North Korea Watch 2017

Posting an image at ATS is too cumbersome, so I'll refer you to the photo at the top of this New York Times article...


www.nytimes.com...

What do you think, ATS? NK Nuke? Or the Times Square globe? Or Disco Ball?

originally posted by: carewemust
Posting an image at ATS is too cumbersome, so I'll refer you to the photo at the top of this New York Times article...


www.nytimes.com...

What do you think, ATS? NK Nuke? Or the Times Square globe? Or Disco Ball?

Here


Disco ball!

A US submarine is set to join the USS Carl Vinson in drills near the Korean Peninsula, South Korean military officials said Monday.

"The nuclear-powered submarine USS Michigan will enter the waters off the peninsula soon or later to jointly conduct drills with the USS Carl Vinson," a military official told Yonhap News Agency.

The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson is expected to arrive in the East Sea later in the week amid growing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.

As the US has directed the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and submarine at the same time for joint drills near South Korea, it is interpreted as a stern warning against any provocations by the North.

USS submarine set to join USS Carl Vinson in drills near Korea

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump, in phone talks Monday morning, agreed to strongly demand North Korea exercise self-restraint amid increasing tensions over its nuclear and missile development.

“Japan will continue to cooperate closely with the United States and stay on high alert,” Abe told reporters after the talks with Trump.

“Japan will respond resolutely” when necessary, Abe added.

In the phone talks, which lasted about 30 minutes, Abe told Trump that he highly appreciates the president for showing North Korea, both through words and actions, that all options are on the table.

North Korea is widely feared to be planning further provocations, such as ballistic missile launches and a sixth nuclear test, to coincide with the 85th anniversary of the founding of its Korean People’s Army on Tuesday.

Abe, Trump agree to demand North restraint

a reply to: kamatty


I could see Kim being proud of finding an authentic disco ball and showing it off like that, LOL.

a reply to: BlueAjah

And CHINA is asking the United States to show "restraint" towards North Korea.


""BEIJING — China’s president, Xi Jinping, has urged President Trump to show restraint toward North Korea despite signs that the North may be preparing a nuclear test. Mr. Xi made the appeal in a phone call with Mr. Trump on Monday that reflected growing alarm over North Korea’s plans, which could tip the region into crisis.""

Source: www.nytimes.com...

So..I wonder who will not understand what "restraint" means. Probably Kim Jong. Right?

In America, where would you find Bomb Shelters and Air Purifiers to keep you alive during/after a nuclear attack?

In Japan, there is a relative "run" on these 2 items right now..

www.rt.com...

It's now 12:48pm on Tuesday April 25th in North Korea. Celebrations of the "85th anniversary of the Korean People's Army" are well underway.

Will this military holiday culminate with the BOOM of a failed rocket launch, or the BOOM of a successful Nuke test, or something much worse?

Or..HOPEFULLY no provocative actions at all. Kim Jong hasn't threatened any nation in 24 hours...which is a good sign...maybe.

a reply to: carewemust


None of this smells right, the economy is an absolute farce propped up by the trading desk of the Fed. So now we have a convenient NK in the sights of the vast American military machine. They backed off Syria, because Russia might have been to much of a mouthful. Now its NK, who haven't actually broke any laws, except for Lil Kim blowing his mouth off'. For all of the seven campaigns currently conducted by U.S forces not one single declaration of war. But who knows , it sounds like a meeting of the senators might be a prelude to an actual declaration.

I was working on a thread just like this one but will instead post my compiled list of useful links here. Some of this material is compiled from other North Korea related threads. Normally i don't just copy paste but in this case i've added so much to other threads that I'm going to pull from all of those to build this up. Thank you, OP. Members please take the time to read through these as the information can shed light on just how serious a military campaign would be with the DPRK. I feel like I'm beating a dead horse here but it really can't be said enough.

originally posted by: AnonyMason

Two of the most respected experts on North Korea, one of them retired CIA, Senior Advisor to the Director of National Intelligence and the Director of the National Counterproliferation Center and the Intelligence Community Mission Manager for North Korea, Joseph DeTrani; the other, Col David S Maxwell (ret) ( who also happens to be the former G3 and Chief of Staff of USASOC and Chief of Staff, SOCKOR) *SNIPPED BY ANONY*. Just because the DPRK doesn't have missiles tipped with warheads doesn't mean that they can't deliver a nuclear weapon through other means.

