I don't full understand this whole North/South Korea thing - can someone explain it to me?

[KenAdams]

And why have America got involved. And what is the big deal about Chinas position?

I feel very thick

insane, irrational, power-pissed despot that's one way to describe him!

What I don't really understand is what does he want out of all this? .

I think he wants to be seen as a powerful leader who can hold his own, to his people. I think he wants to force negotiations. I'm not sure whather he wants the West to stop prying in the business of N.Korea, i.e let them get on with making nuclear weapons unchallenged.

One thing I've never understood is who decides who is eligible to possess nuclear weapons. Why are we OK but N.Korea aren't? I mean, some might say that the last week's developments illustrates why but I still don't understand how we come to the conclusion that nuclear defence is good for some, not for others....

But can he attack the US? He hasn't got cruise missiles, only ones that can be launched from the floor ( I think- not a military expert you understand!).

He may be able to attack on theS. Korean border where US troops are based, but even them am not sure he will. Is he going to risk the entire population of N Korea being nuked? What will he do then, with no population to terrorise?

I think North Korea has missiles that can reach US territory (ie islands close to Korea not mainland US).
The BBC has had some interesting articles on the entire situation. Apparently Clinton downscaled the military manoeuvres in South Korea as he didn't want to antagnoise the North. There's a theory that Obama hasn't done that because he's trying to distract attention from the economic crisis at home which, if true, is pretty depressing and disappointing. Rather than scaling back, he's sent a larger presence to the South

I think they have missiles that can reach Alaska. I think, unless I dreamt reading that last week. I could have done, tbh...

This is the thing about dealing with a nutter. You can't know why he is doing anything, nor what he will get out of it. It's not like dealing with a rational person, where their objectives are easy to work out.

Apparent missile ranges

flatpack - sorry my information came from latvians that ran for their lives away from the Russians at the end of the 2 ww - for some they got away when they ran from Riga but their families that were running with them couldn't get away and they got caught by the Russians and taken back. They ran west to try to get away as they knew the Russians would not retreat once they had moved forward to take over their country. This in some ways was I suppose what was really happening on the ground and not what the leaders would portray over an oval oak table at the end of ww2 Russia had pushed hard to get as much ground as it possibly could.

orangeandlemons

But can he attack the US? He hasn't got cruise missiles, only ones that can be launched from the floor ( I think- not a military expert you understand!).

That's right. The delivery mechanism for the small number of nukes that they do own is shonky. And its range will allow it to reach places like Hawaii and some of the Alaskan island chain but not any parts of mainland US. He has no submarine-delivered nuke system as we and the US and Russia have.

I mean that that is how my Latvian friends saw the situation at the end of ww2, as they had lived through it and saw this as displaced people in American camps in germany.

I am not saying you are wrong

I have just been doing some Google research and there are conflicting opinions on just how far Lardboy's rockets can go.

Some reckon that they wouldn't even be able to reach India, which is only about 3000 miles away. Some think that there is a slim chance theycould reach Alaska. Others say that Alaska easily is reachable by the Taepodong rocket.

According to the plans that Kim Jong was photographed in front of his his war room last week, he has marked LA and New York as targets, but that must be a very lofty dream for him.

I would rather believe that they don't have the capability of reaching anywhere and that these are the worst case scenarios.

Kim Jong was photographed in front of his his war room last week,

hopefully this was a full on propaganda photo shoot...

Definitely is propaganda. Posturing buffoons that they are...

Is he a nutter, though? His father and grandfather certainly were, but he has had far more exposure to the West than them... He must have an understanding that the regime cannot last.

Maybe this is just his way of ending it?

Either way, I'm pretty sure the tours to NK my friend runs will be slashed in price very soon...

The news coverage from South Korea is interesting because rather than panic and stockpile (as happened about 20 years ago when similar threats were made) the current North Korean stance is seen more as a "Here we go again, then" sort of posturing rather than a genuinely worrying situation.

China are reported as not at all happy with Lardboy's current games either.

There are no words for the way NK treats it's citizens - I feel very sorry for them. There are reports from defectors of the regime that they use men women and children in horrible experiments simliar to those conducted by Mengele. There is also paperwork to suggest that this is all true.

I think it is difficult to know exactly what is going on because of all the propaganda on both sides but NK is well known for it's posing and blustering.

It would be bloody lovely if he was tryong to end the regime without losing face but I really doubt it. He has been exposed to Western influences, yes, but how do we explain British-born Muslims carrying out attacks on their own country if exposure to Western life acts to prevent this type of thing? He has been exposed to teh regime more than he has been exposed to the West. I'm pretty sure he doesn't give a stuff about it, tbh.

Tethers, out of interest, is your friend's company the one that was talked about in the news last week? Based in Wigan?

Yes, I think that the S.Koreans are effectively rolling their eyes en masse at the north. They've had years of this shite.

Oh, I also heard recently that Kim Jong Un is becoming increasingly paranoid that someone close by is making plans to take him out.

Well hopefully he is right!

I would also recommend Nothing to Envy as a great book to understand a bit more about life under a crazed tyrant. I took it on holiday last year and read it twice.

Very interesting to read the struggles of those who defected learning how to live in a normal way.

I must read this book. Is it very depressing? (I suppose it's bound to be)

Yes, that's him, marmalade.

He received an email from Kim Jong un himself (honest) declaring war on America...

I read that! I was shaking with laughter. Kim Jong Un, in between wreaking war upon the U.S and generally being a mentaller remembers that he must email a tour operator from Wigan, to keep him in the loop wrt to Impending War

Watching this with interest and wondering just how much we can believe of what is in the media.

I wondered that MissRee.

It was hilarious, marmalade- even the DM got involved- but judging from the stories he's told me, not completely unexpected... Since he pretty much IS their tourist industry, they probably felt he should be the first to know