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N Korea says it is preparing satellite launch

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As, for the most part, logical people we believe that despite KJI's policies and blatent disreguard for his people he is a logical person and has some sembelance of sanity. This is false. And the only thing worse than a crazy man is a stupid man, Kim just happens to be both. The tension in the area will boil over in the next decade or so, I believe it will be a race between china and the combined forces of SK and the U.S on who takes control of the territory. The situation cannot remain stable whether it be civil unreast or an act of aggression by the rapidly decaying mental state of NK's glorious leader something will snap.

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Pathological Obsession!! haha. maybe he's N. Korean really.

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Best to shoot the thing down as soon as it is launched and deny NK the data they need for further development. The UN has said "no ballistic missile launches" so enforce it.

I don't buy the "communications satellite" ruse for a second. Who in NK has a phone besides the dear little pipsqueak and the commissars? Ever look at a night photo of the Korean peninsula? You can tell where the border is by where the lights go out!

I pity the poor people who have to live under such a regime. China should do us all a favor and take NK over. Put the pipsqueak in confinement and feed him all the luxuries he wants until he's gone. End of problem.

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Lee is the first SKorean leader to call the silly South-North "you threaten I give" relationship that has been in place for the last decade. Bothing of any good has come out of the sunshine policy other than the North simply expecting more from the South. Oh and shooting unarmed tourists. Appeasers and NK butt kissers continue to keep the blackmailing Kim regime going.

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Smith, it's becoming evident that you have a near pathological obsession with George Bush.

You're young. It's not too late to pull back an right yourself.

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Chris: "I wish they could unify and be like S Korea."

Don't we all. Sadly, they are probably the furthest from unifying that they've been in a long while, thanks to Lee, in large part. The closest they ever were in the past while was with the Sunshine Policy. In the end much of the policy failed, but they were quite close to getting back together at times, it seemed. They marched together at the Olympics under a unified flag, held serious talks, etc. Then it all came crashing down quickly with the hard-line introduced in large part by a man whose name I'll try not to mention, and followed quickly with the Japanese media and the government kow-towing to it, etc. Lee has exacerbated that.

Let's hope things don't get out of control, but as I said they seem a whole lot farther from unifying with SKorea than they did even a couple of years ago.

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I think we should all ignore North Korea and their silly threats and what not. They are obviously all off their trolley, and treat their own people in a beastly manner. I wish they could unify and be like S Korea.

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I feel sorry for the people there and what their lives must be like. Living under a man like KJI must be absolutely brutal.

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gaijinocchio: They're not going to launch an armed missile, my friend. This is just a display of arrogance, and a threat. If the threat doesn't work and they prepare to launch again, THAT is when you have to seriously measure going in and 'taking them out' (still don't think it would happen without wiping out SKorea and parts of Japan).

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Gaijinocchio,

It is believed that NK has brainwashed millions of it's citizens, since birth, to fight and die for the state.

If this is true, then the government cannot simply be removed. It would be a holocaust. No reasonable people want that. I don't.

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Starving your own people, but finding money for missiles. Kim Jong Il just won't grow up.

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according to the news, in the past, NK has said they were going to launch a satellite but was a tapadongdong.... I hope that isn't the case this time. If they throw one on Tokyo, I'm gonna be pissed.

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smithinjapan: Perhaps hasty in my previous comment, but the alternative is loss of (world-wide) security until NK is able to fire a missle anywhere, able to master the tech of putting a nuclear warhead on a missile, makes a calculated error and hits/irradiates someplace important.

Fear and cater a belligerent nation that ignores treaties and proven to be untrustworthy as it advances military prowess, or engage in very risky actions to suppress it before discovering how to miniaturize a nuclear warhead on a missile? Never simple

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"South Korea, Japan and the United States have warned Pyongyang not to fire a missile, saying the move would trigger international sanctions and jeopardize Washington’s willingness to improve relations with the communist nation."

Yep... because clearly that approach has done SO MUCH to improve relations! Everyone's got to go back to the table and drop the bombast and open up a little. Otherwise NK will clearly 'launch a satellite', Japan will panic and freak out, and the US will either have to take a harder line as the promise to do or kow-tow AFTER the fact, which won't be very face-saving. What's more, should they choose to continue the hardline, the regime, if it were to collapse, would probably want to take some down with them.

Gaijinocchio: "Normally I wouldn't say this about any country, but why not just take down NK instead of appeasing them? Parasitic and uncooperative, seeking only to undo the peace everyone's working so hard to maintain. NK can and will continue testing missiles as long as it receives attention."

It's not so simple, unfortunately, and this is one of the big things that messed up GWB with his 'cowboy politics'. By labelling NK and Iran as part of the Axis of Evil and then going in guns-a-blazin' to liberate Iraq, he set up the stage for self-criticism for not 'liberating' the other two... you know... since he said the only reason was to rid the world of an evil dictator (after the other lies didn't pan out). Also unfortunate is that NK has nukes already, and 'taking them out' would result in the loss of a few major cities in Asia, most notably Seoul, and probably Tokyo.

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The only logical trajectory for a satellite launch from anywhere in NKorea goes right over Japan and heads for the west coast of the U.S. So if you want to test a missle and see if it will hit Japan or the U.S. you just say "satellite launch".

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Normally I wouldn't say this about any country, but why not just take down NK instead of appeasing them? Parasitic and uncooperative, seeking only to undo the peace everyone's working so hard to maintain. NK can and will continue testing missiles as long as it receives attention.

They're not helping anyone, have lied about things such as the topic of this article, have no true allies to speak of, and surrounded by peace-seeking countries not interested in launching missiles and very concerned about their own safety. I guarantee Asia will be a better place once NK has been put down, preferably by a joint effort of all Eastern and Western countries.

It's only a matter of time before NK lies again or makes an error and destroys something important.

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WEll done DPRK, that should stop the US bully boys from invading you and destroying your nation like they did with Iraq. N Korea is only interested in keeping the regime intact and self defence. Let them test missiles, i mean Israel does and how many other countries have N Korea invaded in the last 40 years?

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With any luck the dear leader will be aboard.

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I hope there is a lot of thought going into what North Korea is contemplating. < :-)

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Good luck, all the success !

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