N.Korea plans series of nuclear tests: report

Reuters ^ | 17 Oct 2006 | Reuters

[Adam-ondi-Ahman]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials say North Korea's military has informed China it intends to carry out a series of underground nuclear tests, NBC News reported on Tuesday.

No further details were provided in the report.

The United States said North Korea had moved equipment into place that may indicate it plans a second nuclear test, despite international condemnation of its first underground nuclear explosion on October 9.

North Korea has denounced U.N. sanctions over its nuclear test as a declaration of war.

[kellynla]

It's time for GWB to tell the Chicoms that if they don't get their "Dog" back on the porch not one container of their junk will be offloaded in Long Beach or anywhere else!

How do you say blockade in NK & embargo in Chinese?

[b4its2late]

I say we throw them 3 strikes, down the middle. Take out North Korea.

China isn't going to do anything to help.

[HeartlandOfAmerica]

death is probably better than living in North Korea.

Isn't it a horrible place?

did you see that picture that FNC flashed up on screen last night? the nighttime pic of the Korean Peninsula?

SK is lit up like Chicago. North is TOTALLY dark except for probably Pong. They can test nukes but can't feed or power their people.

That more than anything in the world shows the impotence of the UN. That one sawed-off little madman could do this to 10 or 20 million people is morally unjustifiable. So much for the UN providing for the security of States or the dignity of man.

Maybe it's just me though

[HeartlandOfAmerica]

Uuummmm. Last night should be last week.

Not enough coffee yet ;)

[Sender]

If NK did in fact flatten Seoul, or launched a nuke somewhere, what will we do about it? Do we know, and does Kim know?

[tomnbeverly]

Thank A Clinton....

[AmericanInTokyo]

I think one good series of bombs to take out their entire electrical, transportation and communication grid would be enough to paralyze them.

[Paradox]

Strategery...

You know a few things, that a single Nuke test will not make the Russians or the Chinese play hardball with NK. You also know the NKs probably have a limited number of nukes. So what do you do? You egg them on. You tell them that either A) the test wasn't really Nuclear, or B) it was a teensy weensy wittle nukie, bwah ha ha, you have a little p*nis..

This makes NK want to blow up more nukes to save face. So they do. What have you accomplished? 1) You make NK raise the stakes so that Russia and China (the UN in general) really have to look at going hardline on NK, and 2), you reduce the number of possible Nukes that NK can sell to potential terrorists.

Mission accomplished..

[quantfive]

Their are two ways this will go:

1) Kim is in the best position he will ever be in. He will get massive concessions from Asia and the West to non-proliferate his technology, IF the USA can swallow our pride and engage in one on one dialogue which carries it's own pro's and con's. Since it took so much of his countries resources for nuke R&D he could likely shift resources and build an economy to engage Asia at this point and become a real power that is less threatening to it's neighbors. Kim may appear crazy but he is VERY shrewd.

2) The USA does not engage in one on one dialogue and we and other allies blockade North Korea to enforce non-proliferation. It is my strong opinion if this happens North Korea will use it's conventional forces to invade the South and will use it's nuclear deterrent to prevent us from using nukes to stop him from over-running the South.

Both these options are not very good but swallowing our pride and engaging in one on one talks may be the only way to avoid a massive military conflict.

[Sender]

Against prevailing logic, I would agree that one on one talks are good for us. Not sure if they will be productive but then at least the world can say that we tried everything. As it is, the world will say that we didn't try everything.

They should send me as negotiator. I have a few things to say to Kim about the quality of life in NK, his priorities to his people and about what WILL HAPPEN to him and his booze collection in about 15 minutes if one of his nukes goes off over here.

[quantfive]

"Against prevailing logic, I would agree that one on one talks are good for us. Not sure if they will be productive but then at least the world can say that we tried everything. As it is, the world will say that we didn't try everything."

Exactly. Diplomacy should happen even when we have totally conflicting points of view.

"They should send me as negotiator. I have a few things to say to Kim about the quality of life in NK, his priorities to his people and about what WILL HAPPEN to him and his booze collection in about 15 minutes if one of his nukes goes off over here."

Hahah me too...

