North Korea Accused of Testing an ICBM With Missile Launch Into Space (examiner.com)

MarkWhittington writes: Reuters reported that North Korea launched a long-range missile that is said to have placed a satellite into space. The launch happened much to the consternation of North Korea's neighbors, South Korea and Japan, as well as the United States. Pyongyang claimed that the missile launch was part of that country's peaceful space program. But, other countries are pretty sure that the launch was a test of an ICBM capable of placing a nuclear weapon on any target in the world, particularly the United States.

Comments

Of course it is.

[Crashmarik]

The only difference is the payload.

Re:Of course it is.

[NoNonAlphaCharsHere]

Refresh my memory, how many US launches were atop "U.S. Army" boosters again?

Re:Of course it is.

[Anonymous Coward]

North Korea is possibly the worst country on the planet, but arguing international law is a bit rich considering the US and USSR ignore international law any time it's inconvenient. If you want international law to have any weight behind it, the big boys have to play along too.

Re:Of course it is.

[shortscruffydave]

As the great Tom Lehrer put it...

"Once rockets are up, who cares where they come down.
'That's not my department', said Wehner von Braun"

Anything NK does is suspicious

[ITRambo]

It's amazing that NK still has the means to play serious games with the rest of the world. Of course, this test was intended to scare the rest of the world into throwing more money at the madman in charge hoping he stays quite again, for a little while at least. Instead, new ways to provoke an eventual land war will be dreamed up. They won't just go away. China needs to do more to keep NK under control, unless NK's games are tolerated by China for reasons unknown.

Re:Anything NK does is suspicious

[arbiter1]

Reason China is getting sick is they see the writing on the wall with what NK is doing. NK is playing with fire and its not a game they can win.

so what?

[ILongForDarkness]

They aren't signatories to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. They are parties to the outer space treaty but as long as the US and others have ICBMs I find it hard to argue that ICBMs are covered by that treaty. Makes sense since the weapons don't reside in space nor are designed to target space objects but just pass through space on the way to their targets.

I don't get the US centric bias towards military policy. Basically anyone that becomes capable of attacking the US is automatically an aggressor that needs sanction. What about the US' ability to attack everyone? How about those pricks disarm and reduce their military to 1/10th the size, stop toppling governments because they don't like them etc?

Re:so what?

[Bomazi]

I agree. What is funny is the convoluted terminology used for propaganda purposes by the US and NATO and repeated by everyone: When South Korea launches a satellite, they used a launch vehicle, when North Korea does it, they tested a ballistic missile that incidentally put an object in orbit.

Re:so what?

[phantomfive]

I don't get the US centric bias towards military policy. Basically anyone that becomes capable of attacking the US is automatically an aggressor that needs sanction.

North Korea produces a lot of propaganda showing them destroying the US, so it's understandable.

Re:so what?

[Anonymous Coward]

South Korea doesn't have a nuclear weapons program, nor is it belligerent with its neighbours. It also is not ruled by crazy people.

Re:so what?

[Schmorgluck]

I agree it's a bit of a moot point in practice, but it doesn't speak highly of the state of constitutional workings within the USA themselves. If the USA can project whatever amount of armed force they want on the whim of the Executive power, what's the point of having constitutional provisions requiring the approval of Congress to declare war? That's a long running case of exploiting procedural loopholes if there was any.

Anything the US does is suspicious

[Anonymous Coward]

For what bizarre reason shouldn't North Korea be "allowed" (by whom?!) to have ICBMs when the US - its biggest enemy - also has has them? And why would China "need" to prevent one of its closest allies from protecting itself from a possible american aggression?

North Korea is a sovereign nation and it has the right to have nuclear weapons and ICBMs, so that it will be safe from any possible Iraqi-style american invasion.

Re:Anything the US does is suspicious

[AmiMoJo]

North Korea is currently under international sanctions for violating several UN Security Council resolutions. That means that the majority of the UN considers North Korea's missile/nuclear program to be a problem, specifically destabilizing the region and undermining the global nonproliferation regime. In case you forgot, the nonproliferation treaty states that aside from the "nuclear weapon states" (China, France, Russia, the US and the UK), no other nation state should receive, manufacture or acquire nuclear weaponry. The NWS are also the five permanent members of the Security Council.

Try to see it from NK's point of view. It's biggest enemy, the one that keeps playing war games off its coast and supplying SK with military hardware is part of a powerful club, and no-one screws with them. To get into the top ranks of this club and wield all this, you need nuclear tipped ICBMs. The goal of the club is to make sure no-one else ever gets them, although it's both ineffective (India, Pakistan, South Africa) and corrupt (the US tolerates Israel's nuclear weapons and won't allow sanctions or inspections).

If the rest of the world really wants NK to abandon its nuclear programme then it first the US needs to stop antagonizing it, and then every effort has to be made to normalize relationships. Despite the impression you may have been given, NK isn't a closed state or unable to participate in world events. They hold international sporting events, you can do business with their technology companies.

Yes, they have work camps and a lot of other horrible stuff. The US has Guantanamo and various other black sites, including one in New York where inmates are tortured. Various European countries violate human rights and ignore legally binding UN rulings. The way to address that stuff is to engage, not to stand off and pile on more and more sanctions.

Finally, can we stop calling Un a mad man please? He isn't insane, he isn't stupid. None of them are. They know the game, they play it because it benefits them to do so. It's not unlike how many western politicians bemoan the fact that the political system is broken, but do little to fix it because its how they got there in the first place.

Hypocrisy much ?

[musmax]

When North America gets rid of its 5000 nuclear warheads it will have the moral right to squeal at North Korea. As it stands NK should be applauded for its technological advances. Same goes to Iran.

Re:Hypocrisy much ?

[Nemyst]

As much bad rap as Obama and the US government gets on a daily basis, I would never imagine in a million years anyone in there deciding to declare war over a neighbor and start shelling nukes at them. With NK, it's not only probable, it's almost inevitable if they are left alone long enough. They are not rational, they do not care about the well-being of their citizens, and they think they can get away with many things. At some point they'll think too large and hit a city or contaminate a big area and people will die for no reason.

To compare the US and NK is utterly reductionist and shows a complete lack of understanding of the differences in context.