North Korea

[sparkle_1979]

To be fair I don't really know much about it but is anyone is the USA actually worried ?

 

[kassiaethne]

My reply to this:


https://d24w6bsrhbeh9d.cloudfront.net/photo/6980924_460s_v2.jpg

 

[sparkle_1979]

Lol that's good. I pretty much thought it was just some chubby bloke on a power trip

 

[special_kala]

Im not american but this is very much on my radar as i think if it really did kick off it would have world wide implications. Especially if nukes are involved.

NKorea cant be that stupid to actually follow through with the threats right? It would be mad to even try.

 

[sparkle_1979]

Right you would like to think not. Do they actually have nukes?

 

[highhopes19]

I'm naively ignoring it all and not watching the news as it seriously worrys me things like this . Proper starts my panic attacks and anxiety attacks .

I'm praying nothing bad is going to happen!

 

[Noelle610]

Not worried.

The US has more nuclear weapons than the rest of the world combined. They would be insane to even try anything.

Power means nothing if your country doesn't exist anymore!

https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/Nuclearweaponswhohaswhat

*Note - not advocating violence or nuclear warfare, just making a point.

 

[special_kala]

Right you would like to think not. Do they actually have nukes?

I think so or they are at least trying very hard to get into a position too.

The UN put sanctions on them which they have ignored which makes me think they must have some capabilities

 

[sparkle_1979]

What sort of relationship does North Korea have with china?

 

[special_kala]

My concern is that if Nkorea do follow through or are even to be seen as trying too it will escalate very quickly.

Are they not on Chinas border? If Nkorea attacked the south/US any counter attack invoking nukes would impact on them and i would not want to be on chinas bad side.

 

[sparkle_1979]

Exactly. If they are an ally of china I'd be worried

 

[Noelle610]

China has 240 nuclear warheads. The US has 5,113 nuclear warheads. I wouldn't want to be on our bad side

I'm just kidding. I must sound like such an arrogant American! We've just been through a lot of empty threats from North Korea and Iran and nothing has materialized. That's not to say they shouldn't be taken seriously or that these countries aren't capable of harm, but I'm not quite worried yet.

 

[sparkle_1979]

Well that's good to hear. Hope it is just an empty threat or you really have to feel sorry for the innocent civilians in Korea

 

[special_kala]

when your dealing with leader who seems be power mad and frankly a bit mad in general i dont think the we have more weapons thing makes a difference.

China is a very loose ally with North korea i think.

If NK attacked the US, the US to be blunt could very easily flatten them but then nukes are dirty weapons which would impact china in a huge way and the rest of the world. China could take that in itself as a act of war and thing spiral very quickly.

Normal rational thinking would stop any of that but it seems that that is exactly what Kim Jong-un is lacking.

 

[Noelle610]

I do agree that he's lacking in rational thinking, but you would have to be insane to do something that would mean the demolition of your country. Especially if you're power hungry, right? Then you've made a statement for nothing.

I really do not think that China would come to North Korea's defense in this situation. While they are loose allies, China is emerging as a world power. They can't continue to remain as a world power if they support a clearly insane person. They would lose the respect of other allies and the United Nations. I would think it would be devestating for them.

 

[special_kala]

I dont think China would back NK in a war but if it impacted on them as consequence they might get involved. Nukes dont care about borders iykwim.

If he doesnt follow through it would undermine his power in Nkorea but thats coming from someone in a free country which NK isnt so i guess he could very easily be lying to his people anyway.They are pretty cut off from the rest of the world.

 

[Noelle610]

Oh, for sure he is lying! They are totally cut off. North Korean kids read "The Diary of Anne Frank" in school and are told that if Americans are like Nazis who will put them in concentration camps if they invade. It's nuts!

 

[bumpy_j]

No the US are not in any threat as their missiles are not strong enough to even come close. It would be absolute suicide to attempt something without Chinas approval which they currently do not have. China is a superpower hugely due to the Western world and although the are powerful as powerful gets, I do not believe for a second they would try and take out their main sources of trade, even with all the money they currently have. From their appeal for calm today, it seems that they clearly disagree with NKs threats. Ignoring China would be poisionous for their relationship without just cause (I mean this is all over not being trusted with nuclear weapons mainly - yeah NK, we'll totally trust you now!!). The re-opening of the Nuclear facility in Yongbyon seems threatening but I question how advanced their research really is and can get to in such a short breadth of time.

What we are in danger of is N Korea attacking S Korea as they did a couple of years ago (they sunk a warship and also there were additional fatalities). That in itself would cause the US to step in more severely as they have vowed to protect the South already. We have to remember this man, has been fed propaganda and lies all of his life by his father and advisors - I have no doubt that he believes he is more powerful than in reality. He is in a room full of yes men and I'm not really quite sure what will stop him (although more aid is probably the key factor). But then again how much can we justify given more aid to a country that wont feed it's own people, preferring glitzy parades, building a sheltered tourist industry.

By the way there is NO WAY they can reach the UK either. Not that we're currently involved really. I'd be absolutely gobsmacked if China keeps North Korea as an ally, many would disagree with me but China, although communist technically, is not true communism ('Maoism' instead of 'Marxism' - NK is comparably Stalinist). I don't see the relationship being sustained purely on political ideologies over economic growth. Perhaps the delay in China giving a firm answer on who they will ally with is in fear of NK throwing a missile in their direction as a kind of Dr Strangelove moment - I hope the silence means they're all secretly planning a disarmament tactic together - the US have just planted a missile defence system on the border so maybe? Dunno how plausible that is though. Eeep!

***I made a couple of mistakes when I first wrote this because I was half asleep and didn't double check my facts, edited now !

 

[bumpy_j]

Man I really do use a lot of brackets...

ETA Being allied with China is reliant on a pact relating to the separation of the two Koreas, namely I think about the tiny amount of shared industry the two Koreas had left and supporting NK if they chose to withdraw entirely from that (which they have closed in the last few days) - I think it's important to remember that this most probably didn't entail threatening a major superpower for no obvious reason apart from to assert delusional authority. Again, China would be unwise to remain allied and their call for calm is nothing but hopeful.

 

[Rhio92]

I don't know what's happening. But nuclear war scares me, so I just stick my head in the sand and ignore it all. God, why can't we all just leave each other alone? I'm pretty sure 99.9% of the world's people just want to live in peace and see their children grow up, not chuck missiles at each other.