North Korea warns of 'horrifying' nuclear disasters

abc ^ | March 2, 2003

[Indy Pendance]

North Korea has accused US intelligence of staging a secret drill for a surprise attack on its nuclear facility and warned that an attack would trigger "horrifying nuclear disasters".

The North's ruling Workers Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun, argued the United States was pushing ahead with "actual military actions that came in accordance with the second Korean war scenario of aggression".

"What merits a serious attention is that a special operation group of the CIA staged a secret drill to make a surprise attack on the nuclear facility of the DPRK (North Korea) and destroy it," it said.

"The US projected attack on the nuclear facility of the DPRK presupposes a nuclear war."

Tensions along the world's last remaining Cold War frontier escalated last week after Washington's announcement that North Korea had restarted a five-megawatt reactor capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium.

The newspaper said its armed forces were ready to "mercilessly wipe out" a war of aggression.

"If the US imperialists ignite a war on the Korean peninsula, the war will turn into a nuclear war," it said.

"As a consequence, the Koreans in the North and South and the people in Asia and the rest of the world will suffer horrifying nuclear disasters."

US

US Joint Chief of Staff Chairman Richard Myers told NBC last week that if President George W Bush decides to use military force to resolve special issues, US troops are ready to operate in a flexible and effective manner.

Mr Myers reportedly said the United States maintains and updates all military options, including pre-emptive nuclear attacks, against North Korea.

However, Yonhap news agency said the Seoul government dismissed talk of a US plan to attack North Korea as "not true".

"The US side told us that the talk of launching a preemptive strike against the North is not true," an unnamed government official here was quoted as saying.

"We've heard from the US Government that Myers was referring to the general principle that the military has always had contingency plans when he talked about attacking the North," he said.

In a speech on Saturday local time, new South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun warned of "horrible consequences" unless the nuclear stand-off was resolved peacefully.

"We would be unable to cope with the horrible consequences should peace on the Korean Peninsula be broken for whatever reasons," he said.

Eight years ago, the Korean Peninsula was on the brink of war over a possible US attack on North Korea's nuclear facility at Yongbyon, some 90 kilometres north of Pyongyang.

North Korea resolved the 1994 crisis by agreeing to freeze the Yongbyon complex under a deal, known as the Agreed Framework.

The deal collapsed amid a new crisis sparked last October when Washington said North Korea had admitted running a separate nuclear programme based on enriched uranium.

Fears are now centred on the 8,000 spent fuel rods stored at Yongbyon as reprocessing them could yield enough plutonium for half a dozen bombs.

US newspaper The New York Times reported experts and intelligence officials had told US President George W Bush they expected the North would reactivate its reprocessing plant in the next few weeks.

[sweetliberty]

And there are a few FReepers there.

[sweetliberty]

The first thing that came to mind reading this is that I wondered if he was playing footsies with Saddam. I mean what's to say that 2 little tinpot tyrants wouldn't use each other to furthur their own ends?

[sweetliberty]

"North Korea is doing their level best to provoke an incident but we're not biting"

It seems that way to me too, but you have to wonder why. What does NK stand to gain? Seems to me they have everything to lose.

[sweetliberty]

"North Korea needs to wait their turn."

LOL!

[baylorbaylor]

Nukem Dano

[sweetliberty]

Hope you're wearing your asbestos suit.

[nmh]

They're paranoid and eager to pull our chain. With Bush in place they are no longer dealing with a paper tiger.

[Beck_isright]

"I could not be any more safe."

Email me after a Clinton enabled North Korean nuclear missle strike near your home and let me know if you have the same sentiments.

[forktail]

Awful lot of folks here ready to lob nukes...

They do so pretty awful destruction. Then they really eff up the ground for, oh, centuries and people have babies with three heads, then lizards get exposed and grow large and attack Japan whose only hope for redemption is two midgets and a huge moth.

And that's going to drive up the price of the 40" Sony TV I want to buy so people I beg you...

Don't use nukes!

[DAnconia55]

We don't have many good options right now regarding NK.

Destroy the launch facilities, destroy air fields. And if the infantry moves an inch, tac nukes along the line.

That's the only way to keep Seoul intact, and prevent NK from using nukes.

[Gal.5:1]

Politically, your point is well taken. My point was spiritual; regarding a person's soul. In God one is secure at all times, in all dangers, in all circumstances. For mortals facing death, this is the only real security one can possibly have.

[Beck_isright]

In 91 in the desert we prayed. But we were hard core realists. If we bought the farm it was God's way of calling our number. I view the situation the same with North Korea. It's up to us, as a nation to show backbone and support and not prance around the streets in fairy costumes and with communist flags as San Francisco did, against those of us who served and those who still serve. That city is nothing more than Paris with a California zip code. And it's a shame that someone with such a deep spirtual belief would live in the den of sin that, that sorry excuse of a community is.

[lawdog]

Yeah, I wanna see 'em repel an "air burst".

[Cvengr]

Considering the amount of science and technology dedicated to alternate fuels and energy management, there's surely an innovative way to target North Korea and then allow Japan to harness power from any externalaties of said devices. A few modifications here and there and who knows how this might turn out.

[irish_lad]

Did I advocate sitting on our ass and doing nothing? I said we don't have a lot of good options, and that a military reponse at this time, no matter how tempting, will cause other problems.

If Seoul, Japan, or the western US is attacked with NK nukes, the price is very expensive both in human and economic costs. That's not predicting Armageddon, that's reality.

Kim Jung Il and his cronies are crazy MFs and would likely launch a nuclear strike if threatened. So if we take-out their nukes, they move across the DMZ and we have a bloody and protacted conflict on our hands. Obviously better than the nukes, but South Korea is severely damaged and an already fragile Pacific Rim economy gets a lot worse.

As I said before, not a lot of good options.

[carolina_rn7]

-I love my country and am thankful for it's founding with the original intent of our Constitution. I am thankful for the God given freedoms we (still) enjoy in America. -I believe in the Lord , the God of the Bible. -I believe in Jesus Christ.

Me too sister, me too!

Got misty eyed reading your profile. See you in Glory!

0 :)

[JSteff]

The odds are it would NOT be nuclear but rather a ground attack from the NOrth. That will be problematic to say the least. I do not think the SK's will be able to hole them and expect that the NK's have tunnelled deep into the South.

I think this is also a concern of leaders. WE could not get enough troops there in time to prevent an over run of the country. It does not look good, the options are just not there. We think Saddam is a wild man, Kim is far beyond Saddam.

[HitmanLV]

You know, you just don't tug on Superman's cape....

[EggsAckley]

I went to your google link but couldn't find anything about N.Korea. Maybe it's been refreshed and the article dropped off.

[VietVet]

>>"...North Korea is doing their best to provoke an incident..."
>"...you have to wonder why. What does NK have to gain?"

There is the possibility that Kim is totally out of touch with reality, and believes his own rhetoric.

Or, they could be trying to get us to buy them off. 'Give us food and fuel, and we won't start a war.'

Perhaps it is even advertising: 'Attention terrorist shoppers. We have missles and nukes, and everything has a price. We need food and fuel. Who will start the bidding?'

Who can read their minds?

VietVet