North Korea bombs South Korean island

[BillBoard]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...ng-Island.html North Korea bombs South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island North Korea has bombarded a South Korean island with artillery shells, injuring civilians and soldiers and setting more than 60 properties ablaze. North Korea shells South Korean island South Korea's Yeonpueong Island is engulfed in thick smoke after North Korean military launches artillery attack Photo: EPA By Peter Foster in Beijing 7:17AM GMT 23 Nov 2010 The attack, which comes days after it emerged that North Korea was pressing ahead with its illegal nuclear programme, marks a serious further escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsular. South Korea officials said dozens of rounds had landed on Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea, 50 miles off the South’s northwest coast in an area close a disputed sea border. Other reports suggested as many as 200 shells were fired. As South Korean forces returned fire, Civilians were evacuated to emergency bunkers, according witnesses quoted by the Seoul-based cable news television channel YTN. Fighter jets were scrambled and an emergency cabinet meeting was called in Seoul.

[tsetsefly]

Re: North Korea bombs South Korean island

ITs been reported (bbc I think) that south korea responded with artillery fire of their own. I doubt anything will come of this. IF anything it's the north testing the south and the south wants to avoid war at all cost.

[don]

Re: North Korea bombs South Korean island

Was the South conducting military maneuvers on the island?

[jpatter666]

Re: North Korea bombs South Korean island

Was the South conducting military maneuvers on the island?

They certainly were conducting military maneuvers in the vicinity. I agree that while there may still be small skirmishes, I assign very small probability to a general conflict.

[ASH]

Re: North Korea bombs South Korean island

I wish the North Koreans would get their stupid leadership succession hijinks over with.

[jpatter666]

Re: North Korea bombs South Korean island

I wish the North Koreans would get their stupid leadership succession hijinks over with.

The Beloved Dear New Leader needs some military victories under his paunch!

(you're right that the succession issue is doubtless behind this)

[ASH]

Re: North Korea bombs South Korean island

Has anyone posted this yet?



PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA—In surprisingly candid remarks Thursday, Kim Jong-un, heir apparent to North Korea's highest government post, expressed doubt that he was sufficiently out of his mind to succeed his father, longtime dictator Kim Jong-il.

Kim says the task of somehow becoming "as loony tunes as [his] dad" is a daunting one.

While emphasizing that he was definitely completely insane and would likely be even less stable by the time he assumed power, the younger Kim nevertheless wondered if he could ever be enough of a lunatic to replace the most unhinged leader on the planet.

"Obviously, I know I was handpicked because I'm super crazy," said Kim, the youngest of the 69-year-old dictator's four known children. "But my father's just so great at what he does. Did you know the people of North Korea have heard his voice exactly once, for like five seconds? How nuts is that? Honestly, I look at stuff like that and I think, 'Wow, there's just no way I can ever top Dad.'"

"We're talking about a world-class nutjob here," he added.

Kim told reporters that since emerging as the presumptive next-in-line to lead North Korea, he had spent countless hours trying to come up with his own brand of craziness that would honor the tradition set forth by his father and grandfather, Kim Il-sung, but would also set him apart. After discovering that many of his best ideas had already been taken by his father—including making citizens bow toward wall-sized portraits of himself or claiming to be a demigod whose moods directly influence the weather—Kim admitted he had grown frustrated.

Kim cites this massive and bizarre demonstration as evidence that his chances of ever being able to top his father in the "crazy department" are very slim.

"At this point, I'm not sure what's left for me to do, really," he said. "I mean, according to the Ministry of Information, Dad hit 11 holes-in-one the first time he ever played golf. I'm dead serious. Dad had never even picked up a golf club before, and he hit 38 under par. Where am I supposed to go from there? I guess I can say I ran a marathon in 20 minutes, but isn't that pretty much the same thing?"

"It is the same thing, isn't it?" Kim added. "Ugh."

Kim, who in his rare public appearances wears a plain dark suit, said he ultimately hoped to cultivate an eccentric, yet vaguely sinister look as iconic as his father's pompadour, drab parka, and sunglasses, perhaps something "even nuttier" involving canes, a large yellow raincoat, or possibly a motorized scooter.

Other ideas Kim has had for proving his insanity include placing anyone shorter than himself under permanent house arrest, issuing a new national currency every 90 days, normalizing relations with South Korea, and replacing all medicines with synthetic replications of his own saliva.

"Of course, I have to be careful not to come off as too crazy, because then it would just feel forced and no one would buy it," said Kim, noting that he was working on some slogans that North Korean schoolchildren would be forced to chant three times daily. "Then again, maybe having it come off as forced would make me seem even crazier, because what kind of a maniac would go to such lengths to outdo his father? Right? Or is that just a cop-out?"

