Thought for the Day - North Korea

[newcastle]

It looks as if North Korea will soon have an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead over a great distance. Perhaps they already have.

And there's bugger all the West, or anyone else, can do about it.

Lots of 'huffing & puffing' - but the little piggy in Pyongyang lives in a house of concrete

It's alarming....with someone bordering insane having his finger on the button. But the same could be said of the USA.

Personally, I blame the half-century of keeping North Korea in the cold, supplemented by occasional bursts of threatening rhetoric. If it was the appropriate policy for a (from our perspective) nasty, oppressive regime, then it's failed miserably.

We never learn.....

[hatusu]

I admit I know virtually nothing about world politics, but I thought my knowledge of geography was OK. I knew where North Korea was in relation to all the other countries, and I knew it was a very small country in comparison to all the other countries it was threatening. However I was shocked when looking on this website- http://www.ifitweremyhome.com/compare/GB/KP -
to see how really really small it is. I just cannot for the life of me understand how a country this size can threaten the future of the whole world. How has it come to this? Even if he never does what he is threatening, surely just the nuclear tests he is constantly conducting must have serious repercussions?

[newcastle]

Even if he never does what he is threatening, surely just the nuclear tests he is constantly conducting must have serious repercussions?

The USA, China, UK, France, India & Pakistan have, in the past, conducted hundreds of nuclear tests. Most (like North Korea) underground - but some in the atmosphere.

We are more environmentally responsible nowadays...and prefer to keep the "nuclear club" exclusive.

[Dusak]

I see both of these stubborn men very dangerous men, and men that could shorten my natural lifespan if either go over the red line.

[Horus]

During the initial conflict in Korea, General McArthur actually advocated the use of nuclear weapons against the swarms of Chinese troops supporting the North. When you look closely at most of these regional conflicts they boil down to the desire of (in most cases) a Communist regime wanting to maintain a buffer state between itself and their perceived Western enemies, the Russians and Chinese have attempted to maintain this situation for many years. That is why the constant push by the likes of the EU or NATO to involve these buffer states (in Europe in particular) into the Western sphere of influence makes them very nervous. The Chinese will not want to see a unified Korea regardless of how badly the man with the bad haircut behaves, they are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Support him and the world condemns you, bring him down and they risk a massive influx of refugees fleeing into China and a hostile (in their view) neighbour on their doorstep.

[HEPZIBAH]

I'm probably more aware of this present situation than I normally would be because of my Japanese connections. I have been hearing for years about Japan's fears of North Korea and now I'm beginning to understand. That being said, I was with a young Japanese friend recently and she works with Japanese TV and News. I asked her how the Japanese were feeling about having these missiles fly over their heads, and her response was that many don't really think about it but just shrug their shoulders and get on with their life. I guess ultimately, that's all you can do!

[newcastle]

Classic Mexican standoff.

Kim can't fire first without being obliterated.

US can't fire without condemning hundreds of thousands of South Koreans, and maybe Japanese, to death.

We live with nuclear armed Pakistan & India. We'll do so with a nuclear armed North Korea.