# North Korean missile launch **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 15, 2021, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korean-missile-launch/950703 "2021-09-15T15:07:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korean-missile-launch/950703/21 "2021-09-18T23:40:20Z")
What might really get North Korea some big-time attention would be to launch a nuke-tipped ICBM and have it detonate over, say, the central Atlantic. By doing so, it would demonstrate that it’s solved all the technical issues associated with nukes and ICBMs, that its range can definitely reach America and beyond and and any nation in the world it wants to, and also get insane attention since there hasn’t been such an open-air test in decades. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korean-missile-launch/950703/22 "2021-09-19T00:27:43Z")
That’s the kind of attention North Korea doesn’t want to get. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korean-missile-launch/950703/23 "2021-09-19T13:16:00Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I’d put more money on his sister being intelligent than he. She oversaw things when he signed something with Trump, and made sure that he used her pen instead of the one that Trump offered him. But being able to recognize the abilities of other people, and being willing to actually listen to their advice, also suggests that he’s not stupid or insane. Just being willing to listen to his advisors puts him well above Trump in the not crazy or stupid competition. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korean-missile-launch/950703/24 "2021-09-19T21:00:55Z")
I wasn’t aware that he listened to advisors. Surely he would be advised not to execute someone with an anti-aircraft gun. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korean-missile-launch/950703/25 "2021-09-19T21:16:15Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Surely he would be advised not to execute someone with an anti-aircraft gun. See, you’re coming at this from an American Perspective, where that seems over the top. But a lot of places _like_ over the top. Like I said earlier, I don’t question his brutality. But when dealing with an entrenched dictatorial state, that you need to maintain control of, the occasional Artillery Execution is actually quite rational. Blow one guy out the end of a cannon, and you’ll see how quickly the rest fall in line. And I’d bet good money his sister told him that. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korean-missile-launch/950703/26 "2021-09-19T22:22:34Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Blow one guy out the end of a cannon, and you’ll see how quickly the rest fall in line. How did that work out for the British? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korean-missile-launch/950703/27 "2021-09-19T22:25:49Z")
Yeah, I have to echo **Horatius** on this one. This isn’t a nice Westernized democracy. In a brutal regime, a dog-eat-dog world where you the dictator could be assassinated or overthrown at any moment, the most _rational_ advice may indeed be, “Kill one or a few of your enemies in horrifying fashion and you’ll establish yourself as someone not to be trifled with.” Along with feeding people to the 120 starved dogs at Chongjin and who knows what else. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korean-missile-launch/950703/28 "2021-09-19T22:43:07Z")
North Korea’s walking a tight rope. They want attention, they want the US and its allies to recognize the North as an intimidating nuclear power, but China does not want North Korea to do anything that might force the US into a preemptive posture. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2022, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korean-missile-launch/950703/29 "2022-03-25T10:36:15Z")
This seems to be a good place to post the most ridiculous propaganda video of all time. It’s related to the recent test of their intercontinental ballistic missile which landed in Japanese waters (but which has the capability of reaching the US). [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3UbH4HErt0) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korean-missile-launch/950703.md?page=1)