South Korea has its own Missile system, that works and can hit anwhere in North Korea

[[RNZE]Sapper]

Np man but the point I was trying to put across in my posts several above about the changing of the propaganda in the North is that it seems that the military is gearing the people up in the North for something this year! and I agree the North Korean army is nothing compared to the US and South Korean forces but the North has already shown they are willing to conduct open military attacks against the South even knowing what response against them would be.

six years ago if someone had told me that North Korea would conduct a artillery barrage on South Korean territory I would have said they were bat-crazy. But the shelling of the boarder Islands changed my opinion on the North using more military force in the near future..

North Korea is the last true Stalinist country that grips to the hardline communism that Stalin lead, Stalin in Russia died before the USSR came into the height of its power and military ability and more level heads even though they were communist took power.. But North Korea is basically seems to be pushing to the path that many during the height of the cold war feared that if Stalin had lived longer would have pushed Europe to.

You're falling for the show and dance. There is only one question you need to ask yourself when dealing with North Korea. Will this endanger the NK regime? If that answer is a yes, you can bet your ass that they wouldn't do it. Those guys are not crazy. That's the act. They got their own little kingdom. It's a good deal. They don't want to fvck that **** up. I will bet you $5 that the Korean peninsular will not blow up this year, or the next year, or the year after that.

[ISNJH]

Danger I see is that the North hardliners may think an another small attack would not endanger them and that the South will not respond in greater force in an effort to ensure peace and they can get away with another small attack to try and increase there standing after the failed rocket launch.

I agree with you that the North will not likely launch an attack on the capital but I feel its highly likely we will see another Island incident or naval skirmish before the summer ends.

[[RNZE]Sapper]

Danger I see is that the North hardliners may think an another small attack would not endanger them and that the South will not respond in greater force in an effort to ensure peace and they can get away with another small attack to try and increase there standing after the failed rocket launch.

That is the danger. And again, we've done this before in another thread, South Korea is not gonna roll the North over another 30 dead sailors. Sad but true. They may attack and wipe out say 3000 Nork peons. But that is well within the numbers the Norks can absorb. Not only that, it will only strengthen the regime within North Korean. In fact, they might be counting on it.

So South Korea is really in a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. Which is kinda where they're at for the last few decades.

Again, I feel for the Koreans. Brothers fighting brothers over their common enemy's geopolitics. There's no easy way out of a civil war.

[bravosixniner]

That is the danger. And again, we've done this before in another thread, South Korea is not gonna roll the North over another 30 dead sailors. Sad but true. They may attack and wipe out say 3000 Nork peons. But that is well within the numbers the Norks can absorb. Not only that, it will only strengthen the regime within North Korean. In fact, they might be counting on it.

So South Korea is really in a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. Which is kinda where they're at for the last few decades.

Again, I feel for the Koreans. Brothers fighting brothers over their common enemy's geopolitics. There's no easy way out of a civil war.

You forget South Korean nationalism is against the concept of shedding the blood of your kin. Where as in China they see Taiwan as people of their civilization and culture they have no qualms on the thought of shedding "Chinese" blood. South Koreans resolutely view North Koreans as their kin regardless of being an adversary or not.

[rssmps]

You forget South Korean nationalism is against the concept of shedding the blood of your kin. Where as in China they see Taiwan as people of their civilization and culture they have no qualms on the thought of shedding "Chinese" blood. South Koreans resolutely view North Koreans as their kin regardless of being an adversary or not.

I'll have what your smoking....

have you heard of the term "Chinese don't fight Chinese"?

if you swap China and Taiwan...then your statement might make more sense.

[nooobs]

Does Southern Korean has nukes or nuke projects like Northern Korean ?

we had nuke project in late 70's...

[juxtapose]

You forget South Korean nationalism is against the concept of shedding the blood of your kin. Where as in China they see Taiwan as people of their civilization and culture they have no qualms on the thought of shedding "Chinese" blood. South Koreans resolutely view North Koreans as their kin regardless of being an adversary or not.

-While such sentiments play some part in thinking, in my view only a small part, and nowhere near the dominant part that you imply. I currently reside in South Korea, and have visited China more times than I can count, and so from personal experience I believe that your theory is as substantial as the last wisps of smoke from a bong. Anti-North Korean sentiment always rises sharply (as one would expect) whenever North Korean "incidents" causes casualties/deaths. This is just plain common sense. Whether in Korea or any other country, if my neighbor kills my wife or child, I'm going to want payback, and it won't matter a whit whether the killer is an eighth cousin once removed.

South Koreans choose restraint not because the North Koreans are Korean, but because they believe that there are still, at this time, better solutions to the problem than the destruction and casualties (on both sides) that a full-scale war entails.

