North Korea Crisis Live Thread - Latest NK Updates

[Sanguine]

Who the hell is helping NK?

NK = China.   

[TomSea]

Report: North Korea hired KGB agents to protect Kim.
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2017/08/25/Report-North-Korea-hired-KGB-spies-to-protect-Kim-Jong-Un/6641503666432/

North Korea leader Kim Jong Un 'killed relatives over China coup plot'
http://news.sky.com/story/north-korea-leader-kim-jong-un-killed-relatives-over-china-coup-plot-11002869

These stories are probably hearsay, unproven but all the same, a lot of people look upon China with suspicion. One thing I know that was said, when the half-brother got killed in Malaysia was that people were saying that was China's man.

Syria, Iran, to a lesser extent Russia, there are a few countries that can be looked at with suspicion.

[Smokin Joe]

If they launch toward the pacific I hope se shoot it down  repeatedly   With the later shots hitting pyong yang.

The trick is to get the intel on the launch and have SK bombard the launch sites, preferably with missile and payload on the pad. Even a wrecked physics package will have the effect of a dirty bomb on the site.

[Smokin Joe]

NK = China.

My dad's outfit killed a lot of Chinese over there in the 50s, after they'd killed a lot of No. Koreans. If MacArthur or LeMay had had their way, we wouldn't have this problem...

[TomSea]

I wouldn't use the word "abrasive", and would even go so far as to say that those who find him abrasive do so because they are not familiar with honesty and forthrightness.  Bolton has big boy pants and wears them, unlike many of his detractors.

You're not going to take that lying down Rand?

 

For the record, Bolton had little to nothing to do with the invasion of Iraq if people ever mention that.   I believe it was the latter. So, I don't know his record well, he is a good speaker and appears to be a nice guy; I don't know of his having had to do with any of the conflicts that the US has been involved with. Desert Storm of course, is generally seen as a success during Bush 41's term.

[TomSea]

Critical article of Bolton here from the enemy press, perhaps worth contemplating:

John Bolton Urges Trump To Foment Sectarian Civil War In Iran

... His advice? Secretly conspire with “allied” nations to fund terrorist organizations in an ethnic civil war inside Iran. Then, control all of Iran’s territories through terrorist proxies and failed states, deny all Iranians visas, and ultimately make the Iranian government “pay for 9/11.”

The memo encourages U.S. backed ethno-sectarian bloodshed, similar to that of Syria today. Specifically, it proposes the backing of Balochi and Kurdish insurgents. Baloch terrorist and criminal networks have already claimed the lives of approximately 3,000 Iranian border guards and soldiers.

- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/john-bolton-urges-trump-to-foment-sectarian-civil-war-in-iran_us_59a9ce11e4b0354e440a6f58?section=us_politics

I hope the US did not aid any "sectarianism" in the present war in Syria, people do accuse us of that, I usually dismiss such suggestions.

[edpc]

Chronology of North Korean missile development


Seoul (AFP) - North Korea appeared to carry out a sixth nuclear test Sunday, with seismic monitors measuring an "explosion" of 6.3 magnitude near its main test site.

Japan's government said it confirmed a nuclear test had been carried out.

Hours earlier, Pyongyang's state media claimed that the country had developed a thermonuclear warhead that could be fitted onto its new intercontinental ballistic missile, another brazen assertion of its weapons capabilities.

The official Korean Central News Agency said leader Kim Jong-Un had inspected a miniaturised H-bomb that could be loaded onto a missile -- although doubts remain over the veracity of Pyongyang's claims.

Here are key dates in the North's quest to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/chronology-north-korean-missile-development-011251742.html

[corbe]

[TomSea]

Japan plans for possible mass evacuation of its citizens in South Korea amid threats from North Korea, report says

Japan is reportedly planning for a possible mass evacuation of its citizens in South Korea as tensions with North Korea continue to rise amid threats of nuclear war.

"There is a possibility of further provocations," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday, according to Japanese magazine Nikkei Asian Review. "We need to remain extremely vigilant and do everything we can to ensure the safety of our people."

More: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/09/04/japan-plans-to-evacuate-its-citizens-from-south-korea-amid-nuclear-threats-from-north-report-says.html

Still, a lot of stories coming out.

[TomSea]

North Korea sanctions are finally getting serious
Anthony Ruggiero
By Anthony Ruggiero
Published August 25, 2017
Fox News

The Treasury Department sanctioned 10 firms and six individuals this week for facilitating North Korea’s proliferation activities, illicit financial transactions, and sanctions evasion. The list included five Chinese firms and one Chinese individual as well as a Russian firm and four Russian nationals. These new sanctions send a strong message to Beijing and Moscow that there will be consequences for their failure to enforce the sanctions they claim to support.

