Posted on 04/24/2012 10:43:34 AM PDT by robowombat
North Korea Issues Threat of Annihilation
RICHARD_DUDLEY APRIL 24, 2012 06:00
For the past several days, North Korea has directed a string of increasingly hostile threats at South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and his conservative administration. As usual with the Norths public pronouncements of doom, it is often difficult to separate reality from simple bombastic rhetoric. Such is the case with this latest round of promises of mass destruction.
The most recent threats from the North differ from past announcements in that they have added a specific timeline and indicate that whatever is being planned will be executed in the very near future. North Koreas state-run Korean Central News Agency interrupted regularly scheduled TV programing on 23 April for a special report promising to reduce all the rat-like groups and the bases for provocations to ashes in three or four minutes. The announcement also stated that the military would initiate special actions against the South in a very short time.
The disturbing message has been tentatively attributed to the Norths Special Operation Action Group, a component of the Korean Peoples Army Supreme Command. The warning also specified that the impending action would be accomplished using unprecedented peculiar means and methods of our own style.
Shortly after issuing a warning of retaliation in response to South Korean military exercises in disputed territories in November 2010, North Korea initiated an artillery exchange with South Korean Marines on Yeonpyeong Island that resulted in several deaths and intensified fears of war on the Korean Peninsula. North Koreas leadership has become increasingly sensitive about criticism leveled at its 13 April failed attempt to place a satellite into orbit. South Koreas unveiling of a new cruise missile on 19 April has also rankled the North.
The South, rarely known to engage in a campaign of one-upmanship with the North, announced on 19 April that they had developed and fielded a cruise missile capable of reaching any location within North Koreas borders. The Souths new Hyunmoo-IIIC (also known as the Hyunmu-3C) cruise missile is purported to have a range of between 1,000 and 1,500 kilometers giving it the ability to hit targets anywhere in the North. Along with this new cruise missile, Seoul also unveiled a new short-range tactical ballistic missile.
The two new missiles were featured in a public video presentation hosted by South Korean Major General Shin Won-sik, Director General of policy planning within the Defense Ministry. General Shin announced that the new tactical ballistic missile is more powerful than the Souths MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) and has a range of 300 kilometers. General Shin also confirmed that both missiles had successfully completed all required field testing and were deployed to meet North Koreas missile threats and other provocative schemes.
Of particular concern to the international community is the possibility that Pyongyang may conduct a third nuclear weapons test in the coming weeks or months. The South Korean newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, has reported that the North has completed all preparations for a third nuclear test at its northeast Punggye-ri nuclear test facility. A South Korean official, on condition of anonymity, is quoted by Chosun Ilbo as stating that satellite images indicate that tunnel excavations at the Punggye-ri site have been completed and it is highly likely that a nuclear device has been placed into positioned for testing. However, US Navy Captain John Kirby, speaking on behalf of the United States, informed reporters on 23 April that he was unaware of any specific actions taken by the North to carry out any overt provocations directed at the South and no indications that a nuclear test was imminent.
Seoul also took no action to place the nations military on a higher alert status in light of intelligence reports that Pyongyang had not undertaken any significant troop movements or mobilization activities. The general consensus in the region is that it is extremely unlikely that Pyongyang is willing to initiate a large-scale assault against Seoul, especially considering the presence of sizeable US forces in the region and the long-standing US commitment to protect the Souths sovereignty.
North Korea is known to have a respectable arsenal of weapons at its disposal that includes SCUD, Musudan, and Rodong missiles. The Musudan, with an estimated range of 3,000 kilometers, is believed capable of carrying a warhead of 650 kilograms. Seoul is well aware of the Norths capabilities and doesnt take Pyongyangs threats lightly.
Also on 23 April, Chinese President Hu Jintao praised North Koreas Kim Jong-Un while calling for the two nations to strengthen their relationship during a meeting with Kim Yong-Il, a senior North Korean representative. President Hu also stated his hope that the two nations would work together to pursue peace and stability throughout the region. China has historically been the sole ally of North Korea and can be expected to continue its support of Pyongyang, even in times of tension and in defiance of international condemnation of the Norths erratic behavior.
Who can say if this was the right approach in the Korean campaign ?
Hindsight is always 20/20.
There are those who say that providing Lend Lease to the Soviets after Hitler invaded Russia was the worst thing we could have done, that it would have been preferable to let the Nazis and the Communists devour each other somewhere between Leningrad and Vladivostok.
Moscow’s Communist subversion of the West and their obtaining America’s atomic technology via the Rosenbergs, which enabled the Soviets’ post-War aggression would seem to validate the view that aiding them was a strategic mistake.
Quite frankly, if Communism had collapsed in the old Soviet Union following the Nazi invasion of 1941, it becomes questionable if Mao tse Tung would have risen to power in China, which would have resulted in no Communist puppet regimes in Korea OR Vietnam. Without aid from the West, Stalin would have been hanging from a lamp post, he was at best one of the stupidest (although violent) individuals to ever lead a nation. (example: even in the hours prior to the German invasion of Russia, Stalin directed that train loads of iron ore and other minerals continue to be shipped to German as part of the Molotov-Ribbentrop agreement, despite hard evidence that an invasion was imminent)
A reasonable student of history would conclude that Communism was the baby rattlesnake in the baby’s crib. The failure to kill the little rattler resulted in untold global tragedy.
Sounds like your Dad was not only a courageous aviator, his view of the future was prophetic and astute. Thanks for sharing that.
He was a civilian pilot in the AAF. He often referred to this theater as the “bump on the butt” of the Allied campaign because they would take just about anyone.
He wore an officer’s uniform with the CBI patch but without rank insignia. He was referred to as “captain.”
Not me. I'm not much for big cities, but I like having Seoul exist. Your proposal would certainly doom Seoul to devastation by the Nork's artillery; no thanks!
http://blog.heritage.org/2012/04/26/u-s-nuclear-warheads-face-more-uncertainty-as-scientists-retire/
“In about five years, the United States will not have a single active engineer with actual nuclear weapons testing experience, defined as a key hand in the design of a warhead thats in the existing stockpile and who was responsible for that particular design when it was tested back in the early 1990s, according to Thomas DAgostino, the Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration.”
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