North Korea preparing for longest range ballistic missile launch

[thewiseguy]

Watch out Hawaii and the west coast! :scared:

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea appears to be preparing to test-launch its longest range ballistic missile, media reports said on Tuesday, stoking tensions just days after the reclusive state warned that the Korean peninsula was on the brink of war.

North Korea, which typically carries out missile tests in times of political friction, last week said it was scrapping all agreements with South Korea in a move analysts said was aimed at pressuring Seoul and grabbing the attention of new U.S. President Barack Obama.

The North, which tested a nuclear device in 2006, is seen as one of the greatest threats to regional security. But experts say they do not believe Pyongyang has developed the technology to miniaturize an atomic weapon so it can be mounted on a missile as a warhead.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090203/ts_nm/us_korea_north

[anonymous171]

1. Fuck that attention whore. Let his people starve. Eventually they will rise up. nt

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

2. Yeah, well if it's anything like their nuke it'll break up over the Sea of Japan. nt

[thewiseguy]

3. That happened last time they launched this missile.

Not sure if it will happen again. What if the missile hits Hawaii or the west coast?

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

5. China will deal with it.

Last thing they want is our military (or missiles) going ape in their backyard.

[Pavulon]

6. One or More Ohio Class subs

will shower N. Korea with hundreds of thermonuclear warheads. I would bet my last cent that they are on standby and awaiting an order to react.

This is quite serious as any weapon he fires will be assumed nuclear. China will not hesitate to incinerate them all.

[Hugabear]

9. Where the hell do you get that notion?

"This is quite serious as any weapon he fires will be assumed nuclear"

You repeat this claim later in this thread also. Where do you get this notion? Why would we just automatically assume that any missile North Korea fires is nuclear armed? They haven't even demonstrated that they can conduct a successful long-range missle test yet. They don't have the technology to miniaturize nuclear weapons to mount them on a missile - that technology is FAR advanced than simply developing nuclear weapons. And even IF they could mount a nuke on a missile, they're sure as hell not going to risk losing a nuke on a missile that isn't reliable.

[Pavulon]

11. Russia or China would consider

any missile fired from the United States with a trajectory that has it land in their territory to be the beginning of a nuclear war. They would respond accordingly. A test is declared, a random missile fired is not a test. It is a prelude to war.

We are talking 1960's technology. A mill to cut material to specs far beyond those in the teller-ulam bomb can be found in most modern fabrication shops. The hard part would be material and tacit design knowledge. The technology is not complex.

They shot off rockets during a shuttle launch, shot them over japan. They are not a stable player.

Game theory assumes all parties are sane.

[Hugabear]

16. Apples and oranges

It's well known that the US (as well as Russia & China, for that matter) has the technology to mount nuclear weapons on long-range missiles. So yes, it would be prudent for Russia or China to assume that a missile launched from the US towards their countries might be nuclear-armed.

North Korea does NOT have that technology. Everything I've read indicates that fitting a nuclear warhead to a missile is extremely difficult, and requires incredibly advanced technology. Furthermore, they haven't even been able to demonstrate that they can successfully launch long-range missiles, at least not ones capable of hitting the US.

[Pavulon]

4. Very Dangerous

If he fires a weapon with a trajectory that could hit japan, or us territory we will consider the launch of trident systems, or potential interceptor programs. We are bound to defend japan and that includes a second strike using nuclear weapons.

If he fires at china they will burn the place down.

If hi fires a weapon it will be assumed to be nuclear tipped. The response will be framed in that context.

[marketcrazy1]

7. the north could

shower the south with an artillery barrage of up to half a million shells per hour!! I really do not relish the thought of a shooting war.. they would most certainly lose in the long run but the damage they could inflict on the south would be devastating, our response would be too late to stop it.

[Pavulon]

10. They would be dead

before the made it to the half hour mark. Assuming no nuclear weapons cross in the air. Theirs are unproven, a potential fizzle. Ours, not so much. God help them if they mess with china. China will not hesitate to attack them with nuclear weapons if they fire a weapon north.

Hopefully they will not make a massive error. At some point they need to change administrations.

Our response to an attack like that on US soldiers would me massive and had been planned for decades. We would probably hit that 400 - 900 deaths a second mark we reached when tokyo burned. 100 times that if N. Korea actually fired some sort of nuke. Not very probable, but possible.

The response is a play that has been in the works since the mid 50's.

[Ardent15]

8. Not good

[Ichingcarpenter]

12. They have no satellites, no technology but stolen old nuke plans

can't feed their nation and have no real trade partners except for China.

I see this as a China problem that produced and developed this step child
over the years and then did nothing later when it grew up and became
a gangster punk. Almost all economic trade goes through China.

[Pavulon]

13. Lets see if they bite that hand

I bet they do. They are a failed state, china is in free fall and is in no position to bail them out.

[Ichingcarpenter]

15. China has an interest in doing it because of Japanese/Korean technologies

and factories in China that supplies employment for China and consumers
in the West. Mao's China has evolved into something he rejected.

As
Al Capone Said:



Capitalism is the legitimate racket of the ruling class.


Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone.
- John Maynard Keynes

These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people.
- Abraham Lincoln


There is a serious tendency toward capitalism among the well-to-do peasants.
- Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-Tung) (Chairman Mao)

[unkachuck]

14. "...which typically carries out missile tests in times of political friction..."

....that, and they have to prepare for when the next 'bush' takes office....and everybody knows there will be another 'bush' type presidency in the not too distant future....

[Ichingcarpenter]

17. North Korea is also using propaganda because it is destabilizing

with no legal form of succession and an ailing ruler. They need this
to support their ailing regime to hopefully pump up the masses in
national pride while they are starving.

Their missiles suck