This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: North Korea

  • “…but, Mom, if we go to war…”

    Image result for photos of uss pueblo

    Photo: NSArchives

    Guess who is upset with the US for dropping a Very Large Bomb on the Afghan-Paki border in a spot where ISIS is known to hold its confabs? Why, none other than the former president of Afghanistan, Karzai himself.  http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/17/former-afghan-president-massive-us-bomb-was-an-atrocity.html

    He says the GBU-43 (Giant Bomb Until-exploded #43) MOAB is an atrocity. I think that’s really rich coming from him, don’t you? Isn’t he the whiner who talked the US into prying the Taliban out of Afghanistan when he couldn’t get it done? And didn’t he tolerate their bad behavior and their atrocities until they sent that country into the toilet? Or is my memory fading? Is Karzai bored since he left office? He seems to want attention rather badly. So is Karzai longing for a war now?

    It’s been a while since the feeling that something big was going to happen hit me like a brick, but last Friday night, after running errands all afternoon so that I wouldn’t have to do it on Saturday, I went over to the restaurant on the highway to get some supper instead of cooking. There was a lot of stuff on the TVs hung over the food area, the usual chatter and some sports stuff and I paid no attention, because whatever is going to happen, is going to happen. Right?

    Must have been liberty weekend or something. Some E-2 sailor wearing crackerjacks was sitting in a booth with his girlfriend, talking on the  phone with his mother. Or talking to the phone, because you could hear Mom, too. I had eyes and ears on the news. The chatter from the sailor’s phone con, while distracting from the news, wasn’t enough to grab my attention until that noise changed to “but, Mom, if we go to war….”

    Oh, shit.

    For those of you too young to remember, the USS Pueblo was off the coast of North Korea, supposed to be in international waters, when she was hijacked by the Norks under Kim Il-Sung (Grandpa Kim) on January 23, 1968.  I was sorting prints in the print finishing room at NAVPHOTOCEN, Anacostia, which has been replaced by some other building. A PH1 came out of the Chief’s office to let us know what had happened. He said it was ‘an act of war’, which meant we’d be in it for the duration. Yes, there was that sinking feeling that came and went. What did it really mean?  LBJ did consider using nukes over that.

    A bare seven days later in the wee hours of the morning on January 30, 1968, Uncle Ho launched his  attack on every ville, city, and military base in South Vietnam. The Tet Offensive lasted until September that year. I didn’t have a TV or radio at my apartment, and a lot of other things were going on stateside that accompanied the uptick in warfare in Vietnam, and all the discord that went with it. I tried to keep up with it all, based on the chatter at work.

    The Norks still have the Pueblo, as a museum. We need to bomb that sucker into oblivion, first thing. Take away their ‘glory’.  Coordinate something with the Chinese, because this isn’t Norkiland’s 1952 when the Chinese were supporting them.  The Chinese want foreign trade. We’re one of their biggest customers.

    You could put a real conspiracy theory novel together over collusion between Kim Il-Sung and Ho Chi Minh, if you took the time to do it. It would probably be more accurate and more entertaining that Ollie Stone’s conspiracy theory twaddle. Was the hijacking of the Pueblo an attempt to start World War III or maybe revive the Korean War?  And let’s not forget the (not Norks’ – my bad!) Soviets’  shooting down Korean Airlines Flight 007 in September 1983, because the pilots strayed slightly off course.

    So, Mom, Dad, I don’t think we will go to war. Trump is not Lyndon Johnson, not by a long shot.

    But if we do go to war, I hope it’s quickly over. I hope our losses are minimal. And I hope your kids come home intact.

  • NDtBF becomes a Democrat

    NDtBF becomes a Democrat

    The North Korean government is sounding like the US Democrat Party these days as they blame President Trump for the current climate in relations between the US and the Hermit Kingdom, according to the Associated Press;

    Vice Minister Han Song Ryol said Pyongyang has determined the Trump administration is “more vicious and more aggressive” than that of his predecessor, Barack Obama. He added that North Korea will keep building up its nuclear arsenal in “quality and quantity” and said Pyongyang is ready to go to war if that’s what Trump wants.

    So how is Trump being more vicious and aggressive?

    This year’s joint war games between the U.S. and South Korean militaries are the biggest ever; the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier has been diverted back to the waters off Korea after heading for Australia; and U.S. satellite imagery suggests the North could conduct another underground nuclear test at any time. Pyongyang recently tested a ballistic missile and claims it is close to perfecting an intercontinental ballistic missile and nuclear warhead that could attack the U.S. mainland.

