Korean Job Discussion Forums

Steelrails · Joined: 12 Mar 2009 Location: Earth, Solar System

Lock and Load Boys- It's the ChiComs!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8351738.stm

Pluto · Joined: 19 Dec 2006

Happened just after 10:30 this morning.

matthews_world · Joined: 15 Feb 2003

I've saw on an Arirang documentary somewhere that the western waters near the coast are quite shallow and any Korean could cross with ease.

Leslie Cheswyck · Joined: 31 May 2003 Location: University of Western Chile

Go Navy!

dragon777 · Joined: 06 Dec 2007

That is the first for a while. When was the last?

On the other hand · Joined: 19 Apr 2003 Location: I walk along the avenue

itaewonguy · Joined: 25 Mar 2003

childish idiots! this could have been avoided!
the south should not have provoked an attack...

so what North Korea is across the line! the south should of been more mature about it, and waited and watched them from a distant..
NOT go full balls ahead and start shouting and screaming on the loud speaker and then firing off.. Don't believe the south Media they are not that innocent im sure..

do the south Really think that the north was trying to get onto South korean soil??? hahahahaaaha, they already have tunnels , mountain routes and a million other ways to get into the south.. they are not that stupid to try and sail a navel frigget onto shore in broad daylight..

funny how the north ship was in flames but the south was not even touched! come on now.. the north really that bad of a shot? or maybe they were taken off guard!?

Street Magic · Joined: 23 Sep 2009

Hater Depot · Joined: 29 Mar 2005

catman · Joined: 18 Jul 2004

nautilus · Joined: 26 Nov 2005 Location: Je jump, Tu jump, oui jump!

"The South Korean forces will be forced to pay dearly for the grave armed provocation perpetrated by them," the North's official news agency KCNA quoted newspapers as saying.

South Korea used 100 times more firepower than the North during the skirmish, riddling the North Korean boat with about 5,000 rounds, a defence official was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency.
http://www.france24.com/en/node/4923296

davesucksnfl · Joined: 11 Nov 2009

These type pf skirmishes aren't that uncommon around the world, just most of the time we don't hear about them. Ships are fired on fairly frequently, be it a nice little warning shot across the bow, or an actual attempt.

street magic almost certainly has it right.

Fox · Joined: 04 Mar 2009

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

I think people are missing the point here; the skirmish was not about the NLL. It was not about the South having ships and armaments decades newer than what the North has.

It was about getting NK foremost in the minds of the SK government when Obama comes to town next week. This was an entirely predictable incident given the Nork's recent behavior.

There is a very good analysis of the current situation by Lankov. Here is a bit of it:

"However, observers also agreed that while the Obama administration clearly favored negotiations and compromise in dealing with Pyongyang, North Korea would not be too high on its foreign policy agenda. The new administration had other, more pressing challenges, and one could expect that North Korea would be treated with a measure of neglect.

This might be the reason why Pyongyang strategists, usually quite good in reading (and using) the mood in Washington, decided to be proactive to make sure that North Korea would get enough attention from the White House. To achieve this, they decided to apply a well-tested strategy they had used a number of times, invariably with success.

This essentially consists of three stages. In the first stage, the North Koreans raise tensions, creating the impression they were going to do something really dangerous. They launch missiles, test nuclear devices and engage in ultra-bellicose rhetoric. Once tensions are sufficiently high, and neighboring countries feel uneasy enough, leaders in Pyongyang move to the next stage: they make a few goodwill gestures and hint at the possibility of a negotiated settlement. The world signs with relief and agrees to negotiations."

The rest of it is here and well worth your time:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/KK12Dg01.html

From a different article:
"Analysts say a provocation would make sense in the current political climate, where North Korea may see profit in escalating tension. With direct nuclear talks with the U.S. in the offing, heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula would only help the North get what it wants. Experts say North Korea may be sending Washington a message ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to South Korea on Nov. 18-19 that military tensions continue on the peninsula.

North Korea wants to hold talks with South Korea as well while warning that it is still a force to reckon with. "Through various channels, North Korea has recently been demanding humanitarian assistance and expanded economic exchanges," a government official said. "The latest provocation can be viewed as an expression of North Korea's dissatisfaction with the South and also a message that it should not be treated lightly despite its needy situation."

Grand National Party lawmaker Jin Young of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, agreed. "North Korea trespassed the Northern Limit Line 24 times last year and already 40 times this year," he said. "The latest provocation appears designed to gain the upper hand in negotiations with the U.S. and South Korea."

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2009/11/11/2009111100705.html

And then there is this:
"The cannon mounted on the Chamsuri are computer-controlled and capable of delivering accurate fire even when the boats are bobbing on choppy waters. The 40 mm cannon were made by Italian arms manufacturer Breda. The 20 mm Sea Vulcan gun is capable of firing between 2,700 and 3,300 rounds per minute on its targets. In contrast, North Korea's Shanghai class patrol boats were manufactured in the 1960s and their guns must be fired manually. That makes it difficult to focus fire on a single target while the vessels are bobbing up and down. The naval clash on Tuesday occurred amid 2 m waves and at a distance of 3.2 km. Experts say the computer-controlled armaments of the South Korean boat was probably able to sustain concentrated fire more accurately than the North Korean boat."
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2009/11/12/2009111200586.html

It looks like the 'no drama Obama' style is paying off since it is linked to a SK administration that is not bending over backwards to appease the Norks.

Summer Wine · Joined: 20 Mar 2005 Location: Next to a River

Quote:

This essentially consists of three stages. In the first stage, the North Koreans raise tensions, creating the impression they were going to do something really dangerous. They launch missiles, test nuclear devices and engage in ultra-bellicose rhetoric. Once tensions are sufficiently high, and neighboring countries feel uneasy enough, leaders in Pyongyang move to the next stage: they make a few goodwill gestures and hint at the possibility of a negotiated settlement. The world signs with relief and agrees to negotiations."

I would have to say he hit that nail quite sqarely on its head.

You have to give it to NK, they are masters at marketing. Its easy to tweak the tigers tail, when you know the elephants got your back.

Especially when the tiger seems a little long in the tooth.