[HeartlandOfAmerica]

I'd tend to agree AIT, but from the looks of that map,we're a bit late. What electrical grid they have is 99% offline anyway.

is SK REALLY so weak militarily that we have to bow to threats of a northern invasion of conventional forces?? What the hell did they do with 60 years of prep time in order to build their military that our soldiers sacrifice bought them??

You're a lot closer to the situation than I am so maybe you can explain it.

It seems that when we station trip-wire troops in a country for 50 years to provide security, the host country looks upon that as an opportunity to spend the hell out of its economy and invest absolutely nothing in a military. Korea,Western europe, Japan, all the same. 50 years and they've squandered the time our soldiers bought them.

i want our people out of these places. 50 years later,I really don't care if the north invades. The south should have been building its strength in preparation for this invasion a long time before this.

[Lucky9teen]

I'm so Ronery / So ronery / So ronery and sadry arone / There's no one / Just me onry / Sitting on my rittle throne / I work very hard to be number one guy / but, stiwr there's no one to right up my rife / Seems rike no one takes me serirousry / And so, I'm ronery / A rittle ronery / Poor rittle me / There's no one I can rerate to / Feewr rike a biwd in a cage / It's kinda siwry / but, not reawry / because, it's fiwring my body with rage / I'm the smartest, most crever, most physicawry fit / but, none of the women seem to give a sh*t / Maybe someday, they'wr awr notice me / And untiwr then, I'wr be ronery / Yeah, a rittle ronery / Poor rittle me...

[Chena]

LOL! What a nice to surprise this morning to see another Alaskan here! We're in the eastern Interior. Can you believe the warm temps? We don't even have snow on the ground yet. I'm lovin' it. We've had some snowfall but it melted...and that was a couple of weeks ago.

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

We Will Defend South Korea and Japan if they are attacked as Dr. Rice said on FOX today with the "Full Range" of weapons.
I think that treaty goes back to the late 70's...(Korea)

"Does Kim Know",,,I wonder if he is in touch with reality.
It could get nasty...

[Cold Heat]

Will it be a best of 7 series?

There will be as many done as Iran is willing to pay for!

[katyusha]

--It isn't so much as an order to 'move south' as it is to activate the 10,000 artillery tubes-- 1. If those artillery tubes work as well as Kim's A-bombs and missiles do, I'd be more concerned about about a North Korean gunner blowing himself up when his poorly-maintained D-20 (122mm) or D-30 (152mm) misfires. 2. It takes a lot of 122mm or 152mm shells to severely damage a city the size of Seoul. If the "tubes" (i.e. howitzers) firing them are deployed in the open (as I suspect they would be under traditional Soviet doctrine) they'd be "easy meat" for US and ROK air strikes. 3. The ROK army is a far cry from the paper force of June 1950. It's numerically smaller but qualitatively far superior both in equipment and men (ROK soldiers were not malnourished in their youth they way DPRK soldiers were and are in much better condition). The tripwire US force is now deployed further south, away from the DMZ. I'm guessing the worst case scenario is that the Americans hole up in Pusan Perimiter Version 2.0 until North Korea is blasted to oblivion--or turned into a glass parking lot if nukes are involved. After that, the NKPA, cut off from supplies and home sweet home, would either be mopped up or allowed to defect en masse.

[edsheppa]

I don't see how anything short of a nuke preemptive strike on NK artillery could save Seoul

Which invites the question, why are we in this situation. Artillery is slow. Why don't we have the technology to intercept these shells? It seems very feasible.

[mjaneangels@aolcom]

"IF the USA can swallow our pride and engage in one on one dialogue which carries it's own pro's and con's. Since it took so much of his countries resources for nuke R&D he could likely shift resources and build an economy to engage Asia at this point and become a real power that is less threatening to it's neighbors."

Everything you stated above has been done before, in fact, it is largely responsible for how we got to the possition we are in today. One on one talks are the problem, not the solution.

[mjaneangels@aolcom]

"Against prevailing logic, I would agree that one on one talks are good for us. Not sure if they will be productive but then at least the world can say that we tried everything. As it is, the world will say that we didn't try everything."

One on one talks are what Kim Jung-Il took advantage of and helped to put us in this situation. Do you think if we gave him one on one talks he now would do something different than take advantage? Do you have any evidence that there is any diffence between then, when we did have one on one talks and now?