Although Kim's birthday is already recognized as a national holiday and any criticism of him is punishable by indefinite sentences in re-education camps, Kim suggested that the stress of living up to his father's insanity had been taking a toll.

"I can't even enjoy the things I used to love, like forcing starving people to perform a five-hour dance routine in my honor, because I spend the whole time obsessing over whether I'm being wacko enough," Kim admitted. "That's what's so special about Dad, you know: He never worries about all that stuff, he just acts like himself. What can I say? The old man set the loony bar pretty high."

When asked if he planned to consult the elder Kim for advice, the future leader said that while his father would almost certainly have valuable insights, the man was far too crazy for even a lunatic like himself to speak to.

"But I've got to prove myself to him somehow," Kim said. "He'll kill me if I don't."

The Beloved Dear New Leader needs some military victories under his paunch!

(you're right that the succession issue is doubtless behind this)

[goadam1]

Re: North Korea bombs South Korean island

I like Stratfor's article on this one. Less answers or questions on what is developing but more a series of koans.

The questions STRATFOR is focusing on after the Nov. 23 attack are as follows:

Is North Korea attempting to test or push back against limits on conventional attacks? If so, are these attacks meant to test South Korea and its allies ahead of an all-out military action, or is the North seeking a political response as it has with its nuclear program? If the former, we must reassess North Korea’s behavior and ascertain whether the North Koreans are preparing to try a military action against South Korea — perhaps trying to seize one or more of the five South Korean islands along the NLL. If the latter, then at what point will they actually cross a red line that will trigger a response?
Is South Korea content to constantly redefine “acceptable” North Korean actions? Does South Korea see something in the North that we do not? The South Koreans have good awareness of what is going on in North Korea, and vice versa. The two sides are having a conversation about something and using limited conventional force to get a point across. We should focus on what the underlying issue is.
What is it that South Korea is afraid of in the North? North Korea gives an American a guided tour of a uranium enrichment facility, then fires across the NLL a couple of days after the news breaks. The South does not respond. It seems that South Korea is afraid of either real power or real weakness in the North, but we do not know which.

http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/201...other_red_line
Is North Korea attempting to test or push back against limits on conventional attacks? If so, are these attacks meant to test South Korea and its allies ahead of an all-out military action, or is the North seeking a political response as it has with its nuclear program? If the former, we must reassess North Korea’s behavior and ascertain whether the North Koreans are preparing to try a military action against South Korea — perhaps trying to seize one or more of the five South Korean islands along the NLL. If the latter, then at what point will they actually cross a red line that will trigger a response?
Is South Korea content to constantly redefine “acceptable” North Korean actions? Does South Korea see something in the North that we do not? The South Koreans have good awareness of what is going on in North Korea, and vice versa. The two sides are having a conversation about something and using limited conventional force to get a point across. We should focus on what the underlying issue is.
What is it that South Korea is afraid of in the North? North Korea gives an American a guided tour of a uranium enrichment facility, then fires across the NLL a couple of days after the news breaks. The South does not respond. It seems that South Korea is afraid of either real power or real weakness in the North, but we do not know which.


Read more: Is North Korea Moving Another 'Red Line'? | STRATFOR

[don]

Re: North Korea bombs South Korean island

The Beloved Dear New Leader needs some military victories under his paunch!

You're confusing NK leaders with American Presidents.

[goadam1]

Re: North Korea bombs South Korean island

He looks like he was feed a diet of only butter.

[oddlots]

Re: North Korea bombs South Korean island

There was a very interesting interview with a US historian here that that kind of rocked my world:

http://www.bloomberg.com/podcasts/lapham/

[ThePythonicCow]

Re: North Korea bombs South Korean island

There was a very interesting interview with a US historian here that that kind of rocked my world:

http://www.bloomberg.com/podcasts/lapham/

I see a dozen interviews at that link. Which one did you find interesting?

[jpatter666]

Re: North Korea bombs South Korean island

I see a dozen interviews at that link. Which one did you find interesting?

Given the topic, I'm guessing the Korean War one?

[ThePythonicCow]

Re: North Korea bombs South Korean island

Given the topic, I'm guessing the Korean War one?

You're a genius!

Looks like this one:

Author Cumings Discusses Book `The Korean War': Lewis Lapham
Sep 24, 2010
Bruce Cumings, a professor of history at the University of Chicago, talks with
Bloomberg's Lewis Lapham about his book ``The Korean War: A History.''

Download

[oddlots]

Re: North Korea bombs South Korean island

Sorry, Bruce Cumings from September 24th. Gives the roots of the Korean conflict in the 20s and 30s and some startling information about the level of damage inflicted on the north in the war years. Not sure what conclusions it leads to but it at least humanises the north a bit.