# Ok, Kim Jong Un, you stupid son of a bitch **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 7, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-kim-jong-un-you-stupid-son-of-a-bitch/652288 "2013-03-07T13:40:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-kim-jong-un-you-stupid-son-of-a-bitch/652288/41 "2013-03-07T17:56:09Z")
> [@yanceylebeef](#): > > This is just a mental excercise, but what would happen if we just pulled back from the DMZ? > > I mean, just packed up and left one night. Posted all our front line troops at Camp Casey, or Yongsan, or Camp Humphreys? > > What would be the effect on North Korea? Just pretend they aren’t there, or at least aren’t a threat anymore. they’re only reason for being is that the evil Americans are going to invade at any moment. What if we took that away from the leadership? > > We’d still have a huge military presence, so an invasion would be unlikely. > > Just spit balling here. Ummm…North Korea crosses the DMZ, occupies the undefended territory, declares a major victory, accomplishes some genuine gains, and pumps up its legitimacy among its citizenship? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-kim-jong-un-you-stupid-son-of-a-bitch/652288/42 "2013-03-07T17:58:03Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > Guys, all this talk about missiles coming over to the US is crap. Total crap. NK doesn’t have the missile technology to hit anything at that range. Not anything. They could maybe hit Japan, although even that’s iffy. And even beyond that, we don’t have any reason to believe that they have a nuclear bomb small enough and reliable enough to fit in a missile, even if they had one. > > The current Kim is just throwing a temper tantrum. Let’s not dignify it by taking him seriously. I agree Kim doesn’t have the technology to launch a missile against the United States. But he does indisputably have nuclear weapons. So he could always resort to more low-tech means of delivering them like covert insertion. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-kim-jong-un-you-stupid-son-of-a-bitch/652288/43 "2013-03-07T18:02:48Z")
He can’t reach us, but what about Japan? Would the US go nuclear if NK lobbed a nuke at Hokkaido? Any other response would be too costly in American lives, methinks. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-kim-jong-un-you-stupid-son-of-a-bitch/652288/44 "2013-03-07T18:05:56Z")
Or Guam, where we have major bases. ---
**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:** [March 7, 2013, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-kim-jong-un-you-stupid-son-of-a-bitch/652288/45 "2013-03-07T18:09:17Z")
> [@yanceylebeef](#): > > This is just a mental excercise, but what would happen if we just pulled back from the DMZ? Considering the Seoul suburbs extend all the way up to the DMZ, you have just described free hostages for NK. One of my cousins is a Kindergarten teacher in the area, and our family already gets antsy whenever NK pulls any shenanigans. No need to put her directly under fire. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-kim-jong-un-you-stupid-son-of-a-bitch/652288/46 "2013-03-07T18:09:49Z")
> [@Lanzy](#): > > So when he throws a missle in our general direction and it probably splashes in the ocean with no explosion. What then? And if it does explode? Fish for dinner. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-kim-jong-un-you-stupid-son-of-a-bitch/652288/47 "2013-03-07T18:12:20Z")
That flight path goes right over Southern Ontario. If the thing fell short, it has a good chance of landing on me or someone I know. Killed in honest battle with an enemy we chose is one thing. Killed by underfunded technical kleptocrats because we were in the way? That’s something else. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-kim-jong-un-you-stupid-son-of-a-bitch/652288/48 "2013-03-07T18:17:50Z")
El Famous Burrito: > [@](#): > > You know, I’ve always thought that the solution to the North Korea mess was a Chinese invasion. [Home Simpson]To Chinese invasion! The cause of, and solution to, all of North Korea’s problems![/Homer Simpson] ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-kim-jong-un-you-stupid-son-of-a-bitch/652288/49 "2013-03-07T18:29:06Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > Guys, all this talk about missiles coming over to the US is crap. Total crap. NK doesn’t have the missile technology to hit anything at that range. Not anything. They could maybe hit Japan, although even that’s iffy. And even beyond that, we don’t have any reason to believe that they have a nuclear bomb small enough and reliable enough to fit in a missile, even if they had one. Just to ask (and I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable response I’m just not thinking of right now, because I’m kind of duh that way), why couldn’t they just nuke South Korea, if they were gonna nuke anything at all? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-kim-jong-un-you-stupid-son-of-a-bitch/652288/50 "2013-03-07T18:40:20Z")
Leaper: > [@](#): > > Just to ask (and I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable response I’m just not thinking of right now, because I’m kind of duh that way), why couldn’t they just nuke South Korea, if they were gonna nuke anything at all? Because they don’t want a radioactive wasteland on their border, perhaps? Well, if they became winners of the conflict, it wouldn’t even be a border, it would be within their territory as unified Korea. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-kim-jong-un-you-stupid-son-of-a-bitch/652288/51 "2013-03-07T18:42:01Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I agree Kim doesn’t have the technology to launch a missile against the United States. But he does indisputably have nuclear weapons. So he could always resort to more low-tech means of delivering them like covert insertion. That’s one long inflatable raft trip for man, and a giant leap for mankind. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-kim-jong-un-you-stupid-son-of-a-bitch/652288/52 "2013-03-07T18:42:34Z")
