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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| North Korea threatens war as it tears up 50-year armistice |
| 2009-05-28 |
| That 50-year armistice is all that stopped the war in the first place. Without it, we are in a state of active war with the Democrap Repuglic of North Kimmieland. North Korea announced yesterday that it was abandoning the armistice that ended the Korean War 56 years ago, and threatened war if there were any attempts to search its ships for weapons of mass destruction. I guess they're about to ship a few nukes to Iran? South Korea reported an increase in patrols by North Korean fighter jets on the border between the two states and there were reports of naval exercises close to the sites of previous skirmishes with the South Korean Navy. The North’s pronouncements came after reports that it had restarted its plutonium reactor, which generates material for its nuclear arsenal, including the warhead that it tested on Monday. Pyongyang’s increase of tensions — a nuclear test, firing short-range missiles and now threatening war — is raising fears in the South of another direct military provocation. “The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has tremendous military muscle and its own method of strike is able to conquer any targets in its vicinity at one stroke or hit the US on the raw,” said a statement by the Korean People’s Army. “Those who provoke the DPRK once will not be able to escape its unimaginable and merciless punishment. In case the Armistice Agreement loses its binding force, the Korean Peninsula is bound to immediately return to a state of war from a legal point of view, and so our revolutionary armed forces will go over to corresponding military actions.” Pretty serious saber-rattling. Kimmie must be in DEEP doodoo. The warning came in response to South Korea’s announcement on Tuesday that it was to join the Proliferation Security Initiative, a multilateral effort to limit the spread of weapons of mass destruction by intercepting shipping and aviation. The North has threatened to abandon the armistice before, and over six decades South Koreans have grown used to the North’s aggressive rhetoric. But the latest moves may be the prelude to a further grand gesture by the North. Government officials and security analysts anticipate the test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, a further nuclear test or a land or sea skirmish with South Korea along the border. In response, the White House warned that North Korea risked further international isolation, while Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State, reiterated the US’s commitment to defending its allies. The US has 18,000 troops in South Korea. At the UN, ambassadors from the five permanent Security Council members — the US, Britain, Russia, China and France — as well as Japan and South Korea were working out the details of a resolution after the nuclear test this week. The US has said that it wants “strong measures”, and though it was unclear last night how far China and Russia would co-operate, diplomats said that they were prepared to support new sanctions. Although Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, said that the world “must not rush to punish North Korea just for punishment’s sake”, Moscow did tell the North Korean ambassador that it had “serious concerns” about the nuclear test. The South Korean Government said that the North’s fighter jets had more than doubled their sorties near the demilitarised zone, and the South Korean Yonhap news agency quoted sources as saying that North Korea was carrying out naval exercises close to the northern limit line, the disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea. Seoul’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper said that US spy satellites had detected steam at the Yongbyon nuclear plant since last month. This suggests that North Korea is reprocessing its spent plutonium fuel rods. If all 8,000 are processed, this could add one bomb to the 6 to 12 that North Korea is already estimated to have assembled. Nuclear weapons require more stringent safeguards against accidental detonation of the high explosives in the weapon, and to keep the weapons from being damaged in such a way they are no longer useful. I'm sure we know where those weapons are being stored. That should be the first target of any rapid reaction against Nork action against the South. |
| Posted by:Old Patriot |
| #8 I think if the Norks were to do something like that - where there may well be civilian casualties in the multi-millions we may well have to consider the use of tactical nukes to remove the artillery. Which would you rather have? 100k dead soldiers or 10M+ dead civilians? Hard decisions. Very hard. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2009-05-28 23:07 |
| #7 "The Seoul National Capital Area - which includes the major port city of Incheon and satellite towns in Gyeonggi-do, has 24.5 million inhabitants[2] and is the world's second largest metropolitan area." - factoid by Wiki, I should add. |
| Posted by: GirlThursday 2009-05-28 22:47 |
| #6 Unfortunately, it would be all too easy in my opinion for the Norks to control Seoul within half a day by bombing out the bridges which criss cross the the Han river through Seoul, effectively making it nearly impossible for the civilians to easily escape southward. If they made the city into this chokepoint, deaths could be in the millions. The Seoul National Capital Area - which includes the major port city of Incheon and satellite towns in Gyeonggi-do, has 24.5 million inhabitants and is the world's second largest metropolitan area. All the Norks have to do is take out a few bridges, and millions upon millions will be waylaid long enough to be exterminated. Its a nightmare. |
| Posted by: GirlThursday 2009-05-28 22:44 |
| #5 I just don't want US military or civilian deaths for either the fecklessness of the SK politicians or own weakass admin |
| Posted by: Frank G 2009-05-28 22:30 |
| #4 I doubt they have "10,000 batteries". Seoul is more than 50km from the high ground north of Kaesong where the Norks could build cave positions for their artillery. Relatively few heavy long-range guns and multiple rocket launchers would be in range of Seoul proper. In the hundreds, not the thousands, these things are not cheap even if you pay workers in grass. In the flat open terrain of the remainder of the border regions massed artillery would stick out. I don't think they could "destroy Seoul", though they could cause many casualties, especially if they used gas. |
| Posted by: buwaya 2009-05-28 22:19 |
| #3 Annoying to be sure, but tell me again why the US should care whether or not NK "rains death" down on SK? Aren't they the ones always protesting the US presence in their country? I for one am pretty tired of being the worlds cop. I think a century with the Chinese as the worlds "police" would do the rest of the ingrates a bit of good. Fortress America... |
| Posted by: Vespasian Threremp1622 2009-05-28 21:02 |
| #2 I think the Iranian naval surge may be related to the North Korean atomic testing and the increased testiness of the Norks. Kim's bomb isn't for Nork use - it's for sale. The Iranians are coming to take possession - or protect the ship that is carrying it(them). The test was just the conclusion of the deal. |
| Posted by: Rob06 2009-05-28 20:21 |
| #1 I don't see how anyone could say we know where they are stored. North Korea is probably an underground honeycomb of tunnels. You can see where they went underground but they could be actually stored 10 miles away in any direction under a mile of bedrock. What you can not do is allow the NorKs to attack first. Even if it takes you only a day to wipe out most of their artillery, they will rain death and destruction on some pretty major populated areas in the South during the course of that day.
From this article from Turner Radio Network. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2009-05-28 20:00 |