Developments in North Korea

There is a lot of world attention and concern about escalating tensions over North Korea, with contradictory messages of joint resolutions contrasting with continued rhetoric and threats from the US.

The US and China reported to be trying to work together on appropriate responses and actions, but at the same time Vice President Mike Pence continues the inflammatory rhetoric, and anonymous White House leaks continue to threaten military action.

The United States, its allies and China are working together on a range of responses to North Korea’s latest attempted ballistic missile test, U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser said on Sunday, citing what he called an international consensus to act.
Pence Calls Launch a ‘Provocation’
Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday described North Korea’s failed missile test as “a provocation” that highlighted the risks plaguing both the region and the United States, as the White House said President Trump had an array of military, diplomatic and other options to respond.
White House Said to Not Shy Away From Sudden Strike on North Korea
In the wake of North Korea’s failed medium-range missile test this weekend, President Donald Trump is willing to consider ordering “kinetic” military action, including a sudden strike, to counteract North Korea’s destabilizing actions in the region, said a person familiar with the White House’s thinking.

by Pete George on April 17, 2017 • Permalink

Posted in International

Tagged China, Donald Trump, Mike Pence, missile test, North Korea, USA

Posted by Pete George on April 17, 2017

https://yournz.org/2017/04/17/developments-in-north-korea/

32 Comments

Alan Wilkinson
/ April 17, 2017

I’m not the only one who suspects the failure of the NK missile test was most likely no accident:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/16/north-korea-makes-unsuccessful-missile-launch-day-massive-show/
- Gezza
  / April 17, 2017
  
  The Failing New York Times was onto this theory like a robber’s dog in PG’s ‘failed missile test’ link above in his post, Al.
- Pete George
  / April 17, 2017
  
  It could easily have been sabotage.
  
  It could also have been a feint by North Korea to provoke the US into revealing what they might do to prevent it.
  
  Both will have learnt from the experience. If there’s a next time, whether a test or the real thing, it’s likely to be different.
  
  But why would the US sabotage a test? That’s revealing tactics before the war starts. Perhaps they are so confident they used it for PR believing they are invincible.
  - Alan Wilkinson
    / April 17, 2017
    
    If it was done by communication interference they may be confident NK already knows they have the capacity and can’t do anything about it. Don’t forget the US controls the GPS satellites as well and have the capacity to shut them down or introduce deliberate errors.
    - Alan Wilkinson
      / April 17, 2017
      
      Alternatively, if it was done by hacked software it may automatically sabotage all launces.
      - Pete George
        / April 17, 2017
        
        But they have done other launches.
        
        David
        / April 17, 2017
        
        North Korea’s missiles fail on a regular basis. It did not require the Americans to assist in the process.
- Conspiratoor
  / April 17, 2017
  
  North Korea are moving aggressively to build their own GPS infrastructure Al. To date they have launched 5 satellites and one and a half appear to be working well…
  
  The first one never reached the orbit.
  The second rocket fumbled into the pacific ocean.
  The third rocket broke down 10 minutes after launch.
  The fourth and fifth satellites are apparently in orbit but the last one seems to have his orbit unstable and appears inactive.
  - Gezza
    / April 17, 2017
    
    Citizen of Pyongyang response: You lie, US-misled person. Every one of them is a complete success. Kim Jong-Un is very smart. We have the best technology. Period. Or words to that general effect.
    - Conspiratoor
      / April 17, 2017
      
      This conjures up an amusing mental image G. Have a go
      - Gezza
        / April 17, 2017
        
        Conspiratoor
        / April 17, 2017
        
        In the sense they are both ‘master persuaders’ you have a point. Useless trivia but did you know North Korean men must cut their hair precisely in one of 27 officially approved ways – great leader excepted. Failure to do so you are required to stand in a spot marked with an X. A precisely calibrated mortar is then lobbed at that spot. If perchance you survive you are rewarded with a second opportunity to experience the same rush of adrenalin. Cheers,c
        
        Zedd
        / April 17, 2017
        
        Kim Jong T ?
      - Gezza
        / April 17, 2017
        
        The Un.
Blazer
/ April 17, 2017

meanwhile another ‘evil empire’ ….

https://www.rt.com/news/384938-iran-stealth-plane-driving/
- David
  / April 17, 2017
  
  GI Joe want”s his toy aeroplane back.
- Gezza
  / April 17, 2017
  
  Ground-attack only by the look of things. Should help with avoiding radar.
  - David
    / April 17, 2017
    
    Cunning, it avoids radar by not getting into the air. They are miles ahead of the American Infidel clearly.
    
