"North Korea Fires Off More Ballistic Missiles" Topic

Seems North Korea is on a tear, firing off two more short-range ballistic missiles in the last 24 hours. That makes 6 tests, of two missiles each, fired in the last three weeks, IIRC.

link

Makes me wonder when the South Koreans, and/or the USA may fire their own in the area, to remind those in the region that our side has them too, and I suspect they are a lot more powerful, reliable, and accurate.

I also wonder when Japan will start fielding these, to counter NK moves, and the obvious threat they pose to the Japanese homeland, since they seem to be in the direct cross=hairs, with missiles landing just short of their islands, and/or being fired over them.

There was some discussion about the USA fielding, introducing, and/or loaning short-range, nuclear capable missiles to SK and Japan, in order to offset North Korean and Chinese weaponry. Needless to say, China is not happy about that possibility, and NK's Little Kim is already upset over SK's and the USA's military exercises, so I can imagine he'd be apoplectic if such a move were announced.

Seems like that might be just the thing to get the attention of both, and to put pressure on them to cease the NK launches.

Other options include taking out the missiles on their launch pads, hunting down the mobile missile launchers and doing the same to them (though apparently that is a lot harder, especially given reports they store at least some of their weaponry in caves in the mountains), conducting strategic air strikes to take out NK's artillery and nuclear production facilities as well as their launchers, and/or a full scale invasion.

I suspect the latter is the least likely to occur, due to possible high casualty rates for both sides, but is probably necessary if we want to ensure the entire nuke weapons program is shut down/destroyed, barring the use of nukes to do that.

Clearly, it seems, the current situation and vector cannot be allowed to continue, due to the high level of threat to all in the region.

Any other options that might work, that you see?

Negotiations don't seem to be getting us anywhere, and China isn't helping at all, as usual.

It's really loud Sabre-rattling, but NK's ultimate concern will always be regime survival. If they started anything, it's over for them. But the regime needs to be taken seriously by the new entrepreneur class, and they need "negotiations" to get aid they don't otherwise merit. So they're going to keep having tantrums.

Of course, atomic weapons and missiles are a sort of insurance. It lets people know that if the regime is really in danger they can take someone else with them. That encourages everyone to give them just enough aid to survive. Yay.

I guess this all continues until there's a coup, the people demand democracy, or someone invents a way to change a government without them seeing it coming.

Well, the Norks do seem to be dead-set on convincing the Japanese to re-arm.

Things did not go so well for the Koreans the last time the Japanese were fully armed and operational.

I'd love to see the USA or the Japanese shoot them down every time "they" sent one up. Now THAT would be GREAT!

Agree with the good skipper, lots of live fire target practice!!

Sounds great in theory, but if we miss, it will only embolden them.

Easier to take them out on the pads, prior to launch.

Finding the mobile missile launchers is apparently considerably harder. Perhaps we should launch one of those stealth balloons over South Korea, that's being tested to keep tabs on every American vehicles' movements across the midwest. If we can do that, then surely we can keep track of the much larger, and more threatening, Nork mobile missile launchers.