Should the US take North Korea seriously?

2016-03-30T09:25:34-04:00

North Korea is saber-rattling again. This time they claim they are ready to conduct a preemptive nuclear strike against the U.S.

Whether or not they have the capability and range to do so is debatable, and they likely do not possess such capabilties. Still, it is a threat, and a significant one.

At what point do we take these threats seriously and up our game? Even the boy that cries wolf is eventually truthful.

What should we do? Sanctions? Limited military action? Hope for a coup?

This has gone on so long its obviously hard to take the country seriously. We know they suffer from extreme famine. There entire military is a façade.

Still, a threat is a threat and we know that at the minimum they do have nuclear weapons that could easily be used on SK if nowhere else.

Obviously they are a squeaky wheel in desperate in need of oil, however, they are playing with fire in my opinion.

Response by SSG Ed Mikus made Mar 30 at 2016 9:38 AM

2016-03-30T09:38:35-04:00

little things i have noticed in the news lately including the N Korean leaders message to his people, the new joint exercises in the area and the new commander of US Korean forces leads me to believe we are taking this very seriously this go round. Our leaders (mostly Congress) have enabled us to look weak while still trying to push other countries around. it is coming before were ready.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 30 at 2016 9:39 AM

2016-03-30T09:39:51-04:00

You would think that we would be by now. I would hope that behind the scenes we are making plans for this now. In South Korea, they rarely even acknowledge NK claims on the news. It is always said that until the South Koreans start showing national concern, no need to worry. I would think we have more sense than that though. Hopefully the next President, whoever that may be, takes some actions to calm NK down... or deal with them all together. I am sure NK has plenty of allies behind the scenes that make decision making for us more difficult.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 30 at 2016 9:59 AM

2016-03-30T09:59:22-04:00

The way the world like to wait til something bad happens........well, that is when NK will be taken seriously when they finally succumb to that itchy hair in their six.

Response by LTC Paul Labrador made Mar 30 at 2016 10:06 AM

2016-03-30T10:06:44-04:00

You have to look at the big picture when dealing with NK. What is their overall goal? Their overall goal is to keep the Kim dynasty in power. They are not going to do that by re-starting the Korean War. China is not going to bail them out this time. Neither is Russia. Any war they start will end with Kim either dead or imprisoned, and the Korean peninsula reunified under the ROK. His best play is to throw a temper tantrum whenever he wants something, but to maintain the status quo as long as he can.

Response by 1SG James Wise made Mar 30 at 2016 11:47 AM

2016-03-30T11:47:20-04:00

North Korea sees how our President reacts to other imminent threats, so they continue to saber rattle while he is in office hoping for concessions from the world, or at least America, and likely believe that the current President will not pull the trigger for anything short of them actually detonating a nuclear weapon inside the borders of one of our allies or America itself. They do know we can have retaliatory strikes on top of them in less than 15 minutes, and at worse in hours by bombers from Guam - so I do not expect anything WMD from North Korea anytime soon...but it is hard to guess what a régime like that will actually do.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 30 at 2016 12:24 PM

2016-03-30T12:24:42-04:00

Well let's see.
Iran behaves badly, and they get a deal.
Russia behaves badly, and they get a pass.
Syria behaves badly, and they get pinprick airstrikes.
Cuba just behaves like Cuba, and we restore diplomatic relations and talk about giving them Guantanimo.
DPRK behaves badly, and...

Kim Jung Un is nuts, but he isn't stupid. He wants his gravy.

Response by CW4 Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 30 at 2016 12:35 PM

2016-03-30T12:35:51-04:00

About as seriously as the movie "The Interview" takes them.

Response by Capt Mark Strobl made Mar 30 at 2016 6:28 PM

2016-03-30T18:28:45-04:00

LTC Private RallyPoint Member - I suppose we have to take North Korea seriously. To this, we should assume they have both the will and capability to carry out their threats. Simple as that.

Response by CSM Darieus ZaGara made Mar 31 at 2016 7:17 AM

2016-03-31T07:17:39-04:00

Yes!

Response by SGT James (Jimmy) Crone made Jul 22 at 2017 2:59 PM

2017-07-22T14:59:04-04:00

NK has no allies where at the same time we have S.Korea and Japan, can't start a war with nothing they only have enough food and ammunition to last maybe a week, we'll win air superiority and our navy will be dominant in the sea so NK can't handle this fight. Don't kick the tiger while it's sleeping.