Surely any response would be inflammatory?

Surely any response would be inflammatory?
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Not really, not every response will be quite as inflammatory as doing military drills no?

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

Not really, not every response will be quite as inflammatory as doing military drills no?
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The military drills were prior to the nuclear threats, not as a result of them.

The military drills were prior to the nuclear threats, not as a result of them.
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Yea it was prior to the nuclear threats but the initial threats came before the drills. Correct me if I'm wrong on that.

Here's something to think about. Will there be a unified Korea in our lifetime?

The difference between the two culture has made the gap bigger over the years that it will be interesting to at least see how it meshes.

You are right because, as I said earlier, the North Korean threats never end.

However, if a nation was threatening to wipe my nation and one of my allies off the face of the Earth, the first thing I would do would be to prepare for a possible follow through on those threats, that is what the military drills between South Korea and the US are.

North Korea has absolutely no right to continually threaten other nations with extinction then get angry when those nations prepare themselves against that eventuality and you can't blame the US or South Korea for North Korea's actions.

Here's something to think about. Will there be a unified Korea in our lifetime?
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Not unless you plan on being immortal.

There you go, absolutely spot on.

BTW, who are our US residents on the site? I know I can't be the only one.

Haha fair enough. The thought of unifying Korea again is just my imagination going wild.

I can see only two ways of possible unification:

One side wipes the other out and annexes (unlikely)

OR

North Korea becomes too crippled by its own poverty and has to open itself up like the USSR had to, which slowly leads to a more open, potentially capitalist outlook which holds a much better chance for unification..

I forgot to add that the second possibility is even more unlikely, especially with the current succession of dictators who realise that opening up the country will lead to their downfall.

I have it pictured that if NK do end up attacking someone and start an actual war, I mean unless they have military technologies I've never heard of, North Korea is gonna get their ass kicked. US/SK soldiers storming Pyongyang and getting Kim out of power, rebuild the country with the SKorean government in charge of former North Korea.

I think that is quite an unlikely scenario, in all honesty. Annexation isn't really something that happens all too often in the modern world.

If there was to be a war and it played out the way you said, I think the most likely thing to happen would be an attempt to find an American friendly candidate for the position and attempt to create something of a puppet state to increase both relations between North and South and the North's economy so that, economically and socially, they are equal.

If they could pull that off, there would be a very good chance of unification but that would depend on how well the North's propaganda has worked. The US/SK may decide that it's too risky to attempt.

Good point SKA. We'll see how that will pan out.

Also like to point out, can any of the terrorist driven countries reach out and help North Korea? Iran, etc? They have the funds and a common goals in outing the US. I mean I don't know what's going on but if the North Koreans and Iran have an agreement, this threat has gotten a whole lot more serious than before.

I'm not sure if Iran really are a terrorist driven country so I'll answer both separately.

Iran and North Korea's only real similarity is their hatred of so-called US imperialism. Still, this is a potential cause for an alliance so concerns could be raised.

However, I can't really see how they would benefit each other. Neither is a particularly developed nation that could spring to the aid of the other and other than their, possible, nuclear arsenal pose no threat to any other nation other than the smaller ones around them.

Therefore, I doubt there is much Iran and North Korea could achieve as an alliance so it's unlikely to happen.

In regards to terrorist driven countries or terrorist groups in general, they don't really have the military or economic strength to offer any assistance to North Korea other than send a few thousand weapons and ammunition to supply those weapons so that's not a worry. Plus, I'm not sure how easy it would be for these weapons to be:
a) Accepted by North Korea (there'll surely be a price)
b) Smuggled in to an isolated nation surrounded by heavily guarded and (often) hostile nations.

The only problem would be if North Korea could sneak out its nuclear weapons to terrorist groups who could strike their enemies from within but that is very, very unlikely. The chances of that happening are almost infinitesimally small.

North Korea is just too isolated, I think.

Hmm. Good point, to me terrorist driven country and lunatic dictatorship are all the same boat to me, pardon my wording from the last post. Guess the safest thing to do is put out a blockade around the Korea so the only problem you mentioned could be neutralised. However I am not sure if putting a blockade signals war though.

Think the most crucial part is not let this tension between US and NK affect US's relationship with China. Even though China and NK are trading partners, I am still not sure if they'll risk things with the US by helping such an underdeveloped country. Anything insights on how all this is going to affect China?

Good points SKA. i think NK and Iran are far too culturally dissimilar for there to be any realistic chance of an alliance. They have very different motivations that are unlikely to be compatible imo.

As for the recent 'response' from the US, I think it's fair to say that since 9/11 the US has no sense of humour when it comes to credible terrorist threats. There were plenty of warnings ahead of 9/11 from intelligence agencies all over the world (including Iran!) but those threats were not acted on and look what happened. I think the US would prefer to overreact than underreact from now on...

Absolutely right, I mean the average folks here are just laughing at North Korea's threat but Washington are actually taking this threat very seriously. The move on Guam today was actually surprising to quite a few folks in the states, but at least we know the government is taking this seriously.

My original comment about alliances doesn't have to necessarily be Iran, it could be any country that has funds, weapons, and a hatred for the US. Just thought we clear the air on that.

I did say something earlier on about China:

comment by Super Keith Andrews (U3522)
posted 2 hours, 5 minutes ago
china wont do anything. they have historically strong trade relations with north korea.
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China's position in accordance to North Korea is becoming more and more untenable as North Korea's rhetoric advances.

Eventually they will have to make the decision to cut them loose if they want to continue to prosper in the global economy.

China is a ruthless nation, they will happily sell their allies down the river if it becomes beneficial for them.
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However, it is a difficult one and it depends entirely on what China's political outlook is now compared to back in the 50's when Chairman Mao felt he needed the buffer of a communist North Korea between him and US friendly democracies.

From a military aspect, the buffer zone no longer makes a difference so it's completely down to how China views the US.

From the outside, it seems as though China is ever so slowly moving away from communism towards a more capitalist society which, if true, could signal a beginning to the end for North Korea's alliance with them.

Certainly, I don't think China will intervene on a military front like Mao did, that would be counter-productive for them.

I think North Korea are alone on this one due to their own actions; they've sold themselves down the river.

The move on Guam today was actually surprising to quite a few folks in the states, but at least we know the government is taking this seriously.
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As has been mentioned on this thread and others like it, the only reason these threats are being listened to are because of the promise of nuclear action.

Moving anti-missile systems in range is a precaution that I am glad the US is taking.

Of course, it wouldn't be able to stop a strike on South Korea, who are the only ones that can't afford to laugh at the threats.

Shouldn't NK think twice before nuking SK? They're a little bit too close to each other, and the post-bomb radiation (is that what that's called?) will end up harming the North Koreans and surrounding countries. Like I was in South Korea several summer ago and the border between the north and the south is like 30 minutes away from Seoul.

Sorry, I just read like the first few posts and ignored everything else. Too many exams coming up, but this is certainly an interesting topic.

The nukes that North Korea possesses are not very powerful and I think the most powerful of them isn't even as strong as the bombs that were dropped on Japan in 1945 (although this is just speculation that could be wrong).

I'm not too sure how large the radiation radius is for nuclear bombs but I get the feeling that as long as it isn't enough to effect Pyongyang, North Korea wouldn't think twice about obliterating Seoul if they could get away with it.