North Korea readies for missile test in the next 24 hours

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sactoking

Diamond Member
Sep 24, 2007
7,507
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Call me a fool, but isn't it pretty generally accepted that North Korea has one of the presses the US Dept of Printing & Engraving uses and that their main source of revenue is counterfeiting US currency to the point that sanctions/aid really doesn't affect them much?
 

Doppel

Lifer
Feb 5, 2011
13,306
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wonder if the Chinese sabotaged it or if the US have some secret weapon that shot it down.
No need. A country that spends 30% of its GDP on the military, has a pitiful level of education, and sends people to gulags for any number of things is not really the place one goes looking for technical expertise on anything other than ways to make people's lives sh*t.
 

werepossum

Elite Member
Jul 10, 2006
29,873
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Call me a fool, but isn't it pretty generally accepted that North Korea has one of the presses the US Dept of Printing & Engraving uses and that their main source of revenue is counterfeiting US currency to the point that sanctions/aid really doesn't affect them much?
I've seen that widely reported but I have no idea if there is any truth to it.

No need. A country that spends 30% of its GDP on the military, has a pitiful level of education, and sends people to gulags for any number of things is not really the place one goes looking for technical expertise on anything other than ways to make people's lives sh*t.
North Korea is a realization of the old corporate joke, "Daily beatings will continue until morale improves."
 

EagleKeeper

Discussion Club Moderator<br>Elite Member
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Oct 30, 2000
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They are able to produce good paper that can fool people outside of the US Treasury system and those trained what to look for. It is not enough to raise standard living, but it provides luxury lifestyle for the privileged.
 

EagleKeeper

Discussion Club Moderator<br>Elite Member
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Oct 30, 2000
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Expect that there will be nuclear sabre rattling to get attention to resume aid deliveries before winter
 

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
83,717
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Call me a fool, but isn't it pretty generally accepted that North Korea has one of the presses the US Dept of Printing & Engraving uses and that their main source of revenue is counterfeiting US currency to the point that sanctions/aid really doesn't affect them much?

Sanctions most certainly affect them pretty severely, and they are utterly dependent on foreign aid in order to survive. There is perhaps no nation on earth more consistently affected by foreign aid than North Korea.
 

Pneumothorax

Golden Member
Nov 4, 2002
1,182
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Sanctions most certainly affect them pretty severely, and they are utterly dependent on foreign aid in order to survive. There is perhaps no nation on earth more consistently affected by foreign aid than North Korea.

Just let let bastards rot and ignore them. The chicoms will bail them out every time anyway. Let the rich Chinese bankroll these rejects.
 

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
83,717
47,406
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Just let let bastards rot and ignore them. The chicoms will bail them out every time anyway. Let the rich Chinese bankroll these rejects.

There are plenty of actions North Korea might take that the Chinese wouldn't care about but we would. North Korean attacks on South Korea are likely A-OK with China so long as they don't turn into all out war. They are considerably less okay for us.

The idea that we can just stick our fingers in our ears and North Korea will go away is a fantasy.
 

Pneumothorax

Golden Member
Nov 4, 2002
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There are plenty of actions North Korea might take that the Chinese wouldn't care about but we would. North Korean attacks on South Korea are likely A-OK with China so long as they don't turn into all out war. They are considerably less okay for us.

The idea that we can just stick our fingers in our ears and North Korea will go away is a fantasy.

Lobbing a missile here and there and sinking an occasional ship is all NK is going to do, they don't have the balls to cross the DMZ.
 

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
83,717
47,406
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Lobbing a missile here and there and sinking an occasional ship is all NK is going to do, they don't have the balls to cross the DMZ.

Right. And there are a thousand things they can do short of all out war which are vastly more costly to us than food aid. What if they launch a dozen shells into Seoul? Two dozen? And then just stop? Do we go to war? What?

People get mad I think because it seems like north Korea is blackmailing us. Well, they are. It's still the best solution, even if it feels wrong in your gut.
 

