North Korea 'Has Capacity for Nuclear Strike' on Seoul and Tokyo (Report Just Released)

UK Times ^ | 1 April 2009 (No April Fools Day Joke) | Richard Lloyd Perry

[AmericanInTokyo]

North Korea already has the capacity to launch a nuclear missile strike against Seoul and Tokyo, even before the long-range rocket test that it is promising in the next few days, an international think-tank has reported.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Sorry to have to post this here this morning, but, well, it is what it is.

I can almost hear the "tenno heika, banzai!"　天皇陛下万歳！ choruses rising up around me. Destabilizing to say the least. Extremely destabilizing.

(snip) "According to the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, foreign intelligence agencies believe that the North has successfully miniaturised nuclear warheads to the extent that they can be mounted on tried and tested medium-range Nodong missiles. Such a development would seriously alter the balance of power between North Korea’s large but poorly equipped military and the South Korean and US forces ranged against it."

[surfer]

Since powerful words like pre-emptive, enemy, etc are now banned by the PC administration of Obama...our allies are doomed. Too bad we have 10’s of thousands of troops in the line of fire over there.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Ping.

It is said, the Rodong bases (with mini nuke capabilities) are in Pyongan, Jagang and Yanggang provinces of North Korea. Like I said to TLR the other day, once Chia Pet launches the big dong in the next few days from the Sea of Japan coastal area, (ICBM toward Hawaii or Alaska over Japan), keep an eye on the other hand down near the DMZ and Wonsan, etc. i.e. the short and intermediate-range DPRK stuff.

[Blueflag]

A simple glance at a map tells you that Seoul and Japan are within reach if rudimentary military missiles/ rockets.

Funny in way way to just ‘realize’ this ... that missiles from N Korea can reach nearby geographies.

[AmericanInTokyo]

"War on Terror" is also out I hear. Politically Incorrect. Somebody might be offffffffended.

These new people in Washington (along with a lot of the career crew, too) can't even park their bicycles straight.

Of course, these North Korean capabilities did not come into existence over night at the snap of a finger. Somebody else was on watch prior to the Messiah for eight years. Somebody was sitting around a table in Beijing with five other diplomats, wasting time and potentially wasting hundreds of thousands of lives. But heaven help us now.

[AmericanInTokyo]

We knew of this of course using a common kid's map out of a geography textbook. It is the miniaturized nuke aspect of things that casts the biggest shadow now. We of course knew they could load it up with all kinds of horrendous chemical and biological agents, not to mention thousands of artillery tubes up and down the length of the DMZ. This just adds to the punch, Blueflag, and in a not so small way.

[garyhope]

If Kimmy Dingy Dong nukes Japan or S. Korea, it will the end of NK.

[autumnraine]

But they PROMISED!!!!

They said they wouldn’t make nuclear weapons, I remember Bill Clinton telling me that. Did they lie????

(please don’t tell me I need a sarcasm tag for that)

[AmericanInTokyo]

It of course will be the end of a lot of people, including probably yours truly.

But does he give a single care?

(Do toucans have lips?) :-)

[AmericanInTokyo]

They told Condi Rice and George W. Bush, too. I don't absolve THOSE TWO, either.

[Bean Counter]

I’m with you Blueflag...exactly what is new about this??

That said, I have never seen any evidence from any source that would convince me that the NoKos have successfully built a weapon that will fit on any missile. NoKo hasn’t had a successful test of a nuclear weapon despite decades of claiming that they were working on exactly that.

NoKo hasn’t had a successful test of the missile that is reportedly ready to “launch”, and I’m betting that they won’t this time either.

The biggest threat this missile presents is from high velocity debris re-entering the atmosphere over a populated area after yet another “technical malfunction” during boost. At least the Russians make sure their launch vehicles come down over water; NoKo is more likely to drop a malfunctioning booster on Tokyo than a nuclear warhead on Seattle, or anyplace else.

[Little Ray]

No it won’t.

“We can’t punish the oppressed peoples of the Democratic Republic of North Korea for the actions of their oppressors.”

Or words to that effect.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Thanks. I can sleep well at night now. ;-)

[autumnraine]

Was that English you were speaking?

Joking...

But really, what are you saying?

[spikeytx86]

Though this will alter the balance somewhat in the region, our troops are trained to fight and win in a total war scenario, and ROK and US troop carriers and armored units can filter out Radiation and survive a strike fairly close to ground zero.

ChiaPet could kill a lot of people and allied troops, but this still doesn't change the fact that the North will lose no matter what and if they use nukes, our boomer's and bombers will target everything down to company size for vaporization. The south could lose Seoul and 100,000 people. The north will cease to exist. It will be nothing but a smoldering and radioactive glass filled crater.

[autumnraine]

Oh yeah, and if you are in Tokyo, prayers up for you!

And all our troops in S. Korea and Japan.

[autumnraine]

You are correct. I hold George Bush and Condi Rice just as responsible if NK nukes ANYONE.

[AmericanInTokyo]

If you hang on the DPRK FR threads for any time, you will get a lot of this lingo, slang, and inside talk. Sorry.

I was essentially saying that Kim Jong Il is a big trouble maker, and he has a lot of this trouble situated in the southern part of his country near the DMZ/border with South Korea (and also near the port city of Wonsan). That kind of stuff.

[autumnraine]

Ooooh, ok. Thanks. I will have to hang out with you more often and pick up the lingo.

Is there a ping list or something I can join?

[Reaganesque]

If you are still in Tokyo, I suggest you buy one of those ACME mini-umbrellas that the Wile E Coyote used in all those Warner Brothers cartoons when he was about to be hit with something large and heavy. I wish I could find that picture.