North Korea Warns of Nuclear War

[ECH1969]

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea warned of nuclear war Saturday and vowed to strengthen its deterrent forces as it demanded that Washington show evidence backing its allegation that the communist regime is counterfeiting U.S. money.

"Dark clouds of a nuclear war are hanging low over the Korean Peninsula," the North's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary carried by state-run Korean Central News Agency.

The North's comments Saturday follow a South Korea-U.S. agreement this month giving American troops more flexibility in the South.

The North said the pact was aimed at preparing for war.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060128/ap_on_re_as/nkorea_us_1

[Justitia]

1. OK, shit, they got MY attention this Saturday morning! -eom

[MrPrax]

10. LOL...

Caught me too... "Saturday...um...this one or next one...WHAT??"

"North Korea warned of nuclear war Saturday" ....a classic

[ewoden]

2. You know things are getting tough for the US when

The lights go on, and the nuclear roaches stop scurrying for cover.

[Posteritatis]

3. Doesn't North Korea threaten this biweekly now anyway? (n/t)

[rpannier]

13. The North Koreans threaten everytime something happens they don't like

I've lived in Korea (ROK) for almost a decade now and it happens like clockwork.
Joint US-ROK forces do maneuvers -- Threaten war.
ROK navy chases PDK boats out of ROK waters -- War is possible.
High level US Diplomats visit border area -- Possible war.
Kim Jeong-il has a bad hair day (which is everday) -- War is imminent.

It's an old song. Kim Jeong-il is full of it.

[sofa king]

15. Yep, it's a negotiation tactic.

The North Koreans, and to a lesser extent the Chinese, still have the habit of making the worst case scenario a centerpiece of their negotiation rhetoric. Or maybe it's that the Western press has a little trouble understanding that's what they're doing. That misunderstanding creates a lot of lucrative headlines like this one.

When the North Koreans and the Chinese are really planning to fight, they don't say jack about it and unload like a truckload of elephant crap on you when you least expect it.

So in a perverse way, threatening nuclear war is actually probably a healthy indicator of the state of relations between North Korea and the rest of the world.

[reprobate]

4. I think the neocons still think ICBMs are necessary for delivery.

Don't they realize that there are ships full of containers and automobiles arriving in this countries ports from Korea every day? How difficult would it be to have one of their contact cells in South Korea arrange for a device to be placed on one of those ships? Impossible? I don't think so.

Or are they really INTENDING to start a nueclear exchange so that they are the only ones left? But trying to figure out the motivations of this bunch of whackoes would turn the brain to mush.

[jgmiller]

5. They do this all the time

Everytime something else on the world stage takes away attention from them they make a threat. They're probably jealous of Iran right now so they needed to say something. The guy running the show over there might be totally insane but he's not crazy enough to wreck his life. He's got it good, the rest of the country is in the toliet but he's comfortable. The think we have to worry about is what happens when he dies.

[cliss]

6. Here's one reader

who takes them seriously. I have watched with increasing alarm, how the U.S. just taunts them, like kids who poke a monkey with a stick at the zoo. Or a bullfighter who waves the red flag in front of the bull.

I have NO doubt that N. Korea has nukes, right now. Unlike Iraq, which was never a threat to us. These guys are.

It seems like every week, there are new accusations hurled back and forth. No one seems to believe they might actually go ahead and do it.

[rpannier]

14. A few points from someone who lives and works in Korea

1. Yes they have nukes -- 99% assured.
2. They threaten that war is imminent, probable, possible, etc everytime something happens they don't like -- which are most things.
3. They are a minimal threat because their primary ally, China, keeps it that way. The PDK will not do anything stupid because Kim would turn up dead and most of North Korea would be China's newest province.

[gizmo1979]

7. Do they have long range missiles?

[jpak]

9. Yes - but medium range only

They can attack US military facilites in SK, Japan and perhaps Guam - but not the US (and that includes Hawaii and Alaska)...

http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/dprk/missile/index.html

[BadgerKid]

8. 'Axis of evil' flashback

thanks to * letting the phrase slip, it could be a two-front battle. Historically speaking, fighting on more than one front is unsuccessful.

[HuffleClaw]

11. these guys have propaganda down to an artform

DOOOOOOM ! ! ! !

bush spouts about 'freedom on the march' and 'the civilized world must', which is boring compared to these guys. but its all rhetoric.

[lovuian]

12. North Korea knows that Iran is going to be attacked and

WWIII will begin :nuke: