Latest North Korea missile launch lands near Japan waters, alarms Tokyo

Reuters ^ | Aug 3, 2016 | Ju-min Park and James Pearson

[TigerLikesRooster]

Latest North Korea missile launch lands near Japan waters, alarms Tokyo

SEOUL | By Ju-min Park and James Pearson

North Korea launched a ballistic missile on Wednesday that landed in or near Japanese-controlled waters for the first time, the latest in a series of launches by the isolated country in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

The main body of the missile landed in Japan's economic exclusion zone, a Japanese defence official said, escalating regional tensions that were already high after a series of missile launches this year and the decision by the United States to place a sophisticated anti-missile system in South Korea.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described the launch as a "grave threat" to Japan and said Tokyo "strongly protested". Japan also said its self-defence force would remain on alert in case of further launches.

A U.S. State Department spokesman condemned the launch, and said it would "only increase the international community's resolve to counter" North Korea's actions.

The U.S. Strategic Command said it had detected two missiles, one of which it said exploded immediately after launch.

[TigerLikesRooster]

P!

[RayChuang88]

But many still ask the question: can North Korea actually mount an invasion of South Korea? I have this feeling that all that military hardware we see on North Korean television are mostly show, and they may not even have enough ammunition to actually do an invasion.

I have this feeling if Kim Jong-un suddenly is off the scene permanently as leader, the North Korea government collapses in no time flat and within one year, the Korean peninsula is unified again--this time under South Korean control. And it could become a tremendous economic opportunity for the South Koreans as they now have a place to use their mighty industrial output to upgrade the infrastructure of the former North Korea.

[TigerLikesRooster]

they may not even have enough ammunition to actually do an invasion.

They gave up the idea of full-scale conventional war. That is why they are obsessed with strategic weapons. With nukes delivered by missiles, they think they can scare away U.S. because those missiles can hit U.S. bases in Japan and Guam, and U.S. mainland. Then they will intimidate S. Korea. They create military provocation and threaten to nuke S. Korea if S. Korea tries to retaliate. They attempt to offset their deficit in conventional arsenal with strategic weapons. Their goal is to intimidate S. Korea enough to become its satellite. Probably an implausible goal, but none the less the one they have been pursing for a long time.

Of course, they also see it as the only way to protect their regime.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

NK would likely destroy most of Seoul in the first day of the attack. They couldn't win a clear cut victory but SK would be set back several decades. Fatso has to know this.

[RayChuang88]

I wonder is that a good I idea given we've moved US Navy destroyers with the latest Aegis SAM systems to Japan specifically to counter this threat. And several Japanese destroyers are equipped with similar systems.

They may look intimidating, but while Kim Jong-un it trying to consolidate his power, there may be enough people in North Korea who want to end the Kim dynasty that something has to give sooner or later.

[RayChuang88]

While that in theory might be true, that begs the question: do the North Koreans even have enough cannon shells to attempt this for a prolonged bombardment? Like I said, it appears the North Korean military is mostly all show and no go.

Besides, the majority of South Korea's industrial base is out of range of those guns. I believe the corporate headquarters and main manufacturing facilities for Samsung Electronics are in the central and south parts of South Korea.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

NK has plenty of armaments.
They’ve done little else but arm up since 1953.

Their stuff is based on old designs but is still deadly.

[RayChuang88]

Building a lot of arms is one thing. But given that even bullets, cannon shells and bombs have a relatively short shelf life (due to the decreasing chemical stability of the explosives in these weapons), one really wonders does North Korea have enough usable ammunition to actually mount an invasion.