N Korea can't hit America, but South Korea and Japan in range

South Korea and Japan are US allies, so if the DPRK does strike out at these 2 US allies it would me tantamount to striking at the USA, right??

Yes and the retaliation would be devastating for North Korea.

Quick, get Dennis Rodman back!

Leave Rodman in Pyongyang until they give up.

Athletes, if the N.K. has such little regard for it's own people why, do you think they would be concerned about relatives in S.K.?

North Koreans have many relative in South Korea. How on earth, they want to nuke South Korea which is sharing the blood, custom, culture and history? They may nuke Japan. South Korea is very unlikely scenario.

This did not stop the North from instigating and prosecuting a war in which many thousands of South Koreans died. Given the North Korean government's treatment of most of its own citizens, I think it's fair to say that it has little regard for the well being of anyone living north or south of the DMZ.

All I know is if NK starts attacking either SK or Japan the US would send in troops to NK. The only concern is if China would want to help NK again, especially when they're being this belligerent.

Make no mistake about it, eventually North Korea will be able to make nuclear missile strikes against others, and they will then use that capability to blackmail other countries into giving them much of what they want. Deal with it now or deal with it later.

China is not going to support their crazy neighbor.. it would be bad for business and world opinion now that they are a commercial power

But on the flip side, they won't like the idea of potential US bases directly on their border.

Unfortunately, all the peace treaties in the world will not stop extremists and or extreme states, which North Korea obviously is and has been for a long time. The chance of a real revolution towards reality for them is slim, so even though I want peace as much as you Jim, I certainly would not bank on it. If the world lets them achieve more advanced nuclear capabilities, they will regret it IMHO.

It's alarming how quickly they have ratcheted up the rhetoric and intent now they seem to be nuclear capable.

However, if North Korea kicks a full scale conflict off they will get hammered in the worst possible way. Many, many North Korean people will die, their infrastructure, which is poor anyway, will be decimated and the country will be a wreak afterwards. There will be a full blown humanitarian crisis.

But they seem intent to press forward with this madness - be it now, or later, and there seems to be a sad inevitability to NK's fate as a result. It's run by madmen - people absolutely unfit to be running a country, and if it's 'enemies' get a chance to really dispose of that regime once and for all, they might just take the opportunity.

It's a Dark Ages mentality alive and well in modern times.

Outta here

Oh really! The same US that struggled with insurgents in Iraq, the same US that will leave Afghanistan with its tail between its legs

Drawing comparisons to the guerilla style conflict of insurgent/freedom fighters in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the very conventional style army NK has - and the likely armed conflict scenario that would play out as a result, is very misguided.

NK will get it's a** handed to them. A coalition of South Korea, the US and whoever else might pitch in will devastate NK's standing armies and military infastructure. The country, which is already an impoverished basketcase, will be decimated. North Korea has lied to it's people for a loooong time, and created a completely delusional representation of what it is capable of. They will be lambs to the slaughter.

You also seem to forget that supplying and maintaining the US war machine has always been very, very good to the US economy, going right back to the Civil War days.

and the same US that couldn't defeat nth Korea in the 50s

You mean North Korea and China, right?

Oh really! The same US that struggled with insurgents in Iraq, the same US that will leave Afghanistan with its tail between its legs.

Insurgents are a whole different ball game than conventional military units and infrastructure. To use Iraq and Afghanistan as examples the military of those nations were wiped out within days or weeks. We've learned a lot from those conflicts and rest assured that from this point forward I don't think you'll see the US involved in the troublesome industry of 'nation building', they'll leave that to the South Koreans.

The same US that is broke, the same US that has been forced to cancel carrier deployments due to funding, the same US that has stopped all military participation in air shows etc.

Those are largely political ploys made to make it look like sequestration would be the end of the world. If the US went back into full fledged war mode the funding would come from an ongoing spending bill and not be subject to sequestration cuts.

and the same US that couldn't defeat nth Korea in the 50s. Sorry but that ridiculous.

I don't think you fully understand the full context of the Korean war and all the things that NK had on its side during that war that simply don't exit today. 60 years ago the NK military had weapons appropriate for a sustained war, it had the troop backing of China, and material support from the Soviet Union, none of those conditions exist today. Also, considering that, at one point, the South Koreans had been pushed back to the Pusan Perimeter only to have the boarder forced back to the current DMZ is nothing short of amazing. The fact that there is even a SK at all is a testament to how hard South Koreans will fight for their lives and country as well as how much the US is willing to expend in lives and capital to protect its allies.

