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Subscribe to RSSTensions are running high on the Korean peninsula where thousands of U.S and South Korean troops are participating in military drills. The annual exercises have Pyongyang enraged as North Korea threatens both the U.S. and Seoul with nuclear strikes.
SEOUL — South Korea and the United States began annual military drills Monday despite North Korean threats to respond by voiding the armistice that ended the Korean War and launching a nuclear attack on the U.S.
After the start of the drills, South Korean officials said their northern counterparts didn't answer two calls on a hotline between the sides, apparently following through on an earlier vow to cut the communication channel because of the drills.
Pyongyang has launched a bombast-filled propaganda campaign against the drills, which involve 10,000 South Korean and about 3,000 American troops, and last week's U.N. vote to impose new sanctions over the North's Feb. 12 nuclear test. Analysts believe that much of that campaign is meant to shore up loyalty among citizens and the military for North Korea's young leader, Kim Jong Un.
Pyongyang isn't believed to be able to build a warhead small enough to mount on a long-range missile, and the North's military has repeatedly vowed in the past to scrap the 1953 armistice. North Korea wants a formal peace treaty, security guarantees and other concessions, as well as the removal of 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.
Still, South Korean and U.S. officials have been closely monitoring Pyongyang's actions and parsing the torrent of recent rhetoric from the North, which has been more warlike than usual.
Ahn Young-Joon / AP
South Korean soldiers set up barbed-wire fencing during an exercise against possible attacks by North Korea near the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea, on Monday.
North Korea regularly claims South Korea-U.S. drills are a preparation for invasion, but Pyongyang has signaled more worry about the drills that began Monday. The drills follow U.N. sanctions that the North says are the result of U.S. hostility aimed at toppling its political system.
North Korea has also warned South Korea of a nuclear war on the divided peninsula and said it was cancelling nonaggression pacts.
Under newly inaugurated President Park Geun-hye, South Korea's Defense Ministry, which often brushes off North Korean threats, has looked to send a message of strength in response to the latest threats. The ministry warned Friday that the North's government would "evaporate from the face of the Earth" if it ever used a nuclear weapon. The White House also said the U.S. is fully capable of defending itself against a North Korean ballistic attack.
North Korea has said the U.S. mainland is within the range of its long-range missiles, and an army general told a Pyongyang rally last week that the military is ready to fire a long-range nuclear-armed missile to turn Washington into a "sea of fire."
Related:
North Korea threat of nuclear attack predictable but worrisome
UN passes sanctions despite North Korea threats
North Korea warns of 'miserable destruction' over drills
This story was originally published on Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:48 AM EDT
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Bring it on. Let's finally resolve this once and for all. The republicans may have outsourced many things, but we still make bombs that say "Made in America"
I am sure the little guys (North Korean soldiers..average height 4'9") are watching nervously across the woods as the big boys (South Koreans soldiers...average height 6'0") and even bigger boys (Americans....average height 6'3") get the big Guns ready for some fun...lol
I would run like hell if I was North Korean...
Doc
I agree with your sentiments. But come on, where did you come up with those average heights?
Flnobody,
Drones and Satelites.
But you dont even have to use those, just walk by the fence, you'll see the little guys everywhere...with binoculars even though you are right there... because they are looking at you from the bottom
Doc
Been there, haven't done that. ®¿®
Drill Baby Drill
Two words of defense;
"Patriot Missile".
Two words of wisdom for N-Korea;
"Stand Down".
Sure is easy to say that when you sit safe on this side of the ocean.
Hopefully this doesn't amount to much. I've got a bunch of friends with family in South Korea.
GM CD this is for Doc Holliday
Been there at DMZ and the average height of NK troops who guard Panmunjom are 5'10" to 6', the SK troops about the same. However, that is for political purposes. The rest of both armies are approximately 5"5" to 5'10" for SK, however, never saw any other NK troops up close and personal so I cannot determine their average height. Needles to say, a midget or the pc wording of a "vertically challenged" NK, SK or even US troop is not hindered when firing the weapons of war.
We would not have to fire a shot.... If North Korea fires on the US (as China's biggest customer and debitor), China would squash them like a bug.
lemme get this straight, NK says, don't prepare for an attack from us, or we'll attack you?
Now that the drills have commenced, N Korea almost has to make some gestures towards war since they've been lipping off about it over the past weeks. To not do anything trounces any shard of credibility they may have had in their claims and ability to carry them out. And that 'aint saying much!
