NKorea threatens 'nuclear deterrence' over drills

[Akoto]

Source: Associated Press

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- North Korea inflamed tensions over the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship by threatening the United States and South Korea on Saturday with "nuclear deterrence" if they carry out naval maneuvers this weekend.

Pyongyang often resorts to sabre-rattling during a crisis, but the escalation of rhetoric to nuclear fears and counter-threats came during an ASEAN summit in Hanoi.

"The army and people of the DPRK will start a retaliatory sacred war of their own style based on nuclear deterrent any time necessary in order to counter the U.S. imperialists and the South Korean puppet forces deliberately pushing the situation to the brink of a war," North Korea's official news agency said.

It referred to North Korea's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), and added: "All these war maneuvers are nothing but outright provocations aimed to stifle the DPRK by force of arms to all intents and purposes."

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_ASEAN?SITE=TXWIC&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[anigbrowl]

1. they really need some new copywriters in the DPRK

[Posteritatis]

13. I'd heard a reason for that

Namely that they're so insular and worried about foreign influence that even things like dictionaries are controlled - many of the English language materials that a North Korean would use to learn the language are not only old enough to start being riddled with anachronisms, but they're also filtered through Soviet or Chinese jargon from the forties through the sixties.

I don't know if that's true, but between things like that and the KCNA's, ah, interesting style manuals, it would go pretty far towards explaining their writing style.

[anigbrowl]

14. Sounds very plausible - perhaps they should recruit a few hep cats ;-)

[Drale]

2. Delusional

And how do they plan on getting this "nuclear deterrence" here on a row boat and do they relize one attack and there country will be wipped off the map or perhapse there coutry sucks that bad that getting destroyed is what that want.

[sweettater]

3. I think you need to realize

China is watching VERY closely.

[GreenStormCloud]

4. Then China needs to tell Kim, "Heel."

If Kim lets go with a nuke, China won't be able to do a damn thing about the response. And we will have to respond as a warning to anybody else that wants to get frisky with nukes. NK is helping Burma in their program to get nukes.

[sweettater]

6. I think this would be worthwhile for you to read

http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/article/20100713/OPINION02/7130309/Asia-Pacific-region-is-heading-into-new-era-of-strategic-volatility

China is not going to sit on the sidelines.

[GreenStormCloud]

7. Neither is China going to get involved in a nuclear war.

I Kim makes first use of nukes, China will instantly cut him loose.

[davepc]

8. That would be the sensible course of action.

Then again they could use it as cover to make a grab for Taiwan. Which would not be sensible.

[qazplm]

10. sure they are

what can they do?

Militarily they are nowhere close to us, they don't have the ability to project power, they don't even have the ability to invade Taiwan yet without using fishing boats.

Economically they depend on us as much as we depend on them.

And over NK? Which in this hypo has used a nuke? Please.

[oneshooter]

5. The Korean War was never settled. UN forces in SK are always on alert

On "The Line". There was no Peace Treaty signed between North Korea and the United Nations, only a Cease Fire.
The Korean War has been going on for the last 55 years.

Oneshooter
Armed and Livin in Texas

[krispos42]

9. *shrug* Go for it

I guess that is one way to end the pain-in-the-ass that is North Korea. I doubt the North Koreans will be very happy with that particular ending, but on the other hand, there will be damn few NKs left to complain.

[proteus_lives]

11. "I doubt the North Koreans will be very happy with that particular ending"

I think the average NKer on the street would be delighted to have the regime gone and the UN rebuilding their country into something other then a Stalinist hellhole.

Providing it didn't go nuclear of course.

[krispos42]

16. It's the caveat at the end that should worry them. n/t

[Igel]

24. I don't think so.

Not any more.

Most of the people there have only ever known that one system. Most of them believe it unstintingly. Those that don't, for the most part, have an imaginary alternative system in mind.

If NK's government falls and the country's opened, they'll find that most of the people have 1950s-era skills and even more primitive ideas about competitiveness.

