On the Brink of Korean War

[majorloser]

I hope Matt34 keeps his head down and gets his butt back home.
Things ain't looking to good over there right now.

Seoul warns of 'enormous retaliation' if provoked again.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40329269/ns/world_news-asiapacific/?GT1=43001

 

[majorloser]

Let's just hope China can stay out of it. I hate to give them any reason to raise the stakes by interferring with increased naval patrols or military buildup.

http://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2010/11/24/north-korean-attack-how-will-china-react/

 

[Patrukas777]

Some pretty scary stuff if it escalates.

 

[mike c]

what did you do now Matt?!



seriously though, i though matt would be a lot safer in s.korea than in the middle east ... now this.

something's going on here ... it looks like both sides are really itching for war.

 

[Chu Gai]

what did you do now Matt?!



seriously though, i though matt would be a lot safer in s.korea than in the middle east ... now this.

something's going on here ... it looks like both sides are really itching for war.

Not that I'm any kind of international foreign policy expert but I don't think the actions by NK including the sinking of a SK ship earlier this year by one of their subs was done to provoke war. China doesn't want any kind of a major conflict on account of the flood of North Korean refugees that would take place. However, the US has known for sometime that the North was building another nuclear facility and we've largely stayed silent publicly. In the meantime, AFAIK, we still honor the agreements with the North with regards to shipments of fuel, food, and medicine. From the North's POV, we look like the world's biggest ******* and suckers. Also, given the recent Presidential trip overseas where we failed to get some of the things desired, our stature WRT NK as well as China is somewhat diminished. Throw in that Kim Jong Il's son is being positioned as NK's future leader and this is a way of solidifying that within the country, I just see it all as NK just f****** with us in order to get additional concessions so they can continue with their political plans while we kick in additional aid. China really doesn't care too much seeing that NK is their top ho which they'll step on if they go over the line.
What does everyone else think?

 

[haraldo]

I think Obama needs a conflict to keep the weapons industry going; The only way there will be a war is if the US escalates this further...

 

[GO-NAD!]

Let's just hope China can stay out of it. I hate to give them any reason to raise the stakes by interferring with increased naval patrols or military buildup.

http://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2010/11/24/north-korean-attack-how-will-china-react/

I think it's high time that China gives North Korea a slap up the side of the head and says "Just WTF do you think you're doing!?" However, short of all-out war, it's probably in the Chinese government's cynical interest to let NK continue to be a thorn in the side of SK, Japan and the US.

With China acting like this:

http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/11/09/armed-and-dangerous/

I'm not sure we can expect anything constructive from them.

 

[Chu Gai]

Of Possible Interest

is this site: http://www.kcna.co.jp/index-e.htm which is an English translation of a NK publication, Korean News. No mention of the hostilities was found there although there's a series of articles regarding the sinking of the SK ship. Of possible interest is Kim Jong Il's inspection of a newly built soy sauce shop.

 

[lsiberian]

What does everyone else think?

It's grandstanding. China makes all of our stuff the last thing they want is to be blowing that deal.

 

[lsiberian]

I think Obama needs a conflict to keep the weapons industry going; The only way there will be a war is if the US escalates this further...

North Korea can level Seoul with artillery very quickly. We are more likely to invade Iran. Neither is happening though we've had enough war for a while IMO.

 

[GO-NAD!]

OK, but if they hit our base, it's an act of war and I'm not sure we'd be able to just sit by and let it happen. Obama might, but the rest of us wouldn't. He wouldn't know how to deal with that kind of incident and even if his advisers, War Czar or whoever he has won't be able to make him truly understand why we're there in the first place.

Well, it's an act of war to hit SK territory as well. If an American installation is hit, a measured response would still be required. A couple of stray shells wouldn't, and shouldn't, trigger a general conflict. A deliberate and significant targeting of an American installation would be a different matter altogether. I would think that NK doesn't want all out war - they just like to stir sh*t every now and then. They have wing nuts running the country and the regime should've been turfed long ago. Of course, the only reason that hasn't happened is China, of course. They will not tolerate an invasion of - or even large air strikes - on NK. For one, it's in China's interest to have NK keeping everybody off-balance. Plus, they don't want refugees streaming across their border.

 

[3db]

I'm watching this with keen interest. My quick take on this is that this war would be really different than the last Korean war. I think NC would be mostly on their own as China has really too much too lose economically in supporting NC full out. China might throw in some token equipment but far less than it did during the first Korean war.

I also don't think the NC will be stupid enough to lob anything towards the US bases. The leadership of NC has been constantly testing the waters in the last few years and this is just one of these tests.

 

[highfigh]

Well, it's an act of war to hit SK territory as well. If an American installation is hit, a measured response would still be required. A couple of stray shells wouldn't, and shouldn't, trigger a general conflict. A deliberate and significant targeting of an American installation would be a different matter altogether. I would think that NK doesn't want all out war - they just like to stir sh*t every now and then. They have wing nuts running the country and the regime should've been turfed long ago. Of course, the only reason that hasn't happened is China, of course. They will not tolerate an invasion of - or even large air strikes - on NK. For one, it's in China's interest to have NK keeping everybody off-balance. Plus, they don't want refugees streaming across their border.

You're right about no political threads and this is a good example of why I'd like to be able to edit my own posts after more than 5 minutes- I would remove that part and if a moderator could do that, it would be appreciated greatly.

I'd like to see an official comment from NK about this.

 

[MinusTheBear]

You're right about no political threads and this is a good example of why I'd like to be able to edit my own posts after more than 5 minutes- I would remove that part and if a moderator could do that, it would be appreciated greatly.

I'd like to see an official comment from NK about this.

I wouldn't worry about it. A moderator created this thread.

 

[majorloser]

I wouldn't worry about it. A moderator created this thread.

And he can edit it.

 

[thenatinator]

is this site: http://www.kcna.co.jp/index-e.htm which is an English translation of a NK publication, Korean News. No mention of the hostilities was found there although there's a series of articles regarding the sinking of the SK ship. Of possible interest is Kim Jong Il's inspection of a newly built soy sauce shop.

175.45.179.68 is also interesting, more content, the translations are awful but that's a lot of the fun and it's from the source.