    Many experts believe that at its current pace of testing, North Korea could reach that potentially game-changing milestone within a few years — under Trump’s watch as president.

    Yeah, the North Koreans had eight years of unimpeded nuclear development. In fact, in 2007, the Israelis destroyed a nuclear facility in Syria that was being built by North Korea during Operation Orchard. Imagine a civil war in a nuclear Syria.

    North Korea conducted two nuclear tests last year (before there was a President Trump, by the way)in spite of the calls from the rest of the world to stop their testing. But, yeah, Trump is the problem.

    The Washington Post credits the president for convincing China to lean on the Norks;

    For the first time, the Chinese government appears to have laid down a bottom-line with North Korea and is threatening Pyongyang with a response of “unprecedented ferocity” if the government of Kim Jong Un goes ahead with a test of either an intercontinental ballistic missile or a nuclear device…In an editorial in the semi-official Global Times on Wednesday, Pyongyang was put on notice that it must rein in its nuclear ambitions, or else China’s oil shipments to North Korea could be “severely limited.” It is extraordinary for China to make this kind of threat. For more than a decade, as part of its strategy to prop up one of its only allies, China refused to allow the U.N. Security Council to even consider cutting oil shipments to North Korea. Beijing’s calculus was that the maintenance of the North Korean regime took precedence over everything. Now Beijing seems to be reconsidering its position.

    The president has been Tweeting about the Chinese responsibility for reigning in the North Koreans and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made clear the US’ intention to stop the North Korean’s march towards being a nuclear-armed State. So I guess NDtBF is feeling the heat finally.

  • The Saga Continues with NDtBF

    North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (front) stands on the conning tower of a submarine during his inspection of the Korean People's Army (KPA) Naval Unit 167 in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang.

    Photo: Reuters

    Fatty Kim da T’ird, aka NDtBF, still has some submarines. According to this article from CNBC, 50 of them seem to have just gone ‘poof’ – vanished like snow in the July sun back in 2015.

    http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/12/north-korea-submarine-threat-is-another-worry.html

    The author of the article makes several good points, e.g., the Nork subs are diesels which should make them easier to track (shouldn’t it?), and also, he includes the fact that the Norks can elude land radar and launch ballistic missiles without detection.  Why on earth Emmentaler Boy wants to pester Japan is beyond me, unless he’s looking for target practice.

    There is good reason to be concerned: March was “the seventh anniversary of the sinking of South Korea‘s Cheonan navy ship by a North Korean submarine torpedo attack. That aggression killed 46 sailors and wasn’t the first time the reclusive North had made incursions into South Korean waters.”

    In addition. the solid fuel used for underwater launches is now being used for the land-based missiles. It’s less time-consuming to set up a land-based missile launch using the solid fuel than it is when liquid fuel is used. That makes land missiles harder to find and much more mobile.

    Some critics dismiss the diesel subs because they are ‘old and noisy’, but in 2015, 50 of them simply disappeared… or did they?  Have any have been spotted off the California coast? Or do they ever stray that far from home?

    I know we have plenty of DEW in Alaska and California, so I’m less concerned than I would be if I were in South Korea or China, but it does not mean that NDtBF can’t order a launch from a position standing off the US west coast, does it?

    The Chinese regard Norkiland as a buffer between them and the South, but as we all know, Fatty Kim da T’ird likes to pick enemies out of thin air. In my view, it means that Xi JinPing should be somewhat concerned about his antics, and I believe he is. The US is a major trading partner with China. But you know that already.

    There’s a reason I say this: while the US Navy’s strike force is paying a visit to South Korea, it’s mostly for show.  I don’t know how much of this posturing on Fatty Kim’s part is meant as a way to distract the US from his butt-buddy Syria. However, if the Cheeseslaying Chickengazer decides he wants to launch against the South, regardless of any actual aggression by anyone at all, he will do so. Remember, his daddy fired on an island for no reason during a military exercise that South Korea and the US held, a few years back.

    NDtBF really is that driven. He has to prove himself, you know. He’s got stuff in his head that says ‘Do what Daddy Kim and Grandpa Kim did’.

    Unfortunately, despite his exposure to the outside world, I don’t think he understands that the Chinese are unlikely to back him this time around, the way they backed his granddaddy. He should not piss them off or make them nervous. Things have changed considerably since 1953.

