Korea heating up

[Silverbird]

Not DC even if they get a delivery system from someone else; it's a lloooonng shot over the USA - they are better off trying for California. As it is, they'd have to have it fly over the Pacific Ocean, which is beyond their range. At best, if their Taepong system actually works, the very edge of Alaska is the only target (Hawaii is too far south).

Plus they have a problem reducing their plutonium to the size carried by a warhead.

 

[kodaq2001]

North Korea lost their mind! Are they asking to be destroyed? ... anyways, i haven't been following the tsp for very long so i'm not sure about all the trends. Do world events have an affect on the stock market?

 

[Frixxxx]

North Korea lost their mind! Are they asking to be destroyed? ... anyways, i haven't been following the tsp for very long so i'm not sure about all the trends. Do world events have an affect on the stock market?

Most Definitely!

 

[JTH]

North Korea lost their mind! Are they asking to be destroyed? ... anyways, i haven't been following the tsp for very long so i'm not sure about all the trends. Do world events have an affect on the stock market?

If NC ever crossed the boarder, than YES that would be a market changing event, but it would be hard for us to capitalize on a move like this, given TSP's limitations.

But anyone who has been to Korea knows this is just the usual 50 years of saber rattling.

 

[Frixxxx]

If NC ever crossed the boarder, than YES that would be a market changing event, but it would be hard for us to capitalize on a move like this, given TSP's limitations.

But anyone who has been to Korea knows this is just the usual 50 years of saber rattling.

More like end of regime, saber rattling. Right before his father Kim-Il Sung passed (1994), there was a lot of saber rattling then. I was stationed there 1990-1991.

The father was going to send everyone south so he could die with honor. But then, that never happened.

Anyway, no worries here.....

 

[JTH]

More like end of regime, saber rattling. Right before his father Kim-Il Sung passed (1994), there was a lot of saber rattling then. I was stationed there 1990-1991.

The father was going to send everyone south so he could die with honor. But then, that never happened.

Anyway, no worries here.....

Dude, you're old!!! I can't remember that far back :cheesy: Seriously though I ain't never been and have no plans to go now that I no longer work on F-16s. God bless those who have to go, that can be a tough 1-year gig for the family man.

 

[PessOptimist]

Dude, you're old!!! I can't remember that far back :cheesy: Seriously though I ain't never been and have no plans to go now that I no longer work on F-16s. God bless those who have to go, that can be a tough 1-year gig for the family man.

Hey, hey, watch the age discrimination

I was TDY there (Pusan) four times in 88/89. It can be a culturally rewarding and eye opening experience for the single man

It was also a very sobering and sometimes scary place once you venture on to ROK bases. The ROK soldiers weren't used to seeing USAF people and we got challenged several times. A lot of it had to do with us wearing green fatigues while the in country US forces had transitioned to BDUs. I fixed that at my own expense during the second TDY. (guess we looked like tall KATUSAs)

I wasn't used to someone pointing a .50 at me while screaming for his NCO. Made me think about the true nature of my job. (I'm a cold warrior, 72-96)

Yes, God bless all who are there or may have to go there.

 

[Frixxxx]

Dude, you're old!!! I can't remember that far back :cheesy: Seriously though I ain't never been and have no plans to go now that I no longer work on F-16s. God bless those who have to go, that can be a tough 1-year gig for the family man.

VVVVVVV Um...see the guy down here VVVVVV He's twice as old as me:laugh:

Hey, hey, watch the age discrimination

............ (I'm a cold warrior, 72-96)
....

 

[James48843]

...

South Korea has nicely trained forces and with the Support of the U.S. the battle wouldn't last more than 100 days. And that my friends is just a "liberal estimate".

...

"We will be greated as liberators..."?

But anyone who has been to Korea knows this is just the usual 50 years of saber rattling.

Except now they have nukes.

Could get interesting.

If in fact it's an "End-of-Dear Leader's" reaction, this could get very, very ugly--, very, very quick.

We used to have a lot more ground troops there. We've drawn down to just 25,000 for speed bumps now. That's not enough to stop them- that's only enough to ensure that when they run over us, we'll react full force in response.

Yes- this could get ugly.

 

[alevin]

My vet neighbor served in Vielflicken (spelling?) Germany after leaving Nam. VF was a mile from the Russian border. He said the expectation was the base would survive for all of 3 minutes if the Russians decided to come on over. He said one day the Russian tanks lined up on the ridgeline above the base-1 for every man on the base. Eerie. If troop movements start in NK, may it never go beyond that level.

 

[Frixxxx]

My vet neighbor served in Vielflicken (spelling?) Germany after leaving Nam. VF was a mile from the Russian border. He said the expectation was the base would survive for all of 3 minutes if the Russians decided to come on over. He said one day the Russian tanks lined up on the ridgeline above the base-1 for every man on the base. Eerie. If troop movements start in NK, may it never go beyond that level.

Believe me, If they start moving troops toward the border....we will know!!!

Anyway, what surprised me was the number of troops around 25,000...When I was there it was around 60K..

I'd hate to see what kind of response we could give if 200K descended from the North.....:blink:

 

[James48843]

Believe me, If they start moving troops toward the border....we will know!!!

Anyway, what surprised me was the number of troops around 25,000...When I was there it was around 60K..

