The last month, there's been a lot of tension out here in eastern Asia, thanks to North Korea's blatant disregard for UN resolutions. Last time, I did a diary about the previous launch in April, and was told I had "nothing to worry about." Then the other day, they detonated a nuke. Again, people tried to rationalize it away like no big deal. Today, North Korea fired TWO MORE MISSLES off its northeastern shore, basically flipping the bird to all of us. Their batshit-as-ever news service made this statement:
"Our army and people are fully ready for battle . . . against any reckless U.S. attempt for a pre-emptive attack,"
Even China and Russia have finally realized that something has to be done about this regime before they turn the crazy up to 11 - thank god, since they were cockblocking any attempts at doing something up until now.
The U.N. Security Council moved quickly in an emergency meeting Monday to condemn the North Korean test, saying it constituted a clear violation of a 2006 U.N. resolution barring the communist state from exploding a nuclear weapon. The council's speedy response reflected what analysts called deep displeasure by Russia and China, and contrasted with protracted discussions that followed North Korea's April 5 launch of a long-range missile.
The Chinese government, North Korea's main economic patron, said it was "resolutely opposed" to the test and told Pyongyang to avoid actions that heighten tensions and return to multi-nation talks focused on dismantling its nuclear program. China's response Monday was significantly more pointed than it was to North Korea's first nuclear test, in October 2006.
South Korea, who of course has the most to lose from a conflict with North Korea, has taken a harder stance against the North as well now, joining the Proliferation Safety Initiative Bush created in '03 after refusing before, and joining a US-led effort to stop any NK ships trying to export WMDs - an action that NK has stated they would take the same way North Korea interprets anything that isn't exactly what they want - an act of war.
Now, there is a bright side to this, in a way, according to the Washington Post report - North Korea sucks at making nukes.
But several U.S. experts on nuclear weapons said Monday's test demonstrated that the North Koreans have not yet mastered the technology of creating a reliable nuclear bomb.
"The simplest hypothesis is that they're trying to build a weaponizable device and they're still not that good at it," said Jeffrey Lewis, director of the Nuclear Strategy and Nonproliferation Initiative at the New America Foundation, a nonprofit group.
I admit I laughed at the bold part, but this still isn't much comfort for me. Not just because there are about 200 regular missles ready to hit just about any target in Japan, nuclear or not. In my mind, the only thing scarier than an armed crazy person is a crazy person armed with faulty weapons. How do we know ol' "Dear Leader" won't just say "fuck it, shoot it anyway?" And "only" 2-4 kilotons isn't really going to comfort the folks in any east Asian country that gets hit with it if they do launch it.
And why are they doing all this?
North Korea has focused on establishing full diplomatic relations with the United States and receiving recognition as a nuclear state, according to several official statements and many analysts.
Obama's special envoy to North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, has signaled he is willing to begin bilateral talks with Pyongyang, as well as continue negotiations in a six-nation disarmament forum. But North Korea is rejecting all talks, accusing Obama of continuing the Bush administration's "hostile policy."
I had relationships in high school less ridiculous than this. People who complain about Iran? Pssh. This is just pure, unadulterated crazy. So, I know you're all concerned with the middle east and all, but I'd much appreciate it if no more missles flew over my head.
I realize this is a pretty biased diary and all, but I am so frustrated at this point I can't even be bothered to pretend to be impartial. If I didn't sadly have the common sense in my head to realize attacking them or sending in CIA ninjas to whack Kim Jong Il would cause an even bigger mess than we already have, I'd probably be high-fiving the chickenhawks right now. No wonder they refuse to live in the real world.
UPDATE/EDIT: TheRagingCelt posted an interesting link in the comments below, that suggests that it is possible for such a small nuclear blast to be faked. While it would be nice to find out that we don't really have any nukes to worry about in this clusterfuck, I think that making a fake nuclear test would just be the icing on the crazy-cake for me.
Also, for reference, I was against the Iraq war from the beginning and normally very, very anti-war. That is another part of what is driving me nuts on this.