Asia

Going Ballistic

Tokyo's frenzied response to North Korea's missile launch may have helped Kim Jong Il.

By Takashi Yokota | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Apr 6, 2009

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  • Posted By: theNANCE @ 04/10/2009 7:13:02 AM

    Good old President Obummer, the Islamic Muslim Sleeper Terorist doesn't care what Korea does. He is all might and all powerful. Just a snap of his dirty fingers will put an end to Korea. He could call on his demons from below to stomp them under. Maybe some of his relatives from Arica can do a vodoo dance on a small row boat docked off the coast of Korea. Maybe he could fly over Korea in a plane and do one of his natice dances to stop Korea. Why worry Liberals, you out the bastard in office now live with it.

    • Posted By: Osama Bin Login @ 04/10/2009 1:19:05 PM

      "the Islamic Muslim Sleeper Terorist "

      BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

  • Posted By: theNANCE @ 04/10/2009 7:16:19 AM

    Please folks, do not worry one drop!!! The all mighty messiah, Barrack Husein Obummer, the sleeping Islamic Terrorist will hand the problem just as soon as he stops bowing to the Islamic Muslims in the Middle East. Besides, he and his goofy wife are busy spending all the tax payers money on luxaries for themselfs over in Europe. Fancy eating establishments and all the fine arts they deserve for being Islamic Muslims desguised as Christians. Have no fear, the false savior is near.

    • Posted By: Osama Bin Login @ 04/10/2009 1:18:31 PM

      "The all mighty messiah, Barrack Husein Obummer"

      Stopped reading right there.

      Go back to Rush's website. It's more your speed.

  • Posted By: AmericanSage @ 04/09/2009 10:39:14 AM

    I think any meaningful discussion on this matter needs to wait upon events unfolding. The Bush Presidency policy of using SIX intermediaries to talk to the N Koreans was the height of absurdity and played directly into N Korea's hands by enabling Both sides to claim(when results went awry as they so often did) that the actual agreement's meaning had been 'lost in translation'.
    Now however Obama will talk DIRECTLY with N Korea and cut out all the Middlemen. No room for ambiguities or misinterpretations.
    Make no Mistake - no matter how much China wishes to 'shelter' North Korea as fellow Asian Communists, barring a Direct Military attack by the West, they will NOT go to war on North Korea's behalf.
    Now, by going into DIRECT Talks, Obama is opening the light of day to the insane actuality of N Korea's demands. Obama can then, reasonably turn to China and quietly tell them to either Stop N Korea themselves or get the hell out of the way while the West does.
    China WILL reign in North Korea. they simply cannot afford not to. But the Pre requisite to China unequivocally tell North Korea to stand Down must be the Direct face to face US N Korea talks. Nothing else will reveal how insane they are and how much of a threat.

    • Posted By: electrictv @ 04/09/2009 8:59:09 PM

      yes, Obama will cure everything from measles to ballistic missiles. God, move over; you're only needed on Sunday.

  • Posted By: jbz7879 @ 04/08/2009 9:16:27 AM

    china and russia CAN eat NATO and digest the whole fascist imperialistic block of clowns posing as free democratic society while they indulge in everything from genocide in iraq to killing children with drones in afghanistan -
    someone needs to teach the lecherous NATO TO WATCH out as it is a damned bankrupt institute both morally and financially and corrupt to the core with an incompetent media that cen no longer even cover for their habitual lies to their own poor people -
    i hope they concentrate on saving a few jobs in UK -USA ,RATHER THEN LECTURE/REPRIMAND KOREA AND IRAN while the pound and dollar are becoming worthless -

  • Posted By: kunino @ 04/07/2009 6:46:42 PM

    North Korea has every right to fire off a test rocket, and have it fly across Japan at 100,000 feet or more above Japanese territory. The law is clear, there is no legal bar to this at all. It's distressing to see and hear president Obama responding to this event in the traditional sabre-rattling way. One must await to see whether the current US arm-twisting of other Security Council members produces anything other than this week's appropriate "get lost."

  • Posted By: KNUTE9 @ 04/07/2009 3:25:33 PM

    Negotiating with North Korea is like negotiating with Hitler. The real question why is China and Russia running blocker, maybe sanctions should be in order for them as well.

  • Posted By: pjdarling12 @ 04/07/2009 2:38:48 PM

    Geeze....If that's what those filks look like after a successful launch, I don't reckon you can ever accuse them of having too much fun.

  • Posted By: Vigilance @ 04/07/2009 2:34:28 PM

    "President Barack Obama told a crowd in Prague that "North Korea broke the rules" and that "violations needs to be punished." "

    @Mr. Yokota - I believe Mr. Obama probably said "violations NEED to be punished." No second "s".

  • Posted By: manishyt @ 04/07/2009 2:07:49 PM

    China Needs To Come Clean in North Korea (And Pakistan)
    When it comes to North Korea, there are few good options for the United States. This nation clearly possesses some kind of nuclear capability and has good mastery of rocket technology (despite the failure of its test this week). How did this happen? North Korea is an isolated hermit kingdom. It would have problems building a bicycle. So where did this capability to build sophisticated weaponry come from? The same can be said incidentally of Pakistan, though the two countries are very different. The one thing that both countries share, is that they both border, and have a close alliance, with China. It is our belief that China has decided that it is in its strategic interests to pass on weapons technology to both countries in a bid to keep its democratic neighbors down ??? Japan, South Korea and India. However, in trying to thumb its nose at the West and Asia???s democracies, China runs the risk of letting things collapse too far in both countries. In particular, China itself will suffer tremendously if North Korea collapses, not America. Let???s leave this problem to the Chinese. If they are not willing to come clean and help in solving the stand-off, North Korea???s economic collapses will be their problem. And they are the ones who will have to pick up the pieces.
    http://dailyexception.com/2009/04/07/china-needs-to-come-clean-in-north-korea-and-pakistan/

