Noisy neighbors to the north acting up again. o,0

[FBM]

FBM can you please come back to the states for a little while?

I'd love to. Just find me a job where I can work 18 hours a week and get 5 months of paid vacation and I'm there.

Can someone please hire FBM????

[Coito ergo sum]

At least 18 people have been injured following North Korea’s launch of several artillery shells that struck a South Korean island. The attack happened on Tuesday at 2:40 pm (local Japan time). N. Korea had not attacked S. Korea since the 1953 ceasefire.
“This is an intentional and planned attack… and it is clearly in violation of the armistice,” said Lee Hong-ki, an official with the South Korea’s defense ministry.

The North Korean artillery shells struck Yeonpyeong, one of South Korea’s tiny islands where mostly fishermen and their families live. South Korea returned fire. Plumes of smoke have been spotted off the coast.
An emergency meeting was called following the attack. Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan and the Obama administration are in touch with South Korea’s prime minister Kim Hwang-sik on the situation. Japan has raised its military alert system in case the situation escalates.
The Chinese government has asked that both sides do everything they can to find a peaceful resolution to the incident.
North Korea is claiming that South Korea attacked first. The S. Korean military was performing an annual safety drill when the attack was reported.
White House Response
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs issued this statement:
“The United States strongly condemns this attack and calls on North Korea to halt its belligerent action and to fully abide by the terms of the Armistice Agreement. The United States is firmly committed to the defense of our ally, the Republic of Korea, and to the maintenance of regional peace and stability.”

http://newsjunkiepost.com/2010/11/23/no ... uth-korea/

The US response - blah blah blah....

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Manga Comic Wielded by South Korea Against Skeptics About North

[Coito ergo sum]

[FBM]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11818450

[Coito ergo sum]

The artillery—more than 50 rounds, according to island residents speaking on YTN—was fired from positions south of the North Korean city of Haeju.

The attack started at 2:34 p.m. local time, according to residents who were speaking on the TV network. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

About 1,200 people live on the island, which is 10 kilometers south of the tip of North Korea's south coast.

The attack is the second by North Korea this year against South Korea in the maritime border area of the Yellow Sea. In March, a North Korean submarine torpedoed and sank a South Korean warship near an island about 40 miles west of the island that was hit Tuesday.
And these tidbits coming in from Reuters:

Witness says power failure on South Korean island hit by shells; Residents evacuated to bunkers
Television pictures show at least four plumes of smoke from S.korea island
Witness says shelling continues on S.Korea island, a few houses have collapsed

So, let's bring this into some perspective....let's say that your town was hit by over 50 artillery shells. Two of your neighbors were killed and at least 18 wounded. The power was knocked out and local authorities directed the populace in your town to "bunkers" where you had to hide for hours, not knowing what was going to happen. Your children would have been scared shitless by the loud and unfamiliar noises - the anxiety and fear among the adults would be transferred to the children who would be in fear for their lives. You learn that several residential homes have collapsed, and from your bunker you wonder if it's your house, and what is becoming of the world.

This is the second attack in 8 months on your country by the same megalomaniac.





Is this a war crime?

[Coito ergo sum]

Kim Jong Il is in violation of the Armistice: "The Commanders of the opposing sides shall order and enforce a complete cessation of all hostilities in Korea by all armed forces under their control, including all units and personnel of the ground, naval, and air forces, effective twelve (12) hours after this armistice agreement is signed." http://news.findlaw.com/wp/docs/korea/k ... 72753.html

This is by definition a repudiation of the armistice. And, technically speaking the hostilities have recommenced, plainly and obviously. If there was any doubt about it with the sinking of that sub a few months ago, there is no doubt now.

It's on.

And, it's fucking time for Kim Jong Il to go.

I'd like to see Japanese naval forces blockading the eastern side of the north, with help from a US carrier group, and another carrier group off the west coast. I'd like to see a British carrier group also on the west coast and I'd like to see Australian and Canadian forces start steaming their way toward Korea. I'd also like to see several US nuclear submarines make their presence known off the west coast of North Korea.

This sort of thing can't be allowed.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Be careful what you wish for.

[FBM]

OK. Just a thought experiment. There are plenty of NK higher-ups who know the score: the North would lose any war it started. Now, prolonging the current situation, however deplorable, is the 'safe' bet for all sides. However, the South holds the ultimate card. It, with its allies, would win any war started by the North. China would not risk its economy and worldwide stature to support an aggressive NK. It's already expressing ambivalence about the whole thing. So, if I were the South, I would call NK's bluff. I would push back just as hard as I got pushed. NK rains down artillery on one of my inhabited islands? I'd rain down an equal number of bombs on one of theirs or something equivalent. Step by step tit-for-tat. If the North is willing to go all-in, so should the South, because the South has a sure bet. It's just a matter of balls. Political balls. Does the SK prez have them? He's full of rhetoric, that's for sure.

If I were him, I'd range in Pyongyang and all the NK artillery batteries that the satellites reveal, load my cannons with the most powerful bunker-busters known to man, and see how big KJI's balls really are.

[FBM]

@ CES: It wasn't a sub, but anyway, I rikey.

0517-ODU-South-Korea-Cheonan-warship_full_600.jpg (34.21 KiB) Viewed 410 times

Waiting for Ian to chime in...

[Coito ergo sum]

Be careful what you wish for.

Well, I am not of the mind that my "wishes" have any impact on reality.

But, I can only see this as getting worse. I guess I see it as a situation where, now, we have a chance at having jong dickweed back down. If we pussy out now, though, again, then we are only making it less likely that he'll back down later.

The reason I suggest we "gear up," is because to cower in the face of this aggression is no solution.

These are people - innocent civilians - being shelled in the South by a monstrous regime that starves its own people and enforces a leadership theocracy where the citizens are compelled to literally WORSHIP their dear leader. Children have been scarred for life, families are morning, houses have been destroyed along with people's belongings.

North Korea says they were justified in doing it. Don't they need to be shown that they weren't?

It's the planet of the apes over there.

[Coito ergo sum]

@ CES: It wasn't a sub, but anyway, I rikey.

You're right - the North Koreans attacked WITH a sub....

[charlou]

Come on Barak! Time to start wearing those ovaries on the outside!

You just can't help yourself can you. FFS.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Be careful what you wish for.

Well, I am not of the mind that my "wishes" have any impact on reality.

That's not what that means.

[leo-rcc]

How much more bs does South Korea have to endure before it is justified to turn the north into a glass parking lot?