
N-Korea, N-Test - tparekh
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/north-korea-apparently-conducts-another-nuclear-test-south-korea-says/2017/09/03/7bce3ff6-905b-11e7-8df5-c2e5cf46c1e2_story.html?utm_term=.3ee8905738f4
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jeffdavis
I know there are lots of outrages going on today, but put in perspective, the
situation with North Korea is far and away the gravest concern.

We are talking about literally millions of lives at stake -- perhaps many more
if it gets out of control and becomes a war involving both China and the US.

I don't have a solution, but I think we need to be prepared for tough choices.
It may be that no good outcome is possible at this point.

~~~
uoaei
Which lives do you mean, exactly? North Korean, or others?

IMHO, KJU has nothing to gain and everything to lose by provoking other powers
into a forceful response. The erratic behavior of him and his government is
the defensive tactic itself. The ability to cause destruction overseas is of
secondary concern, and it would seem to be a negligible one in the face of a
potential response.

Trump employs something similar--act unpredictably and people keep their
distance. Create the next sensationalist headline and people will 1) stop and
think about what exactly is going on and 2) stay their distance. Do this
enough times, often enough, and you're relatively shielded from serious
threats to your power.

Of course, there is a limit, but so far they both are acting within
tolerances.

~~~
jeffdavis
"The ability to cause destruction overseas is of secondary concern"

No, that's my _primary_ concern.

If your calculation is off, and they do attack, or scare someone else enough
to attack them, the result will be horrific.

And you seem to assume the situation there is stable and KJU will behave
rationally. If domestic politics in NK get complicated or KJU gets too
paranoid, there's no telling what he will do.

~~~
uoaei
I meant that, for KJU, he is less concerned about the ability to cause
destruction than he is about preserving his seat of power. I believe KJU is
more rational than he broadcasts, in that his motivations for acting the way
he does comes from a plan to keep everyone at arm's (or rocket's) length and
not out of some crazed all-or-nothing brigade. It doesn't seem sustainable in
the long run, I agree. It's a matter of time until something off-the-wall
happens.

I also find it hard to believe that the US, China, and Russia don't all have
sophisticated countermeasures in place in case a rocket is launched with a
trajectory toward something important. It may still cause horrific damage, but
not on the level of a megacity.

Your primary concern is not his. That is my wager. Let's hope my optimism wins
out...

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balance_factor
North Korea has been making peace offers for a while, South Korea has been in
discussions with them, the US has turned them down without much consideration.

North Korea, China and Russia all think Trump's bellicose attitude towards
North Korea has been unhelpful. This test is a quite rational response to the
pressures that are being turned up on North Korea.

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igravious
Guardian live timeline:
[https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2017/sep/03/north-
kor...](https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2017/sep/03/north-korea-
nuclear-test-south-korea-yohap-kim-jong-un-live)

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beebmam
Gradual nuclear proliferation continues to bring us closer to hell on earth.
Can we please ban nuclear weapons before this happens?

We've banned chemical and biological weapons. Why not nuclear? They post a
much greater threat to humanity, and that threat is growing as states like
North Korea improve their capability.

~~~
quotemstr
Nuclear weapons are the greatest instruments of world peace ever conceived.
Don't you think we'd have had another set of massive industrial total wars in
the 20th century had it not been for MAD? As it is, we've had only a few
occasional brush fires. There is practically zero risk of an actual nuclear
exchange.

If you waved a magic wand and eradicated all nuclear weapons and other forms
of mass destruction, you'd return us to a world of bloodshed and horror. It's
counter-intuitive, but it's true.

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etergri
Someone in the 'mighty' 'murica will begin to taste fear

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senectus1
are they actually seeing radiation from these blasts? or just calling "nuclear
sized" blasts as nuclear blasts...?

There are some pretty big and serious reasons for being specific about this.

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dredmorbius
Also reported by the BBC, no paywall:

[http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41139445](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-
asia-41139445)

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baklavabook
North Korea is enabled by China; without China, North Korea government will
never be able to get all the technologies/parts/fuels it need to survive. It
would have collapsed.

We (US) and the world enable China by allowing manufacturing to be offshored
to China, an authoritarian government which has horrific track record of
censorship, human rights abuse, pollution, etc.

We need to stop, and punish China for supporting North Korea.

~~~
2_listerine_pls
> punish China for supporting North Korea.

How?

~~~
cjsawyer
Stop wrong them paychecks.

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kcna
A victory of socialism.

~~~
synicalx
It's a great symbol for socialism really, the whole country is starving to
death whilst the literal fat man at the top makes some nukes to threaten
America with. Great success!

