North Korea seen moving mid-range missile to east coast: reports

[TomClash]

Source: Reuters

North Korea seen moving mid-range missile to east coast: reports

SEOUL | Wed Apr 3, 2013 9:13pm EDT

(Reuters) - North Korea has moved what appears to be a mid-range Musudan missile to its east coast, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said on Thursday, quoting multiple government sources privy to intelligence from U.S. and South Korean authorities.

It was not clear if the missile was mounted with a warhead or whether the North was planning to fire it or was just putting it on display as a show of force, one South Korean government source was quoted as saying.

"South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities have obtained indications the North has moved an object that appears to be a mid-range missile to the east coast," the source said.

The Musudan missile is believed to have a range of 3,000 km (1,875 miles) or more, which would put all of South Korea and Japan in range and possibly also the U.S. territory of Guam in the Pacific Ocean. North Korea is not believed to have tested these mid-range missiles, according to most independent experts.



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/04/us-korea-north-missile-idUSBRE93301S20130404

[GiveMeFreedom]

1. Yikes, Heavens to Murgatroyd.

As Snaggle Puss always says.

[Art_from_Ark]

2. I seriously doubt they'd aim for Guam

It's too small and too far away, despite NK's rhetoric. Japan, on the other hand, presents an easier target. NK has caused various types of trouble with Japan in the past, including kidnapping people in Japan and taking them back to North Korea, as well as taking garbage-filled ships to Japanese waters and abandoning them. So NK has already done some crazy shit with Japan, which makes me, as someone living in Japan, a little nervous about the current threats.

[dtom67]

3. this would be a good time...

For a little False Flag action on the part of some Weapons/Defense manufacturer.
"Sequester got your revenue down? Just set off some bombs in S.Korea and blame it on the Kid Psychopath in the North. Then sit back and watch the Defense $$$ roll in."

Of course that cannot happen in a Democracy.....

[Hugabear]

7. The MIC has been itching for a war with China

Look at all the alarmist comments they've been making over the past several years regarding China's military 'build-up', and how concerned they are about Chinese influence in the region.

[Demo_Chris]

8. No one wants war with Korea. nt

[GreenStormCloud]

16. Modern forensics can determine where the explosives were made.

The explosives leave behind a chemical signature.

[delrem]

4. Kim Jung Un is immature.

Whatever, one missile is nothing.

What I worry about is how easily and consistently US citizens, D's or R's, get played.

It seems to me that US citizens have been conditioned to instantly respond to their MSM, for purposes of war. War being the be all and end all of the US economy, so with no rationality involved in their responses at all. Iraq, North Korea, Iran, Syria, Libya, ... all these targets are long known to be in the neocon sights: the fucking blueprints are available to the whole world, so US citizens both know that they're being played and willingly go along with it because at some level they get some self-confirming experience. Perhaps the experience of being all conquering good guys, like when kids play bad guy good guy games.

Fact is that China is without doubt most reasonably alarmed at these signs that Kim Jung Un isn't playing with a full deck, since China has a long border with NK. No way does China want US military bases along that stretch. The US has no border with NK. So here's a question: is there any evidence that China wants anything but benign relations with SK? Is there any evidence that the US wants a war with China?

[Yo_Mama]

11. I don't think this is media-created

I think North Korean leadership has slipped a few ball bearings.

If anything, there has been little discussion of this in the US press - there seems to be more in some European countries.

[John2]

15. No, I think

Americans have been led into a false myth about their invincibility through the War in Iraq. The destruction of Saddam's Army actually beganned during the eight years War with Iran and then even more destruction in the first Persian Gulf War. The United States and most of those countries aligned with her destroyed much of Saddam's army when they were fleeing from Kuwait. They did not allow them to retreat back into Iraq.

Saddam still had enough forces to put down a rebellion but his military was significantly reduced after that and the U.S. knew it. They finished off Saddam in the second war. Iraq was no threat to anybody militarily. Those events sanitized the American public to the horrors of War and the Media was used to achieve those results by not covering the slaughter done to civilians. A lot of Iraqi civilians died in those Wars. The U.S. started this myth of surgical strikes. So I don't know why people are crying out now about drones when they were OK with surgical strikes in civilian areas. All of it was phony from the start. Anybody that has military training should know that. War is about killing period, and the winner will say anything to justify it or make their cause more moral. Like dropping two atomic bombs on civilian populations.

No matter how your death come about in any War, the end results are the same. You died by violent means. We dropped napalm on Vietnam and North Korea during those Wars. These people know what it is like to be bombed by B2 Bombers. The difference between Iraq and those countries are they don't use the same strategies and they live in different terrains. The weather is not the same year round. North Korea is a country full of mountains and valleys with a lot of underground networks. All their airbases have hangers located underground for their aircraft. They have over 1,800 compared to Saddam's 8-900 at the height of the Iraqi Airforce.