Doppel

Lifer
Feb 5, 2011
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I think all NK has ever wanted is to keep the top dogs in luxury, that's all.

The US won't decide if NK or SK go to war, NK and SK will.

Contrary to other "liberated" middle eastern countries I bet that NK could quickly acclimate to SK's governorship if the NK regime fell. They (the hungry peasants without cell phones or education) certainly have no weapons or means with which to communicate a resistance, and the national religion is a combination of toil and the kim dynasty, so with his ilk hanged and enough food aid to actually fill their bellies it could work out fairly well.
 

RavenSEAL

Diamond Member
Jan 4, 2010
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Let them nuke each other already for all I care. Another World War is just what this planet needs to have some fucking sense knocked into it's people.
 

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
83,717
47,406
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I think all NK has ever wanted is to keep the top dogs in luxury, that's all.

The US won't decide if NK or SK go to war, NK and SK will.

Contrary to other "liberated" middle eastern countries I bet that NK could quickly acclimate to SK's governorship if the NK regime fell. They (the hungry peasants without cell phones or education) certainly have no weapons or means with which to communicate a resistance, and the national religion is a combination of toil and the kim dynasty, so with his ilk hanged and enough food aid to actually fill their bellies it could work out fairly well.

Exactly. You keep the Kim family and his buddies happy, they let the rest of the world ignore them and prosper. It's a shitty deal for the North Korean people, but any war that would go down between us all would likely be an even shittier deal for both them and us.

I find it strange that many of the very same people who complain about government wasting money or resources on other projects want the US to go obliterate North Korea despite the minimal gains and the obvious costs of such a policy.
 

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
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Let them nuke each other already for all I care. Another World War is just what this planet needs to have some fucking sense knocked into it's people.

I hope you aren't serious, because that's a really stupid idea.
 

RavenSEAL

Diamond Member
Jan 4, 2010
8,670
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I hope you aren't serious, because that's a really stupid idea.
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Balt

Lifer
Mar 12, 2000
12,674
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I find it strange that many of the very same people who complain about government wasting money or resources on other projects want the US to go obliterate North Korea despite the minimal gains and the obvious costs of such a policy.

Wars pay for themselves. Didn't you learn anything from Iraq? :|
 

Karl Agathon

Golden Member
Sep 30, 2010
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Lobbing a missile here and there and sinking an occasional ship is all NK is going to do, they don't have the balls to cross the DMZ.

Yep, they know that almost the moment they cross that line, the NK regime would be over.The last thing a dictator wants is to lose power. NK crossing the DMZ would be a pretty fast way to ensure that. At the very least, the regime would be over. Most likely they would all be obliterated.
 

Doppel

Lifer
Feb 5, 2011
13,306
3
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Yep, they know that almost the moment they cross that line, the NK regime would be over.The last thing a dictator wants is to lose power. NK crossing the DMZ would be a pretty fast way to ensure that. At the very least, the regime would be over. Most likely they would all be obliterated.

Yep.
 

ichy

Diamond Member
Oct 5, 2006
6,940
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There are plenty of actions North Korea might take that the Chinese wouldn't care about but we would. North Korean attacks on South Korea are likely A-OK with China so long as they don't turn into all out war. They are considerably less okay for us.

The Chinese certainly seem to coddle the North Koreans but it's worth remembering that South Korea is China's fourth largest trading partner. At the end of the day the Chinese care more about earning money than anything else so any North Korean actions that went far enough to put a dent in their economy would undoubtedly piss them off.
 

EagleKeeper

Discussion Club Moderator<br>Elite Member
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Oct 30, 2000
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NK is not happy about people laughing at the launch results
N. Korean army vows to turn Seoul to ashes

North Korea's military Monday threatened "special actions" soon to turn parts of the South Korean capital to ashes, accusing Seoul's conservative government of defaming its leadership.

The North has for months been criticising the South's President Lee Myung-Bak in extreme terms and threatening "sacred war" over perceived insults.