The new U.S. designations complement the UN sanctions adopted two weeks ago with support from China and Russia.

Continued: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2017/08/25/north-korea-sanctions-are-finally-getting-serious.html

On Fox or Newsmax last week, one of the experts said, as much as NK has been sanctioned, there were still countries out there with more sanctions on them. I found that hard to believe but maybe so.

[TomSea]

MacLean's, the image below shows how they could try to fire missiles at us over the Arctic Circle and Canada:
 

What would nuclear war with North Korea look like?


The defence

How do you stop a warhead? It is, in fact, rocket science.

“Right now, there’s one system designed for that defence called the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system,” Grego says. “These are big powerful interceptors, meaning a big rocket launches a kill vehicle very quickly.”

The bulk of these GMDs are housed in underground silos in Alaska, and are designed to launch the interceptors—with sensors and adjustment thrusters—at the incoming missile before releasing what’s called a kill vehicle designed to ram directly into the target and destroy it from the high-speed impact. The kill vehicle is about the size of a standard refrigerator. But it’s not easy hitting a target about 1,000 km above the earth. “These objects are going so fast—it’s described as hitting a bullet with a bullet,” Grego says.

[Wingnut]

Who... or which bleep decide this thread needed to be stickied?   Totally uncalled for.  Please PM me with your reasoning.

[corbe]

   The Mods are getting a well deserved rest here.

[edpc]

Who... or which bleep decide this thread needed to be stickied?   Totally uncalled for.  Please PM me with your reasoning.

 Being that I'm a relative newcomer, what does that mean exactly?

[edpc]

South Korea’s defense minister suggests bringing back tactical U.S. nuclear weapons

SEOUL — South Korea’s defense minister on Monday said it was worth reviewing the redeployment of American tactical nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula to guard against the North, a step that analysts warn would sharply increase the risk of an accidental conflict.

As concern over Korea deepened following North Korea’s huge nuclear test Sunday, Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was “begging for war.”

Here in Seoul, the Defense Ministry warned that Pyongyang might be preparing to launch another missile into the Pacific Ocean, perhaps an intercontinental ballistic missile theoretically capable of reaching the mainland United States.

President Trump and his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in, spoke on the phone for 40 minutes Monday night, Korean time — some 34 hours after the nuclear test and more than 24 hours after Trump took to Twitter to criticize Moon’s “talk of appeasement.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/south-koreas-defense-minister-raises-the-idea-of-bringing-back-tactical-us-nuclear-weapons/2017/09/04/7a468314-9155-11e7-b9bc-b2f7903bab0d_story.html?utm_term=.f1070f2c385e

[Gefn]

   The Mods are getting a well deserved rest here.

I hope it has a pool and margaritas!

[Wingnut]

Being that I'm a relative newcomer, what does that mean exactly?

Wingnut is dumb ass is usually the correct  response.

[Wingnut]

   The Mods are getting a well deserved rest here.

Do Not PM me tonight.  Please.

[TomSea]

Pay no attention, just someone being disruptive. If one wants to post their own threads, have at it.

[corbe]

   @Wingnut
   What's my cutoff time?

[corbe]

Being that I'm a relative newcomer, what does that mean exactly?

   Bleep: I'll just leave that to your fertile imagination, but please, for the sake of your sanity, consider the Author.

   Stickied: means it stays at the top of the category.

   Hope I helped @edpc

[Wingnut]

   @Wingnut
   What's my cutoff time?

I need to know how much have you had to drink tonight?

[corbe]

   Other than my customary half pint of vodka in the morning, to wash down my cholesterol and blood pressure medicine I'm on my third one of these



                             I'm ready to Rumble.

[edpc]

   Other than my customary half pint of vodka in the morning, to wash down my cholesterol and blood pressure medicine I'm on my third one of these



                             I'm ready to Rumble.

If you like a beer that is smooth and on the slightly sweet side, I'd recommend the Boulevard 6th Glass Quad.  Smooth and easy to drink, despite being 10.5% ABV.

[Free Vulcan]

Who the hell is helping NK?

The usual suspects I imagine...and hope. That's the wild card that scares me, that some jihadi nutburger or other radical idealist is enabling these guys. Even worse, a bigger player with a crazy agenda of their own.

Which swerves into another issue. I hope our intelligence is good enough that we have their true capabilities nailed down. What we know doesn't bother me so much, it's what we don't know about that they may have, that is possibly due to the enablers giving it to them.