North Korea 'has launched rocket'

[Edmund]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7982874.stm

North Korea 'has launched rocket'

North Korea has launched a rocket, despite international appeals not to go ahead.

Officials from Japan, South Korea and the US confirmed lift-off at 0230 GMT.

The rocket appeared to have passed over Japan to the Pacific, Tokyo said.

North Korea says it is sending a satellite into orbit, but its neighbours suspect the launch could be a cover for a long-range missile test.

The US called it "provocative", while Japan said it was "regrettable".

The South Korean government said it would "deal firmly and resolutely" with Pyongyang.

The rocket blasted off just before midday on Sunday from the Musudan-ri launch pad in the north-east of North Korea.

"The projectile launched from North Korea today appears to have passed over towards the Pacific," the Japanese prime minister's office said in a statement.

The US State Department and South Korea's presidential office also confirmed the launch.

Japan said it did not try to intercept the rocket, as it had indicated that it would if its territory was threatened.

North Korea's neighbours say the launch violates United Nations resolutions.

Lets hope it doesn't kick off.

[Hitesh]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7982874.stm

North Korea 'has launched rocket'

North Korea has launched a rocket, despite international appeals not to go ahead.

Officials from Japan, South Korea and the US confirmed lift-off at 0230 GMT.

The rocket appeared to have passed over Japan to the Pacific, Tokyo said.

North Korea says it is sending a satellite into orbit, but its neighbours suspect the launch could be a cover for a long-range missile test.

The US called it "provocative", while Japan said it was "regrettable".

The South Korean government said it would "deal firmly and resolutely" with Pyongyang.

The rocket blasted off just before midday on Sunday from the Musudan-ri launch pad in the north-east of North Korea.

"The projectile launched from North Korea today appears to have passed over towards the Pacific," the Japanese prime minister's office said in a statement.

The US State Department and South Korea's presidential office also confirmed the launch.

Japan said it did not try to intercept the rocket, as it had indicated that it would if its territory was threatened.

North Korea's neighbours say the launch violates United Nations resolutions.

Lets hope it doesn't kick off.

Saw this in the morning and it was the first thing I thought of! The UN are meeting today so it will be interesting to see the outcome. One thing that does come to mind, if it were to kick off in some way, surely the resources from many countries are quite low at the moment after Iraq and Afghanistan?!

[breadandcheese]

Nothing will kick off. There'll be an emergency summit at the UN Security Council. Russia and China will ensure sanctions aren't so severe and that will be that.

The real question is what ramifications this has for future events. President Obama, who threatened to intercept and shoot down the missile if North Korea test-fired it, issued no such order. North Korea called his bluff and found him unwilling and unwanting. Obama has a massive potential to really change the world but he's got to be careful not to be perceived as weak.

[davieG]

Saw this in the morning and it was the first thing I thought of! The UN are meeting today so it will be interesting to see the outcome. One thing that does come to mind, if it were to kick off in some way, surely the resources from many countries are quite low at the moment after Iraq and Afghanistan?!

Wow! Where do you live these days Hitesh

[Guest Bilo]

At this point we should all salute our future 'Dear Leader'

[Hitesh]

Wow! Where do you live these days Hitesh

In that little hut to the right of the rocket!

[Steven]

What is the problem?

[Bryn]

What is the problem?

North Korea are run by ****wits and we asked them not to fire missiles around, because giving ****wits highly damaging weapons tends to end in tears - look at George Bush for example.

[Edmund]

What is the problem?

[Jordan]

Result?

FAIL

Nothing will kick off. There'll be an emergency summit at the UN Security Council. Russia and China will ensure sanctions aren't so severe and that will be that.

The real question is what ramifications this has for future events. President Obama, who threatened to intercept and shoot down the missile if North Korea test-fired it, issued no such order. North Korea called his bluff and found him unwilling and unwanting. Obama has a massive potential to really change the world but he's got to be careful not to be perceived as weak.

IIRC, it wasn't Obama that threatened to intercept the launch, but rather South Korea and Japan. Japan had said that if any part of the rocket had a chance to fall on Japan, they would shoot it down. I can't find the quotes, though.