I never realized the North Koreans wanted to help out the American people so much.
Obviously recon must show whether NK is preparing its forces for conflict. Would SK/US pass that news along to the media? The population of Seoul must be warned of such as they are in the crosshairs of NK artillary.
The North Koreans are piss ants... even the Chinese are getting tired of them and are beginning to think a unified Korea would be in their best interest. Don't under estimate the South Korean military.
I agree, bring it ON North Korea!!!! So tired of your bullcrap. I was stationed in Korea a few years back and all you do is make threats for the past 60 years. Since then, you have killed innocence US troops, South Korea troops, South Korean and Japanese civilians, even killed and starve your own innocence people by the thousands. I hope the US Allies blow your shrimp smelly butt from the face of this Earth!!!!
Iran......your next buddy, you foul piece of sh!t!!!
Every time Kim Jong Un starts talking smack, I think of the songified poem Johnny Cash made famous, "A boy named Sue." Bunch of dudes insecure about having a girl name, making threats to the world to assert their manliness. I think they just know in the back of their minds that picking on the super powers is a bad idea.
(For the record, I do know that it is a family name, not a first name. :-))
North Korea kicked our asses once already. That's why we woof at them but never attack them. I hear chickens clucking-- American chickens.
*cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck*
J.P Please explan how NK kicked our asses?
China joined the fight at which point it was a stalemate. Nowadays, China is integrally linked to the US and the rest of the global economy, including South Korea. Despite their desire to have a "buffer" between them and us, they have a more vested interest in being on our side this time or at least neutral. Not to mention, even they've been getting a little annoyed with their loud obnoxious neighbor...
Doc/flnobody-
I know it is Panmunjom, but when I was there, EVERYONE from the North was at least 6 feet tall. I would not be surprised that they did that to make us think everyone in the North were tall. I don't believe the average height is that short though...I am more inclined to believe they are average at about 5'5" tall...What I do know though is that the North's mentality, their resolve, is painted with fear. Not of us, but of getting shot by their superiors for retreating. They know only one direction and that is South. Should the @!$%# hit the fan, the last thing our boys and girls in uniform will hear are the trumpets blaring...
God help them if they do...
Blackbird-
US and SK will not pass intelligence information it to the media; they don't want mass hysteria on the pennisula. They could pass misinformation to lull the North into a false sense of security. But if you start to see a lot of American civilians and dependents returning back to the states, THAT is a big indicator. If you see massive traffic jams of civilians driving South from Seoul to eith Kwangju or Pusan, THAT is a big inidcator. If you start to see American towns that sit out side of military installations dry up because they are essentially a ghost town, THAT is a big indicator. And if you see the American Red Cross put out PSAs on TV asking you to donate blood, THAT is a VERY big indicator.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to put two and two together...Just got to connect the dots.
History lesson JP,
North Korea ARMOUR kick off into the ROK (Republic of Korea) asses. Task Force Smith was
organizeformed in haste and thrown into the fray thinking that being American the NK troops would stop. NK was stopped at what is now known as the Pusan perimeter. THEN it was the US (high majority of the troops) and UNs' turn to kick the living crap out of the NKPA. As Pale Blue Dot states, it was the Chinese that kept Kim Il Sung and his pathetic NK PeopleArmyRag bags from becoming part of the ROK. The ROK troops of 1951 were not the troops of 1953 nor represent the ROK troops of today. I was stationed there for 16 months back in '80-'81 while the South was still under Martial law.Fact: North Korea was effectively wiped off the earth in 1951-52.
Fact: The ROK and US troops camped their butts on the Yalu river. If you don't know where that is, it's the border between China and NK.
Fact: It was the Chinese that pushed back the ROK and US along with fighting the UN. All credible historians agree it was shear Chinese manpower that pushed back the troops, not their tactics.
Likely place the US will again, get us into a war and more deficit costs.
Julie-401527
You are SPOT ON. I did a study and was sorely disappointed on reading about how our generals refused to believe the reports coming in of captured Chinese regulars. Then the battle of Camel's Head and Turtle's Head was where the @!$%# hit the fan for us.
Guaranteed should the balloon go up again, we will know better than the last time since we have superior, dedicated ISR assets.
You're Move Kim Jong Un
Noble Leader, here is a message for you:
Ah so, chee wong hong dong meyaggi ha beebee ching in your eyeball.