US Intelligence estimates suggest that North Korea has several tens (as in multiples of ten) fully capable and usable nuclear weapons. So where you get off saying that they don't have that capability is beyond me. They are the ninth nuclear power in the world, not some crap hole country in the middle east. They also have a formidable conventional army and a small airforce and a reserve force of over 6 million troops, trained and ready to be armed for battle. Add to that the fact that they have a highly skilled cyber-warfare division, small, but effective and you're talking about a nuclear capable, asynchronous fighting force ready to kill Americans, South Koreans, and Japanese. Nuclear Threat Initiative

More:

originally posted by: AnonyMason
Start at 21:40 and watch for 5 minutes. Pay attention.

originally posted by: AnonyMason

South Korea and Japan are obviously under the most immediate threat. The sources I've provided are reliable and clearly state that within 90 minutes the DPRK could cause hundreds of thousands of casualties in Seoul and cause significant damage to the city.

As for the missiles the question is not the missile technology, but the ability to attach a nuclear payload to one. The NK-08/Nk-14 variants could reach out and touch Chicago, and it's larger cousin the Taepodong-2 (an operational and tested ICBM platform) can reach anywhere in the US. For however psychotic and irrational he may be as a leader, Kim is not stupid. CSIS Missile Defense Project

95% of the people here are painfully unaware of just how far along and how serious an adversary the DPRK would be for the United States. The math is clear. We would eventually topple them to the ground if it came to a military campaign. The problem is that South Korea and our forces there would suffer massive, massive casualties to the tune of hundreds of thousands both civilian and military. Furthermore if Kim Jong-Un was feeling backed into a corner he might push the button and use the nuclear WMD's that they do have numbering in the multiple tens. Ten or twenty nukes going off around South Korea and Japan would be disastrous, totally altering the course of the planets future and potentially triggering an even more dire situation should the US decide to respond in kind.

There's no fear mongering about it. Nuclear weapons have always been the absolute scariest thing ever created. MAD is still a real thing, even though the Cold War era fear mongering propaganda is not.

Even more information is readily available regarding the Mutual Defense Agreement between North Korea and China There are some dynamic exchanges happening between the US, and China recently. EG This LA Times article does a good job of illustrating just how much leverage Beijing has when negotiating tought sanctions on the DPRK. Also Stratfor, a private group contracted for intelligence gathering and analysis has this to say: North Korea Assessment

In summary, any thoughts of this being an easy campaign for the US to steam roll through North Korea with minimal casualties should be dismissed right away. The DPRK poses a monstrous threat to the US troops stationed in Seoul and the civilians currently residing there. Weather an attack comes as a first strike from the North into South Korea or weather the attack comes first from the US and a response from the North hits Seoul it can not be understated... There will be a massive loss of life in South Korea no matter how it unfolds. Calmer heads are trying to encourage a diplomatic solution and this point can't be stressed upon enough. The military option should be the absolute last resort when it comes to North Korea.

A brief note to patient mods regarding my cross threading: these North Korea threads are all essentially talking about the same thing. This will be my last post with cross threaded quotes from my own replies. Typing out so much repetition longhand just seems pointless and I appreciate your understanding with me doing so regarding North Korean topics.