But simply, Kim Jong-Il is a total fúcktard. The reason why non-proliferation treaties ban North Korea from possessing nukes and long-range missiles are the same reasons why parents don't allow their young children to have a puppy: 1) You're not responsible enough to take care of one and 2) Eventually, we're the ones that's going to have to clean up the mess.

You'll find out all you need to know about China with the way they will stonewall any attempt by the U.N. to punish the World's Largest Legitimized Cult.

[Finnegan]

At this point we should all salute our future 'Dear Leader'

no. If he isn't dead already he certainly would be by the time it ever took the Koreans to take over the world.

[Guest Bilo]

no. If he isn't dead already he certainly would be by the time it ever took the Koreans to take over the world.

Does this mean I have to take my grey boiler suit and stacked shoes back to the shop?

[Edmund]

For those who no little about North Korea, here are some good documentaries from The National Geographic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjiLVgQ34i0...feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ6E3cShcVU

[Ultra]

North Korea are run by ****wits and we asked them not to fire missiles around, because giving ****wits highly damaging weapons tends to end in tears - look at George Bush for example.

True.

But unlike the North Koreans, Bush used his weapons on other countries - as did we.

[BoneDog]

Who sold the North Koreans their nuclear parts in the first place? I don't know where they got them all from but I do know that a German company called AAB or ABB sold them some parts for nuclear weapons around 2000 or 2001. And who was a director of that company at the time? None other than Mr Rumsfeld. The same guy who played a massive part in selling chemical weapons to Saddam in the 80's.

And two years later (after resigning from his director post at AAB), after selling the North Koreans these weapons he was on the news saying 'Look what the North Koreans have got'. Another simple set up

[breadandcheese]

True.

But unlike the North Koreans, Bush used his weapons on other countries - as did we.

Seriously, you cannot draw any moral equivalence between us and North Korea.

[breadandcheese]

Who sold the North Koreans their nuclear parts in the first place? I don't know where they got them all from but I do know that a German company called AAB or ABB sold them some parts for nuclear weapons around 2000 or 2001. And who was a director of that company at the time? None other than Mr Rumsfeld. The same guy who played a massive part in selling chemical weapons to Saddam in the 80's.

And two years later (after resigning from his director post at AAB), after selling the North Koreans these weapons he was on the news saying 'Look what the North Koreans have got'. Another simple set up

It wasn't a set-up or anything clandestine.

The deal you're referring to was the building of 2 nuclear power plants in North Korea, which was a condition of a 1994 deal between the USA and North Korea in which North Korea agreed to freeze its nuclear weapons programme. That deal worked out well.

[l444ry]

Diplomatic Incident after Ref hit by missile.

There were tense scenes at the UN Security Council this afternoon after it was confirmed the referee at the Cardiff City and Swansea City football derby was hit by a missile launched from North Korea, and not from a member of the crowd as was first claimed.

There have been calls for restraint from all sides, But a Referees' Association spokesman called on the Prime Minister, Gordon Broon, to declare war, while Cardiff City have declared that Kim Jong-il, leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, will be banned for life from Ninian Park.

Barack Obama was unavailable for comment.

[Edmund]

Diplomatic Incident after Ref hit by missile.

There were tense scenes at the UN Security Council this afternoon after it was confirmed the referee at the Cardiff City and Swansea City football derby was hit by a missile launched from North Korea, and not from a member of the crowd as was first claimed.

There have been calls for restraint from all sides, But a Referees' Association spokesman called on the Prime Minister, Gordon Broon, to declare war, while Cardiff City have declared that Kim Jong-il, leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, will be banned for life from Ninian Park.

Barack Obama was unavailable for comment.

I do enjoy your posts l444ry

[BoneDog]

Seriously, you cannot draw any moral equivalence between us and North Korea.

of course you can. Our leaders are the same kind of people. The people in the countries are not like their leaders.

Are you saying that the wests leaders 'care' unlike North Koreas?

[Alexikokopops]

of course you can. Our leaders are the same kind of people. The people in the countries are not like their leaders.

