.

I'm sure NK citizens are fed up, but they're not in a position to do much about it. They may not even know most places aren't like that.

They absolutely don’t, everywhere that isn’t there is the devil according to what they’re taught.

Unfortunately, I feel like their best chance is probably to somehow end up with a benevolent dictator who actually wants to improve things. Which isn't very likely to happen any time soon.

Benevolent dictator. Bet that hurt to type. That’s honestly why I’d sooner expect some kind of internal uprising before a decent person assuming power.

 

[MrDawn]

Benevolent dictator. Bet that hurt to type. That’s honestly why I’d sooner expect some kind of internal uprising before a decent person assuming power.

lol, that's what Kim wants those poor people to believe. I don't see how Dennis Rodman can stomach being around that pos.

 

[Kat]

The US aren’t the only ones North Korea are poking with a stick, I’d sooner expect a closer target to them to intervene before the US would.

It's a catch 22, I guess. Countries far away aren't really threatened so they don't take action beyond preventing NK from developing nukes. Countries that share a border with them can actually be hurt by NK (and will end up with a flood of refugees), so they just try not to start anything.

It's probably going to come to a head eventually, and be even worse when it does, and we will all wish something had been done sooner. That's humanity for you.

That’s honestly why I’d sooner expect some kind of internal uprising before a decent person assuming power.

You have to believe something better is possible to rise up. It's rare that oppressed people are able to win against their oppressors on their own.