North Korean leader Kim Jong Un provides guidance on a nuclear weapons program in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on Sept. 3. © KCNA/Reuters
Nikkei Asian Review: Seoul believes Pyongyang has miniaturized ICBM nuke
South Korean defense chief made assessment after Sunday's powerful blast.
SEOUL -- The South Korean military now assumes that Pyongyang has successfully produced a nuclear warhead small enough to be loaded on an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Defense Minister Song Young-moo made that assessment during a committee hearing Monday at the National Assembly, according to Yonhap News Agency and other South Korean media outlets. He said the North Korean regime has apparently lowered the payload to below 500kg, a key threshold that allows for use of ICBMs.
Song also said Sunday's underground test of a nuclear device was the North's most powerful to date, with a yield of 50 kilotons. By carrying out its sixth test so far, Pyongyang is establishing facts on the ground proving it is a nuclear power, Song noted.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: Here are some of the North Koreans who made this feat possible .... North Korea's nuclear scientists take center stage with H-bomb test (Reuters).
Update: There are still some skeptics on North Korea's nuclear capabilities .... North Korea nuclear test: Is Pyongyang telling the truth about its military capabilities? (Anthony Pearce, Yahoo News).
7 comments:
Being able to fit a nuke into a IBM or bm was SK own red line.
When we assets being moved to the peninsula enmass you'll know the window of diplomacy has been shut.
I'd expect a Colin Powell style meeting with Nork military where the u.s shows and explains the tools it has face to face.
Like Saddam l.don't expect Kim to listen.
A nuclear tamper or reflector is not as arcane as the go slow, look the other way, process monkeys want others to believe.
Look at it this way. Moore's Law also works in favor of the North Koreans. So some of those people, who think the NoKos are too stupid to build a H-Bomb should put that in their pipe and smoke it
The process monkeys have political science majors, international relations masters, law degrees & public administration degrees. Some people who get those degrees can be really great, but look at some of the politicians and activists, who have those degrees. It does not leave people with much hope.
Definition: A process monkey is someone like John Kerry who engages in a diplomatic/political process and at the end of the day all you get is more process, but never a good result.
Not sure where I heard this 1st.
Kim's North Korea is considerably more capable than Saddam's Iraq was. There realky is no comparison. In the event of war with North Korea, perhaps we "win." Either way large numbers of Americans are all but guatanteed to die.
Whike
I live in the Houston, TX area in the US. We've just been through major flooding and it is ongoing. While I was not flooded, many family and friends were and have lost everything. Many lives have been lost as well. There's nothing we can do tame nature except to pray and to adjust.
In contrast, decisions we make can prevent, delay, or hasten war. Given the massive American death toll that would result, extreme prudence is required. Perhaps we need to. We best be certain.
Aizino,
I couldn't have put this any better myself.
Bposter, while we often disagree, I of course wish you stay safe and that there won't be any more floodings for a few decades! Hope everything will be back to normal soon
The point is Kim will lose badly, he is forcing a u.s military response.
The nukes,are not the issue, the bluff of the poker player is the issue and his hand needs to be called.
The minute he launched that missile over Japan the u.s should have responded in kind.
My point with Iraq is that on paper they were the 4th most powerful military on earth, Pentagon super computers were predicting upwards of 20,000 coalition casualties in the first week.
They got it wrong, way wrong and Kim would do well to not overplayed his hand and buy into his own hyperbole of the proficiency of his paper tiger.
Depending an the trajectory, the U.S. has up to a 5 minute window & often less to respond.
After that it is either space base interception or terminal interception.
If a politician dithers for a minute or two, your chances go down considerably.
Bposter,
I thought you lived a couple hours north of Houston. Now, you live in Houston. You really should make up your mind, where you live.
Anonymous,
Thank you so much for your concern and kind thoughts. Words cannot ecpress how much it is appreciated. We are a very resilient people. As such, things will get back to normal. Normal will never be what it was though.
If we agreed on everything it wouldn't be as much fun nor would we learn anything.:-)
Fazman,
In the Gulf War they got it "wrong" because the Us and it's coalition "allies" in effect won the military equivalent of the lottery. The coalition estimates for casualties probably were accurate. To base policy on winning the lottery be it personal or national is inadvisable. Also, the US military is less powerful relatively speaking today than it was in the early 1990s.
Bottom line: we cannot "know" the outcome in advance. As such, it is premature to say North Korea will "lose badly." While certainly possible, such seems unlikely. North Korea wishes to deliver "packages" to America. Will they deliver them to Australia as well? I hope and pray not. While I'm not sure about Australia, America's ridiculous immigration policy means it isn't even necessary to use missiles to deliver "packages." North Korean operatives who are already here can do this.
American civilian casualties will very likely be massive. Perhaps we need to engage North Korea militarily. We best utilitze extrene prudence here.
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