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'Artificial' earthquake detected in North Korea may be nuclear test

theaustralian.com.au

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Re: 'Artificial' earthquake detected in North Korea may be nuclear test

#111

Post by doktrin »

guimarin wrote: post #24
cjensen wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An earthquake 1000m below the surface on Nuclear Test Road (not a joke: type the coordinates into Google Maps) which occurs after a week of nuclear test threats and has a slightly larger magnitude than the last North Korean test is unlikely to be a coincidence.

I'm positive that North Korea wants the world to believe that they're testing nuclear weapons, because that is their only bargaining card, but that doesn't mean they made a successful test.

If North Korea could trigger earthquakes at will, I think that would be even bigger news than a nuclear test (not to mention being a plot worthy of a James Bond movie).

Re: 'Artificial' earthquake detected in North Korea may be nuclear test

#112

Post by CamperBob2 »

rooshdi wrote: post #44
yk wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, thats the entire point about obtaining nuclear weapons.

Interesting logic. The government is willing to go to war to obstruct Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, yet not when North Korea is actually testing and threatening to "target" the U.S.: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/25/world/asia/north-korea-vow...

Iran is not a client state of China, though. Few people in the Chinese leadership want a nuclear war with the US, or with anybody else. They will keep Kim Jong Un on a short leash; we in the US can take our eye off of that particular ball.

Re: 'Artificial' earthquake detected in North Korea may be nuclear test

#113

Post by kamaal »

mikegioia wrote: post #9
Volpe wrote: post #6

Why is it wrong that NK do Nuclear testing? I agree NK has some human rights issues, that should be addressed, but testing nuclear weapons is no different to Pakistan or India, and there are no sanctions against them.

It's the manner with which they're conducting the tests. Do you think nuclear testing should be done in private by an authoritarian regime, or do you think it should be done with the acceptance and supervision of the world's scientists?

>>or do you think it should be done with the acceptance and supervision of the world's scientists?

Firstly, no self respecting nation is ever going to wait for 'acceptance' and 'supervision' of some other nation. In fact that very thing implies some sort of master-slave relationship. Countries act in their own interests(just like every other country).

Re: 'Artificial' earthquake detected in North Korea may be nuclear test

#114

Post by dinkumthinkum »

kamaal wrote: post #110
cpeterso wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is North Korea's motivation? Given the UN's predicable past responses, North Korea must gain some political benefit from these UN responses.

Never ever underestimate the power of being self sufficient military wise. You can pretty much do anything you want and get away if you are a nuclear power. And its not like North Korea is going to remain poor forever. Look at UAE and Singapore, it takes little time to change the economic situation. A little years here and there, with China's and India's emergence on the world scene things can change pretty rapidly.…

> And its not like North Korea is going to remain poor forever.

They are doing a pretty good job of being poor already. I don't think you can compare North Korea to those other countries, even China. North Korea is a world peculiarity; it is the way it is because of it's bizarre regime, in a way different from China. It is so totally isolated and the average person is so uninformed about what is happening less than 100 miles from it's borders. The kind of trade that would reduce North Korea's poverty, I think would topple the regime, a regime based on magical stories about unicorns and people that don't need to use the bathroom.

Re: 'Artificial' earthquake detected in North Korea may be nuclear test

#115

Post by dinkumthinkum »

yk wrote: post #86
cpeterso wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is North Korea's motivation? Given the UN's predicable past responses, North Korea must gain some political benefit from these UN responses.

NK argues that their regime is superior to all other regimes and prosperity would come any day now. Therefore asking for humanitarian aid would contradict their propaganda. On the other hand, as long as they are the worst of the bad, they have natural allies, like Iran, Myanmar and any other 'bad guy of the week.' In addition they can realistically only sell ballistic missiles and nuclear technology, since they do no…

Well, in the country it is viewed that prosperity has already arrived; it is the rest of the world that is in dire straights.

Re: 'Artificial' earthquake detected in North Korea may be nuclear test

#116

Post by dinkumthinkum »

zensavona wrote: post #63

These kinds of "you guys can't have nukes because they're bad, but we'll keep some on hand because we're responsible" disputes that the USA seems to love force me think "where are all the adults?"

The adults are in the not in North Korea; I assure you. It is all well and fun the cry some sort of hypocrisy fall very weak to me. If you think the U.S. is bad, you're going to love North Korea.

Re: 'Artificial' earthquake detected in North Korea may be nuclear test

#117

Post by mathieuh »

untog wrote: post #73
zensavona wrote: post #63

These kinds of "you guys can't have nukes because they're bad, but we'll keep some on hand because we're responsible" disputes that the USA seems to love force me think "where are all the adults?"

This kind of thinking is disappointing. North Korea is a dictatorship that is irrational enough to starve it's citizens- if it has that little care for it's people, why wouldn't it launch some nukes? Is the US perfect? No. Is it a democratic, accountable country? Largely, yes. There is no perfect system of government, and people should stop pretending that everyone is on the same moral level.

North Korea is starving because the UN impose food sanctions every time NK do any thing which threatens UN imperialism.

Re: 'Artificial' earthquake detected in North Korea may be nuclear test

#119

Post by dinkumthinkum »

arcadeparade wrote: post #78
InclinedPlane wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you kidding me? The DPRK is one of the most horrific regimes in the last 2 centuries, and that includes the Nazis and the Stalinist Soviet Union. Of all the regimes that can't be trusted with nuclear weapons they are pretty much at the top of the list.

The USA has nuclear weapons in South Korea, and they are the only country to actually use them. If they withdrew then maybe the two Koreas could negotiate peace.

Wow, I'm sorry. I will just say you uninformed about the Korean peninsula. Seoul is a city that can be bombarded by shelling of conventional weapons in very short order. This fantasy of the US having nuclear weapons in South Korea of the removal of such would lead to peace is just no congruent with reality. I recommend reading up on it; it is very fascinating and much more complicated.

Re: 'Artificial' earthquake detected in North Korea may be nuclear test

#120

Post by JDShu »

Volpe wrote: post #38
panacea wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem to think having nuclear weapons is some sort of national right or something. It's not. Nobody wants an unstable, belligerent, nasty dictatorship to have the ability to nuke other countries.

> You seem to think having nuclear weapons is some sort of national right or something. No, I don't think that. > Nobody wants an unstable, belligerent, nasty dictatorship to have the ability to nuke other countries. The US opened this can of worms and created an imbalance in the world. North Korea is surrounded by nuclear enabled countries (China, Russia, South Korea, and Japan). As an aside: What exactly is 'unstab…

The US opened this can of worms and created an imbalance in the world. North Korea is surrounded by nuclear enabled countries (China, Russia, South Korea, and Japan).

That's irrelevant. NK gaining nukes would clearly be a negative development.

Also, did you just call Japan a nuclear power? Or are you just talking about nuclear power?

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