North Korea fires missile from Pyongyang towards the east: South Korea

[webfact]

North Korea fires missile from Pyongyang towards the east: South Korea

 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un participates in a meeting with the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang September 4, 2017. KCNA via REUTERS

 

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea early on Friday fired an unidentified missile eastward from the Sunan district in its capital, Pyongyang, South Korea's military said.

 

The South Korean and U.S. militaries were analysing details of the launch, the South's Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

 

The missile has flown over Japan, Japan's NHK television said.

 

South Korea's presidential Blue House has called an urgent National Security Council meeting.

 

The North's launch comes a day after the North threatened to sink Japan and reduce the United States to "ashes and darkness" for supporting a U.N. Security Council resolution imposing new sanctions against it for its Sept. 3 nuclear test.

 

The North previously launched a ballistic missile from Sunan on Aug. 29 which flew over Japan's Hokkaido island and landed in the Pacific waters.

 

(Reporting by Jack Kim and Christine Kim; Editing by Chris Reese and Cynthia Osterman)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-09-15

[FreddieRoyle]

The only thing that would worry Kim, is if oil is discovered in North Korea. 

 

 Remember this current pickle east Asia happened after GW finished his term. 8 years of Obama and the world has really fallen apart - everywhere. Sad but in no way surprising. Weakness is not respected anywhere beyond the safe spaces in the American coastal regions.

[webfact]

North Korea fires missile over Japan, lands far out in the Pacific

By Jack Kim and William Mallard

 

FILE PHOTO: Women walk past a large TV screen showing news about North Korea's missile launch in Tokyo, Japan, August 29, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo

 

SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korea fired a missile on Friday that flew over Japan's northern Hokkaido far out into the Pacific Ocean, South Korean and Japanese officials said, further ratcheting up tensions after Pyongyang's recent test of a powerful nuclear bomb.

 

The missile flew over Japan, landing in the Pacific about 2,000 km (1,240 miles) east of Hokkaido, Japan Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters in a hastily organised media conference.

 

"These repeated provocations on the part of North Korea are unpermissible and we protest in the strongest words," Suga said.

 

The unidentified missile reached an altitude of about 770 km (480 miles) and flew 3,700 km (2,300 miles), according to South Korea's military - far enough to reach the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.

 

Last month, North Korea fired a missile from similar area near the capital Pyongyang that also flew over Hokkaido into the ocean.

 

South Korea said it had fired a missile test into the sea to coincide with North Korea's launch. The presidential Blue House has called an urgent National Security Council meeting. Japan also convened a National Security Council meeting.

 

The North's launch comes a day after the North threatened to sink Japan and reduce the United States to "ashes and darkness" for supporting a U.N. Security Council resolution imposing new sanctions against it for its Sept. 3 nuclear test, its most powerful by far.

 

The North accuses the United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, of planning to invade and regularly threatens to destroy it and its Asian allies.

 

Australia, a strong and vocal ally of the United States, quickly condemned the launch.

 

"This is another dangerous, reckless, criminal act by the North Korean regime, threatening the stability of the region and the world and we condemn it, utterly," Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in an interview with Sky News on Friday.

 

"This is a sign, I believe, of their frustration at the increased sanctions on North Korea, recently imposed by the Security Council. It's a sign that the sanctions are working."

 

The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously on a U.S.-drafted resolution and a new round of sanctions on Monday, banning North Korea's textile exports and capping fuel supplies.

 

The U.S. dollar fell sharply against the safe-haven yen and Swiss franc in early Asian hours in response to the launch, though losses were quickly pared in very jittery trade.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed that North Korea will never be allowed to threaten the United States with a nuclear-tipped missile, but has also asked China to do more to rein in its neighbour. China in turn favours an international response to the problem.The United States and South Korea are technically still at war with North Korea because the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a truce and not a peace treaty.

 

(Reporting by Jack Kim and Christine Kim in Seoul and Hideyuki Sano in Tokyo; Editing by Lincoln Feast)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-09-15

[steven100]

North Korea continues to ignore any request to halt the missile launches.

He is being totally defiant of any sanctions applied and continues to develop WMD and nuclear warheads.

