Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ajosshi]

Nuclear-capable stealth bombers sent to South Korea amid Kim Jong Un's threats

Two American B-2 Spirit stealth bombers practiced an attack on the Korean Peninsula Thursday as part of a military exercise that has sparked angry threats from North Korea. In response, reports indicated that the North Korean leader ordered the country's rocket units to be on standby to attack U.S. military bases.

The U.S. military said the planes involved in the firing drill left Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri on a "long-duration, round-trip training mission."

Inert munitions were dropped on a range facility on the Jikdo islands off the western coast of South Korea before the jets returned to the continental U.S. in a single continuous flight.

B-2 Spirit bombers are capable of carrying either conventional or nuclear weapons.

In a statement, the United States Forces Korea said the mission "demonstrates the United States� ability to conduct long-range, precision strikes quickly and at will."

Dubbed "Foal Eagle," the training exercise involves about 200,000 South Korean troops and 10,000 U.S. forces and is due to continue until the end of April.

Later on Thursday, Reuters reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered the country's rocket units to be on standby to attack U.S. military bases in South Korea and the Pacific.

The U.S. mission comes at a time of raised tensions between North Korea, its neighbors and the U.S.

A propaganda video posted on the country�s Uriminzokkiri website in February showed New York City under attack from North Korean rockets � a scenario thought to be far outside the reach of the poverty-stricken nation.

The video, which was set to a version of the song "We Are the World," was widely lampooned in the U.S.

Another video posted in March showed an image of the U.S. Capitol building being hit by an explosion.

The U.S. military announced on March 15 that it was bolstering missile defenses in response to threats from the North, including a threat to conduct a "preemptive nuclear strike."

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said on March 20 that he would order military forces to attack American military installations in the Pacific and South Korea if its "enemies � make even the slightest move,� according to KCNA.

�When the drills turn into a battle, the enemies will be made to drink a bitter cup, unable to raise their heads, in the face of retaliatory blows of the strong revolutionary Paektusan army, he [Kim] said,� the same KCNA article stated in language characteristic of the state�s military-first government.

Tensions rose on the Korean Peninsula in December when the North launched a rocket test, and then again in February with the test of a nuclear bomb. The United Nations Security Council moved to impose further sanctions on the already isolated nation by a unanimous vote early in March.

On Wednesday, North Korea said it was cutting the last channel of communications with the South because war could break out at "any moment."

Reuters contributed to this report.

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/28/17498063-nuclear-capable-stealth-bombers-sent-to-south-korea-amid-kim-jong-uns-threats?lite

[rollo]

Oh when sabres rattle!!

At the same tme North Korea rolled out a major ad campaign n chna to attract tourst to north korea and the north Korean arlne annouced it is increasing flights.


But the rhetorc s gettng better. Drnk a btter cup!! so much better than sea of fre and the old stuff.

Lttle Kim got chops

[rollo]

There s more speculaton that all might not be well in the North. The accounts of some say the U.s. was gamng what to do if the regme collapsed up there.

[Steelrails]

There's a non-nuclear capable stealth bomber?

[rollo]

There have been B2's in Korea before no big deal

What i am wonderng is what s really behind the over the top rhetoric and the escalation going on in the North.

My gut tell me that this s not all about the U.S. S.K wargames.

this extreme reaction and the mobilzation just strke me as off in some way

.

[Julius]

[Steelrails]

[rollo]

I think the situation is very complex. His uncle and aunt are apparently the power behind the throne and they are supposed to be very close to Bejing. the military does not trust this greenhorn.

Kim Jung Il had planned a terrorist attack, bombing a civilian airliner before he ever took power. Lil Kim has'nt made his first kill.


China does not seem to real happy with Kim right now.

I took the mass rally and the militaration to be Kim showing dissenters that he can rally support and they better be careful.

[Steelrails]

[Neil]

The thing which makes the Kim dynasty (or whoever is controlling it) so weird is the behavor of the North Korean people....22 million or so, several decades of poverty and repression and the Kims haven't ended up like Ceaușescu or Gaddafi, not even a Tiananmen Square kind of incident.

This must be the only time in history when absolute decline hasn't been met with any resistance from the common people....even in the middle ages when most people could barely read there were still organised uprisings such as the peasants revolt.

I mean their brainwashing can't be that good. What makes North Koreans so different from the Chinese/Russians/Romanians/any country in the world who've been shat on? And it can't be just a Korean thing as the southerners weren't shy of rioting against repression in the 80s. Sure their justice system is probably brutal but no more so than people in other Stalinist states that eventually said enough is enough.

Rambling now but I am curious as to what is the Kim's secret, why have they succeded for so long in keeping power when other despots have failed? Cuba is the only modern day country that comes close and as unpleasent as life is for the average Cuban I'm sure it's something an average North Korean would envy.

[rollo]

That's a great question, neil. Many Cubans of course fled to Miami mostly and they still do. This diaspora means that many of the natural leaders that would start a revolt are gone. the same thing happened in eygpt, to an extent that is why Mubarak stayed in power so long.

I think many reasons are cultural. The group harmony and such. also in other revolts even in the middle ages there was information being disseminated by outside sources. In europe there was an intellectual class that resided outside the power of the government. The priesthood.

North korea is really really isolated. Little information comes in from outside.

Korean cultural dynamics are very complex.

the Kims have done a good job, in convincing their people that they are the saviors of Korean traditions.

Unlike East Germans or Romanians the Northerners cant see the materail and other benefits of the South.

yes Insane because I think that China is a stronger military power than South korea.

[Julius]

[bucheon bum]