Ah, name calling at it's finest.....must be prime to run for office!
Typical Democrat.
Why not read "old time democrat's" comment history. He is trying to be satirical with his monkier, and is anything but a democrat.
You realize you're insulting South Koreans as well, right?
Actually, that is an insult to about 25% of the world's population. I doubt he would be so brave as to do that in Japan or China
Lets see how many from the North will be trying to escape to South Korea and North to China once the bullets start flying.
Is this called "Go Ahead, Make my Day?"
오, 이제 똥?
오리km동 유엔
Dude, your keyboard is hosed.
Big moment in Kim Jung Un's political career.
The young spawn of a dead despot, without substantive training or the ability to carry out the duties of his position. So it is left to the old-guard military dogs that like to sabre rattle. Talk about your "puppet" government.
ho hum.
"Shock and Awe" the sequel............
North Korea and it's fat leader need to shut up and worry about their own country. They won't be doing anyone a favor by starting something like this.
And which "superstar" (snicker) went to North Korea and said what nonsense?
Yeah, any "world leader" who would declare himself to be "friends for life" (BFF?) with Denise - er - Dennis Rodman can't be playin' with a full deck.
Well if he nuked San Francisco, would we consider it an attack on American Soil?
Yes, but the jury is out regarding Miami or Phoenix.
Well, it's 2:30 and I haven't seen any mushroom clouds yet, but it's still early. The NK missiles probably don't fly as fast as ours, and their launch trajectory systems are outdated, so it might have gotten lost.
I'll keep an eye out, though. If I send out a message going "It burns! It burns! I'm ducking and covering but it's not helping!" then you'll know **** just got real.
*ponders* What if they(N.K.) miss their target and hit Mexico instead? :p
As long as China does the right thing and stays the hell out of this fight, the world should, also....let the Big Dog (S. Korea) eat! It's the only way N. Korea will learn, to be soundly beaten back by the country it's trying to invade.
Now, if Kim Jong Un insists on also launching a direct attack on America, either he is assuming that China will have his back, or he's completely off his rocker! He has to know that, after America suffered such a tragic, sobering attack on its own soil on 9/11, we as a nation, though we may be divided on so many other issues these days, will come together with so much force and resolve that N. Korea and its regime will be completely obliterated, unless China decides to back Kim's play.
Kim Jong Un had better wise up and listen to that little voice of reason he has in his head. Don't be writing checks your broke a$$ can't cash. I'm curious to watch how China reacts officially this week to all the saber-rattling.
Someone did not learn history of WWII, time to teach them a less son on history and respect the US!
They always threaten, we always drill.
Same old, same old.
North Korea is like a broken record.
Hi Ho Hi Ho its off too war we go!!!!!
Bring it on you bad haircut byaatch
@Doc I have a gun that can take down an elephant so i am not sure what the hell size has to do with it. The Viet Congs were midgets too and see the damage that they caused. I agree that it should not be a battle but just hope this thing remains hi-tech and not a ground invasion if there ever were one. We should be able to wipe their arrrses without a ground invasion. We can literally starve that army to death if we want and prevent a lot of American casualties.
@Tigermanialsu -- If Afghanistan taught you anything it would be that you can bomb a country back to the stone-age, but you still have to send in the Infantry to secure and mop up what the bombing did not address. Also, we cannot starve the NK army out of existance. To do that we would have to completely surround them and not allow anything to cross their borders. I do not see China allowing us to secure their border with NK.
As far as I can see, Afganistan never left the Stone Age.
Smoke, you're a little late on saying that...
Enough is enough already! All these threats are getting to be like the 'boy who cried wolf'. I've read over the past 25 years N. Korea has threated to tear up that treaty. Well I say NO MORE CHANCES! One threat too many and the WORLD has had enough. I can see a comic strip in my head where North Korea is a baby crying and wrapped in the flag of China...and the rest of the world is preparing to shove a nuclear enema right up their ass!!!
I say YANK the treaty. Enough of coddeling this disgrace of a nation. A true test would be to challenge those pukes with baby nukes and see if they have the balls to engage and act on their childish rants and threats. North Korea is a parasite that feeds off of the weak and is the poster child for "little man syndrome".
Words of wisdom: Never start a fight, but always finish one.