I'd hate to see what kind of response we could give if 200K descended from the North.....:blink:

U.S. Forces: 25,000
South Korean Forces: About 600,000


N Korean forces: About 1,000,000

North Korean Order of Battle:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/dprk/army.htm


NOTE: Changes between 1992 and 1999 reflect both actual changes in the composition of KPA forces, as well as improved intelligence estimates of these forces.



1999
Number Strength 996,000

Organization
Corps
20 Conventional
12 Mechanized
4 Armor
2 Artillery
2 Geographic


Divisions / Brigades
153 Infantry divisions
60 Brigades



Mechanized and mobile brigades 25
Armor brigades 13
Artillery brigades 30
Special operations forces brigades 25
Special operations forces battalions 7

Equipment
Total medium and light tanks 3,800
T-54/55/59 +2,200
T-62 +600
T-34 n.a.
APCs 2,270
Other light tanks (PT-76/China's T-62/63 and North Korea's M-1985) n.a.


Artillery 11,200
Self-propelled +5,500
Towed +3,000
Multiple rocket launchers 2,400
Mortars
60-160mm +9,000

 

[Silverbird]

Kim Il-Sung already had groomed his son for succession, it was without question that Kim Jong-Il would be next unless the military was able to pull off something crazy.

Kim Jong-Il's eldest son is pretty much an embarassment that the regime doesn't talk about, infamous for getting caught at Japan's Narita airport with a fake passport to go on a trip to Tokyo Disneyland, and supposedly this wasn't the first visit - and he's overweight, and rumored to go overseas not just for amusement parks. He was on the news implying he's not the one, and it's up to his dad anyway.

His youngest son is 20. He's an adult, but he's not old enough to drink, as they say. There also is a middle son, and some say he's the one, but others say he's chronically ill. Neither has had the time to start his own fairy tale line (ok, that was mean but that's how I see it). Notice I don't even their names, neither has the recognition their father did when his grandfather was failing.

Some say neither is fit nor ready, and it's time to move away from the Kims.

This succession is going to be a lot more dangerous.

 

[PessOptimist]

Kim Il-Sung ... He was on the news implying he's not the one, and it's up to his dad anyway.

His youngest son is 20. He's an adult, but he's not old enough to drink, as they say. There also is a middle son, and some say he's the one, but others say he's chronically ill. Neither has had the time to start his own fairy tale line (ok, that was mean but that's how I see it). Notice I don't even their names, neither has the recognition their father did when his grandfather was failing.

Some say neither is fit nor ready, and it's time to move away from the Kims.

This succession is going to be a lot more dangerous.

For WIW the sons are
Kim Jong-nam (born May 10, 1971, Pyongyang, North Korea)
Kim Jong-chul (born September 25, 1981)
Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-woon or Kim Jung Woon (born 1983 or 1984)

All were born outside of whatever the NCs call marriage. There is a daughter born from his marriage to Kim Young-suk who's name is Kim Sul-song (born 1974).

His current squeeze (sorry companion, what was I thinking) is Young Ok. She is only 24 years younger than him so he shows remarkable restraint.

It is after all good to be the king.

This is going to get interesting and I hope not crazy for the sake of all the Koreans I have met and the US forces stationed there.

 

[alevin]

I just posted a new public photo album in my CP-its an article about a life service award to a man who's been my father's friend for over 40 years now. Korean vet and beyond. Growing up across the street from him, I knew nothing of his time in service, only knew he worked for the CIA on secret stuff (of course!), but just learned recently he was a SEAL before there WERE SEALS. Back then, the diving equipment wasn't what it is today. He is dealing now with COPD-a legacy of his time as a SEAL-before there were SEALSs. I wanted to share the article with you guys-if you're so inclined, take a look at the article in the album-the pixels were too big to post here-the article was scanned from hardcopy.

 

[Buster]

Reports: NKorea Kim's youngest son named successor

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea told its diplomatic missions that Kim Jong Il's youngest son — who reportedly enjoys skiing and studied English, German and French at a Swiss school — will be the nation's next leader, a South Korean lawmaker and newspapers said Tuesday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090602...lYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDcmVwb3J0c25rb3Jl

 

[Silverbird]

NKorea vows to "weapnize" plutonium - cites UN Sanctions (yes they actually managed to get a UN security council vote condeming their munitions test).
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/06/13/un.north.korea/index.html
And revealing of the Legend of the Brilliant Comrade (the new title for the youngest son) has started...

 

[James48843]

Keep your eye on North Korea. Things getting interesting now.

North Korea leader orders rocket units on standby to hit U.S. bases: KCNA

Source: Reuters

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un orders the country's rocket units to be on standby to attack U.S. military bases in South Korea and the Pacific in an emergency meeting on Friday after the United States flew Stealth bombers in a show of force to Pyongyang.

The North's official KCNA news agency said Kim signed off on the orders at a midnight meeting of top generals and "judged the time has come to settle accounts with the U.S. imperialists in view of the prevailing situation."

"He finally signed the plan on technical preparations of strategic rockets of the KPA, ordering them to be standby for fire so that they may strike any time the U.S. mainland, its military bases in the operational theaters in the Pacific, including Hawaii and Guam, and those in South Korea."

Read more: North Korea leader orders rocket units on standby to hit U.S. bases: KCNA | Reuters

 

[wavecoder]

if they want nukes so bad we should send them a few. I'm sure nobody would miss north korea if they're wiped off the map

 

[rcknfrewld]

Things have been getting interesting for years in north Korea with reports of them getting nukes...I thought Obama took care of the situation by giving them a stern diplomatic talking to...