The USS Michigan (Ohio class guided missile submarine) has arrived in South Korea. Link

North Korea has initiated a huge live fire artillery drill to date: Baangladesh News Link: Reports of North Korea artillery drill as US submarine makes South Korea port call

More sources reporting, now. the feeds will be lighting up for the rest of the day... The CCP has also issued Pyongyang a warning against testing any nukes today as part of the festivities.

a reply to: AnonyMason

I wonder what kind of "warning". A "next time we will not be happy" warning... Or a "Now you've done it, get ready for war" sort of warning.

As this goes on, I am more and more convinced that I have no idea what is actually going on. As soon as it looks like all Hell might break lose, the next day is sunshine and rainbows. Last night? That never really happened.

I give up. Really. This all seems like rhetorical BS, nothing ever actually happens.

a reply to: Wookiep

An artillery drill is one thing. It's 2:00PM local time in Pyongyang. If they decide to test a nuke today you can guarantee there will be a military response and potentially the beginning of a much larger war.

If they don't test a nuke today... then we're good for one more day. Unfortunately, now it's just a matter of time. With all this posturing from the White House and what seems to be a complete disregard for the lives in Seoul (US officials have not spoken with South Korea once about a tactical plan for North Korea) you can expect a war is going to happen either way. From this point forward I don't see either side trying very hard with a diplomatic approach...

This is going to severely strain our relations with China. The long term outcome of a war with North Korea is going to hurt every one.

originally posted by: Wookiep
a reply to: AnonyMason

I wonder what kind of "warning". A "next time we will not be happy" warning... Or a "Now you've done it, get ready for war" sort of warning.

As this goes on, I am more and more convinced that I have no idea what is actually going on. As soon as it looks like all Hell might break lose, the next day is sunshine and rainbows. Last night? That never really happened.

I give up. Really. This all seems like rhetorical BS, nothing ever actually happens.

Dont just look at the news and accept it as truth. Everyones been played.

a reply to: AnonyMason
I found this video which was uploaded today claiming to be this very same North Korean live fire, exercise. Could it be an older one though?? I can't know for sure right now.

originally posted by: worldstarcountry
a reply to: worldstarcountry

a reply to: worldstarcountry

I think this is a much older video. If I'm not mistaken that's Kim Jong-Il with the fuzzy black hat on standing through the sun roof of that sedan. Probably some older stock footage of a firing exercise that was recycled because of the news about the live fire display today.

leave korea alone. kim jong un is trolling the world right now, proving to us how worried we all are by making us jump and hiss every time he twitches. and then he just laughs because we make confident speeches but act spooked every time he launches a missile. kim jong un is the scrappy doo of world military, just ignore his barking and his toys while maintaining good quality surveillance on him. just because theres no reason to be anxious doesn't mean we shouldnt stay informed.

Illuminati will use America to start a war with Korea in between May to August this year. That's what I see.

My thought is that NK testing of only artillery shows that for the moment Kim has stepped back a little bit. It allows him to save face and give the appearance to his people that he's poking the US and others in the region with this display of force. Yet it's clearly less than a test of a long range missile or even worse, a sixth nuke detonation. The latter two having stood a chance of possible retaliation by the US.

What Kim does next is unknown obviously/ But every day that neither side crosses the line at least provides some breathing room and options. Hopefully given a bit more time, China can make some headway with Kim. ( of some kind at least)

My belief is that one way or the other, it's already been decided that Kim must go and their nuke program will be ended. I'm not sure (and no one outside of a few people in gvt do) how much longer we wait before direct military action is used.

But you'll not end the nuke program and the other issues without regime change.

a reply to: AnonyMason

Nope thats certainly KJU, although it does not confirm that the exercise itself was recent. Why does it feel like I am watching and old Godzilla movie though???
This is another one uploaded today, but on an official DPRK channel.


and also, these official releases always have the narrator talking super hyped up like they are about to introduce the hottest star in Hollywood throughout the entire thing! Whats with that?

Sometimes I wonder if life in NK is not unlike the society in the book and movie The Giver. Everyone has a specific role to fulfill at specific age, and then are assigned a career for life. And there is no color, they all see in gray scale. WOW, that sucks!