-On the other hand, I've never met an ordinary Han Chinese who didn't believe that they were ethnically distinct. Nationalism and bigotry in China is very much of the Old World variety. In my view, the vast majority of Chinese feel an emotional attachment to the Taiwan issue exactly because they believe the island is Han Chinese, and has been for the last four hundred years (98% of the population self-identifies as originating from the large-scale migrations from the Han mainland). If this were not the case, then China really wouldn't have a leg to stand on with regard to Taiwan, given the fact that, in the last century, all other empires of the world have given up territories not inhabited by their ethnic peoples.

-Feelings of "brotherhood" did not prevent the North Koreans (just as ethnically Korean as the South) from causing possibly over one million deaths (some credible estimates place the South Korean death toll of civilians plus military at 2 million) of fellow Koreans in the Korean War. Nor did it prevent the 600,000 South Korean troops involved (the single largest contingent of combatants on the Southern side, and twice the size of American forces) from responding in this bloody conflict, once stiffened by allied materiel and organization, against their NK brethren, eventually going deep into the North to do so (before being stopped by the human waves of decidedly non-Korean Chinese "volunteers").

-This willingness on the part of both sides to inflict slaughter on those of their "blood" would make Koreans no different than any other nation on Earth. This is, actually, the metaphorical lesson of Jacob and Esau. In relative terms, possibly the costliest conflict in European history was the Thirty Years War of the 17th century, which was primarily a fratricidal melee between ethnic Germans, in which up to 30-40% of the populations in these German states died. More Americans died in the Civil War than in all other wars combined. If we view analogous and multiple conflicts in France, Britain, Russia, Italy, India, Japan, Korea even before the Korean War, China (among the "Han" themselves), in wars of unification, re-unification, revolution, etc., a compelling argument can be made that "brother-against-brother" conflicts have, always and everywhere, been among the bloodiest and most vicious in the sorry history of mankind.

-If it is true that there is a contrast between the current moderation of South Korean response vs. North Korea, in comparison to a lack of qualms on the part of China vs. Taiwan (which I accept for argument sake, although I am somewhat skeptical if it is as black-and-white as you suggest), I am more inclined to ascribe it to the nature of the respective regimes than to some sentiment of blood kinship.

The democratic nature of South Korea causes restraint in seriously considering offensive wars of opportunity (vs. wars of necessity), and pushes consideration of individual costs vs. national objectives front and center in political decision-making. Authoritarian regimes, by their institutional nature, possess more freedom of action in that regard.

(I sometimes speculate that there exists a kind of thermodynamic law with regard to freedom of action; that the total increments of freedom in any human system is finite, and that therefore the amount that resides in institutional authority is necessarily and proportionally a decrease in freedom for the Leibnizian "monads" that are individual human actors, in a kind of zero-sum game)

[Kadrun]

Does Southern Korean has nukes or nuke projects like Northern Korean ?

The ROK ran nuclear program during 1970s, but the program was terminated after the deal between the US and the ROK. Afterward, some scientists who were involved in the program "disappeared" or killed. Some accuses the CIA for assassinating several scientists, but both governments remain silence and no one has proof to prove.

Besides nuke, I bet the ROK still stores huge amount of BC weapons although it says BC weapons were eliminated completely. (hey ROK has ballistic missile with 500 km range operational although its limit is 300 km, so you don't know what the ROK is hiding)

[ISNJH]

There are some news agencies in the region saying that North has completed preparations and may conduct a nuclear test tomorrow before or following their military parade in the capital.

[briantk]

The ROK ran nuclear program during 1970s, but the program was terminated after the deal between the US and the ROK. Afterward, some scientists who were involved in the program "disappeared" or killed. Some accuses the CIA for assassinating several scientists, but both governments remain silence and no one has proof to prove.

Besides nuke, I bet the ROK still stores huge amount of BC weapons although it says BC weapons were eliminated completely. (hey ROK has ballistic missile with 500 km range operational although its limit is 300 km, so you don't know what the ROK is hiding)

I would like to hear the whole story.
My favorite anecdote I've heard about SK's nuclear weapon program is how Park boast that he will parade the bomb on 1981 armed forces day and then announce his resignation.

Here is the link that discuss fallout from SK nuclear weapon program: http://www.japanfocus.org/-Scott-Bruce/3630

[ISNJH]

Thanks Its Schoolchildren For Building Such Nice MLR Tank launchers

North Korea's official propaganda outlet, the Korean Central News Agency, recently declared the state's appreciation for all those young school kids who "helped" manufacture rocket-shooting tanks for the People's Army. The announcement, which coincided with a military parade in the country's second-largest city to show off the vehicles, also thanked the "Democratic Women's Union":

http://www.theatlantic.com/internati...NfIqfk.twitter