Low-Key U.S. Reaction to Uranium Enrichment Revelations May Have Prompted North Korean Aggression, Analysts Say
"Gee. Ya think."
Posted on 11/26/2010 11:09:32 PM PST by neverdem
Low-Key U.S. Reaction to Uranium Enrichment Revelations May Have Prompted North Korean Aggression, Analysts Say
Pondering possible reasons for North Korea’s deadly artillery attack on its southern neighbor, some Pyongyang-watchers in South Korea believe the regime is trying to prod the U.S. into talks after its most recent provocation – the unveiling of previously-undisclosed uranium enrichment facilities – failed to generate the desired response.
Other proffered theories include a show of strength to quell any suggestion of internal instability surrounding North Korea’s succession process.
Although North Korean forces have occasionally caused provocations near the land and maritime borders Tuesday’s attack on Yeonpyeong island in the Yellow Sea was described in Seoul as the first direct shelling of its territory since the armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953.
More than 100 shells landed on the small island, which houses a military base and a civilian residential area, and lies just south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) sea border, which Pyongyang does not recognize.
South Korea’s defense ministry said two marines were killed and 16 injured, six of them seriously. Three civilians were also hurt.
South Korea fired back, and President Lee Myun-bak warned that “enormous retaliation” would be necessary if the North “maintains an offensive posture.”
Pyongyang through its official mouthpiece linked the incident to annual military exercises currently underway in South Korea, but analysts suggested that was merely a pretext.
Several days ago North Korean officials invited an American scientist to inspect its nuclear complex at Yongbyon where the visitor, former Los Alamos National Laboratory head Siegfried Hecker, witnessed uranium-enrichment facilities he later described as “stunning.”
“Instead of seeing a few small cascades of centrifuges, which I believed to exist in North Korea, we saw a modern, clean centrifuge plant of more than a thousand centrifuges all neatly...”
(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...
Could be they sense the Carteresque weakness of our LILY-livered POTUS. Biden called it. All he is is a shakedown artist. These people are fighting for food.
China is not on our side.
China is not on our side.
You can say that again.
But the main reasons would come from the following:
they want something; they suspect more are going to starve in the winter
obama just left the region, and combined with that piss-poor image of weakness his defeat in the congress has made him a lame duck, the norkies are in a position to push
27-year-old lithiuanian vodka-swigging, big-breasted infatuated, smoker from his puberty "dear leader" kim jong eun needed training in a provocative act of war, to gain "trigger time" as commander of military forces
the north needs an external enemy right now, to dissipate internal problems, for some reason
the r.o.k. propaganda-ballooning of North Korea on the same day the attack pissed them off
r.o.k. naval activity (training) pissed them off so they took action against yeongpyong island
they want attention and are just being the usual assholes
take your pick of the above, or mix and match
Before that was that "police action" and before that was the cry "Who lost China?" ...
The more things change the more they stay the same - or some such ...
Does ‘low key reaction’ mean the current U.S. administration doesn’t care if N.K. has nukes?
Glad they cleared that up. I knew that it was America’s fault, regardless of the administration. If Obama had blown a gasket over the “revelations” then it would have been America’s fault as well.
Time for South Korea and Japan to nuke up. The Dragon is restless and the Eagle has fled.
We have become weak in our purse and in our hearts.
The Dragon seeks only wounded prey.
Low-Key U.S. Reaction to Uranium Enrichment Revelations May Have Prompted North Korean Aggression, Analysts Say
"Gee. Ya think."
...some Pyongyang-watchers in South Korea believe the regime is trying to prod the U.S. into talks after its most recent provocation -- the unveiling of previously-undisclosed uranium enrichment facilities -- failed to generate the desired response.Sinking that Korean ship failed to generate any appropriate response, and THAT's what prompted this SECOND act of aggression. Thanks neverdem.
From the article, but not repeated here in our news stories, the south koreans fired back.
True?
yes, fired back with some good result, but very late to the table ...response time rather poor.
Lawmakers bashed the military's slow response to the attack. After Pyongyang fired 170 shells at the island, South Korean forces waited 10 minutes before firing 80 shells at northern artillery positions.
I heard/read elsewhere that it was 13 minutes to order the return fire, and that the North fired 100 rounds.
American artillery units know how to direct counterfire almost instantaneously. They had counterbattery radar as well as audio detection units assigned to battalion headquarters decades ago. I'd be surprised if the South Koreans weren't similarly equipped.
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