    Pres. Xi has already told Pres. Trump that the Korean problem should be resolved peacefully.  http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/12/chinas-xi-tells-trump-situation-on-korean-peninsula-should-be-resolved-by-peaceful-means-reuters-citing-state-media.html

    China can shut off trade with him in a heartbeat. They’ve already turned away his coal transport ships and are accepting coal from the US instead.  Now I wonder who made that deal…?

    Basically, Fatty Kim da T’ird is spoiling for a fight. Fine. I know that. It is my considered opinion that if he brings one, it will not work out in his favor.

    He may have a lot of SLBMs now, but he may end up with No-Dong at all.

    (Puns are allowed in comments. You should go for it like gangbusters. It’s Wednesday.)

  • In today’s news from Norkiland….

    Following up on yesterday’s news about the USS Carl Vinson strike force being redirected to the Korean peninsula, the news this morning may or may not be grim.

    Kim Jong-un is upset that the USNavy is paying a visit to his neighbors to the South. It is ‘outrageous, an act of aggression, etc., etc., etc.’

    He’s inviting all the bigwigs available to come for an April parade and another nuke blow demo (his 6th!) to show us that by golly, he’s ready for us!  He will definitely impress them with his plywood and cardboard missiles on trucks.

    Meanwhile, Norkish coal ships are being turned back by China, which means he won’t get any money from that resource. Syria is, of course, encouraging him because he’s probably Bassad’s biggest source of nuclear possibilities and encouragement.

    All the provincial officials are gathering for the proposed parade in Pyongyang, as well as the next nuke test from Punggye-ri.

    http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/11/north-korea-calls-us-aircraft-carrier-dispatch-outrageous.html

    Aside from that, if he’s planning another test, it will register on seismic networks set up to detect such things. When/if it happens, the USGS will report it to the media, and the magnitude will afford enough information to determine the approximate yield of the test.  Remember, his  2nd and last test last year had a yield of 20 to 30 kilotons, two to three times the yield of the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombs.

    I may make jokes about him, but I still take the fat bastard seriously.  He still doesn’t get that no one wants to invade his domain or open the flood gates to the starving North.

    So, we still have anti-missile missiles, right?  Does he still have any working fighter jets?

    And the real question is, of course, this: what if he held a war and nobody came?

    Someone has a fanboy page of pics of Fatty Kim da T’ird looking at things such as food and an empty soccer field.

     http://kimjongunlookingatthings.com/

    Apparently, he likes crispy fried chicken.

  • Carl Vinson Strike Group headed for Korea

    The Washington Post reports that the Carl Vinson Strike Group was diverted as it left Singapore for Australia and is now steaming for Korean waters.

    North Korea is expected to hold a huge military parade on April 15 to celebrate the 105th birthday of its founding president, Kim Il Sung, and to mark the 85th anniversary of the creation of the Korean People’s Army on April 25 with similar fanfare.

    Analysts expect the recent barrage of missiles to continue, and activities around its known nuclear test site have raised concerns North Korea may be preparing for a sixth nuclear test.

    Over the weekend, North Korea said it was not afraid of military strikes like those the United States launched on Syria last week, saying it could defend itself with its “tremendous military muscle with a nuclear force.”

    The Vinson Group had just completed maneuvers with the South Koreans in March. The North Koreans have called the missile attack on their ally Syria an “unpardonable…undisguised act of aggression against a sovereign state”. I’d remind the North Koreans of Israel’s September 6, 2007, attack on Syria’s al-Kibar nuclear facility that had been built by North Korea.

  • Norks ready with “most ruthless blow”

    Norks ready with “most ruthless blow”

    Australia’s News reports that NDtBF has threatened the US with a “most ruthless blow” if they’re provoked by the United States;

    “Our army has already said that if there will be even the smallest provocation from the United States during exercises, we are ready to deliver the most ruthless blow,” Interfax news agency quoted ambassador Kim Hyong-Jun as saying.

    “We have the readiness and ability to counter any challenge from the US,” he was quoted as saying.

    I imagine that North Korea is feeling a need to demonstrate some testosterone after the Tomahawk live-fire demonstration last night while the US and Chinese leadership in Florida discussed rocket-blocking the Norks. I believe the North Koreans tried to help the Syrian government build nukes once before until the Israelis put an abrupt end to the cross-cultural experiment.

  • Out of the Mouths of the Disillusioned… Finally!

    North Korea receives American grain from US

    Photo: Getty Images

    The truth about North Korea has now disillusioned some supporters because their tour bus took a wrong turn. The individual who relayed this story had been an avid supporter of the Kim regime. But no more. He went there with several other people, expecting to find a workers’ paradise.  He and his fellow passengers were rapidly enlightened by the truth about that hellhole.

