North Korea has exploded an Atomic Bomb

[monsoon]

Title says it all. Amazing that some in the media are dismissing it because it was only 0.5 kiloton bomb. That is equivalent to a 1,000,000 lb bomb. For comparison purposes, the largest conventional bomb in the US arsenal, the bomb dropped at Tora Bora in an attempt to get Bin Laden, is only 15,000 lbs.

The Japanese are reporting there might have been a second test.

[Jerseyman4]

Im suprised how N Korea did not detonate the underground nuke bomb closer to South Korea (near Seoul), since they are not too friendly with them. Instead, they were in the northeast portion of the country closer to China and Russia. Since China offers them aid to help keep their starving nation alive, i wonder what will happen next.

[JDC]

So what? It's another distraction from the disaster in Iraq. I wouldn't be surprised if this was a hoax. Sounds like they're building a foundation on which to stack reasons to invade North Korea.

[CtownMikey]

how is it a hoax if the country confirmed it?

[NcSc74]

So what? It's another distraction from the disaster in Iraq. I wouldn't be surprised if this was a hoax. Sounds like they're building a foundation on which to stack reasons to invade North Korea.

I hope that would never happen. First of all we are already at odds with China over Taiwan. If we even entertain the thought of military action against N. Korea then look for China to flex its muscles. I have no doubt about our military wiping out the DPRK army but when you have to fight the Chinese also then look for that war to expand into WW3 status. I find it funny that Russia is mute in all of this. I look for the Russians to latch on to China to regain some prominance in Asia.

The big question is what policy is better. Face to face talks. Or no direct talks. Going back to the military action. As of right now we are in no position to take on an engagement that large. I don't like where this is going. Next will be Iran. We need some level heads in our government right now.

[Charlotteman]

What we need in Washington right now is the highest intellectual thought, and competence. We have neither.

We could possibly be pulled into a catastrophic war on the Korean peninsula!!!!!! How could it be held to the States and North/South Korea? I fear other nations would be pulled in, too. Vladivostok is uncomfortably close to all this action, and I'm surprised Russia isn't more alarmed by this whole thing.

Any nukes are going to be bad bad bad news for China, and Japan, Siberia and of course South Korea.

And to think this threat is coming from a nation who's people are literally starving.

[monsoon]

If we even entertain the thought of military action against N. Korea then look for China to flex its muscles. I have no doubt about our military wiping out the DPRK army but when you have to fight the Chinese also then look for that war to expand into WW3 status. .....

This has already happened and the combined Chinese and DPRK armies almost pushed the US and S. Korean armies into the ocean. They managed to recover, but hostilities ended with a ceasefire. Technically we are still at war with them and the DMZ between N & S Korea remains one of the most dangerous places on the earth. There was a military plan to drop 50 nuclear bombs on N. Korea and China but fortunately this plan was never implemented.

Unlike the 1950s, Bush is not going to go head to head with the Chinese now. Aside from the fact that we simply don't have the manpower to defeat their army, the Chinese manafucture most of our goods now and finance the American deficit. They could destroy our economy overnight by selling off the bonds they have purchased.

[Charlotteman]

China and the States seem to be economically connected at the hip these days. I feel that open hostilities between the two are highly unlikely.

Unfortunately for the West, there is little to no intelligence coming in. N. Korea is as paranoid as can be and fear is prevalent in all spheres of life. We have no idea what they "might do"..........

Kim is a moron, and in my opinion most likely a figurehead for the military. If he goes, I don't think much would change.

[Pillsbury]

North Korea frightens me much more than Iran for some reason. I do believe that Kim is crazy and desperate enough to do whatever he can to keep himself in power. Now he says that any new sanctions or perssure against N. Korea will be considered an "act of war." He even states that the United States needs to stop "pestering" North Korea. Here is the link: North Korea

[Charlotte_native]

Kim is doing and timing this on purpose. He knows that this is a great time to call our president to the mat and we simply are not capable at this time to retaliate with our military. Our military is stretched thin and worn out from Iraq, is facing Iran, and can't really do much alone against North Korea. This is a direct result of our cowboy foreign policy.

Congrats to all the voters in 2004 who supported our dear president -- hopefully they still feel safer. Beat the hell out of a country that has no WMD's but interestingly does have a lot of oil, all the while allowing a country and clearly has always stated they seek nukes to continue their development.

