North Korea Mega Thread

[Kingpoleon]

Trump: "Only one thing will work!"

You won't believe how Trump can solve the North Korea problem with this One Simple Trick!

Your link isn't working, no matter how much I click on it.

[Beet]

Trump: "Only one thing will work!"

Hopefully he's referring to more tweeting and  not the bomb.

He's only referring to one thing. It will result in:

- The first direct attack on a nuclear armed state in human history
- The first use of hydrogen weapons in human history
- The first use of atomic weapons in 73 years
- Mass deaths beyond anything imaginable

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://mobile.twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/917341511754436609?p=v

You have to give President Moron credit. He says policy hasn't worked on North Korea, and he certainly hasn't repeated previous administrations by having one.

[Cory]

NK was able to hack 235 GB of SK/US OPLANs including 5015 and 3100. This is a huge deal and a disaster. All of our plans will have to be re-written.

http://www.newsweek.com/north-korea-cyber-army-hacked-us-south-korea-plans-decapitate-kim-jong-un-681414

God Dammit.

[KingSweden]

NK was able to hack 235 GB of SK/US OPLANs including 5015 and 3100. This is a huge deal and a disaster. All of our plans will have to be re-written.

http://www.newsweek.com/north-korea-cyber-army-hacked-us-south-korea-plans-decapitate-kim-jong-un-681414

God Dammit.

Looks like they also got OPLAN 5027 https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/north-korean-hackers-stole-us-and-south-korean-wartime-plans-seoul-lawmaker-says/2017/10/10/036fb82c-adc6-11e7-99c6-46bdf7f6f8ba_story.html?utm_term=.9c4727b66f00

Background here http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/05/01/why-5027-is-a-number-you-should-know-how-war-in-korea-might-unfold/

We most likely won't put hundreds of thousands of troops in NK but should the OPLAN contain relevant material (highly likely) to air and naval movements, etc. it would need to be drastically rewritten.

This is a huge "oh sh*t" moment for planners.

This is probably what that Mattis/Kelly meeting was about

Also our security services (DoD included) seriously need to get their cyber sh*t together. This is ridiculous

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Objectively, the theft of the ops plans could be a good thing. It gives the sane military and civilian officials an excellent reason tell President Moron he can't attack North Korea for the immediate future. Hopefully new plans won't be finished until he's out of office.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Clearly we need to go back to War Plans Red and Gold and end the last remnants of European colonialism in the Americas.

[Deblano]

NK was able to hack 235 GB of SK/US OPLANs including 5015 and 3100. This is a huge deal and a disaster. All of our plans will have to be re-written.

http://www.newsweek.com/north-korea-cyber-army-hacked-us-south-korea-plans-decapitate-kim-jong-un-681414

Son of a *****

[GlobeSoc]

Guam!

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Trump should consult with the President of Guam immediately.

[BudgieForce]

NK threatens Guam again https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/10/13/world/asia/north-korea-renews-guam-threat-ahead-of-joint-naval-exercise.html

“We have already warned several times that we will take counteractions for self-defense, including a salvo of missiles into waters near the U.S. territory of Guam,” Mr. Kim, the North Korean researcher, told the North’s official Korean Central News Agency on Friday. “The U.S. military action hardens our determination that the U.S. should be tamed with fire and lets us take our hand closer to the ‘trigger’ for taking the toughest countermeasure.”

It's just funny to me. It's like a mouse sending a warning to a cat.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Tillerson: "Diplomacy will continue 'until the first bomb drops'" http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/15/politics/rex-tillerson-north-korea-cnntv/index.html

Heartening and disheartening all in one sentence. It is telling that he wants to continue diplomatic efforts but the "until the first bomb drops" bit gave it away that he is being drug into a hawkish option.

This could just mean that we'll continue diplomatic efforts unless/until NK starts a shooting war.  But it could also be construed as saying that we'll continue talking, but unless you give in to our demands (e.g. denuclearization) we're going to bomb.  As others have pointed out, NK is never going to agree to that, so this doesn't provide much incentive for them to negotiate.

Ambiguity in diplomacy is not a good thing.

[Person Man]

It feels kind of a  Freudian slip to me. As if he is resigned to that fact.

[Shilly]

Launch failed on Sunday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAes_gC1H3g

That clip is from April.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Rumors of a launch and/or above ground nuke test for possibly the 18th.

