north korea

[compo]

well the north koreans have tested annother nuke. what can the rest of the world do to controll these powers like north korea and iran?. scarry thought that some of those people could start something terible.

[joxville]

There's sod all we can do to stop them....and who are we to say they can't have them anyway? Though I doubt any country which has them will be mad enough to use them.

[JAWS]

You obviously have more faith in humanity than I have, Joxville.

[bekisman]

At least the Russians: "Test is serious blow to non-proliferation efforts" and China: "Resolutely opposed to latest test" are 'on side' this time., but as has been mentioned there's not much can be done unless they start flinging the things over borders into Japan or S. Korea, then they will get a reaction from the Chinese/Russians/Americans. MAD? yep..
Like Iran with it's fledgling nukes, IF they want kudos from rest of their indigenous neighbours they might try flinging one on to Israel, BUT (thumbnail): http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/israel/nuke/ (http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/israel/nuke/) Israeli's; (re Nazis) "that we shall never again be led as lambs to the slaughter." In 1974, estimated that Israel had between ten and twenty nuclear weapons, is thought to have produced sufficient fissile material to build 100 to 200 warheads by the mid-1990s. By the late 1990s the U.S. Intelligence Community estimated that Israel possessed between 75-130 weapons. Some published estimates even claimed that Israel might have as many as 400 nuclear weapons by the late 1990s.. MAD again (hopefully)..

[JAWS]

The situation with N Korea in some respects is like Loony Tunes if it were not so serious.
I saw a programme a couple of years ago about, amongst other things, the situation at the border with S Korea.

It seems the N Koreans at the Border refuse to take any phonecalls from the S Koreans at the Border. There are occasions when the odd dead body from the North floats across the border into South Korea. When it is recovered the S Koreans try to advise the N Koreans so the body can be repatriated.
Because of the situation the only way they can communicate is literally by Megaphone Diplomacy. First you get a loudspeaker system, then you turn it to full volume after which you bellow your information across the border to the N Koreans who would, it seems, suffer from terminal deafness. There was not a flicker of a response to indicate the N Korean officer had heard a thing.

If I remember correctly the North and the South are meant to meet every so often to discuss what must be the longest ceasefire in the world, now in excess of 50 years. The room created for that has two locked doors, one for the S Korean side and one for the North.
At the appointed time the South religiously unlock their door, enter and wait patiently for the North. The North with steadfast determination fail to appear and leave them waiting there. This, it appears, has been going on for decades.
I do understand, however, that occasionally the odd polite notes containing information is left or one appears.

As I said, if it wasn’t so serious it could be turned into a first class comedy film.

[Gene Hunt]

The situation with N Korea in some respects is like Loony Tunes if it were not so serious.
I saw a programme a couple of years ago about, amongst other things, the situation at the border with S Korea.

It seems the N Koreans at the Border refuse to take any phonecalls from the S Koreans at the Border. There are occasions when the odd dead body from the North floats across the border into South Korea. When it is recovered the S Koreans try to advise the N Koreans so the body can be repatriated.
Because of the situation the only way they can communicate is literally by Megaphone Diplomacy. First you get a loudspeaker system, then you turn it to full volume after which you bellow your information across the border to the N Koreans who would, it seems, suffer from terminal deafness. There was not a flicker of a response to indicate the N Korean officer had heard a thing.

If I remember correctly the North and the South are meant to meet every so often to discuss what must be the longest ceasefire in the world, now in excess of 50 years. The room created for that has two locked doors, one for the S Korean side and one for the North.
At the appointed time the South religiously unlock their door, enter and wait patiently for the North. The North with steadfast determination fail to appear and leave them waiting there. This, it appears, has been going on for decades.
I do understand, however, that occasionally the odd polite notes containing information is left or one appears.

As I said, if it wasn’t so serious it could be turned into a first class comedy film.

Totally agree. I remember reading an article about the border posts a while back and both sides send their tallest soldiers to ensure they at least try to look down at their counterparts !!, totally crazy situation.

If they did ever want to use the Nukes there isnt a lot we could do to stop them. In case anyone hasnt noticed we havent got much of a militairy left, come September we will have just three air defence squadrons left to defend UK airspace, we cant defend ourselves properly never mind stop someone else.

Time for duck and cover ??

[hotrod4]

That kim guy is a serious loony,but at least he doesnt hide the fact he's ripping his country off, wheras our politicians do it more sneaky.
He is a serious threat to every one especially his own country,but who are we to judge? We may be more civilised but we still get involved in other countries politics when our own country is going to the dogs.
We should clean our own doorstep first.

[achingale]

There's nothing that can be done. Sanctions are in place and they've still violated resolution 1718 or whatever it was. It's a very dangerous game of attrition they're playing. It's a pity their own people can't see what damage they're doing.