In 1993 Slovakia broke away from the Czech/Moravian side of the country sure they'd make a killing--they had the heavy industry. They found that their large-scale Soviet-style industrial base was far from competitive. Slovakia's industry c. 1993 makes most of NK's current industry look antediluvian.

Material things would improve, but it'll be entirely at more prosperous countries' largesse: We'd send food, medicine, doctors, agronomists, etc., etc. They have to come to accept that they believed a massive lie, that they were oppressed by their own people, that their pride was a pile of shit.

This is a prescription for instability and continued poverty--or something no better than they have now. They'd need 20 years of consistent, motivated work to rebuild. They'd be patient for perhaps 5. Look at Russia--things were improving after a rather big economic shake-out, but people were impatient and went for a strongman.

[NYMdaveNYI]

27. trust me, NK’s best day will be the one before they fire the missile, we’ll END them |nt|

[MilesColtrane]

12. "outright provocations aimed to stifle the DPRK by force of arms to all intents and purposes."

Well, when the DPRK torpedoes ships they fucking well should be stifled.

China must consider North Korea as the psychotic little brother chained up in the attic by now.

Let's hope that they can apply pressure to the paranoid cultists who run the country to stand down.

[aquart]

15. What celebrity are they hoping to see this time?

Is Angelina Jolie willing to make the trip?

[Elmore Furth]

17. North Korea vows nuclear response to U.S.-Seoul drills

Source: Reuters

North Korea warned Saturday that it will respond with "powerful nuclear deterrence" to joint U.S. and South Korean military exercises poised to begin this weekend, saying the drills amount to a provocation that cannot be ignored.

North Korea routinely threatens war when South Korea and the U.S. hold joint military drills, which Pyongyang sees as a rehearsal for an attack on the North. The latest threat comes amid increased tensions on the peninsula over the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship that Seoul and Washington blame on Pyongyang.

The allies' defense chiefs announced earlier in the week they would stage the drills to send a clear message to North Korea to stop its "aggressive" behavior. Forty-six South Korean sailors were killed in the March sinking of the Cheonan, considered the worst military attack on the South since the 1950-53 Korean War.

North Korea vehemently denies any involvement and says any punishment would trigger war.



Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38375802/ns/world_news-asiapacific/

[mwb970]

18. Why does North Korea remind me so much of republicans? /nt

[NYMdaveNYI]

28. well, at least Kim Jong never said he was going to build a Star Wars wall for defense |nt|

[Turbineguy]

19. These boys need some

discounts on psychiatric care.

[Clovis Sangrail]

20. I really hate the idea of using force as a response

but it seems that every time I hear from N. Korea they're trying to do an impression of a petulant little bully from grade school that was constantly threatening to kick my ass if I "looked at him" or _____ (insert any other random thing).

Fortunately he didn't have nuclear weapons.

I go back and forth with trying to sympathize with N. Korea and thinking they (at least the govt) is completely fricken' insane.

[robcon]

21. I think Kim needs a cause to divert attention for his starving people.

Maybe he still has designs on South Korea?

[GreenStormCloud]

26. Both. N/T

[Pavulon]

25. Time to pony up Kim.

that half stack stroked out idiot is not going to toe up with the US. He is full of shit.

[NYMdaveNYI]

29. old, useless strategy called “brinksmanship” and a self-deprecating “napoleon complex” |nt|

[The Croquist]

22. Let's get real

North Korea threatens all the time. At this point anyone who takes them seriously is either naive or delusional. Could they actually launch an attack? Yes. Could they actually launch an nuclear attack? Maybe. Are they likely to? No.

I would love to see their government gone. I would love to see the CIA bump off that asshole.

That's right. I would love to see the US commit an international crime. Sometimes it's not such a bad thing.

[Drale]

23. UN

Im pretty sure the UN would look the other way on this as well as if the US took out Admandijajiaosjdflkasdfj or what ever his name is in Iran