What Is The World To Do With North Korea???

[Little Red Wagon Repairman]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,522103,00.html

N. Korea Warns of Military Strike on S. Korea
Wednesday, May 27, 2009

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea warned South Korea and the United States on Wednesday that Seoul's participation in a U.S.-led program to intercept ships suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction is equal to a declaration of war.

South Korea announced its participation in the U.S.-led program on Tuesday, one day after North Korea defiantly conducted a nuclear test, drawing international criticism.

The North's military said in a statement that it will respond with "immediate, strong military measures" against any attempt to stop and search North Korean ships under the Proliferation Security Initiative.

The statement, carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, also said the regime no longer considers itself bound by the armistice that ended the Korean War. It accused the U.S., a signatory of the armistice, of "dragging" the South into the program under its "hostile policy" against the North.

It also said it cannot guarantee safety for South Korean and U.S. navy ships sailing near the disputed western Korean sea border.

Earlier Wednesday, news reports and South Korean officials said the North has restarted a weapons-grade nuclear plant and fired five short-range missiles in two days, deepening the standoff with world powers following its nuclear test.

South Korea's mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported that U.S. spy satellites have detected steam coming from a nuclear facility at North Korea's main Yongbyon plant, indicating the North is reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods to harvest weapons-grade plutonium.

Its report quoted an unnamed official. South Korea's Defense Ministry and the National Intelligence Service — the country's main spy agency — said they cannot confirm the report.

The North had said it would begin reprocessing in protest over international criticism of its April 5 rocket launch.

North Korea is believed to have enough plutonium for at least half a dozen atomic bombs. The North also has about 8,000 spent fuel rods which, if reprocessed, could allow the country to harvest 6-8 kilograms (13-18 pounds) of plutonium — enough to make at least one nuclear bomb, experts said.

Yonhap news agency carried a similar report later Wednesday, saying the gate of a facility storing the spent fuel rods was spotted open several times since mid-April. The report, also citing an unnamed South Korean official, said chemical-carrying vehicles were spotted at Yongbyon.

North Korea test-fired three additional short-range missiles Tuesday, including one late at night, from the east coast city of Hamhung, according to South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae.

He said the North already test-launched two short-range missiles from another eastern coast launch pad on Monday, not the three reported by many South Korean media outlets.

I don't want to go to war with these guys but it seems like UN action has had little effect on North Korea acheiving its goal of going nuclear. Russia and China have been especially unhelpful. I realize China is worried about refugees and I understand that to a certain degree. But, if they don't get with the program South Korea and Japan will want nuclear weapons too. This is a sensitive situation. What are your opinions on how the North Koreans should be dealt with?

 

[Galactic]

Tough call. I was just talking with my brother about this. What can we do? We are dealing with a desperate country run by a lunatic.....I'd say all the conventional means of negotiations are pretty much off the table at this point. Even China and Russia still seem to (somewhat) listen to reason....N. Korea, on the other hand, seems hell bent on scaring the rest of the world.

At the risk of sounding like a "typical" American, I think the time has come to lay down some serious ultimatums. Stop this bullshit, knock it off completely, or we will come in and "reshape" your country, like we did with Iraq, though that is still somewhat laughable.

Look, I don't want war with these loons either, but someone has got to put the hammer down, and stop things NOW before they get to a point of no return, like Seoul being erased from the map.

 

[Facetious]

Re: What Is The World To Do With North Korea???

You DO mean China proper, correct ?

NK is the puppet on a string distractor. China supplies NK with 90% of it's resources, that should tell you something.

So what does a now weaking socialist, sewer of a nation like the USA do about China ? Perfectly Nothing.
The end

 

[afsd42]

I think you have to look toward the future. The more time that passes, the more dangerous they become for everyone. Very few people like war but there are even less people that like being blown up by a nuke.

 

[Johan]

1) Last time USA engage a war to protect them selves, it ws Iraq. See how it ends...
2) Attacking North Korea is attacking China. Do you really wants the US to do with China what they suceed to prevent from USSR : Global nuclear war ?

 

[Gordar]

What to do with North Korea? At the moment, nothing.

The world should wait until a famine hits the country (once again). Then, give them the following ultimatum.

We give you food if you submit to our demands....

It has worked in the past, it will work again (& Kim Jong Ill (SP?) won't live forever).

 

[BlueBalls]

You do nothing unless directly attacked. Which they are never going to do.