  • Posted By: youngblood80 @ 04/07/2009 8:08:23 AM

    I am a South Korean and it is sometimes shocking how ill-informed people in the West are about our northern sibling. First, North Korea is despotic and erratic but it isn't suicidal; 6 decades of regime survival through a brutal war, famine and the death of its founding leader in 1994 points to this. This is just another tantrum for attention, particularly from Barak Obama. The North is likely trying to look tough without going to the limit. Targeting Japan, which has been largely pacifist for the last half-century, is much less risky than say, South Korea (US is out of the question).

    Second, going to war against an attention-hungry nation with no proven terrorist ties that share borders with the South and China is just illogical. How do you think China and Russia would react if the US decided to invade a neighbouring country in which they have many strategic interests. China, for one, will not tolerate sharing a border with a future US ally (which is why they intervened in the Korean War).

    Third, North Korea will in no way be a pushover. 1 in 20 people are in active military service; that's a million! If you count the reserves, all of which have at least 10 years of active experience, that's probably the largest military in the world. They have far more artillary and missiles than either the Taliban or the Baath. They have been preparing for foreign invasion for the last 50 years and the whole country has been fortified for this purpose. I predict that though China will not directly involve itself, it will provide supplies for the NKPA from across its borders. This will result in a well-supplied guerilla war in a harsh, mountainous country with freezing winters; result; probably a catastrophe worse than Vietnam.

    Trying to nuke North Korea or 'reduce this pathetic patch of earth to nothing more than a smoldering crater' as othoschild has suggested would be a thoroughly self-defeating move. Not only would it create a HUGE international backlash since it does nothing to protect innocent civilians, it would also be an extremely dangerous precedent for other nuclear and non-nuclear powers. Remember, there are 7 other countries recognized to having nukes.

    Lastly, Japan was understandably jibberish about this affair, but in my view, disproportianately so. Many countries in the region are firmly against Japanese rearmament let alone having a place as a permanent UN Council member. I may be biased but Japan has never truly humbly accepted the atrocities it commited in Asia, in stark contrast to Germany. Until it finds its place in Asia, it will never be fully accepted as a global power. This incident and the Japanese media reaction makes me suspicious of Japan's motives. Is it simply using this as a means to justify rearmament?

    • Posted By: DGT38 @ 04/07/2009 1:47:57 PM

      Thank you Youngblood for the ???local??? insight. I think we (the U.S.) sometimes thinks that because we have Internet access and smartphones, we suddenly know as much as the CIA. I have a friend who does news coverage for National Public Radio in Southeast Asia. We???ve had some good talks and it is clear the mainstream media does a sensational job at misrepresenting that part of the world. Thanks again for the clarity.

    • Posted By: GD38 @ 04/07/2009 1:43:48 PM

  • Posted By: youngblood80 @ 04/07/2009 9:52:43 AM

    othoschild,
    Point taken but I doubt the NK would budge just by showing off firepower. If NK does indeed want to start a fight, it will be far from a conventional WWII-style war. It would rather be a guerilla war where firepower loses it's utility. Of course, North Korea is probably not gaining much fear on the present demonstrations of US firepower in Iraq and Afganistan.

    PS, Gadaffi's Libya is an idiosyncracy. When else has military demonstrations and threats alone worked to permanently change a dictator's attitude? And it's Kim Jong il, not Kim Jong Dong (whatever, right?)

  • Posted By: othoschild @ 04/07/2009 9:18:47 AM

    My critics assume I was talking about nuclear detonation. Not at all. Way too expensive to use against a miserable excuse for a country llike North Korea. I would like to see a demonstration of power to remind them of what we COULD do. Movies,etc are fine, but not like seeing the real thing, firsthand. Like say, a few hundred of our naval vessels conducting excerices just barely in international waters off the NK coast. Again, nice and showy. If that does not lead to attitude adjustment, then perhaps something more along the lines of our previous experience with Libya. You know, old Mirimar has been a lot different boy since we knocked him off his toilet (He likely had a complete BM that day). A model global citizen. If properly motivated, perhaps Kim Jong Dong could be too...

  • Posted By: DrewCAENG @ 04/07/2009 1:24:10 AM

    Dumb idea otho in fact pretty retarded, they know our capabilities, everyone has seen the video of nukes blowing down houses... detonating a nuclear bomb off their cost would only escalate things and prompt the fanatics to actually DO something crazy. If we do do anything it needs to be quite like the old days

  • Posted By: othoschild @ 04/07/2009 12:49:29 AM

    We have been dicking with these jerks for over 50 years. It's time to put an end to it. The US military needs to conduct an exercise of its own, something nice & showy just in international waters off North Korea..to let them know we can reduce this pathetic patch of earth to nothing more than a smoldering crater if they really piss us off. Also would be a nice step to protecting the west coast of our own country..

  • Posted By: westwingpotus @ 04/06/2009 10:41:37 PM

    wow, that's one happy group of people.

    But dear god, that's so funny -- the state news agency used the exact same photo that they used LAST TIME they photoshopped Kim Jong into a group picture. Didn't they learn from that fiasco? Or do they like being the laughing stock of journalism? Or are they just trying to be subversive?

    It's begining to look more like a scene from "Weekend at Bernies"

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