If NK attacks Japan I could see the SDF, the US, and SK going in. If only SK is attacked then only the US would go to take out NK. Don't mind me, just me and my internet ramblings...

Impoverished North Korea has all but abandoned running a conventional military that can engage in sustained battle because of scare resources and has instead focused on nuclear weapons and ballistic missile technology, experts said.

The North Koreans can seize those supplies when they invade South Korea. They probably have a map showing the location of all the Shinsegae department stores. North Korean soldiers can "live off the land" by heading to the nearest FamilyMart.

scare resources

Umm, editor? What's this? Do they act all scary and say 'boo'?? I understand it's the weekend, but srsly...

I'm surprised that China backed yesterday's UN resolution for more sanctions...this might be a sign. But if NK gets desperate and lashed out in a last attempt to save itself, things could get ugly on the Korean peninsula. If they are going to go down, they might as well start unleash their 10,000 artillery shells at Seoul before they do go down.

Somebody is correct and somebody is incorrect. Either the missile can hit D.C. USA or even Alaska or not. The simplest solution is transfer all the Ospreys to Hokkaido and station a sub north east of Hokkaido in case something has a confirmed USA target. Either the USA knows where something is going or it does not. To not know would be the biggest mistake by "military intelligence."

After Rodman became a self appointed diplomat now NK has stepped up the empty threats! As for Kim Jong-un....Drones.

They need to send Roman to quell things down.

Oh really! The same US that struggled with insurgents in Iraq, the same US that will leave Afghanistan with its tail between its legs.

If you do not think the US's actions in both of these countries was devastating to them, you have not been reading the news nearly enough.

Outta hereMar. 09, 2013 - 10:29PM JST OssanAmerica, You really think so. Lol at least we can pay our military and don't have to cut back deployments, restrict movements, >and cancel training and events. You really reckon you could buy us lol think not even the exchange rates in our >favour..

Come back when your country becomes a superpower. Probably would become a Chinese province before then. .

China may block Korean unification, says US report

Beijing could assert ancient territorial claims over North Korea if Kim family falls from power, report suggests

A recent report by US Senate Republican staff members warns that China, because of its deepening economic ties with North Korea as well as its ancient claims on Korean land, could attempt to "manage, and conceivably block" an eventual unification between the two Koreas, if ever the Kim family falls from power in Pyongyang.

If China seriously tries to do that SK is going to be extremely PO'ed and China will be internationally condemned.

But would this be the first time? Aren't people still saying "Free Tibet"??

Yes, but the Koreans are hardly the same culture and society of Tibet. China really wouldn't want that kind of grudge against them from the Koreans.

North Koreans have many relative in South Korea. How on earth, they want to nuke South Korea which is sharing the blood, custom, culture and history? They may nuke Japan. South Korea is very unlikely scenario.

Me thinks, big brother, CHINA, is getting sick and tired of North Korean sassy talk, and CHINA is like the big daddy of ASIA, if one of these upstart Asian countries get a bit too sassy, like Vietnam after the war with the USA, and Vietnam went and invaded Cambodia, China went in after the Viet Cong, me thinks the Chinese can also go after Pyongyang if they do not control themselves. IMHO

First off China IS NOT getting tired of NK. The Chinese and the Russians are the biggest backers of the DPRK. Don't be so easily fooled by the smoke and mirrors of north korea playing the rouge regime that has gone wild with nuclear weapons. Last time I checked Chinese companies were manufacturing the trucks for the icbm mobile launch pads and sending them to NK. AP had pics in the last parade they had last year. The chinese and russians need the DPRK wild card. Nations are folding every other month and sovereignty isn't what it use to be with the new educated masses wanting "freedom" and greater economic prosperity. And the US and Europe giving a helping hand.

As for the US going to war with NK. That is looking unlikely. Last time the DPRK attacked the South killing marines, sailors, and civilians the US said although the situation was bad. They are not prepared to fully engage the DPRK and technically it would take about 3months to get the neccessary forces to the peninsula.

Outta hereMar. 09, 2013 - 09:11PM JST Ossanamerica, Yes and the retaliation would be devastating for North Korea. Oh really! The same US that struggled with insurgents in Iraq, the same US that will leave Afghanistan with its tail >between its legs.

We can still buy and sell Australia.

Oh l agree it was devistaring to those nations. No argument but were either a clear cut victory for the US. Iraq, it could be argued that the US was victorious. Time will tell. In Afghanistan definitely not..... Simple as that and I a third rate rebel group can stop the US what can a reasonably strong military do.

