News Stories

[killer3000ad]

Originally Posted by Kamui4356

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapc...pt=T1&iref=BN1




So South Korean 13 military personal and 2 civilians wounded and 1 dead in a North Korean attack. First the Cheonan, now this.

One shell is a misfire, 200 sounds like open war.

[ganbaru]

Australia commits to rare earths supply to Japan
http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNew...6AM1BF20101123

[Tsuyoshi]

Originally Posted by killer3000ad

One shell is a misfire, 200 sounds like open war.

Agreed. I wonder if the US is going to inter(vene) with this.

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by Tsuyoshi

Agreed. I wonder if the US is going to inter(vene) with this.

If it comes to an actual shooting war the US is treaty bound to intervene and has troops there.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Tom Bombadil

I am just thankful that Rare Earth is not as strategically important as some other resources. We all know what happened to an unfriendly country with large reserve of such important material.

Oh in the 21st century it IS. Unless you can find an alternative for neodymium, you can say goodbye to any memory storage device if the embargo hits really hard.

And since China provides 97% of the world's rare metals, you might want to reassess your statement with regards to "large reserve" and geographic landmasses; providing the entire world with a monopoly of such a resource means the land is rich in it, and that has something got to do with geography and natural occurrence of the resource, not politics.

Originally Posted by Kamui4356

If it comes to an actual shooting war the US is treaty bound to intervene and has troops there.

And threaten the world's kimchi supply.

[sneaker]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Australia commits to rare earths supply to Japan
http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNew...6AM1BF20101123

Germany also said it will help out Japan in October:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stori...087529/1/.html

[Roger Rambo]

Originally Posted by killer3000ad

One shell is a misfire, 200 sounds like open war.

Mother fucker.

Have the fucking Norks gone insane?

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Roger Rambo

Mother fucker.

Have the fucking Norks gone insane?

They always have been. It is just that their leaning mountain (kao shan in Chinese) is a superpower now, and they dared to fool around and act big knowing that China will clean up the mess for them.

I certainly wish China don't. Seriously, now everyone has nukes and you want to start WWIII?

[don_Durandal]

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news...123-185qh.html

North Korea says South Korea fired first (AFP)

North Korea said South Korea fired first in Tuesday's cross-border artillery duel, which killed two marines and injured 18 soldiers or civilians on a South Korean border island.

"The South Korean enemy, despite our repeated warnings, committed reckless military provocations of firing artillery shells into our maritime territory near Yeonpyeong island beginning 1pm (1500 AEDT)," a statement from the North's military supreme command said.

The North's military "will continue to make merciless military attacks with no hesitation if the South Korean enemy dares to invade our sea territory by 0.001 mm", it said in the statement carried by the official news agency.
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"It is our military's traditional response to quell provocative actions with a merciless thunderbolt."

The statement added that in the West Sea (Yellow Sea), "there will only exist the sea boundary set by us".

The disputed sea border just north of the island was the scene of deadly naval clashes in 1999, 2002 and last November.

It was drawn by United Nations forces after the 1950-53 war and is known as the Northern Limit Line. The North says the border should run to the south of Yeonpyeong island.

The North began shelling after sending several messages protesting about South Korean naval, air force and army training exercises being staged close to the border, a Seoul presidential spokesman said.

The North's military said the South's "latest military provocation was a vicious effort to maintain the faulty Northern Limit Line" by frequent naval intrusions across the border.

Let the blaming game begin.

Note that it's not the first serious incident happening there. A naval clash with North Korean casualties occurred just over a year ago: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...111203773.html

[Azumanga Davo]

I'm surprised they've done such a thing really. It's like Burma really. Don't do anything at all and they could have been in power for years whilst being looked upon as quirky and delusional, but harmless, by everyone else.

Now they've guaranteed that their hold on NK will be a much shorter excursion than planned. They've ruined it for themselves now.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by Hey Missus

Now they've guaranteed that their hold on NK will be a much shorter excursion than planned. They've ruined it for themselves now.

Hardly. We're dealing with a regime that is in the midst of a dynastic power transfer. What we're seeing here is very likely a show of force by Kim Jong Un, 27, to cement his claim to power.

And he's likely doing it because he knows that North Korea can pretty much act with impunity. The last time war came to the northern part of the Korean peninsula, it ended badly for the largely American-led invasion, no thanks to the human-wave tactics of the People's Liberation Army of China.

[Azumanga Davo]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Hardly. We're dealing with a regime that is in the midst of a dynastic power transfer. What we're seeing here is very likely a show of force by Kim Jong Un, 27, to cement his claim to power.

And he's likely doing it because he knows that North Korea can pretty much act with impunity. The last time war came to the northern part of the Korean peninsula, it ended badly for the largely American-led invasion, no thanks to the human-wave tactics of the People's Liberation Army of China.

No no no, I mean he could have done so quietly and quickly without dragging the entirety of Twitter, the world's news services and the condemnation of every single nation on the planet. Had he done that instead, we most certainly wouldn't be thinking of "step 2" right about now...

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Hey Missus

No no no, I mean he could have done so quietly and quickly without dragging the entirety of Twitter, the world's news services and the condemnation of every single nation on the planet. Had he done that instead, we most certainly wouldn't be thinking of "step 2" right about now...

It is about showing off North Korea's might as a form of deterrence. Some people might think that junior might be a pushover and invade, it is their way of consolidating and protecting their dictatorship.

Though I would say the dictatorship is better off gone. Crysis scenario anyone?

