Another earth-shattering KABOOM from North Korea

[dteowner]

That's an interesting thought, Z. Could this whole build-up be an advertising/marketing campaign for DPRK weapons exports? Osama ain't gonna buy until someone gives him the weapons equivalent of a test drive? That might make a little more sense.

 

[Zaleukos]

Just thinking out loud. Their missile tests make a lot more sense from the advertising point, but the nuclear test crosses a line that they must be aware of. Inspections of their shipping would cut into their not-quite-as-illegal missile exports as well.

I dont think Osama has the dough to buy anyway, their customers were always state actors. Pakistan, Iran, maybe Sudan. A successful test would certainly allow them to charge more for consultants going to Iran.

EDIT: I think the "blackmail for aid" theory is more plausible though...

 

[Prime Junta]

Then again, anyone in the market for North Korean weaponry is probably either (a) very poor or (b) under embargo from all other sources. If I was the dictator of a TPLAC, I'd take Chinese weapons over North Korean ones any day of the week, if I had the option. I'm not sure how much difference marketing makes for that.

Another interesting theory I've heard is that all of North Korea's advanced ballistic missiles use Russian rocket engines sold to the country about a decade or so ago, and the DPRK does not possess the capability to manufacture them themselves. It's not known how many Russia sold them, but apparently not that many.

If that's the case, the Taepodong-2 would be very much of a paper tiger -- they'd only have a small handful of them, and there would certainly be no question of exporting them. The same goes for their intermediate-range SAM's: the only missiles the DPRK would be able to build entirely on its own are on the level of their Silkworm and Scud clones. Unpleasant enough, for sure, but nowhere near the kind of strategic threat that the Taepodongs are.

 

[bkrueger]

Some of the propaganda associated with Kim Jong-il is just hilarious.


From Wikipedia....
Kim Jong-il's official biography[6] states that he was born in a secret military camp on Baekdu Mountain (백두산) in northern Korea on 16 February 1942. Official biographers claim that his birth at Baekdu Mountain was foretold by a swallow, and heralded by the appearance of a double rainbow over the mountain and a new star in the heavens.


and....


Also an apparent golfer, North Korean state media reports that Kim routinely shoots three or four holes-in-one per round. His official biography also claims Kim has composed six operas and enjoys staging elaborate musicals. Kim also refers to himself as an Internet expert.



I've also heard reports that he can bench press 800lbs, dunk a basketball from half-court, and has a 13-inch penis......flaccid!

I read that post some time ago, but only now I realised:

Kim Jong-il is Chuck Norris!

 

[Prime Junta]

Well well well: say hi to the new boss, same as the old boss: DPRK swears allegiance to Kim Jong-un, youngest son of Kim Jong Il.

[ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8078324.stm ]

 

[Oxlar]

Maggies Farm will be the same as it ever was.

 

[Zaleukos]

Well well well: say hi to the new boss, same as the old boss: DPRK swears allegiance to Kim Jong-un, youngest son of Kim Jong Il.

[ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8078324.stm ]

That brings up another credible explanation, that the tests are a show of force related to a power struggle over succession. Kim Jong-Il:s health is not very good, and there are rumours that circles within the military dont want his son as new god-emperor...

Then again, kremlology as well as divination from chicken livers are fairly exact sciences compared to analysis of the DPRK.

 

[magerette]

This article mentions that factor, and also suggests rumors of another launch:

NK Faces New Sanctions

South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee, meanwhile, linked the North's threats and flurry of military activity to Kim Jong-il paving the way for his son to succeed him.

"Kim Jong-il is bloodshot in the eyes trying to build a succession plan to pass on power by creating tension ... while ignoring the desperate plight of his starving people and the impoverished state of the economy," he said in an address to troops, according to a military aide on Wednesday.

Also, some bad news about the two journalists detained since March:
NK Sentences 2 American Journalists to 12 Years Hard Labor

 

[dteowner]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/08599190371700

The immediate priority of the U.S. and its allies is to prevent North Korea from spreading its nuclear know-how around the world. And their own lever is China's influence over the hermit regime. "There's a view that if you want to get the Chinese to act on North Korea, you need to signal a willingness to take military action," Scott Snyder, a Korea expert with the Council on Foreign Relations, said last week.

Guess it's not just Crazy dte saying these things, eh?

 

[Prime Junta]

If you were the only hawk in the US, dte, the world would be a rather different place.

 

[magerette]

Yet more saber-rattling from NK:

NK Announces it Will Weaponize Plutonium

And if nothing else, the UN sanctions do indeed seem to be pissing them off--especially this latest round about inspection of their ships--which is maybe an indication that they aren't totally without effect??I hate to make this point too stridently, because I'm not sure whether the effect is good or bad.

Pyongyang has for the first time confirmed it is seeking to enrich uranium in efforts to develop nucealr weapons, it said.