 

I will guess that this is about the USA's limit and it like Japan has had enough of this guy.

Wouldn't be surprised if a military attack is being planned behind the scenes by the US, Japan and Australia's involvement.

tick .... tok ..... tick .... tok

[Samui Bodoh]

34 minutes ago, steven100 said:

North Korea continues to ignore any request to halt the missile launches.

He is being totally defiant of any sanctions applied and continues to develop WMD and nuclear warheads.

 

I will guess that this is about the USA's limit and it like Japan has had enough of this guy.

Wouldn't be surprised if a military attack is being planned behind the scenes by the US, Japan and Australia's involvement.

tick .... tok ..... tick .... tok

 

In theory you might be correct, but as a practical matter, I have my doubts.  Until someone can solve the problem of all the artillery tubes pointed at Seoul, there isn't much that can be done without literally hundreds of thousands/millions of casualties; the death toll would be horrific.

 

I think people around the world (outside of expert military folk) have been seduced by the easy victories in Iraq and the Middle East. I mean no disrespect to the US military; they are the best army the world has ever seen. However, there is a vast difference between fighting in an open desert and fighting in a mountainous area where troops and equipment is dug in. I think in the end the US would certainly win, but one has to question whether a 'win' exists if millions are killed. 

 

If I were the South Koreans, I would be very worried about what Trump might do. His proclivity towards getting a 'deal', any 'deal', would make me wonder if he had the S Korean interests in mind. 

 

Interesting times...

 

 

[ezzra]

The real big question here is whether the boy in the pinstripe suite will be crazy enough to go all in against the US thinking that Russia and China will not allow a  total  annihilation  of his country, and that assumptions gives him the courage to play with fire, but than again, Trump is and can be mad as a hatter and unpredictable and thus the same question is also on fat boy minds... will he or won't he?....

[edwinchester]

1 hour ago, FreddieRoyle said:

The only thing that would worry Kim, is if oil is discovered in North Korea. 

 

 Remember this current pickle east Asia happened after GW finished his term. 8 years of Obama and the world has really fallen apart - everywhere. Sad but in no way surprising. Weakness is not respected anywhere beyond the safe spaces in the American coastal regions.

The world started falling apart after 2 Gulf wars and the 9-11 atrocity. During who's administrations did they happen?

[BuaBS]

Well we know Trump likes a golden shower . With this missile test he just got another one.

[Rancid]

Hmm, I find it odd, that with all those anti-missile systems in S Korea and Japan, no one thought to just shoot it down, that really would have sent a message to Kim. But there again seems they only really work when the flight path is known and a transponder is turned on...still, a great investment.

 

In many ways this whole thing comes across as scripted reality TV as all the actors are so wooden. And of course only the producers who wrote the script know how the finale will end.

 

Another thing that confuses me, as I'm easily confused, is that if the end result of all this is that S Korea and Japan get loaded up with nuclear missiles, how does that actually help China as both countries are on their border and could provide a pretty nasty first strike at that range.

[craigt3365]

1 minute ago, Rancid said:

Hmm, I find it odd, that with all those anti-missile systems in S Korea and Japan, no one thought to just shoot it down, that really would have sent a message to Kim. But there again seems they only really work when the flight path is known and a transponder is turned on...still, a great investment.

 

In many ways this whole thing comes across as scripted reality TV as all the actors are so wooden. And of course only the producers who wrote the script know how the finale will end.

 

Another thing that confuses me, as I'm easily confused, is that if the end result of all this is that S Korea and Japan get loaded up with nuclear missiles, how does that actually help China as both countries are on their border and could provide a pretty nasty first strike at that range.

S Korea has already stated they won't pursue nuclear weapons.  Stand up thing to do. 

[ilostmypassword]

1 hour ago, ezzra said:

The real big question here is whether the boy in the pinstripe suite will be crazy enough to go all in against the US thinking that Russia and China will not allow a  total  annihilation  of his country, and that assumptions gives him the courage to play with fire, but than again, Trump is and can be mad as a hatter and unpredictable and thus the same question is also on fat boy minds... will he or won't he?....

How do you square the alleged inhibitory power of an unpredictable Trump with the fact that Kim has just conducted another missile test over Japan?

