North Korea

that was probably north korea's entire supply of vx tbf

On the other NK thread as well - good read:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/02/24/world/asia/north-korea-propaganda-photo.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=photo-spot-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

that bomb looks like its missing a gigantic fuse

https://lh4.ggpht.com/fxsJt9QQyQAxHIFGAKK_ZgIkknZeOjCbK1ULw9F1vvMkr_mGp1z0NgzwYXvVNVO1KA=w300

Yeah, interesting, but isn't it equally plausible that these are...totally empty inside?

lol! it is just missing a big black on white Acme Nuff Destructive Nuclear Warhead label on the side.

http://i.imgur.com/ZwwoUYC.jpg

they sure have great taxidermists

this should be where the camera pulls back to reveal that Kim Jong-un and the ppl around him are in fact more waxworks standing on another stage, and so on into infinity

I can't think of a more terrifying brief than having to make a utopian diorama of the ex-great leader.

"Shit, does he look too normcore?" and "I'm crap at modelling hands, better put them in the pockets" might have been part of the discussion.

Is there a coin slot, does he move?

he does look pretty normcore - my grandad used to rock that tan coat/olive trousers combo

he has a look of my dad now you mention it

urge to position small armies of miniatures on that excellently manicured flocking

I'm surprised they kept the patches in the grass.

Also, wanna know what I'd like to visit? A museum containing an exact wax replica of my deceased father.

Ron Mueck went one further and made a hyperealist naked sculpture of his dead dad's corpse, but that was different.

pplains we were hoping to surprise you with this later but since you mentioned it

*slooowly opens mystery door*

Oh, and it's not made of wax . . .

Would love to read about how that Eddie Bauer look plays in Korea and elsewhere.

Not hilarious:

TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korea fired a projectile that appeared to be a missile shortly before midnight Japan time (1500 GMT) on Friday, Japan's public broadcaster NHK said, citing government officials.

The apparent missile may have landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone, NHK said.

not cool nk

can we change the thread title

At least until they're funny again.

Don't think NK would start a missile fight with anyone. But do think Trump could "preemptively" bomb them, and I do think NK would retaliate (probably against SK). Detente with a nuclear NK possibly the best case scenario. But we haven't had a nuclear power ever really threaten for leverage, have we? Like, not invoke nukes as a deterrent, but as a flat-out do this or we do this extortion ultimatum? I wonder if, if NK gets there, they will dare to go that route, because if they do, I have no idea how that ends well.

(Probably should change thread name, fully support that)

North Korea was never fucking funny.

North Koreans have been suffering for years and until like 2014, they were treated like some quirky quixotic joke. There's nothing fucking funny about a country of people imprisoned in an alternate reality ruled by an insane fat despot who probably doesn't understand the concept of mutually assured destruction.

and yeah, change the thread title. maybe "North Korea: not hilarious"

There's nothing fucking funny about a country of people imprisoned in an alternate reality ruled by an insane fat despot who probably doesn't understand the concept of mutually assured destruction.

you're talking about America right

^ still hilarious

ha ha ha

I've often wondered how adept at fighting they actually are. Marching in lockstep is one thing. But if they train in isolation for decades, how capable will they be against an enemy actually shooting back?

Doesn't seem like a ground war is what's going to happen. If we go to war with North Korea it'll be over in an hour.

For that matter, is it possible that the North Korean army has been training with no knowledge of possible ordinance used against them? That is, how much do they even know about the military power of the United States? Or Europe or Russia or anyone else? If they were told the full extent of their purported enemies powers, wouldn't that undercut their own propaganda?

Like, do they have any idea that they could be absolutely decimated in an hour, as you say? Wouldn't that affect morale a little bit? Or have they been told that they would decimate everyone else in an hour?

i'm not sure that NK would crushed quite as easily as you think

would be crushed

Not necessarily would, but could. I'm just wondering, not that we will get an answer anywhere, what their soldiers know about any army they might actually face.

here's one of many bleak assessments of how it would play out:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/what-a-war-with-north-korea-looks-like_us_58f7740ae4b0f5cf16c7bb19

Doesn't seem like a ground war is what's going to happen. If we go to war with North Korea it'll be over in an hour.

― flappy bird

no way man

I have no doubt it would be messy, possibly a disaster. I'm just talking about the paradox of keeping an army in line by no doubt telling them they will beat any invading army back, all while needing to keep the powers the armies they might face unknown to them, to prop up the illusion of military superiority.

are there any TANKies on ILX?

i dunno, who knows what they tell their own military. it's possible to a) tell your military that they're the best in the world and b) also instill the notion that they should fight to the end no matter what happens and be heroes, bla bla bla. assuming a ground war doesn't take place, so much of the combat is remote anyway. i'm certainly no kind of expert on modern warfare, especially a unique situation like north korea presents, but i don't think that the war would really play out like you're suggesting, where a group of naive north korean troops suddenly sees the shining awe-inspiring forces of the west coming over the horizon and realizes that they are outmatched

xp we had one once on the stalin thread (iirc) but afaik no

xpost
that line of thinking comes too close to the shock and awe confidence of the early iraq war for me

You think we're gonna send troops in? Seems like this a nuclear war situation. If intelligence community is confident in belief that Kim Jong-Un has ability to nuke USA, isn't willing to negotiate, and doesn't understand or buy into concept of mutually assured destruction, what are our options? They'll either nuke us first or we'll nuke them. This is the "end of the ballgame," as our President said a few months ago.

Don't get me wrong - not advocating nuclear war. This whole situation has me scared shitless. But there's no way I see a ground war happening when we already have a guy seemingly ready and able to use nukes.

(and that last part applies to USA & NK)

If intelligence community is confident in belief that Kim Jong-Un has ability to nuke USA, isn't willing to negotiate, and doesn't understand or buy into concept of mutually assured destruction, what are our options?

i think one of the misconceptions about all of this is that kim jong-un isn't willing to negotiate, or that he is an irrational actor. what he is doing is actually rational, from a certain perspective. nuclear weapons really do provide power and security to the countries that possess them. it's a very powerful negotiating chip, maybe the most powerful. do you think that kim jong-un would rather trigger a nuclear apocalypse, or use the threat of nukes to reduce or remove sanctions on north korea?

that's the rub, I don't know. all of the Cold War USSR leaders understood M.A.D. and how to negotiate. Do we have evidence KJU understands M.A.D.? I honestly don't know. I like that Tillerson wants to talk to them, and I hope he does. But we're talking about a dude that rules a country where he is regarded as a God. his people live in an alternate reality. Does he as well? I don't know. I hope not.

But we're talking about a dude that rules a country where he is regarded as a God. his people live in an alternate reality. Does he as well? I don't know. I hope not.

He at least thinks he's regarded as a god, or wants others to see it that way. Which is very similar to Trump tbh. Trump copying "fire and fury" style rhetoric is deeply worrying: he's going along with NK in this respect.