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BBC: Tremor is detected in North Korea (up: nuclear test conducted)

low-G

Member
Anyone else surprised at how fast N Korea has advanced in bomb and missile capabilities?

I mean it's 50 year old tech, but in such a small, repressed, and isolated country... anyone think they're getting fed this tech from some other power?
 

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
Anyone else surprised at how fast N Korea has advanced in bomb and missile capabilities?

I mean it's 50 year old tech, but in such a small, repressed, and isolated country... anyone think they're getting fed this tech from some other power?

Lol
 

LQX

Member
This is actually not surprising. What's surprising is the uptick in some defending every fucking thing they do to agitate their neighbors. It is actually more disturbing than what North Korea is doing. Like what does it take? Them actually bombing a city in South Korea or Japan? Ridiculous.
 
Can't we just toss Kim and Trump on an island together and let them fight....these 2 crazy mofos

I know who I'd put my money on.

trump-vince-mcmahon-through-table.gif


Can someone edit Kims face onto vince for the .GIF of the ages?
 
lol'ing because it's obvious or what?

It's more a question if they're being fed tech or synthesizing secrets and pieces they can get...

This is more like China straight up giving them stuff speed.

Pakistan had a hand in helping them kick start the program.
 
Showing footage of the aftershocks in China now.
Having experienced a few earthquakes here, I must say that it seems pretty damn strong considering the distance.
 

Kthulhu

Member
I know who I'd put my money on.

trump-vince-mcmahon-through-table.gif


Can someone edit Kims face onto vince for the .GIF of the ages?

lol

lol'ing because it's obvious or what?

It's more a question if they're being fed tech or synthesizing secrets and pieces they can get...

This is more like China straight up giving them stuff speed.

I seriously doubt it's China. NK getting a nuke on an IBCM that has a realistic chance of reaching the US mainland would probably result in a nuclear arms race in SE Asia and that's the last thing China wants.
 

low-G

Member

Kevin

Member
I honestly think it's time the US and allies bomb the hell out of North Korea's military installations. This shit is getting scary. They aren't just putting the USA at risk but the entire world at this point. This needs to be stopped once in for all!
 
lol



I seriously doubt it's China. NK getting a nuke on an IBCM that has a realistic chance of reaching the US mainland would probably result in a nuclear arms race in SE Asia and that's the last thing China wants.

Never mind the US mainland right now, it is the immediate risk of doom that people living here in Asia have right now.
 
Yeah but Iran, Pakistan, and Libya don't have the tech they're showing off.

Ukraine definitely does though. So who specifically is handing them tech, beyond their partners like Iran?

you can cross Iran off the list. they don't have the technology for an h-bomb. my money is on Russia.
 

Kthulhu

Member
Yeah but Iran, Pakistan, and Libya don't have the tech NK's showing off.

Ukraine definitely does though. So who specifically is handing them tech, beyond their partners like Iran?

xIq9rzli.jpg


Never mind the US mainland right now, it is the immediate risk of doom that people living here in Asia have right now.

NK has been capable of nuking SK and Japan for a long time now. The US's massive arsenal is what has kept them in check.

https://youtu.be/NwbYpdGpx8U

The US's allies haven't needed nukes thanks to the US. A working ICBM puts that in jeopardy.
 

brian577

Banned
you can cross Iran off the list. they don't have the technology for an h-bomb. my money is on Russia.

It's been about 15 years since their first test, do you really think they can't figure some of this out on their own? If Russia was spoon feeding them technology they'd be moving a lot faster.
 

KHarvey16

Member
Appeasement 2.0, 21st century style. Future textbooks will discuss the flaws of American (and world at large) approach to containing NK over the past 30 years, and how big of a mistake it was to enable their pursuit of nuclear weapons without any serious consequences.

Now it's a question of whether we want hundreds of thousands dead or tens of millions dead, and our electrical grid still functional. The more time that passes with Kim still in power, the higher the future inevitable death toll becomes. This guy needs to be taken out SOON

It's tens of millions now without nukes. They've had conventional, chemical and biological weapons for a long time.