[baboon]

1 hour ago, Samui Bodoh said:

 

In theory you might be correct, but as a practical matter, I have my doubts.  Until someone can solve the problem of all the artillery tubes pointed at Seoul, there isn't much that can be done without literally hundreds of thousands/millions of casualties; the death toll would be horrific.

 

I think people around the world (outside of expert military folk) have been seduced by the easy victories in Iraq and the Middle East. I mean no disrespect to the US military; they are the best army the world has ever seen. However, there is a vast difference between fighting in an open desert and fighting in a mountainous area where troops and equipment is dug in. I think in the end the US would certainly win, but one has to question whether a 'win' exists if millions are killed. 

 

If I were the South Koreans, I would be very worried about what Trump might do. His proclivity towards getting a 'deal', any 'deal', would make me wonder if he had the S Korean interests in mind. 

 

Interesting times...

 

 

That the US would win any war is a given, but is it worth it in this instance? More bodies flown home, the risk of a wider conflict and the use of nuclear weapons, a wary public at home who see just what good has come out of western adventures in the Middle East? 

It strikes me that only those who wish to fight to the last drop of other people's blood would seem to think so.

[tonray]

Accept that DPRK is a nuclear power and get over it. Bolster our own weapons and capabilities so he is aware that the only sure thing to happen in an unprovoked attack on us or our allies is the complete and utter annihilation of his country and the death of him and all his heirs. It's called deterrence and it's the only solution that has kept peace since 1945. The genie is out of the bottle. Sanctions have only watched him stabilize and grow his GDP and actually force him to do things like sell missile technology to adversaries to survive their effect. Our policies have failed yet we continue to do the same tired old things and hope the outcome will be different. 

 

Get over it....he and NK are here to stay until an internal revolution takes him out which will eventually happen and China prospers and becomes more western leaning.  We cannot promote more wars, they do nothing for stability ...just look at the utter cluster-dump we have created in the Middle East. The conditions were there and we lit the match...time to put the matchbox away.

 

The bright side ? Ivanka may actually find a cheaper place to manufacture her crap with real slaves instead of just Chinese slave wages.

[tonray]

3 minutes ago, baboon said:

That the US would win any war is a given, but is it worth it in this instance? More bodies flown home, the risk of a wider conflict and the use of nuclear weapons, a wary public at home who see just what good has come out of western adventures in the Middle East? 

It strikes me that only those who wish to fight to the last drop of other people's blood would seem to think so.

Yeah...all the Lazy-Boy armchair Generals are out in force today...ha ha

[craigt3365]

4 minutes ago, tonray said:

Accept that DPRK is a nuclear power and get over it. Bolster our own weapons and capabilities so he is aware that the only sure thing to happen in an unprovoked attack on us or our allies is the complete and utter annihilation of his country and the death of him and all his heirs. It's called deterrence and it's the only solution that has kept peace since 1945. The genie is out of the bottle. Sanctions have only watched him stabilize and grow his GDP and actually force him to do things like sell missile technology to adversaries to survive their effect. Our policies have failed yet we continue to do the same tired old things and hope the outcome will be different. 

 

Get over it....he and NK are here to stay until an internal revolution takes him out which will eventually happen and China prospers and becomes more western leaning.  We cannot promote more wars, they do nothing for stability ...just look at the utter cluster-dump we have created in the Middle East. The conditions were there and we lit the match...time to put the matchbox away.

 

The bright side ? Ivanka may actually find a cheaper place to manufacture her crap with real slaves instead of just Chinese slave wages.

You are only empowering other rouge nations to do the same.  Letting them continue down this path sets a bad precedent.

[tonray]

Just now, craigt3365 said:

You are only empowering other rouge nations to do the same.  Letting them continue down this path sets a bad precedent.

What about "he has already done it" don't you understand ?

 

It's too late...he already has both bomb and missile technology and there is nothing we can do to turn the clock back.

 

You war mongers have to get off your 'turn it into a parking lot' mentality...if we attack him and he thinks he has nothing to lose he can drop a nuke on Seoul or Tokyo. 

 

HE ALREADY HAS THE WEAPONS AND THE TECH.....shall I repeat once again so you get it ?