I read recently that back in the Clinton era (I believe) they were trying to create a plan where they could invade. But that was called off, mainly because the loss of life was estimated to be around 50,000 US troops (I may be wrong on that figure, that might also encompass the South Koreans as well, but that was the estimated figure whether it be US troops alone or with casualties from the south, who knows?). Now that they have nuclear weapons thats even more of a deterant to actually invade. So military action is out of the window, because even though you may win dunno I really doubt that anyone is going to support a war in which 50,000+ people are going to lose their lives. And with the nuclear threat that number could increase by 10X that amount.

Kim Jong Il from the looks of him looks frail and these recent tactics are probably just him in his mind trying to gather enough strength for his nation before he falls off the mortal coil as they say. All these are, are scare tactics to try to get the US and its allies to back off. So what do you do, as Gordar says you give them an ultimatum whilst increasing sanctions against them. And if they still do not listen cut them off completely.

It's not going to hurt Kim Jong Il in the slightest if North Korea is cut off, it's going to be detrimental to his people. It's the people who always get hurt in such situations but I suppose thats the price that has to be paid.

 

[Jagger69]

Re: What Is The World To Do With North Korea???

You DO mean China proper, correct ?

NK is the puppet on a string distractor. China supplies NK with 90% of it's resources, that should tell you something.

So what does a now weaking socialist, sewer of a nation like the USA do about China ? Perfectly Nothing.
The end

Wow....amazing accomplishment by Obama in his 120-odd days in office to transform the landscape of the USA from a bull-strong capitalist flower garden into a weakling socialist sewer. Impressive!

:1orglaugh

 

[afkallthetiem]

There's no real threat, its just dude has little man syndrome he will die soon anyway and the country will try to be all friendly suddenly.

 

[I_Harba]

Nothing as always ,they woul dnot do nothing

 

[Friday on my mind]

While I think our (the US or anybody else) taking any pre-emptive military action would be huge mistake I do not think we can assume nothing will ever happen.The North is isolated and feels threatened ( a dangerous situation) and even without nukes had the potential to inflict huge casualties on the south.Seoul the capital of the south is in easy range of artillery in the north.

Our only option is the the diplomatic carrots and sticks we have been trying for a long time on them.

 

[boobmanz]

I think N-Korea is not a threat to the world just like Irak wasn't. We have to worry about its citizens. It's a very poor country, but its leaders live in extreme luxury at the cost of its citizens.

A media war -showing how we the western world live and what democracy and wealth means- should somehow be enforced upon N-Korea.

 

[wingman00]

I think N-Korea is not a threat to the world just like Irak wasn't. We have to worry about its citizens. It's a very poor country, but its leaders live in extreme luxury at the cost of its citizens.

Iraq wasen't, north korea is! they have just detonated a nuke as large as the one droped over nagasaki! they have launced long range missiles, they say they are no longer tied to the peace treaty with s. korea. this is dangerous!

one of the reasons why Iraq was invaded and not n. korea is that their army is over on million strong + more than 7 million reserves. (and maybe some oil )

 

[Spleen]

Hide under a pile of coats and hope everything works out.

 

[afsd42]

Sure you could cut them off entirely. However, what do you do next when they threaten nuclear war if you don't stop cutting them off? If they are backed into a corner, they don't have anything to lose.

 

[CunningStunts]

We should have nuked them in '51, and that my fiends is why the US should NEVER fight a war under the UN banner.

Now, there isn't much we can do to be honest. The place is already worse than a 3rd world country, and short of nuking it until it glows, we just have to take the insane rhetoric and buy them off with oil and rice.

 

[gunslingingbird]

Hide under a pile of coats and hope everything works out.

Actually, that's what we have been doing. He wanted to know what we should do. :hatsoff:

 

[wingman00]

Sure, it would be better if that horrible state was removed from the map, but I think the reason why Truman didn't want to use nukes is that it would have set new norms on the use of nuclear weapons. macarthur wanted to drop several bombs near the chinese border.
imagine the soviets being equally trigger happy with the nukes.

 

[CunningStunts]

Sure, it would be better if that horrible state was removed from the map, but I think the reason why Truman didn't want to use nukes is that it would have set new norms on the use of nuclear weapons. macarthur wanted to drop several bombs near the chinese border.
imagine the soviets being equally trigger happy with the nukes.

I know hindsight is 50-50, but Mac was right.:thumbsup:

 

[mrtrebus]

"Nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."