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New Sanctions Imposed on North Korea as it Warns of Pre-emptive Nuclear Attack

nytimes.com

31–40 of 120 posts

Re: New Sanctions Imposed on North Korea as it Warns of Pre-emptive Nuclear Attack

#33

Will someone excuse my excessive ignorance and be so kind to explain me why the DPRK is so pissed with the US? Thanks

The main reason is that the US essentially fought the Korean War for South Korea against the North, and still maintains many active military bases and thousands of troops in South Korea, especially one right in the middle of Seoul. Any attempt to invade the South would mean war with the US, thus one of the longstanding demands of the DPRK has been that the US remove all its troops from the country.

Also, the US helps the South Korea military (and previously, its economy). I believe there is a clause in the constitution where in the case of a full scale war, a US general will assume command of all the military forces of the South

Re: New Sanctions Imposed on North Korea as it Warns of Pre-emptive Nuclear Attack

#34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The nuclear strike isn't an immediate threat. They don't have the means to put the weapon where it actually hurts. The more serious threat is the artillery pointed at Soeul...

Couldn't Seoul protect itself like Isreal did with the Iron Dome?

Seoul is close enough to the DMZ to be within range of more or less standard artillery pieces. These things either shoot shells (giant bullets), or wickedly hilarious amounts of rockets. Even if they were interceptable (I doubt it), the sheer volume of fire would overwhelm pretty much anything.

Re: New Sanctions Imposed on North Korea as it Warns of Pre-emptive Nuclear Attack

#35
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Threatening a nuclear strike is pretty serious stuff - I hope the North Koreans are sensible enough not to fuel up any rockets in the near future... I also wonder if there is a back channel somewhere where they tell the Chinese, who would then presumably tell the US, that they really are just posturing and there is no real threat.

The nuclear strike isn't an immediate threat. They don't have the means to put the weapon where it actually hurts. The more serious threat is the artillery pointed at Soeul...

A volkswagen beetle and about 5 gallons of gas would do the trick, no?

Re: New Sanctions Imposed on North Korea as it Warns of Pre-emptive Nuclear Attack

#37

I like these sanctions, the one aimed at Iraq starting from 1990's. Really helped for everyone living there. Who would not love a dying child from hunger on his arms, it is like a Easter present.

There's a pretty easy way for the government to avoid situations like that. If your people are at the mercy of foreign governments in order to survive, it really is in your best interest to not continuously piss them off.

Re: New Sanctions Imposed on North Korea as it Warns of Pre-emptive Nuclear Attack

#38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The nuclear strike isn't an immediate threat. They don't have the means to put the weapon where it actually hurts. The more serious threat is the artillery pointed at Soeul...

Couldn't Seoul protect itself like Isreal did with the Iron Dome?

The "Iron Dome" is an anti-missile system. Artillery shells are a lot harder to shoot down. Last I heard, the US military was working on a laser-based system to heat the shells mid-flight and cause them to detonate prematurely. I don't know if this technology is mature enough for actual use, or if it's likely to be deployed to SK.

Re: New Sanctions Imposed on North Korea as it Warns of Pre-emptive Nuclear Attack

#39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The nuclear strike isn't an immediate threat. They don't have the means to put the weapon where it actually hurts. The more serious threat is the artillery pointed at Soeul...

Couldn't Seoul protect itself like Isreal did with the Iron Dome?

Iron dome shoots down rockets with other rockets. The US has some tech in forward operating bases in Afghanistan to shoot down rockets and mortars with 300 round/minute 50 caliber Gatling guns (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-RAM). Both of these technologies only work against explosive/fueled rounds because you can blow them up.

The artilery that North Korea has pointed at the south could be just slug launchers i.e. imagine a giant sized bullet. Because a slug has not fuel or explosives to detonate you can't really stop it by hitting the round with something else.

Re: New Sanctions Imposed on North Korea as it Warns of Pre-emptive Nuclear Attack

#40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The nuclear strike isn't an immediate threat. They don't have the means to put the weapon where it actually hurts. The more serious threat is the artillery pointed at Soeul...

Couldn't Seoul protect itself like Isreal did with the Iron Dome?

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