[Pillsbury]

^ Very well said!!!

[Snowguy716]

I'll second that.

[JDC]

Congrats to all the voters in 2004 who supported our dear president -- hopefully they still feel safer.

Well at least gays still can't get married!

[Neo]

I wonder how much of this article is true?

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200...17510111990.htm

According to The Korea Times, North Korea plans to detonate an H-bomb to prove they are capable.

[Snowguy716]

I think Ann Coulter had it right: We should attack North Korea.

And I think that treacherous psycho should be the first one to cross the lines.

[monsoon]

I think Ann Coulter had it right: We should attack North Korea.

And I think that treacherous psycho should be the first one to cross the lines.

That would mean more than a million dead people. Do we really want that?

[Charlotte_native]

That would mean more than a million dead people. Do we really want that?

Maybe if Ann is with them...

[peaceloveunderstanding]

Let the Asians fight their own wars, South Korea is perfectly capable of defending itself.

China doesn't want Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea to nuclearize so North Korea won't get that much further along. I any case, the North Koreans are rather pathetic. They can't fire a rocket, they can't explode a Nuclear weapon properly, and they can't power their country with these nuclear reactors.

All we need to know about North Korea, we can find here:

[JDC]

I don't get it.

Obviously there's more specks in South Korea and just one in North Korea. I get that part. Is it an indication of population?

[suburban george3]

There seems to be doubts on how "successful" N. Korea's Atomic Bomb test was. No radiation has been detected and several international agencies are questioning the validity of N. Korea's claims.

Regardless, N. Korea is going to remain a BIG problem and a BIG issue for the international community for the immediate future.

[monsoon]

It's an interesting situation. A 1/2 kiloton explosion is very very difficult to pull off with conventional explosives. The problem is getting it all to explode at the same time without blowing itself apart. Remember this is equivalent to a million pounds of TNT which also isn't easy to hide.

It might be quite some time until we figure out what really happened.

[Charlotteman]

One thing to keep in mind that if North Korea does indeed have the bomb, it would essentially be their ONLY means of protection against an attack.

North Korea is certainly too financially crushed to mount a military run on Seoul. The troops would need food, armaments, technology---none of which they have in sufficient amounts. There would also be the certainty of troop defections. Think of the golden opportunity North Korean soldiers would have to escape to freedom if they actually were inside South Korean territory!

During the Cold War era is was an accepted idea that if the USSR and the Eastern block invaded the West, they would have suffered 25% defection among soldiers just in the first week alone (especially East German soldiers). I feel North Korean defections during an invasion of South Korea would be an even higher percentage.

So I feel an attack on Seoul is unlikely, unless China pumps billions of dollars into the North Korean budget. That seems highly improbable to me.

[monsoon]

North Korea is certainly too financially crushed to mount a military run on Seoul. The troops would need food, armaments, technology---none of which they have in sufficient amounts. There would also be the certainty of troop defections. Think of the golden opportunity North Korean soldiers would have to escape to freedom if they actually were inside South Korean territory!

The military in N. Korea is one of the largest and best equipped in the world and they train very agressively. They have been preparing for this war for almost 60 years. This is the one segment of their society that does receive the resources it needs to do its job. I also don't think there would be many defections for two reasons. First it didn't happen in Vietnam and this is a very similar situation, and N. Korean society is closed and almost cult like in its adoration of their leader.

A war with N. Korea would be very bloody and would truely make Iraq look like a cakewalk. And though China isn't happy with N. Korea having exploded The Bomb, I don't think they would tolerate an American invasion of the North either.

The scariest thing in this whole process is that we have GW Bush running the United States and he absolutely refuses to send a diplomat to that country. Keep in mind that despite the rhetoric, Kim Il Sung of N. Korea has never attacked another country. On the other hand, GW Bush has two under his belt now.

[Charlotteman]

GWB is a major impediment to diplomacy under most situations.

But in the case of North Korea, Kim is insisting on a bilateral peace treaty with the States. The US doesn't have any treaties like this with other countries.

Signing a peace treaty with a renegade nation would be a terrible idea for the US, but Kim keeps saying that is what it will take to get diplomatic relations off the ground.

[Neo]

It looks like preliminary tests now show that North Korea did indeed explode a nuclear bomb of some sort as there were expected radioactive material in the air above the test site.