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After Two Months of Quiet, North Korea Launches Another Ballistic Missile (arstechnica.com)
South Korean and U.S. officials have confirmed that North Korea has launched another ballistic missile into the sea of Japan. The ballistic missile test -- launched just after 3am Wednesday local time from Sin-ni in South Pyongyang -- is the first since an intermediate-range missile test in September. Ars Technica reports: In a statement to the press, a spokesperson for South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, "North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile early this morning from Pyongsong, South Pyongan [Province], to the east direction. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff is analyzing more details of the missile with the U.S. side." The U.S. Department of Defense and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) have made an initial assessment that the missile was an ICBM, according to Office of the Secretary of Defense spokesperson Col. Robert Manning. The missile traveled 1,000 kilometers, flew over Japan, and landed in the sea east of Japan within its exclusive economic zone.
So are you advocating a "wait and see" attitude? Maybe we should continue to hope China can be a "positive influence" on them? That didn't work out so well for Neville Chamberlain who hoped to use the Italians and the French to temper Hitler's ambitions.
It's only a matter of time before this blows up in the faces of the civilized world. Better to deal with it sooner than wait until NK is bristling with nuclear armed ballistic missiles. They have proven time and again to be untrustworthy.
I've seen various estimates showing that Japan could have nukes in short order if they desired. They have all of the relevant tech, the expertise, the money, and the raw materials. Certainly not advocated for them to build them, but it would likely be a relatively trivial exercise for them to develop nuclear arms.
... with NK.
It's Japan's jurisdiction.
Sadly, this really ignorant post is currently modded "Insightful", which it most certainly is not. And I have no mod points to mod it down with.
North Korea has no diplomatic relations with Japan, nor is it interesting in "settling" any issue at all with Japan. The purpose of the ballistic missiles is to threaten the USA. The only player in this game that North Korea wants to settle anything with is the USA. And just so you know, in the past a Japanese administration tried the "play nice" tactic with North Korea and it didn't accomplish anything except end up with Japan giving up food aid for nothing in return.
You cunts bitch when we get involved and you bitch when we don't. Make up your fucking mind already.
> My speculation is that Trump is trying to provoke Kim Jong "Rocket Man" Un to do something rash
My speculation is that Trump has an ego only outsized by his mouth, and he has no plan at all beyond trying to out-insult NK. He's a stupid egotistical hypersensitive bully, and simply doesn't have a complicated playbook to draw on.
The difference between my speculation and yours is that mine explains everything he's said and done and yours... well, yours doesn't.