North Korea fires artillery barrage on South Korea

[GMScud]

Oh man. No bueno.

North Korea fires artillery barrage on South - Yahoo! News

[hooskins]

Yeah I saw this earlier. Not good news.

[Monkeydad]

Act of war.

Not good. I wonder how long "we'll" ignore it.

The world is $#@%ed if China gets involved on either side.

[Schneed10]

Well if China came out and rebuked the North for doing this, then it would all fizzle out real quickly, because with both us and China on the same side, nobody would start sh*t up.

I know China has a bit of a relationship with the North but they're also civil and aware of their place in world politics. They'll likely stay silent, but if anything they'd make a statement rebuking it.

I don't see them fighting over this. I don't see us fighting over it either, unless the North tries to launch a full scale attack on the South.

[over the mountain]

im glad someone started a thread on this as this could go on for awhile. imo from what ive been reading in articles for a few years now on NK is that they do this with new leadership as some kind of commencement ritual. writers have been calling this for awhile.

so NK can tell its people, the new leader Ill the 3rd just tactifully and masterfully sunk a SK naval ship but SK is way to scared to retaliate against wartime mastermind Ill the 3rd. Hail!

but . . i dont understand why, given the high tension, that SK would be testing artillery in waters which are close to NK, i just dont get that. you know NK are hot heads and wil do anything they can to start some kind of int'l crisis so they can get some int'l aid/incentive to calm down. i guess we pay the payoff to keep mellow, not SK.

[over the mountain]

Originally Posted by Buster

Act of war.

Not good. I wonder how long "we'll" ignore it.

The world is $#@%ed if China gets involved on either side.

imo china is too smart to be interested in old school war. they are more interested in being the dominant economic force in the world which would make them much more powerful in this day and age than any gun or missle woud allow.

i also have a theory that iran is not interested in actual military war as much as they wanted/tried and are still trying to make the US dollar become weak by forging oil rich alliances with other countries and priv companies that would use exclusively the euro thereby increasing a large amount of US dollar into euro financial shift. i didnt explain it well, it was a theory i developed years ago and then actually found a few articles supporting and talking about my theory. much like my aliens exist theory which s. hawkins pretty much stole from me, logical step by logical step. bastard.

[Ruhskins]

Originally Posted by over the mountain

imo china is too smart to be interested in old school war. they are more interested in being the dominant economic force in the world which would make them much more powerful in this day and age than any gun or missle woud allow.

i also have a theory that iran is not interested in actual military war as much as they wanted/tried and are still trying to make the US dollar become weak by forging oil rich alliances with other countries and priv companies that would use exclusively the euro thereby increasing a large amount of US dollar into euro financial shift. i didnt explain it well, it was a theory i developed years ago and then actually found a few articles supporting and talking about my theory. much like my aliens exist theory which s. hawkins pretty much stole from me, logical step by logical step. bastard.

If this is the case, I wonder if China will try to squash this. I think you're right here, CHina doesn't want a war in its doorstep, and hopefully they'll strong-arm North Korea to stop.

[Dirtbag59]

Hey, what do Lee Majors, Rachael Ray, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Scarlett Johanson, Hedge funds, Kim Zolciak, Aubrey Huff, Smartphone apps, and the Stock market have in common? Well according to the Yahoo Trending now list they're all more important then the North Korea Attack.

[Monkeydad]

China has 2 billion people. They do not want chaos. They just want to be left alone (from international issues and worldwide rules like the pollution policies) to grow their economy and silently take over the role as world superpower. However, if they're forced to become engaged in this or any war...they have a nearly unlimited number of troops and can just outlast anyone. We know their Government has little value for human life...they'll sacrifice a billion people if they see a benefit to the State.

I do think North Korea feels a little emboldened and unthreatened in these actions. The world does not fear or really respect our current President's weak/appeasement approach to conflicts. Plus, they probably recognize that our military is not entirely available and our economy is weakened...so we won't be quick to rush to our ally's assistance. We've already stepped away from Israel...could South Korea be next?

[Monkeydad]

Originally Posted by Dirtbag359

Hey, what do Lee Majors, Rachael Ray, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Scarlett Johanson, Hedge funds, Kim Zolciak, Aubrey Huff, Smartphone apps, and the Stock market have in common? Well according to the Yahoo Trending now list they're all more important then the North Korea Attack.

[MTK]

What's up with Lee Majors?

[Chico23231]

I know what Lavar would say about north korea, get'em get'em

[Dirtbag59]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

What's up with Lee Majors?

Umm Oprah! Like duh


Also a quick update Jesus Statue has replaced North Korea at the 10 spot while somehow Kourtney Kardashian has leaped all the way up to #4. I'm not a political type whatsoever but even I know that this is a pretty big deal.

[JoeRedskin]

Interesting article on the Chinese military: China’s potential for military aggression - upiasia.com

It's two years old but probably still has some relevance.

The idea that Chinese don't want a war seems to be a common assumption. I would suggest that the Chinese don't want a war that they might lose. It seems to me, that the Chinese have never had a problem rattling their sabre a little - mostly over US involvement with Taiwan. Yes, their focus is on their economy right now. But let's not confuse them with a great beneficial "how do we build a better world" country. China's historic view of itself is very self-centered (as much or more so than the US - I would suggest both countries view themselves as countries of "destiny").

I suspect that this is simply NK & SK spitting at each other. So long as none of the regional powers over react, I suspect this will settle down into the minor border dispute it is. IMHO, it is something serious but not imminently dangerous at this time. Kind of like a boiling pot that just needs to be watched.

Here's a question for you: If NK launches an attack (full frontal invasion) of SK - Currently, the US has ~ 28,500 personnel in SK - what should our response be? Do we fight? Evacuate US personnel to Japan? What if China supports the invasion? Either with personnel or material.

Yes, I think it is completely hypothetical, but I am just curious what everyone's reaction would be. I am torn - I wouldn't want my son dying for SK, but we have basically told them "We got your back". Japan/Taiwan get invaded and that's a different story but hard for me to get worked up about Korea.

[GMScud]

Originally Posted by Ruhskins

If this is the case, I wonder if China will try to squash this. I think you're right here, CHina doesn't want a war in its doorstep, and hopefully they'll strong-arm North Korea to stop.

North Korea ain't ish without China. They're responsible for a big chunk of NK's economy, not too mention they supply about half of NK's food. If China wants NK to stop, they'll stop.