Who gets to decide when it's acceptable for a city of people to die?
 

Kevin

Member
Maybe china will do something instead of noting.

China doesn't want to get involved. They are hoping that the US will attack and they can stand by and do nothing. It's all strategy. China knows the US is likely to act first and therefore they don't feel the need or desire to utilize any of their own resources and don't want to make an enemy either.
 

KHarvey16

Member
I honestly think it's time the US and allies bomb the hell out of North Korea's military installations. This shit is getting scary. They aren't just putting the USA at risk but the entire world at this point. This needs to be stopped once in for all!

What do you think the consequences of that would be?
 
China doesn't want to get involved. They are hoping that the US will attack and they can stand by and do nothing. It's all strategy. China knows the US is likely to act first and therefore they don't feel the need or desire to utilize any of their own resources and don't want to make an enemy either.

But the questions remain about if China and Russia would really sit idly by whilst the US/S.Korea/Japan launch an assault?
 
China doesn't want to get involved. They are hoping that the US will attack and they can stand by and do nothing. It's all strategy. China knows the US is likely to act first and therefore they don't feel the need or desire to utilize any of their own resources and don't want to make an enemy either.
Until china says they won't back N.Korea if they are attack, I don't believe this. If anything china is prob the thing holding trump's dumbass from invading already.
 
I honestly think it's time the US and allies bomb the hell out of North Korea's military installations. This shit is getting scary. They aren't just putting the USA at risk but the entire world at this point. This needs to be stopped once in for all!

The second you attack NK the thousands of artillery guns pointed at Seoul fire. Seoul has 9 million people in it, 25 million people in the metro area. Tens of thousands of people would die in a best case scenario.
 

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
lol'ing because it's obvious or what?

It's more a question if they're being fed tech or synthesizing secrets and pieces they can get...

This is more like China straight up giving them stuff speed.


I'd imagine China has been holding the carrot and Russia just ran in with sweet corn and avocado toast.
 

Kthulhu

Member
I honestly think it's time the US and allies bomb the hell out of North Korea's military installations. This shit is getting scary. They aren't just putting the USA at risk but the entire world at this point. This needs to be stopped once in for all!

Because the US has had such a great record with wars of aggression. /s
 
The second you attack NK the thousands of artillery guns pointed at Seoul fire. Seoul has 9 million people in it, 25 million people in the metro area. Tens of thousands of people would die in a best case scenario.

Do we keep calling their bluff then until they launch a nuke into Tokyo/Seoul and kill millions of people with these "tests"? Their military program is growing larger and larger while we sit around saying "but... but....but..."
At some point you have to say this is bullshit and intervene before their nuclear program gets out of control.
 

KHarvey16

Member
Do we keep calling their bluff then until they launch a nuke into Tokyo/Seoul and kill millions of people with these "tests"? Their military program is growing larger and larger while we sit around saying "but... but....but..."
At some point you have to say this is bullshit and intervene before their nuclear program gets out of control.

Why would they do that? Think about it.
 

sonicmj1

Member
China doesn't want to get involved. They are hoping that the US will attack and they can stand by and do nothing. It's all strategy. China knows the US is likely to act first and therefore they don't feel the need or desire to utilize any of their own resources and don't want to make an enemy either.

If that were the case, China would be telling the world that they won't defend North Korea if the US attacks. Instead, they're doing the opposite.

Washington Post said:
China won’t come to North Korea’s aid if it launches missiles threatening U.S. soil and there is retaliation, a state-owned newspaper warned Friday — but it would intervene if Washington strikes first.

China likes the status quo. They don't want North Korea to go away, but they also don't want war (or enough of a threat of war to justify arms buildup around South Korea). They're unlikely to intervene until things reach the brink.
 

riotous

Banned
Well, there's the part where N. Korea has nuclear bombs and a crazy dictator who probably wouldn't hesitate to use them in retaliation. He might not be able to hit D.C. but I bet he can hit Beijing.

Which is understandable; but no one seems to mention that, like the post I responded to talking about refugees and dealing with NK's infrastructure as if they could just easily swoop in and take them over if not for the people they'd be left to deal with.