    I imagine it has some aerial attack capacity if they parked it on a hill.
    - Gezza
      / April 17, 2017
      
      Absolutely. Small size makes it hard to hit too. Anything that could harm it is too fast for it.
      - Gezza
        / April 17, 2017
        
        And that includes a man in a wheelchair with a blowtorch.
Zedd
/ April 17, 2017

Mr T is only fooling himself.. with his rhetoric, that ‘USA is the ultimate power in the world’.
There are at least 8 nuclear armed countries now & several likely have ‘delivery systems’ that could reach USA. It would only take a couple (NY & DC) to see it on its knees !

Maybe its time to ‘step back from the brink’ & cut out their B-S that ‘MIGHT is always RIGHT’ 😦
- Zedd
  / April 17, 2017
  
  btw; there is an old saying ‘creatures (or people) are at their most dangerous, when backed into a corner’. DPRK has reportedly amongst the largest ‘standing armies’ in the world (>1million trained soldiers) hardly something to joke about or ignore.
  Mr T should show that he IS a real politician now & offer an alternative to, more threats of WAR !!
  
  It hasn’t worked in: Vietnam, Afghanistan or Iraq etc. Only caused resentment & ‘terrorism’
  - Nelly Smickers
    / April 17, 2017
    
    “(1million trained soldiers) hardly something to joke about……”
    
    Oh’ look – there’s one ❗
    
    XD
  - David
    / April 17, 2017
    
    “It hasn’t worked in: Vietnam, Afghanistan or Iraq etc. Only caused resentment & ‘terrorism’”
    
    I’m curious, just how many Vietnamese terrorists have their been?
    - Blazer
      / April 17, 2017
      
      North or South?….excluding or including insurgents,?strictly Vietnamese or terrorists in…Vietnam?
      - David
        / April 17, 2017
        
        Let’s narrow it down, any Vietnamese terrorist in the last 40 years, anywhere. Where is this terrorism that US involvement in Vietnam showing itself.
        
        Blazer
        / April 17, 2017
        
        right ..here…
        
        http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/10/07/vietnam-declares-san-jose-based-viet-tan-a-terrorist-group/
- David
  / April 17, 2017
  
  ” It would only take a couple (NY & DC) to see it on its knees !”
  
  You make it sound like that’s not in the plan. All those mid-west states that voted Trump in would be cheering the draining of the liberal swamp with thermonuclear swamp drainage devices.
Pete George
/ April 17, 2017

Cyber warfare could work either way – in could be a more even contest between militarily unequal forces.

Ted Koppel: Don’t underestimate the cyberthreat from Syria and North Korea

As the Trump administration confronts the nuclear ambitions of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and the toxic fallout from Bashar Assad’s chemical warfare against Syrian civilians, it is worth remembering that both dictators also command cyber-units. On the face of it, their impact is significantly less lethal, and they can easily be underestimated.

Neither walls nor extreme vetting are of much use against cyberwarfare. It is an enormously flexible weapon system, with a range from bothersome to devastating. It empowers the weak and exposes the vulnerabilities of superpowers. The United States, because of its extraordinary dependence on the Internet, may be the most vulnerable of all nations.

Take, for example, the cyber-tantrum that Kim allegedly inflicted on Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2014. Predictably infuriated by the company’s production of “The Interview,” a comedy predicated on the planned assassination of Kim by a pair of American TV journalists, the North Korean leader appears to have extacted his revenge by ordering the takedown of Sony Pictures’ corporate computer system.

It remained inoperable for an extended period. Budgets and executive and superstar compensation packages were made public. The hackers claimed they hadmore than 100 terabytes of Sony Pictures data and warned the company against releasing the film.

The failure of that system underscored one of the fundamental rules of cyberwarfare: A determined offense almost always defeats defense. A stratagem effectively employed against a large and cyber-conscious company could also be successfully directed against critical U.S. infrastructure.

As President Donald Trump considers his options against Syria and North Korea, his advisers would do well to remind him that cyberwarfare has a way of leveling the battlefield between a second- or even third-rate military power and the world’s undisputed military superpower.

Not as alarming as the specter of a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile armed with a nuclear warhead, nor as worrisome as chemical or biological terrorism. But easier to carry out and much more likely.

It’s certainly a possibility.
Alan Wilkinson
/ April 17, 2017

I agree it’s much more likely if only because it is less likely to trigger a devastating response from the US. It’s more likely to cause economic damage than anything else and most likely to be successful against commercial rather than government entities.
patupaiarehe
/ April 17, 2017
patupaiarehe
/ April 17, 2017