    He asked to not be identified, saying he feared reprisal, and we all know what an nice guy Fatty Kim is, don’t we?

    The visitor described what he saw on a forum for ex-communists at network54.com, saying he “wised up and saw the truth, not some idiotic blinkered vision of socialism” – from the article.  http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/597420/north-korea-wrong-turn-friends-of-kim-jong-un-kfa
    Pictures are included. Children are forced into unpaid labor, chained together, working in construction, not getting enough to eat. Despite Pyongyang’s propaganda program, Norkiland can’t survive without outside support. Its self-proclaimed independence is hogwash. The government repackages and relabels foods like rice to eliminate country of origin, especially if the foodstuffs come from the USA.  People are in rags, living in filthy conditions, with nearly no sustenance of any kind, and that includes, as the observer says, skinny soldiers.

    Skinny soldiers? You’d expect the military to at least get three squares, wouldn’t you?  Well, we’re wrong. Whatever money is coming into Norkiland, and that includes any that the Norks may have stolen, is apparently going into developing nuclear weapons and missiles to carry them.

    I don’t know how long the link will last, so take advantage of it now. This is also what is happening in that other worker’s paradise, Venezuela.  More on that is to come later. It’s worse than ever down there.

  • This Morning’s News from Norkiland (Updated)

    The late Kim Jong-Nam

    Kim Jong-un is getting froggy. SoS Tillerson, during his recent visit to South Korea, indicated that China is not willing to clamp down on that small chunk of the Korean peninsula north of the DMZ line, despite the clear evidence that Fatty Kim da T’ird is bound and determined to punch anyone within striking distance of his NoDongs. (Puns are intentional.) The US is now saying the policy of ‘strategic patience’ is over. Military action is possible.  The real problem there is getting China’s government to squelch the little bugger, but they’re dragging their feet because of that border thingy of theirs.  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39297031

    Meantime, South Korea has appealed to the World Trade Organization that China is treating South Korean companies unfairly. So, what’s so new about that?  http://www.bbc.com/news/business-39324536

    Okay, we all know that the Norks are a not-quite-there version of the Keystone Cops, but only until they execute someone with an antiaircraft weapon when he pisses off Fatty Kim da T’ird for some minor infringement of some kind like buttoning the coat on the left instead of on the right or sneezing during formation. Then they become the slavering, drooling, tailwagging hunchdogs of an uncivilized, vicious, bad tempered megalomaniac spoiled brat who had his own brother murdered. That’s his bro’s picture at the top. I think he still has a sister. If she had any brains at all, she’d leave yesterday.

    Meantime, Fatty Kim da T’ird is bound and determined to have a war, period. We are being warned that we should expect another missile launch soon, possibly this week? Month? Year?

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-exploring-range-of-new-measures-to-respond-to-north-korea/2017/03/21/de7f4f66-0e63-11e7-aa57-2ca1b05c41b8_story.html?ut

    Okay, I get it. Fatty Kim da T’ird wants a war to prove his ‘manhood’ or something, right? My take on this? If he launches even one missile and it goes further than the Norkiland coast, launch one or two THAADs to take it down, and at the same time, scramble a fighter squadron, bomb the living shit out of the Pueblo, and beat feet out of there. That’s just to let the Inglorious Little Basterd know that we know that he knows that we know that he knows that we can do that.

    We could also target that 150-foot statue of Grandpa Kim, couldn’t we? That hideous “Ode to Inglorious Basterdie” sticks out like a sore thumb. It shows up on Google maps.

    Fatty Kim da T’ird should be careful what he wishes for. Used ice cream is never as good as the fresh kind.

    03-23-2017: this is an update to this post, an op-ed piece by Robert Gallucci, for the L.A. Times.

    http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-gallucci-north-korea-icbm-missiles-tillerson-20170323-story.html

    I’m surprised that the L.A. Times would present Mr. Gallucci’s op-ed, since it takes a lot to surprise me, but it is worth your time to read it. I question his opinion that we are not anti-ICBM missile capable, because we have definitely moved on from the 20th century when the Minuteman missile was our best response.

    In addition, the Norks are now accusing Japan of spying on them, which may have something to do with Japan’s recent launch of a intelligence-gathering satellite. Ya think?

    http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2017/03/23/North-Korea-accuses-Japan-of-espionage/7861490267869/