North Korea resembles a psychotic chihuahua barking frantically through the cage of China at a passing wolf- the joint armies of the United States and South Korea.
Should it escape to fulfill its suicidal fantasy of attacking the "intruder", it'll be dogburger in short order- and China will have a bit of work to do.
In the past two decades, the economic woes of North Korea have weakened their standing army considerably.
Yes, Seoul remains hostage to artillery massed on the 38th parallel, but any actual incursion without immediate Chinese support- which would be unlikely at present- stands little chance of victory.
Their defensive position is still strong- and an attack by the South would also stand little chance of inflicting substantial damage before China stepped in to defend its buffer state.
Bottom line: if this idiot dictator wants to die young, this is an excellent opportunity.
While the North Korean capitol of Pyongyang may be hard to reach by conventional means...there are other options.
If we don't get him, China will- if he's really that crazy, they can't afford to leave him in power.
Let's not worry about North Korea and Iran so much. The real concern is with their big brothers, Russia and China.
Russia hasn't been a big brother to NK for about 20 years now. ("The Party's over...")
As it stands, Russia is a second tier power and is sinking. In less than 20 years their population will be the same as it was in 1930. If they don't do something about their demographic decline, they're going to start shrinking or will be partitioned like Poland was.
Russia and China have too much invested in the current STABLE world economy to go around starting big wars.
They may like their angry rhetoric, but nationalistic trash-talk is just that. As long as we keep the wheels greased on the world economy, they'll keep the soldiers in the barracks.
N. Korean Threatens,
We respond by sending more aid?
The US needs to get out of KOREA period! Why are we still there? Nothing but trouble and war will come out of this in the next couple of years. The US is going to be in constant wars in the next couple of years where we should just mind our own business.
...because North Korea has never signed a peace treaty and is therefore STILL at war with the US (since 1950)?
Isolationism doesn't work. The USA tried that from 1919-1941.
And we see how great the alternative has worked since then (Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc). Surely butting our noses into countries where it doesn't belong has worked soooo much better than isolationism.
And we see how great the alternative has worked since then (Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc). Surely butting our noses into countries where it doesn't belong has worked soooo much better than isolationism
Viet Nam? That country in South East Asia that fell 18 months AFTER we left it, because Congress refused to send them any more funding? Thanks for proving my point!
Korea was a draw, but was under the humanitarian auspices of the United Nations. You know, that grand, place for Diplomacy on Turtle Bay?
Um... we've won in Iraq.
As for Afghanistan, time will tell. It's still going on.
I note you chose not to add other places where we did NOT intervene (such as Rwanda, or Iran before the overthrowing of the Shah). Those worked out great, huh?
It actually has worked much better than isolationism. You clearly look at the issue from a standpoint of where we did and did not fight wars, chuck, but there's a lot more to geopolitics than that. If the US wants any sort of influence, which is important in a global economy, then it can't simply refuse to help its allies.
Besides, if you want a lesson in the effects of isolationism, just look at North Korea itself. Or Myanmar, before it recently restored some semblance of democracy. It will ruin a country far worse than playing geopolitics (or rather, playing it wrong, since every country does and very few of them are in ruins).
Mark is right: we must protect our interests abroad and we must credibly support our allies- or we encourage every tin-pot dictator out there to grab whatever their strength can hold with little fear of reprisal.
One might also note that even smaller nations like France and Britain will step up to the plate when they feel they must- and for the same reasons.
I cite the Falklands and the recent French efforts in Africa as examples.
Chuck does have one point: playing policeman to the world has often been an extremely unrewarding and costly proposition- unless, of course, you happen to be in the business of making weapons systems and the associated munitions.
Not everything we do is altruistic or even practical- but as long as it makes people rich, I'd suspect we'll continue to do it- even when we shouldn't.
Kim Jong Porky PIg and his bombastic pronouncements are about as significant as a barking spider. He knows full well that if he overplays his hand, he and his regime will be obliterated from the face of the earth, along with all the arable land, their complete infrastructure, and half the populace. Their living survivors will envy the dead. There would be no need to invade, because there wouldn't be so much as a park bench left to sit on. The real down side is that the now-starving survivors will have no place to go for their next meal..............except for China, and South Korea, neither of which wants to be overrun with them and having to support them. Another, not so serious down side is that all the maps in the world will now have to be changed to show only Korea, and a gray area to the north to be known for millennia as "Uninhabitable, Radioactive Wasteland".