Resource-wise, both Koreas have little value. The reason that education has become so important and emphasized in South Korea is because they basically turn their residents into resources since the Korean peninsula is mostly barren of them. And it's not just the amount of people, but it's a people who literally have lived their entire lives in a massive bubble without any real knowledge of the real world, many of which are completely uneducated (or educated in a way that is contradictory to reality), which little to no skills, and that have had a slavish devotion to leaders that many are raised to believe are literal gods among men. The transition would be rough, to say the least. And the general thought is that North Korea's infrastructure is a disaster and outdated by decades time.

That maks sense, thanks! I guess they don't really need any more military projection in that part of Asia; it's mostly them attempting to project South that we see?
 

brian577

Banned
Apparently they're not quite there yet.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41139445

Bruce Bennett, a defence analyst at public policy group the Rand Corporation told the BBC that the size of the reported tremor was significant.

"If it really does prove out to be 6.3 that's a very big weapon, much bigger," he said.

"It's still not a true hydrogen bomb but it's certainly much closer to that than anything they have ever done before."

So probably another boosted fission device.
 

Kthulhu

Member
Well they just launched a missle over Japan and that's some bullshit that shouldn't be "accepted" as the norm. You can't let that become normalized.

Because it was a show of force. Nations do it to each other all the time.

Russia violates US airspace all the time and you don't see us gearing up to invade them. (I understand that violating airspace is hardly as significant as shooting a missile over another country, but you get my point)

Shit, just look at all the time the US and Soviet Union did war games near each other. Sometimes with actual nuclear weapons.
 

Woorloog

Banned
NK is only making their own country less habitable every time they set off nuke there.

That radiation doesn't just go poof.
They do only underground tests, at least so far. Surface or aerial tests would be easy to detect, and can't be controlled as well.
Underground testing is quite safe, provided the hole is sealed properly before detonation. Indeed, all accidents with such tests have been caused by improper sealing as far as i know.
 

Joe

Member
I'm obviously not an expert but the only 2 long-term scenarios I see are:

1) Endure the refugee crises and ~$1 trillion dollars in expenses to overthrow the N. Korea regime and unify Korea.

2) Convince Kim Jong-un that N. Korea would fare a lot better on-the-grid and slowly connect them to the world economy (similar to the Iran deal).
 

antonz

Member
They reported back when it was a 4.7 Earthquake that it was around an 11 kiloton bomb that was detonated. Based on that and the way Earthquake power scales a 6.3 is around 3600 kilotons of energy I believe
 
What do you think the alternative is?

That is a great question. I would love to think there would be a diplomatic way to resolve this but I don't think there is based on who is in charge. I think either Trump or NK will do something stupid very quickly to start a war in my honest opinion :/ I hope I'm wrong
 

Kthulhu

Member
That is a great question. I would love to think there would be a diplomatic way to resolve this but I don't think there is based on who is in charge. I think either Trump or NK will do something stupid very quickly to start a war in my honest opinion :/ I hope I'm wrong

You don't want to start a war but you were advocating for an intervention?
 

low-G

Member
They reported back when it was a 4.7 Earthquake that it was around an 11 kiloton bomb that was detonated. Based on that and the way Earthquake power scales a 6.3 is around 3600 kilotons of energy I believe

I've seen some more complex formulas for nuclear bombs tested at a specific depth underground that resolves 6.3 to about a 1 megaton device. Lost the link, sorry.
 

royalan

Member
Because it was a show of force. Nations do it to each other all the time.

Russia violates US airspace all the time and you don't see us gearing up to invade them. (I understand that violating airspace is hardly as significant as shooting a missile over another country, but you get my point)

Shit, just look at all the time the US and Soviet Union did war games near each other. Sometimes with actual nuclear weapons.

Just piping up to say that's a pretty damn important distinction, since I highly (highly) doubt the US reaction would be the same as Russia coming close to US airspace during "training exercises", vs Russia firing a missile over the US, which is exactly what NK just did to Japan.
 
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