The US won both wars initially. In Afghanistan, the US had not trouble with the initial war. They have had trouble with attempting to occupy and/or change Afghanistan. That is not because they cannot do it, it is because they are trying to be careful while doing it. The US has had very few casualties compared to the Taliban and Iraqi insurgence. It is just that the tolerance of the US population for any casualties (rightly so I think) is much less than that of the insurgents. The US has absolutely no desire to invade North Korea. They would just attack them and they would be very successful at doing it as they were in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, I highly doubt there will be any insurgents in North Korea anyway. Not when you have NK cittizens willing to risk their lives just to leave NK.

I'm curious as to what NK can do as an encore now. Nuke us twice? They're kind of running out of room for their rhetoric.

And don't for a minute think that the Nth Koreans would be mad enough to get into set conventional battles with the US they would exploit the US weakness and that is guerilla warfare..

It's not so much the guerilla warfare, its the fact that the US tries to abide by international law where as the current spate against Islamic terrorists have absolutely no qualms in hiding behind children and un-armed citizenry to succeed in their methods. North Korea's conventional army would lose even in guerilla warfare unless they started using the tactics of the Islamists groups. Plus the mentality is lot different for NK because for them its not a religious ideology they're fighting for.

Forget about America sending troops into N. Korea until AFTER the radiation half-life cools down.

If, on the other hand, N. Korea tries to fight a conventional war, US troops will be deployed along with S. Korean troops.

I don't know what the Un hopes to accomplish by this nasty display of nuclear aggression. It's certainly going to have some impact with the Chinese. The last thing they need is a nuclear war on their border. But I'm really glad I'm not in SK right now. I feel sorry for all those people who have to live with this kind of ferbile threat. I hope the Un chokes on his cognac.

I don't know what the Un hopes to accomplish by this nasty display of nuclear aggression.

I wonder if he really has anything to do with this. Perhaps he does. But, perhaps the generals in NK were not pleased with his statements to Dennis Rodman about not wanting war and they have decided to stear the course back where they like it to protect themselves. Who knows with NK?

Eric, North Korea is the epitome of a bad neighbor. The regime starves its own people in order to support an unnecessary, "over the top" military and is angry at every other nation for the desperate need that they themselves have caused.

If this is not an exact example of crazy, I don't know what else is.

If China seriously tries to do that SK is going to be extremely PO'ed and China will be internationally condemned.

But would this be the first time? Aren't people still saying "Free Tibet"??

It is a safe bet that both strategic and tactical targets in North Korea are in the American's cross-hairs. It is an equally safe bet that appropriate weapons platforms are already in place to put a solid end to any serious aggression by NK.

The main question is, what does Darling Leader, or whatever he's called this week, REALLY want?

Nukes are not the problem. It's the conventional weaponry such as missiles. They have the firing range that encompasses all of Japan.

Japan can stomp on the North. It will be even easier for South Korea to do this. However, both countries have much to lose.

It's like comparing a group of homeless people with molotov cocktails and other homemade bombs vs a group of people living in mansions, a nice car, and a set of nice firearms. The North will get screwed but not after causing great financial damage and loss of life in the other two countries.

China is not going to support their crazy neighbor.. it would be bad for business and world opinion now that they are a commercial power. What is the reason also for NK to attack their own families their own blood that were refugees during the "conflict", it is not a fight they can win. You also know that there are thousands of agents smuggled to SK over the years for cyber attack. There is nothing that can be gained in land, or wealth ... just dead bodies for nothing. China must stop this or be held accountable for not stopping this freak show before it turns to horror. NK has just taken and taken and abused goodwill, kindness, humanitarian aid of its neighbors. They are like a child with a loaded gun who wants a bomb. This problem is coming to a head.. this is the time to settle this dispute before it grows into a cancer that infests the entire world.

It is untrue to imply that the US is beyond the range of North Korea to deliver a nuclear strike. The US trades freely with Asian countries, and thousands of box-car sized containers are delivered to American cities every day. What's to prevent North Korea from slipping one or more atomic bombs into one of those containers, and delivering it to any American city? What's to stop boats with nuclear bombs aboard sailing into San Francisco or New York City? The answer is not to quarantine commerce with America, nor to annihilate North Korea. The obvious solution is to negotiate a binding Peace Treaty that ends the state of war that has continued since the Armistice created the DMZ separating North and South Korea. Surely such a peaceful diplomatic resolution to this 60 year conflict is in everybody's best interests!