Are you saying that the wests leaders 'care' unlike North Koreas?

From Wikipedia (I'm being lazy):

Multiple international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, accuse North Korea of having one of the worst human rights records of any nation (source). North Koreans have been referred to as "some of the world's most brutalized people", due to the severe restrictions placed on their political and economic freedoms (source). North Korean defectors have testified to the existence of prison and detention camps with an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 inmates (about 0.85% of the population), and have reported torture, starvation, rape, murder, medical experimentation, forced labour, and forced abortions (source). There is a national mandated dress code (source).

I'd say Gordon Brown cares a bit more than Kim Jong Il

[BoneDog]

From Wikipedia (I'm being lazy):

Multiple international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, accuse North Korea of having one of the worst human rights records of any nation (source). North Koreans have been referred to as "some of the world's most brutalized people", due to the severe restrictions placed on their political and economic freedoms (source). North Korean defectors have testified to the existence of prison and detention camps with an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 inmates (about 0.85% of the population), and have reported torture, starvation, rape, murder, medical experimentation, forced labour, and forced abortions (source). There is a national mandated dress code (source).

I'd say Gordon Brown cares a bit more than Kim Jong Il

I wouldn't. I think that our leaders put a good act on. They don't starve their own people but they send chaos around the world on others. Either by supporting corrupt regimes or by dropping billions of our pounds worth of weapons on them. If you add up the amount of innocent lives lost then I think wars caused by our leaders amount to a greater number than anything else. Maybe wrong but I imagine it to be the case

[Thracian]

I wouldn't. I think that our leaders put a good act on. They don't starve their own people but they send chaos around the world on others. Either by supporting corrupt regimes or by dropping billions of our pounds worth of weapons on them. If you add up the amount of innocent lives lost then I think wars caused by our leaders amount to a greater number than anything else. Maybe wrong but I imagine it to be the case

The numbers don't really matter but your point is valid enough.

How easy it is to sit in a London office and sanction (whether legal or not) the destruction of distant lives and infrastructure. It never seems so personal as running specific detention centres to inflict misery yet both acts and their consequences are equally pre-meditated.

I'm no pacifist but find it difficult to justify inflicting suffering on people generally rather than focusing on the specific targets.

[BoneDog]

The numbers don't really matter but your point is valid enough.

How easy it is to sit in a London office and sanction (whether legal or not) the destruction of distant lives and infrastructure. It never seems so personal as running specific detention centres to inflict misery yet both acts and their consequences are equally pre-meditated.

I'm no pacifist but find it difficult to justify inflicting suffering on people generally rather than focusing on the specific targets.

Yes in Iraq for example I'm sure that if they wanted to they could of got Saddam easily enough somehow. Our special forces and MI6 are very skilled. There were journalists who got to talk to him regular enough so I can't see why the US or UK's secret services or special forces couldn't of took him out without having to destroy the country while they are at it. I'm sure they knew his whereabouts alot of the time. There would of been a bit of a power struggle afterwards but surely it wouldn't have been as bad as the situation going on there now? And maybe us and the US wouldn't of had to send most of our troops into harms way there either.

[Dr The Singh]

Yes in Iraq for example I'm sure that if they wanted to they could of got Saddam easily enough somehow. Our special forces and MI6 are very skilled. There were journalists who got to talk to him regular enough so I can't see why the US or UK's secret services or special forces couldn't of took him out without having to destroy the country while they are at it. I'm sure they knew his whereabouts alot of the time. There would of been a bit of a power struggle afterwards but surely it wouldn't have been as bad as the situation going on there now? And maybe us and the US wouldn't of had to send most of our troops into harms way there either.

Not that easy Empty, I was watching news a while back and the same question was asked to a ex SAS commander about doing the same to Mugabe, and he said it would be extremely difficult to do such a thing and get out alive!!!

Presidential types of security have many different layers and fails safes, elite and trusted officers are only used and hence chances of success are very low!!! There have been many examples of elite forces trying to rescue hostages etc from untrained forces and get egg on there face!!