It may have nuclear missiles onboard, but I doubt it will be nuclear-powered, which means they’ll be coming up for air a lot, providing plenty of opportunities to be spotted. That assumes we ever lose track of it in the first place; I doubt it will be as stealthy as more modern subs.
Have you read any books about North Korea? Their capability to do much of anything has been non-existent at least since the 90s. Most of the factories are closed and rusting into dust, the people are starving, and their technology is probably 30 years behind times. That the Kim dynasty has not been deposed and the entire government didn’t collapse when Kim Il-sung died is an enduring mystery even to experts.
:smack:
It’s really, really hard to make submarines that can operate at sea safely. It’s even harder to put them to sea, operate them, and maintain them safely. Iran is a mostly functional society, with mostly working industry and infrastructure, and it can barely do so – it rarely has more than one or two subs actually capable of operating at sea, and even these frequently have to put into port for repairs. North Korea has a few dozen very old and mostly Russian-designed subs that generally can’t go to sea for more than days at a time without needing repairs.
Making a ballistic missile sub is an order of magnitude harder.
Even if NK manages to cobble together a submarine that can launch a missile (and they don’t have any missiles with decent ranges at this point), there’s virtually no chance they could get it close enough to the US to threaten us. And no chance at all of crossing the ocean undetected.
This doesn’t threaten US security. It might provide a slightly boosted threat to South Korean or Japanese security, but this is a blip at most.
I think the world’s facination with N. Korea is that they’re this unique relic from the 1950s/Korean War, and due to some circumstantial politics, they persist in trying to still be a relevant power in the First World. Their laughable, and tragic government notwithstanding.
They’re like this weird, militaristic and political anomaly that is eventually doomed to fall. It’s interesting to see what they’re going to try (and claim to have succeeded, whether by press, propaganda or poor photoshopping skills) next.
We should claim the waters of the Gulf of Alaska to Hawaii and on around to San Diego.
Any submarine or fishing boat will be required to show proof of residency in order to stay there.
These guys are playing at being someone we should be afraid of and starting to make me wonder how serious they are at ending their miserable existence on the planet earth by provoking a war with the USA.
Would China back them up if the war drums start?
North Korea is like those army ants around a sugar cane field … they are not going to give up.
China has been unhappy with NK for a long time, going from helping illegal immigrants to actively searching for them and deporting them back to NK. The majority of those fleeing from NK remained in China, as it is a political system more like NK’s socialist government, and thus a more comfortable fit that South Korea’s rampant capitalism. China also quit sending food to NK because of non-payment for same. It’s hard to say if they would back a warlike play by NK. NK’s army is in no way able to fight a sustained land war; even though it’s one of the largest standing armies in the world, they can’t feed them or provide them with weapons and ammo enough to be effective, or even pay them, for that matter.
If the U.S. said to China, “We are about to destroy North Korea,” it seems at least possible that China would say, “Whoa. Let us do that for you.” With various degrees of “We insist.”
No radiation cloud, just to begin with. Also, they’d get to annex the land, instead of it being unified with South Korea.
Is there a war-hawk movement in China, arguing for a first-strike invasion of NK? (Well, okay, of course there is. Is there a significant war-hawk movement?)
I have never heard that rumor before, but I instantly like it. Yeah, have China take away the bad boys toys and come under her wings.
I always thought that someday Korea would be unified either everyone poor or everyone middle class so to speak.
Remember when President Bush called North Korea the evil axis and everyone in South Korea got mad at him, because one in six still have relatives in the North?
I feel I should point out that a diesel electric submarine while running on batteries is pretty quiet. No cooling pumps to keep a reactor vessel happy.
Sure, but can’t really loiter like a nuke though, can it?
Both the US and Japan crossed the Pacific undetected in WWII. I doubt that could happen today.
Kim Jong un was educated in Switzerland, I doubt he’s just plain stupid. But maybe he starts to believe his own bullshit, or the crap that he is fed by his advisors. I suspect being treated as a god could do that.
I would really hate to be a General and have to tell him (or any Kim) it can’t be done with what they have. “NEXT”!
Or maybe, and I think more likely, they want everyone else to believe they are that stupid. But might be able to pull off some stunt or another if they don’t receive ‘tribute’ in the form of food (given to or taken by the military). Rinse and repeat. Kim and the élite are fat cats living a luxurious life surrounded by a submissive brain washed population.
That’s changing of course as DVD’s and cell phones become more available (I understand cell phone coverage is available near the borders).
As time wears on, the artillery that is threatening Seoul is getting terrible outdated. And I would be surprised if most of it isn’t in disrepair. At best.
‘Ride the Tiger’, you don’t dare get off. I think that’s where Kim Jung Un is. Likely to be overrun buy his own people if he let’s the truth out. And has to keep SK, Japan and the US ‘at bay’ with false promises to the people of NK.
Their larger subs are all old!
50s vintage & some observers believe they ain’t seaworthy.
Where will they get a sub? I doubt they can build one.
Really, would anyone protest very much if such a submarine did end up getting sunk?
Yeah, that’s pretty much it. There’s an interesting new report out about a high-level defector predicting Kim’s fall within three years. Says he’s ratcheted up the cruelty to new heights.
Yeh. Kim Jung Un’s reign sounds pretty bleak, and that’s saying a lot in light of his father’s regime.
But good gravy, this nation seems to keep defying predictions. However, history has proven time and again that corrupted power in such a profound way just can’t continue to stand much longer. Especially in light of China’s current view, and modern militaristic tech. Their nation is corroding, their economy is abysmal and propaganda can only hold the brainwashed people so much.
When the bottom falls out, and it will, I can only hope the casualties are minimal on both sides.
The people of NK will see what’s really been happening for the last 70 years. Information can’t be stopped.
The Kim grandfather, while starting this snowball was following Marx. Many others did at the time. The US helped this split after WWII basically splitting the country in two with Russia.
That failed, and Kim Jung Il failed - spectacularly with millions dying of famine in the 90’s.
Kim Jung Un seems to be trying to start the whole thing over again.
And right on queue, an announcement popped up on CNN’s Breaking News just now that Kim had his defense secretary executed in front of hundreds of witnesses. For “lese majeste.”
Oy vey.
Is a coup out of the question at this point?
This is 1950s era Russian technology not a modern diesel/electric sub. Going to be noisier.
Plus at least half the time it will have to run its diesels to recharge the batteries either on the surface or just under it using a snorkel. Very loud then.
Well, that high-level defector seems to think one’s coming.
I’d pay money to see North Korean senior officials used as clay pigeons like that.