[craigt3365]

Just now, tonray said:

What about "he has already done it" don't you understand ?

 

It's too late...he already has both bomb and missile technology and there is nothing we can do to turn the clock back.

 

You war mongers have to get off your 'turn it into a parking lot' mentality...if we attack him and he thinks he has nothing to lose he can drop a nuke on Seoul or Tokyo. 

 

HE ALREADY HAS THE WEAPONS AND THE TECH.....shall I repeat once again so you get it ?

He does not have a nuclear weapon that will fit on a missile.  Not yet.  But the more he tests, the closer he gets.

[tonray]

7 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

He does not have a nuclear weapon that will fit on a missile.  Not yet.  But the more he tests, the closer he gets.

Ok...lay out your plan. I'm anxious to hear your solution.

 

 

[craigt3365]

1 minute ago, tonray said:

Ok...lay out your plan. I'm anxious to hear your solution.

There are no easy answers.  And no good solutions. At least ones that Kim will accept.

[tonray]

Just now, craigt3365 said:

There are no easy answers.  And no good solutions. At least ones that Kim will accept.

Ok...so stop advocating attack if you have no real plan to fix the problem.

[craigt3365]

1 minute ago, tonray said:

Ok...so stop advocating attack if you have no real plan to fix the problem.

Where did I say attack?  Please quote me properly.

[lovelomsak]

Hard to believe people believe America could win so easy. The reason we are where we are is because America could not beat them years ago. So why do people think they can do it now. If america attacks it just means more dead people and more destruction. Still will not be settled.

[LannaGuy]

Just get on with it and bomb the little fat <deleted>

[LannaGuy]

27 minutes ago, tonray said:

What about "he has already done it" don't you understand ?

 

It's too late...he already has both bomb and missile technology and there is nothing we can do to turn the clock back.

 

You war mongers have to get off your 'turn it into a parking lot' mentality...if we attack him and he thinks he has nothing to lose he can drop a nuke on Seoul or Tokyo. 

 

HE ALREADY HAS THE WEAPONS AND THE TECH.....shall I repeat once again so you get it ?

so you advocate roll over and sing kumbaya?  he only understands force - use it

[tonray]

Just now, LannaGuy said:

so you advocate roll over and sing kumbaya?  he only understands force - use it

Perhaps the remote on your Lazy-Boy chair is getting low on batteries today, another guy willing to get others killed so he can spout off. 

 

WHAT IS YOUR SOLUTION ? Lay it out for us so the Pentagon can implement ASAP. I don't know why they just don't call you directly.

[LannaGuy]

Just now, tonray said:

Perhaps the remote on your Lazy-Boy chair is getting low on batteries today, another guy willing to get others killed so he can spout off. 

 

WHAT IS YOUR SOLUTION ? Lay it out for us so the Pentagon can implement ASAP. I don't know why they just don't call you directly.

 

Whats YOURS?  all you do is sit there and attack those that want to do something before that nutter bombs Guam, Japan or wherever.  Come on big boy what's the solution to this rogue nation?  let them join the UN perhaps?  give them Japan?  ignore them 'hoping they go away'? 

 

[inThailand]

Japan should have shot it down. But they are smart, and will let the Americans get into another messy and costly skermish, why they sit it out.

[Golgota]

The only things which worries me is that The Tangerine Guy is far more mentally unstable than Kim and couldn't care less of South Korean people dying after an american attack on the North...

I suggest a kickstarter to fund a Trump hotel in Seoul so he will thinks twice

[craigt3365]

12 minutes ago, inThailand said:

Japan should have shot it down. But they are smart, and will let the Americans get into another messy and costly skermish, why they sit it out.

Japan is fully engaged with this and considering building up their military. Hardly sitting it out. Plus, nut job Kim just said he wants to sink them.

[craigt3365]

9 minutes ago, Golgota said:

The only things which worries me is that The Tangerine Guy is far more mentally unstable than Kim and couldn't care less of South Korean people dying after an american attack on the North...

I suggest a kickstarter to fund a Trump hotel in Seoul so he will thinks twice

Unlike Kim, Trump is not a dictator. He can't do whatever he wants. Luckily.