Slumdog,

Oh l agree it was devistaring to those nations. No argument but were either a clear cut victory for the US. Iraq, it could be argued that the US was victorious. Time will tell. In Afghanistan definitely not..... Simple as that and I a third rate rebel group can stop the US what can a reasonably strong military do. And don't for a minute think that the Nth Koreans would be mad enough to get into set conventional battles with the US they would exploit the US weakness and that is guerilla warfare..

OssanAmerica,

You really think so. Lol at least we can pay our military and don't have to cut back deployments, restrict movements, and cancel training and events. You really reckon you could buy us lol think not even the exchange rates in our favour...

Tamarama

Drawing comparisons to the guerilla style conflict of insurgent/freedom fighters in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the very conventional style army NK has - and the likely armed conflict scenario that would play out as a result, is very misguided.

Maybe you should have a closer look. Yes the Nth Korean military is largely setup as a conventional military as it was at the time of the Korean war. Much like the Iraqi military was and the nth vietnamese military was. And yes they are no match for the US however given the proximity of Seoul to the border a massive Nth Korean strike would likely decimate that city and the area. Before the US even responds. The Nth would then likely switch to a guerilla style war as they did in the Korean war after they started getting rolled back. Look at Iraq for example, their conventional army lasted days against the US but when they switched to guerilla warfare it lasted years.

NK will get it's a** handed to them. A coalition of South Korea, the US and whoever else might pitch in will devastate NK's standing armies and military infastructure. The country, which is already an impoverished basketcase, will be decimated. North Korea has lied to it's people for a loooong time, and created a completely delusional representation of what it is capable of. They will be lambs to the slaughter.

Yes they will but how many Seth Koreans and US people will also die?

You mean North Korea and China, right?

You do remember the nth Koreans almost defeated the south and the US troops stationed there prior to the Chinese entry.

Realistically the Nth cannot defeat the Sth and it's allies l agree. But how many Sth Koreans will be killed just to prove this point? And remember this the US has been fighting now for a decade it's military is tired, it's equipment getting worn out, it's budgets stretched and most importantly it's citizens tired of war. The US didn't like losing a couple of thousand lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. How will they feel loosing many more defending Korea? And will china sit back with a war on its borders. The chance of YS military bases on its borders? Really it's a no win for nth Korea but people sitting back saying the US will devastate the nth are forgetting 1 thing, all those that will die in the Sth and also the US personal and their families that will die as a result of a conflict.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/22/china-block-korean-unification-us

China may block Korean unification, says US report

Beijing could assert ancient territorial claims over North Korea if Kim family falls from power, report suggests

A recent report by US Senate Republican staff members warns that China, because of its deepening economic ties with North Korea as well as its ancient claims on Korean land, could attempt to "manage, and conceivably block" an eventual unification between the two Koreas, if ever the Kim family falls from power in Pyongyang.

Yes, but the Koreans are hardly the same culture and society of Tibet. China really wouldn't want that kind of grudge against them from the Koreans.

I really don't think that if the Chinese cared about grudges they would be doing what they are doing today in regards to land grabs and proclaiming the right to larger borders in Asia based on their view of history. And these type of "grudges" are not new for koreans. Last time I checked they already had a grudge against chinese. also japanese. So in the bigger picture differences in cultures between Tibet and Korea is not that relevant.

North Korea is being used by China as a military threat so China can sneak their way into South East Asia and occupy them.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/29/asean-china-idUSL2E8ER98X20120329

China already claims the Philippines "jokingly" as their territory

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/36057/china-tv-claims-philippines-as-chinese-territory

China already attacked and killed Vietnamese over the Spratly Islands in 1988

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8PiaBJGOvY

Chinese against North Korea? What a lie. International news outside of American media indicates just the opposite

http://en.rian.ru/world/20060118/43063587.html

http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/1/16/172426.shtml

At the end of the day, CHINA is 100% responsible for anything and everything stupid and crazy says or does, please do not be tricked by all of these dramatic episodes that come from Pyongyang!! All are first scrutinized by big brother, BEIJING!!!!

Ossanamerica,

Yes and the retaliation would be devastating for North Korea.

Oh really! The same US that struggled with insurgents in Iraq, the same US that will leave Afghanistan with its tail between its legs. The same US that is broke, the same US that has been forced to cancel carrier deployments due to funding, the same US that has stopped all military participation in air shows etc. and the same US that couldn't defeat nth Korea in the 50s. Sorry but that ridiculous.