North Korea would view any US-led attempts to "blockade" it as an "act of war", the Associated Press (AP) said.

It follows a toughening of UN sanctions against the communist state.
...On Friday, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to impose tougher sanctions on communist North Korea, after its nuclear test on 25 May.

 

[Rithrandil]

But the UN Security council did just agree to stricter DPRK sanctions - including forced searching of DPRK-flagged ships, banning all weapons sales from the DPRK, etc.

 

[magerette]

But the UN Security council did just agree to stricter DPRK sanctions - including forced searching of DPRK-flagged ships, banning all weapons sales from the DPRK, etc.

Yep, that's what I was talking about. If this is how they've been making their money--shady weapon sales--I guess that would explain their ratcheting up the rhetoric.

 

[hishadow]

Was this linked? The vice guide to North Korea. A bit jackass-reporting style.

 

[magerette]

Was this linked? The vice guide to North Korea. A bit jackass-reporting style.

Yes, GothicGothicness linked to this site awhile back, but it's well worth a read for anyone who hasn't checked it out.

In the haze of Iran news, NK is taking a bit of a backseat, but they're definitely not going away:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_koreas_nuclear

 

[Rithrandil]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/200...n-ship-suspected-proliferatin-missiles-nukes/

Excuse the source, but:

"
The U.S. military is planning to intercept a flagged North Korean ship suspected of proliferating weapons material in violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution passed last Friday, FOX News has learned.
The USS John McCain, a navy destroyer, will intercept the ship Kang Nam as soon as it leaves the vicinity off the coast of China, according to a senior U.S. defense official. The order to inderdict has not been given yet, but the ship is getting into position.
The ship left a port in North Korea Wednesday and appears to be heading toward Singapore, according to a senior U.S. military source. The vessel, which the military has been tracking since its departure, could be carrying weaponry, missile parts or nuclear materials, a violation of U.N. Resolution 1874, which put sanctions in place against Pyongyang. "


Yay!

 

[magerette]

Good news, imo, regardless of the source.

Also this seems to indicate a willingness to call DPRK bluffs:

Gates Increases Hawaii Missile Defense

And seems like North Korea has some very creative ways to take care of their deficit:
No Ordinary Counterfeit
Defector Says NK Uses Insurance Fraud to Pay Bills

 

[Tragos]

I was reading an article in Pavda.ru a couple of months ago where Russian officials were lulzing with China's missile capabilities , if Russia and China consider mr Kim a harmless bozo why Europe & USA must care?

Eh also according to the same source NK managed to make the first nuke test that didn't left any radiation mark on the satellites

 

[Rithrandil]

I was reading an article in Pavda.ru a couple of months ago where Russian officials were lulzing with China's missile capabilities , if Russia and China consider mr Kim a harmless bozo why Europe & USA must care?

Eh also according to the same source NK managed to make the first nuke test that didn't left any radiation mark on the satellites

Well, China and Russia *do* consider the DPRK a threat: just not as much to them as it is to the U.S. and its allies. They don't really want nuclear weapons to spread freely throughout the world any more than we do. The DPRK basically served to counter American, ROK (South Korea), and Japanese interests in Asia. It's basically like China/Russia trained a guard dog to be really mean. They just want to keep people off of their property, but don't want it to break out of the yard and maul anyone. Now, not only are they afraid the DPRK will break the leash, but it may also turn around and bite *them*.

The DPRK has enough artillery pointed at Seoul (where about half of South Koreans live) to wipe it off the face of the earth. They also could hit Japan, Hawaii, Alaska, or possibly California with a nuke if they managed to make a working missile. The DPRK is *definitely* a threat to the U.S. and its allies, and does not seem to use any rational method of decision making as far as anyone can tell.

 

[Tragos]

Well, China and Russia *do* consider the DPRK a threat: just not as much to them as it is to the U.S. and its allies. They don't really want nuclear weapons to spread freely throughout the world any more than we do. The DPRK basically served to counter American, ROK (South Korea), and Japanese interests in Asia. It's basically like China/Russia trained a guard dog to be really mean. They just want to keep people off of their property, but don't want it to break out of the yard and maul anyone. Now, not only are they afraid the DPRK will break the leash, but it may also turn around and bite *them*.

The DPRK has enough artillery pointed at Seoul (where about half of South Koreans live) to wipe it off the face of the earth. They also could hit Japan, Hawaii, Alaska, or possibly California with a nuke if they managed to make a working missile. The DPRK is *definitely* a threat to the U.S. and its allies, and does not seem to use any rational method of decision making as far as anyone can tell.

Sir, there is no need to panic , NK can hardly feed it's people and so far their "nukes" have only killed a couple of fish in the Pacific .

http://english.pravda.ru/world/asia/01-06-2009/107653-north_korea-0

Home injuries are a bigger "threat"