North Korea fires ballistic missile ahead of G20 summit

[boomerangutang]

1 hour ago, baboon said:

And the South don't want reunification under their system?

But that is by the by. Remember that outside countries are quite happy with the current situation on the peninsula, no matter how they huff and puff about it. China and Russia wouldn't want an American client state on their borders, the US military industrialists would lose another enemy, Japan wouldn't want the economic competition from a unified Korean powerhouse...

The only reasonable way for the 2 Koreas to unite would be under the South's system.  S.Korea resembles other developed countries (warts and all) in many ways: commercialism, open internet, elected leaders, freedom of expression and so on.   N.Korea is an island unto itself.  

 

There are similarities to when the Berlin Wall came down.  It was obvious that when that happened, East Germans would get absorbed by the Westerners.  Can you imagine it the other way around, with West Germany adapting to E.Germany, with Stasi and bans on rock music, etc?  Crazy.

 

1 hour ago, midas said:

Can USA really afford to play Russian roulette with this country?

Apart from the  ICBM threat,  If North Korea does have the ability to launch an EMP attack over America in space does America really have the ability to survive being sent back to the dark ages when its infrastructure is fried?

At most, N.Korea could possibly get one hit close to Alaska - and even there, it would be lucky to hit one of the Aleutian islands or Kodiak.  (p.s. an ice age ago, I had a summer fling with a gal from Kodiak Island. She wasn't frigid).   

 

 

 

 

[baboon]

46 minutes ago, boomerangutang said:

The only reasonable way for the 2 Koreas to unite would be under the South's system.  S.Korea resembles other developed countries (warts and all) in many ways: commercialism, open internet, elected leaders, freedom of expression and so on.   N.Korea is an island unto itself.  

 

There are similarities to when the Berlin Wall came down.  It was obvious that when that happened, East Germans would get absorbed by the Westerners.  Can you imagine it the other way around, with West Germany adapting to E.Germany, with Stasi and bans on rock music, etc?  Crazy.

 

At most, N.Korea could possibly get one hit close to Alaska - and even there, it would be lucky to hit one of the Aleutian islands or Kodiak.  (p.s. an ice age ago, I had a summer fling with a gal from Kodiak Island. She wasn't frigid).   

 

 

 

 

Whether or not the South's system is the only reasonable one to unify under, the situation is what it it is and needs to be handled as such. Wishful thinking won't change that. For a start, do the South's population want to foot the bill? I doubt it.

Do Russia, China, Japan and the American military undustrialists want it? I doubt that too.

 

[Scott]

Any military action, by any party on the Korean peninsula is going to result in massive social upheaval.   Someone is going to get stuck with millions upon millions of refugees, regardless of who is in charge.  

 

In the past, when the US has led the charge on these military adventures, they have at least shoulder a substantial part of the costs of housing refugees and paying the costs.   They also have provided leadership in taking care of the aftermath.   I don't know that the current administration will be as willing to assist. 

 

It could be one of the bigger problems in modern history.  

[boomerangutang]

1 hour ago, baboon said:

Whether or not the South's system is the only reasonable one to unify under, the situation is what it it is and needs to be handled as such. Wishful thinking won't change that. For a start, do the South's population want to foot the bill? I doubt it. Do Russia, China, Japan and the American military undustrialists want it? I doubt that too.

I know how people adjust to what's currently happening.  Still, there are some oddballs, like me, who project how things could change for the better.  It so happens, I have no political/economic/military/ power, so nothing I say or write will have an impact.  Yet, innovative ideas can sometimes come from people outside the power nexus.  

 

Scott's comment is on the mark:  If there were a military clash with N.Korea - with US involvement, it's likely the US would feel obliged to spend tens of billions to mop up after the smoke clears.  

 

The best thing the US can do, is not launch any pre-emptive military action.  That's what Kim wants.  He knows a country at war will compel its people to rally around their leader - even more than they are forced to do in ordinary times.    Trump knows that also.  That's why, a war would have appeal for Trump, and it would deflect from the investigations which he hates more than an ebola sandwich.