Saddam's chemical stockpile was depleted after the first Gulf War and Iraq never used them. I don't think Saddam believed the West was trying to annihilate him initially. North Korea has the largest stockpile of chemical weapons in the World. So for those Americans ridiculing North Korea's military capabilities and also the same media, North Korea is a lot more of a threat than Saddam ever was. The simple truth is North Korea does possess weapons of mass destruction period, if anybody know anything about weapons.

Their missiles can hit all of South Korea and can be armed with those chemicals. You saw a lesser example of what chemicals can do in Syria and heard about them in the Iran\Iraq War. Those missiles have the range to hit Japan also. We have a naval base and airbase in Japan. That is what makes Japan a target. They have a submarine fleet capable of slipping into Japanese harbors. And there is a report North Korea sold missiles to Pakistan capable of carrying medium nuclear warheads. The North Koreans have secretly traded technology with Iran and trained Hezebollah on guerrilla tactics. When the Korean War was fought, The North Koreans did not have weapons of mass destruction. Their arsenal would even be formidable for the Chinese today. It depends on the mindset of the person in charge to use them. Either you kill or be killed. War is not a game for the halfhearted.

[GreenStormCloud]

17. You greatly overestimate the NK military.

A top-notch military takes lots of money and NK has very little money.

Their pilots get very little flight time because they don't have the money for fuel and aircraft maintenance. So the quality of their pilots is very poor. For the same reasons their Army doesn't get to do military exercises, resulting in poorly trained troops.

Their submarines are old, worn out former Soviet subs that have diesel-electric engines - very noisy when charging batteries. The rest of their so-called Navy are costal patrol type boats.

Most of their Air Force is waaaay old planes. Over half of it is MiG 151, 17s, and 21s. They have only a tiny handful of modern jet fighters. Their bombers are a 1948 design.

If they use WMD they will be inviting a nuclear response. We have stated that we will equate a poison gas attack as being a nuke attack and respond accordingly.

They do have about 14,000 artillery pieces on the DMZ, many of which are in range of Seoul. So they can throw a lot of shells and it would take a few days to knock out that many artillery tubes and rocket launchers.

While I am obviously not privy to Allied defense plans, the obvious plan would be to NOT try to hold at the DMZ but to rapidly withdraw a few miles and get their troops out beyond the support range of their artillery while we use air power to destroy their artillery. Their artillery is mostly old WWII type stuff that is not rapidly mobile and can be located easily.

Saddam's forces were much more modern and better trained, but very poorly led. It is extremely doubtful that Kim's Army is any better led. Political loyalty counts for more than military competence in the NK.

Also, the NK Army hasn't seen combat in 60 years. The U.S. military has been in several wars since the Korean War.

[caseymoz]

5. I get the idea that Kim-Jong Un might be underqualified.

It seems to me this family has progressed from one loose canon to a looser one every generation. Un really might not know what he's doing. Maybe he's trying to top his father and grandfather, and maybe he thinks Dad's mistake was in not being bold enough.

I hope that's not it, because if it is, we're trouble. I've noticed what seems to be a dearth of demands from North Korea. The fact that none have been reported yet is distressing.

If so, I hope there's a coup, because otherwise, what's bound to happen won't go well for anybody.

[Bosonic]

6. Defense chief says North's missile movement not aimed at U.S. mainland

SEOUL, April 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin said Thursday that North Korea has moved an intermediate-range missile to its east coast for an imminent test firing or military drill, but it does not seem to be aimed at striking the U.S. mainland.

In a parliamentary defense committee meeting, Kim refuted media reports that Pyongyang has moved a KN-08 missile, which is believed to have a range of 10,000 kilometers, into position to strike the U.S.

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2013/04/04/0200000000AEN20130404009200315.HTML

[Blandocyte]

9. Ok, Kim. Let us know when they turn the giant slingshot a little.

The show of force probably looks great to whomever he's trying to impress in his country. Kim Jong-un's lucky he's not sitting over any oil or NK would look to be in great need of liberation.

My suggestion is that we give him about 1/2 of what it would cost us to have a war with NK, with the agreement being that they'll knock over some of their own buildings, maybe dig up a few miles of train track, then they can use the money to repair the "war damage" and keep what's left over to buy more of those Dr. Evil smocks. Cheaper for us and no one needs to die.

[SHRED]

10. Now if they just had oil...

[Blandocyte]

13. We'd liberate it, er, I mean them. nt

[loudsue]

12. That little tyrant certainly has a major death wish.

He's about to kiss his little patoot goodbye.

[Sunlei]

14. seems like bluster to keep his people busy wait forever for war.

One of our news shows reported from the border. I was surprised to see NK and SK soldiers staring at each other through windows. Our General stands there too where they can see him. Kim I think is stuck between his own Army and his neighbors who have a history of hating each other.

They have a beautiful country, he and his people would be better off building a seaside tourist resort.

[ColesCountyDem]

18. Rut roh! n/t

[Life Long Dem]

19. Movement itself doesn't mean a lot

If the movement is not unusual then it's probably the same usual testing or military drills. Unusual movement would raise suspicions.

[blackspade]

20. Yawn.....

The M$M attempt to promote fear is laughable.

[awoke_in_2003]

21. This guy has a bad case...

of little guy syndrome.