# North Korea and E.M.P. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 31, 2013, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-and-e-m-p/648891 "2013-01-31T06:46:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-and-e-m-p/648891/21 "2013-02-01T01:00:25Z")
Doubtful, or else there would be at least as many states that have them are there are “conventional nuclear” states. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-and-e-m-p/648891/22 "2013-02-01T01:18:38Z")
I’ve created[a thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=15958941#post15958941)discussing using EMP devices \*\*\*against \*\*\*North Korea ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-and-e-m-p/648891/23 "2013-02-01T01:29:50Z")
What, so we can bomb them forward to the Stone Age? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-and-e-m-p/648891/24 "2013-02-01T16:12:03Z")
😃 ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-and-e-m-p/648891/25 "2013-02-01T16:16:28Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Doubtful, or else there would be at least as many states that have them are there are “conventional nuclear” states. No, I meant those states that are already nuclear, or nuclear-capable at the drop of a hat (Japan, S. Korea [?], Germany [?]). ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-and-e-m-p/648891/26 "2013-02-01T16:22:55Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > In general, research in directed energy weapons (lasers, particle weapons, EMP cannons, et cetera) has proven to be extremely problematic due to the high power throughput requirements and the complex electrodynamic interactions both within the lasing or amplifying medium and in the external atmosphere, such that even going on three decades since Reagan’s infamous “Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars)” speech and tens of billions of dollars of research we still have yet to field a single effective directed energy weapon of any sort. Not _quite_ true; there’s the [antipersonnel microwave weapon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Denial_System) the military has deployed; the “Active Denial System”. Still, that’s a far enough cry from the weapons you’re talking about that it’s something of a nitpick. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-and-e-m-p/648891/27 "2013-02-01T16:26:03Z")
Huh. Guess there really _could_ be a use for a tinfoil hat! ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-and-e-m-p/648891/28 "2013-02-01T16:36:34Z")
> [@Blakeyrat](#): > > That said, the book might have been full of crap. But Streiber seemed to think the EMP threat was at least as great as the threat of direct detonation. To repeat it again, the point of discussion was a single nuke in the hands of a rogue state or terrorist organization. If Al Qaeda or North Korea can plant nukes in orbit, I’ll be more worried about EMPs. Actually, I’d be more worried about where they got the funding and technical know how without anybody being the wiser. Until then, ground level explosions are the real threat from them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-and-e-m-p/648891.md?page=1)