Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Fredbob]

What will you do if the US or Japan takes down that pesky little "satellite" ? I never thought it would get this far, but it really seems like NK has painted itself into a corner by misreading the situation. The US, SK and Japan seem pretty unified that there will be no concessions made in an attempt to allow NK a profitable alternative to launching, rather they seem to be upping the ante. It doesn't seem like anyone will shoot it while it's on the launch pad, but I have visions of 20 different interceptor missles being launched at the same time from 20 different places, that seems like a bad thing.

So, what will you do? I'm seriously considering packing the family up and heading back to the US. Am I just getting jittery?

I consider this general discussion because it involves a very serious aspect of living here.

[Straphanger]

[martinida]

The U.S. (apparently) has 5 400 nuclear warheads, with global reach. They get the job done - ask Japan.
North Korea (may) have a handful of cobbled-together-in-a-Pyeongyang-back-street nuclear weapons with a missile delivery system so powerful and terrifying that they usually crash pointlessly into the East sea.
Bush and Cheney could have their finger on the button of 5 400, but Kim Jong-il can't have a couple?
C'mon, play fair...

[martinida]

So, no.
I'm not terrified by the attention-seeking of the poor-ass North Korea regime. The paranoid geeks just need a hug...

[Fredbob]

Had a baby 2 months ago and I've been working 2 jobs, so I haven't been around anywhere much .

It's not a matter of who would win, it's a matter of the various kinds of fallout which could occur, nuclear, economic, political....., the military aspect has been talked almost to death around here, talk is one thing, when missles start flying and those air raid sirens aren't just an annoyance, that's a reality I'm not sure I want to be around for.

I have a love/hate relationship with Korea, my being here isn't going to help or hurt the situation, so I'm thinking about just jetting, why take the risk? The money here is not that good, even for F2's

[ChinaBoy]

Hey, let's all see how many threads the OP can start about something that's already been talked about

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I'm well out of range of the chemical and biological weapons threat, so unless I'm visiting Seoul or Incheon I won't be worried. It might turn out to be a very exciting time to be in Korea. Most foreigners will likely flee, so even though the won might be near worthless outside the country any experienced FTs left should have their pick of jobs.

[harlowethrombey]

We're all assuming the NK could even hit what they shot at. Lobbing a missle into the East Sea is one thing, but they've proven in the past they're not exactly the brightest bulbs on the tree.

Ensign Kim tried to take out Seoul, but accidentally launches into Eastern China.


And that's besides the fact that most of the soldiers in their army barely even have clothes that fit, let alone working equipment, gas for their tanks, ammunition, the list goes on.

Even if, worst case scenario, the North actually launches a nuke. . . they wont. It would be akin to commiting suicide. No matter how crazy they may seem, they love being in power so they're not going to do something that will result in their own inevitable destruction.

I am profoundly not worried.

[nosmallplans]

Other.

I'd totally stick around and see what happens.

[oldtactics]

Not worried at all. My only concern with the whole situation is that I'm supposed to be going on an overnight trip to the DMZ at the end of April and I'm just crossing my fingers that they'll let us in.

[MrRogers]

fredbob wrote:

[Straphanger]

[MrRogers]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/world/asia/26korea.html?_r=1&hp


March 26, 2009
N. Korea Moves Missile to Launch Pad

By CHOE SANG-HUN

SEOUL, South Korea � North Korea has placed a long-range missile on a launch pad before a test that the United States, Japan and South Korea said would violate a United Nations Security Council resolution, a news report said Thursday.

Spy satellites detected what looked to be a Taepodong-2 missile in place Tuesday at the Musudan-ri launch site near North Korea�s northeastern coast, said Chosun Ilbo, South Korea�s leading daily, quoting an unidentified diplomatic source.

Once the rocket is installed on the pad, missile experts said, the North Koreans can technically launch it within three or four days � the time needed for the fueling of a three-stage rocket.

North Korea has said it would launch a rocket over Japan and the Pacific between April 4 and 8 to deliver an experimental communications satellite into orbit. But Washington, Tokyo and Seoul have said the launch is a cover for testing its Taepodong-2 ballistic missile. Both missions � the satellite and the ballistic missile � use the same rocket technology.

If North Korea successfully launches its rocket, it would demonstrate that the North has the technological skills to send up a missile that could travel as far as the western United States. Washington and its allies also consider North Korea�s missile program an additional threat because the North has sold missile technology to the Middle East and is developing nuclear weapons that could potentially be loaded on its missiles.

After North Korea detonated its first nuclear device in 2006, the Security Council adopted a resolution banning North Korea from further nuclear and missile tests.

Washington warned that it would seek punishment at the Security Council � probably more sanctions on the already isolated country � if it goes ahead with the planned launch. And Japan has vowed to press for new sanctions if the rocket is tested.

But North Korea warned this week that further sanctions would cause it to quit the so-called six-party talks. The United States, South Korea, Japan, China and Russia have been trying for years to persuade North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons programs in return for economic aid.

The North�s defiance is the first major test for President Obama in dealing with Pyongyang.

�We intend to raise this violation of the Security Council resolution, if it goes forward, in the U.N.,� U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday. �This provocative action in violation of the U.N. mandate will not go unnoticed, and there will be consequences.�

South Korea fears that a launch would raise military tensions, discouraging foreign investors away from South Korea amid a global recession. Seoul also favors punishing North Korea for a rocket launching.

Won Tae-je, spokesman for the South Korean Defense Ministry, declined to confirm the news report but said a launching would be �a serious challenge and provocation against the security on the Korean Peninsula and regional stability in Northeast Asia.�

A successful launch in the first week of April would give a timely boost to the domestic reputation of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il. The country�s parliament is scheduled to convene April 9 to re-elect him as leader.

Mr. Kim, 67, was reported to have suffered a stroke last August. His declining heath has raised questions about his grip on power and the future of his regime, where no clear successor has emerged.

Some U.S. officials, including Adm. Timothy Keating, the head of U.S. Pacific Command, have said the United States has a capability to knock down any North Korean missile heading for U.S. territory.

But such an intercept is highly unlikely, according to experts in Seoul, because Washington is trying to win the release of two television journalists North Korea recently detained. The North has charged them with illegally crossing the Chinese-North Korean border.

[nicam]

North Korea aint gonna do s*#@!