North Korea threatens US with a pre-emptive nuclear strike.

FoxEye · 1 Apr 2013 at 18:41

woppy101 said:
They flew over South Korean airspace on military exercises, I think the Clear aggression tactics were North Korea threatening to nuke the USA.

In fairness tho, the NK threats are about as serious as me threatening to kill Bono, by summoning Pikachu to give him cancer in his sleep.

Which is why no one is going to do anything about it, apart from saying "tut tut" and carrying on with sanctions. And I'm not even sure that sanctions are doing much good. Doesn't help relations, and looks like they'll get whatever tech they want from Iran anyway.

Apart from sanctions on trading weapons with NK, they should probably scrap the rest of them. (the people of) NK really needs a lot of help.

CaptainRAVE · 1 Apr 2013 at 18:42

xibinim said:
Thing is.....no one is taking very seriously. How many more stages/tranches of saber rattling can they enact until someone notices them? A couple more stages of readiness? Then if that doesn't work, shell or sink something? It must be very hard to take them seriously during negotiations!

Or declare war on the south, again :rolleyes:

Duff-Man · 1 Apr 2013 at 18:44

Freddie1980 said:
So is all this noise from NK going to amount to anything or is Kim Jong Il just like my old manager? A fat blustering buffon? On the bbc the other night the expert was sayjng there had been no troop movements on the boarder which to me suggests this is all talk.

I don't think anybody really takes North Korea's threats seriously, and the probability of it turning into a full conflict is very low.

Still, with such heightened tensions small clashes and skirmishes can escalate out of control. This is the real risk (and there have been dozens of small skirmishes and other incidents over the years).

illuz · 1 Apr 2013 at 19:11

The situation is all down to North Korea, nobody else will start a conflic as its not in anyone's interest. Koreans are so brainwashed its all a show for their country, should he believe his own delusions and order an attack then that's not good news for anyone, especially North Korea.

LateX'Dog · 1 Apr 2013 at 19:17

So many warmongers on OCUK.

Mr_White · 1 Apr 2013 at 19:20

Freddie1980 said:
So is all this noise from NK going to amount to anything or is Kim Jong Il just like my old manager?

Is your old manager dead then?

theleg · 1 Apr 2013 at 19:26

woppy101 said:
They flew over South Korean airspace on military exercises, I think the Clear aggression tactics were North Korea threatening to nuke the USA.

Yeah, the thing is...the US is the number one country in the world. Why are they responding to the aggressive macho posturing of NK? Its like an adult getting into an argument with a toddler.

The B2 flights were fully intended to be a show of force to NK. I just dont get why it was needed. It certainly shouldnt have been done.

Iraklis F.C. · 1 Apr 2013 at 19:43

maybe it was done to scare the NK and make them think twice on their further actions

theleg · 1 Apr 2013 at 19:55

Iraklis F.C. said:
maybe it was done to scare the NK and make them think twice on their further actions

but NK already knows the full extent of public US ability. the NK leadership will have watched everything to do with the afghanistan and iraq wars, they know what the US can do.

the only reason they flew those planes there was to intimidate them..to one up them. which seems ridiculous because of who they are dealing with.

the US needs to be the one to cool stuff down.

MaximusV · 1 Apr 2013 at 20:07

They should fly over again and drop some fake bombs.

CaptainRAVE · 1 Apr 2013 at 20:34

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/...r-in-wake-of-north-korea-missile-threats?lite

Xordium · 1 Apr 2013 at 20:47

That destroyer could take on NK single-handed.

Iraklis F.C. · 1 Apr 2013 at 20:57

Balddog said:
but NK already knows the full extent of public US ability.

i am not sure about this, they are living in their own world and their behavior is bizarre to say the least...

theleg · 1 Apr 2013 at 21:01

Iraklis F.C. said:
i am not sure about this, they are living in their own world and their behavior is bizarre to say the least...

the normal people are, sure..but the leadership and military brass most definitely have been watching very carefully for the last 60 years.

Malevolence · 1 Apr 2013 at 21:03

Cry 'Havoc', and let slip the eggs of war!

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/01/world/asia/us-north-korea-radar/index.html

Iraklis F.C. · 1 Apr 2013 at 21:06

what amazes me is the fact they havent imploded after so many years of untold misery, i expect these regimes sometime to collapse big style and yet after 60 years they are going still strong (or it seems so). Eastern Europe was brainwashed too and had a fearsome police state too but the limited interaction with the west brought them down, why isnt it happening therE?

ONESHOTKILL · 1 Apr 2013 at 21:06

Come on Japan ! Do something to get the ball rolling maybe light some big fireworks or ring the north and say the south are saying really nasty things about you , I really want to see how this pans out

Duff-Man · 1 Apr 2013 at 21:41

Balddog said:
but NK already knows the full extent of public US ability.

Do they really though? Logic would suggest yes (Kim Jong Un was educated in Sweden after all), but if you spout your own propaganda long enough then you can start to believe it.

Flying the B2s was a timely way to demonstrate that the US has the capability to respond to any North Korean action, and did so in a way that was virtually impossible to ignore.

I'm not saying that it was necessarily the right thing to do, but it will certainly have given the NK leadership something to consider. If anything, I see it as the US' way of saying "You can raise your voice, sure, but so can we".

theleg · 1 Apr 2013 at 21:52

Duff-Man said:
Do they really though? Logic would suggest yes (Kim Jong Un was educated in Sweden after all), but if you spout your own propaganda long enough then you can start to believe it.

Flying the B2s was a timely way to demonstrate that the US has the capability to respond to any North Korean action, and did so in a way that was virtually impossible to ignore.

I'm not saying that it was necessarily the right thing to do, but it will certainly have given the NK leadership something to consider. If anything, I see it as the US' way of saying "You can raise your voice, sure, but so can we".

Yes but the US should be above that IMO. We constantly hear how crazy these guys are and yet we do stuff like trying to out macho them. Its silly and unnecessary imo.

I dont believe for a moment that either kim or his government/military believe the stuff they put out. Theres no way they could, they have access to all the western media and internet that we do.

theleg · 1 Apr 2013 at 21:55

Iraklis F.C. said:
what amazes me is the fact they havent imploded after so many years of untold misery, i expect these regimes sometime to collapse big style and yet after 60 years they are going still strong (or it seems so). Eastern Europe was brainwashed too and had a fearsome police state too but the limited interaction with the west brought them down, why isnt it happening therE?

I dont know for sure but id assume that its to do with relative size. Its much easier to shut down a country of 20 million people which is surrounded on 3 sides by ocean or the DMZ. Whereas trying to totally shut down a land locked eastern euro country surrounded by the rest of the eastern bloc would have been tougher.

Plus they arent communist any more. The cult of personality took over a long time ago. Why people havent revolted before now? I dont know.

It sounds very 1984 but the NK people have been told that the US/western world are on the verge of invading them. So maybe that has factored into it. If they were being treated awfully but there wasnt a western 'boogeyman', maybe they would have risen up a long time ago. Who knows.