[Tom Bombadil]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Hardly. We're dealing with a regime that is in the midst of a dynastic power transfer. What we're seeing here is very likely a show of force by Kim Jong Un, 27, to cement his claim to power.

And he's likely doing it because he knows that North Korea can pretty much act with impunity. The last time war came to the northern part of the Korean peninsula, it ended badly for the largely American-led invasion, no thanks to the human-wave tactics of the People's Liberation Army of China.

But the times are different, the last time China went to war was because that the PRC was newly founded, together with all the ideology conflict etc., its existence was threatened at that moment. After all, the Korean war was an war about ideology. Now it is different. The Chinese economy depends on exporting to the rest of the world, and it is a big lender to the US. Why does it want to start a war? To collapse its own economy or to annul all the US debt? A nuclear north Korean is not in the interest of the Chinese either. I pretty sure Beijing is either within or on the boundary of the North's missile range.

On the other hand, I doubt the US is willing to engage militarily either. Its economy is not in good shape, and its army exhausted in other two wars.
That's what Kim Jong Un is basing his calculation on. As long as this is limited to the island, he score point inside the North Korean army, the rest of the world will just pretend it never happened. Even if they do, what can they do about it? Negotiate with it? Put up more Sanctions? There is very little means for rest of the world to punish the north for such violation.

The Chinese support for the North is just postponing the pain down the road. Nothing good is going to come out of it. The general opinion of North Korea government in China is that they are ungrateful bastards who bite the hand that feeds them. But they are strategically important because China does not want to see an American base on its boarder, and also the refugee problem if it collapse.

[MeoTwister5]

Where's Sam Fisher when you need him? We need shit done in in the NK!

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

Where's Sam Fisher when you need him? We need shit done in in the NK!

CIA's SAD is in pieces after two wars....their personnel are too thinly spread around the globe to pull off a stunt like that.

Besides, when is the last time the CIA carried out a proper HUMINT operation? My bets are Somalia in the mid-1990s.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by Tom Bombadil

But the times are different, the last time China went to war was because that the PRC was newly founded, together with all the ideology conflict etc., its existence was threatened at that moment. After all, the Korean war was an war about ideology. Now it is different... Why does it want to start a war?

China won't start a war over North Korea, but it is no more likely to tolerate its invasion today than it was more than 50 years ago. It wasn't just ideology that drove Beijing to rescue Pyongyang during the Korean War, but also selfish national interest — China has no desire to see a democratic, and potentially hostile, country on its northeastern borders.

Originally Posted by Tom Bombadil

The Chinese economy depends on exporting to the rest of the world, and it is a big lender to the US

I wonder, really. Even though I sympathise with China over some of the bad press it gets, I won't go so far as to fully believe Beijing's claim of a "peaceful" rise to power. When it comes to Taiwan, for example, I hardly doubt that Beijing would hesitate to use force to settle the issue, if others would force its hand.

Why else would it go so far as to acquire aircraft carriers if that plan is not already in the books?

Originally Posted by Tom Bombadil

On the other hand, I doubt the US is willing to engage militarily either. Its economy is not in good shape, and its army exhausted in other two wars.
That's what Kim Jong Un is basing his calculation on.

Agreed.

[Tsuyoshi]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

I wonder, really. Even though I sympathise with China over some of the bad press it gets, I won't go so far as to fully believe Beijing's claim of a "peaceful" rise to power. When it comes to Taiwan, for example, I hardly doubt that Beijing would hesitate to use force to settle the issue, if others would force its hand

There's been a lot of bad blood between China and the US recently over economic matters, environmental, military, etc., so China has quite a few reasons to get hostile against the US, especially at a possible "intervention" on the US's part if this escalates to war between the two sides. And the US doesn't exactly want China to expand because of whatever influence it could bring to other people against the US.

Originally Posted by Tom Bombadil

On the other hand, I doubt the US is willing to engage militarily either. Its economy is not in good shape, and its army exhausted in other two wars.
That's what Kim Jong Un is basing his calculation on.

Yes, but as Kamui said, they're bound by treaty to intervene. And besides, the way I see it and considering the past, the US would jump at any chance to defend democracy from its classical enemies. And as I've said, there's been bad blood between China and the US recently.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Tom Bombadil

Even if they do, what can they do about it? Negotiate with it? Put up more Sanctions? There is very little means for rest of the world to punish the north for such violation.

1. SK can pull competely out of the industrial park it has in NK. which is a major source of hard cash.

2. stop any and all food aid sent to the North

3. fire as many missle/shells as teh NK did and pretend it never happen.

1 & 2 will hurt and cause more unrest which NK doesn't need more of at this point. And while China will make up the difference, it will at least hurt China's pocket books maintaining NK.

3. is tit for tat. what is the North going to do? invade? while China might let NK get away with certain things letting NK start a war that will drag China in isn't going tobe one of them.

[Tom Bombadil]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

1. SK can pull competely out of the industrial park it has in NK. which is a major source of hard cash.

2. stop any and all food aid sent to the North

3. fire as many missle/shells as teh NK did and pretend it never happen.

1 & 2 will hurt and cause more unrest which NK doesn't need more of at this point. And while China will make up the difference, it will at least hurt China's pocket books maintaining NK.

Something similar to 1 & 2 have been tried before. They are not very effective. If all the reports are true, then the north is going to collapse if China stops to provide aid. So it just depends on how far the Chinese government want to go. As for 3, if the South has the gut to do it, they had already done it after their ship sunk.