[baboon]

3 minutes ago, boomerangutang said:

I know how people adjust to what's currently happening.  Still, there are some oddballs, like me, who project how things could change for the better.  It so happens, I have no political/economic/military/ power, so nothing I say or write will have an impact.  Yet, innovative ideas can sometimes come from people outside the power nexus.  

 

Scott's comment is on the mark:  If there were a military clash with N.Korea - with US involvement, it's likely the US would feel obliged to spend tens of billions to mop up after the smoke clears.  

 

The best thing the US can do, is not launch any pre-emptive military action.  That's what Kim wants.  He knows a country at war will compel its people to rally around their leader - even more than they are forced to do in ordinary times.    Trump knows that also.  That's why, a war would have appeal for Trump, and it would deflect from the investigations which he hates more than an ebola sandwich.

You aren't an oddball at all. I just cannot agree with your assessment of the Korean situation. 

Does the American taxpayer want to pay for what is broken in their name yet again? Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Syria aren't exactly success stories, are they? Just ask EU countries. 

 

The last thing the DPRK wants is war with America, so yes, leave them alone if all you have to offer are threats and bombs or they might retaliate with all they have.

[midas]

11 hours ago, CutiePi said:

I have not seen any reports that N. Korea possesses an electromagnetic pulse weapon of any significance. However, I do think this rogue regime should be swept into the dust-bin of history...the sooner the better.

Yes indeed and that seems to emphasise the following question "Why do the press and public officials ignore or under-report these facts? Perhaps no administration wants to acknowledge that North Korea is an existential threat on their watch."

 

Quote

n February and March of 2015, former senior national security officials of the Reagan and Clinton administrations warned that North Korea should be regarded as capable of delivering by satellite a small nuclear warhead, specially designed to make a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack against the United States. According to the Congressional EMP Commission, a single warhead delivered by North Korean satellite could blackout the national electric grid and other life-sustaining critical infrastructures for over a year—killing 9 of 10 Americans by starvation and societal collapse.

Two North Korean satellites, the KMS-3 and KMS-4, presently orbit over the U.S. on trajectories consistent with surprise EMP attack.

 

 

http://origin-nyi.thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/defense/326094-how-north-korea-could-kill-up-to-90-percent-of-americans-at-any

[midas]

15 hours ago, boomerangutang said:

The only reasonable way for the 2 Koreas to unite would be under the South's system.  S.Korea resembles other developed countries (warts and all) in many ways: commercialism, open internet, elected leaders, freedom of expression and so on.   N.Korea is an island unto itself.  

 

There are similarities to when the Berlin Wall came down.  It was obvious that when that happened, East Germans would get absorbed by the Westerners.  Can you imagine it the other way around, with West Germany adapting to E.Germany, with Stasi and bans on rock music, etc?  Crazy.

 

At most, N.Korea could possibly get one hit close to Alaska - and even there, it would be lucky to hit one of the Aleutian islands or Kodiak.  (p.s. an ice age ago, I had a summer fling with a gal from Kodiak Island. She wasn't frigid).   

 

 

 

 

 

Here is an article from yesterday with suggests a different picture to what you're saying. Let's face it it wouldn't be the first time in history USA would have seriously underestimated the capability of its enemy. For the sake of humanity I hope they don't do the same thing again.

 

 

Quote

 

EMP: Is This The Real Threat?

Most analysts believe North Korea is not yet capable of a direct missile strike on the US mainland, but Kim Jong-un’s dogged determination to make this a reality is quite disconcerting.

Some experts believe that the more realistic threat at this point in time is an EMP attack. To make that happen, all North Korea has to do is launch a low-yield nuclear missile from a submarine, ship, or even by balloon and explode it at high altitude, above the atmosphere.

The potential result: a blackout of the Eastern grid that supplies 75% of power to the United States.

If an EMP attack did take place, it would be beyond anything we have seen before. The Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack, which was established by Congress in 2001, estimates that within 12 months following a nationwide blackout, “up to 90% of the US population could perish from starvation, disease, and societal breakdown.”

 

 

https://www.hardassetsalliance.com/our-blog/a-north-korean-emp-attack-the-dark-possibility-1#