NK rejects diplomacy with the US: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkKZZ3ckbwo

I mean, let's look at the third-world dictatorships widely condemned for their WMD programs.  Gaddafi and Saddam ended their WMD programs and were overthrown due to U.S./western military action.  Iran negotiated with us, kept their end of the deal, and we broke a treaty we'd made with them less than a year ago for literally no reason.  In other words, we proved that America can no longer be trusted to honor it's treaty obligations even if the other country does everything it agreed to do.  Now let's look at Assad who not only refused to abandon his WMD program, but gassed his own people after the U.S. basically threatened him with military action if he did so.  Assad is still going strong and now has a superpower (Russia) backing him while the U.S. has simply washed its hands of the whole conflict. 

If you're a rational actor in Kim Jong-Un's position, the logical thing for you to do is to refuse to even negotiate about your WMD program and bet that you can either keep the game of chicken going until Trump loses in 2020 or simply scare Americans badly enough with your saber-rattling that war of any sort with North Korea is politically unfeasible for Trump's administration.  Honestly, I think Kim Jong-Un is far more of a rational actor than Trump.  Kelly, Mattis, etc are rational actors, but Trump clearly isn't.

[Beet]

My guess is that 1) the Russians are feeding the North Koreans missile technology, including the ability to hit the U.S., as well as giving them hacking assistance, and 2) Trump (who the Russians put into office) wants to start a war to lift his sagging approval ratings. The end result will be great for Russia: Heavy, potentially nuclear catastrophe for the U.S. and two major U.S. allies, and possible war between the U.S. and China, while it itself sits pretty and perhaps has a chance to grab more of Ukraine / Belarus while the U.S. is distracted.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

My guess is that 1) the Russians are feeding the North Koreans missile technology, including the ability to hit the U.S., as well as giving them hacking assistance, and 2) Trump (who the Russians put into office) wants to start a war to lift his sagging approval ratings. The end result will be great for Russia: Heavy, potentially nuclear catastrophe for the U.S. and two major U.S. allies, and possible war between the U.S. and China, while it itself sits pretty and perhaps has a chance to grab more of Ukraine / Belarus while the U.S. is distracted.

There's a good chance that Russia is helping North Korea, but I doubt that they actually want war.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

My guess is that 1) the Russians are feeding the North Koreans missile technology, including the ability to hit the U.S., as well as giving them hacking assistance, and 2) Trump (who the Russians put into office) wants to start a war to lift his sagging approval ratings. The end result will be great for Russia: Heavy, potentially nuclear catastrophe for the U.S. and two major U.S. allies, and possible war between the U.S. and China, while it itself sits pretty and perhaps has a chance to grab more of Ukraine / Belarus while the U.S. is distracted.

There's a good chance that Russia is helping North Korea, but I doubt that they actually want war.

True, but it wouldn't be the first time Russia's helped a country into starting a war the Russians didn't want.  Serbia 1914 and North Korea 1950 both come to mind. (Not that Serbia wanted war in 1914 either.)

[GoTfan]

Wait a sec, isn't the 18th during the Chinese Communist Party Congress?

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Rumors of a launch and/or above ground nuke test for possibly the 18th.

NK rejects diplomacy with the US: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkKZZ3ckbwo

It's hard to blame them for that. I'm reminded of some poet's definition of diplomacy: the art of saying 'nice doggy' until you can find a big rock. Sums up our diplomacy in a nutshell.

[adrac]

Wait a sec, isn't the 18th during the Chinese Communist Party Congress?

Yep, that's what's thought to be going on.

[GoTfan]

Wait a sec, isn't the 18th during the Chinese Communist Party Congress?

Yep, that's what's thought to be going on.

Xi won't be happy about that.

[GoTfan]

Wait a sec, isn't the 18th during the Chinese Communist Party Congress?

Yep, that's what's thought to be going on.

Xi won't be happy about that.

"During a 2014 meeting with North Korean officials, Kim Jong Un called Xi a "son of a b----" and the Chinese "sons of b------," Ri said, adding that there is fear China will "betray" North Korea."

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/17/north-koreas-economy-may-not-survive-another-year-defector-says.html

Loving the fact that Kim now hates the Chinese too, thereby aiding in our effort to contain him. He is going the way of Hitler now, enemies on all sides, lashing out at everyone - not a good outcome for him.

Xi's actually been fairly critical of North Korea too, hasn't he?"

[GeorgiaModerate]

Sanctions don't do much to stop this cash flow:

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[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

More threats of dire doom from NK in response to military drills by the US and SK.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/10/19/north-korea-threatens-unimaginable-strike-united-states/779097001/