A nuclear missile requires technology of 2 different phases. 1 - nuclear and 2 - missile. The Nuclear stuff is probably easier than the missile technology since even if the missile does nothing more than rain unreacted radioactive shrapnel, it would still be unpleasant for the Americans it lands on. The rub comes in missile technology, which NK is cobbling together from Soviet, Chinese, and Iranian technology. It’s almost guaranteed to be outdated. Furthermore, the rocket may fly but the real tech lies in guidance. The missile tests in December is notable that the North Koreans finally got something into orbit but without satellite guidance or extremely sophisticated gyroscopic technology, they have no way of delivering that payload. Technologically, it is very much so a toddler throwing a tantrum. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-kim-jong-un-you-stupid-son-of-a-bitch/652288/53 "2013-03-07T18:45:38Z")
While that would be a much more viable target, rationally, actually using a nuclear weapon against any target is tantamount to suicide. Unfortunately, I don’t think NK has been accused of being rational at any point during my lifetime. I suppose a better reason for them not launching against the south is that once they’ve done so, the territory would be ruined for plunder/expansion. I read ome years back, sorry, no cite, that the chances of successfully hitting a target at that range is on par with hitting a teacup with a thrown baseball from the length of three football fields. So while the first challenge is finding someone capable of throwing that far, the greatest danger will be to the football field between the pitcher and the cup. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-kim-jong-un-you-stupid-son-of-a-bitch/652288/54 "2013-03-07T19:03:57Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > Unfortunately, I don’t think NK has been accused of being rational at any point during my lifetime. They’re rational enough. For a long time they were very successful at getting the world to give them more aid by doing something crazy or saying they were about to do something crazy. It helped them stay in power and manage their own disastrous failures, and for good measure they kept working on their nuclear program in secret and selling technology to other countries. The problem for them is that it’s not working anymore. They keep trying to move forward on the nuclear stuff to force the world to deal with them, and for their trouble they’re getting less aid and tougher and tougher sanctions. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-kim-jong-un-you-stupid-son-of-a-bitch/652288/55 "2013-03-07T19:24:56Z")
rational: methinks that word doesn’t mean what you think it does… 😛 I have never considered Danegeld to be a successful long term business strategy. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-kim-jong-un-you-stupid-son-of-a-bitch/652288/56 "2013-03-07T20:13:31Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > Because they don’t want a radioactive wasteland on their border, perhaps? Well, if they became winners of the conflict, it wouldn’t even be a border, it would be within their territory as unified Korea. Honestly, they don’t want to have to deal with North Korea, which is economically depressed in a way that makes the German Democratic Republic at the time the wall fell look like a gleaming model of prosperity. **Nobody** wants North Korea. The South Koreans don’t. The Chinese don’t. We don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-kim-jong-un-you-stupid-son-of-a-bitch/652288/57 "2013-03-07T20:23:43Z")
> [@dgrdfd](#): > > When the people become hungry enough they’ll overthrow their own government. Not too clued up on this whole ‘malnutrition’ thing, then? ---
**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:** [March 7, 2013, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-kim-jong-un-you-stupid-son-of-a-bitch/652288/58 "2013-03-07T20:32:59Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Just to ask (and I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable response I’m just not thinking of right now, because I’m kind of duh that way), why couldn’t they just nuke South Korea, if they were gonna nuke anything at all? Because they don’t really need to with all the artillery already pointed at Seoul. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-kim-jong-un-you-stupid-son-of-a-bitch/652288/59 "2013-03-07T20:38:27Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Oh man. If they managed to hit DC with anything? > > We’d have our own nukes in the air within minutes. Kinda makes you wonder what South Korea would look like as an island… ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-kim-jong-un-you-stupid-son-of-a-bitch/652288/60 "2013-03-07T20:39:16Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Well let’s just say that they did launch a missile at the continental US. Success or Failure, we would plaster them back to the stone age. Worst case scenario and they managed to set off a small (sub-Hiroshima sized) bomb in the USA, there is exactly ZERO chance that the Chinese could convince or even threaten us into holding back. Our national rage would be such that we’d probably be willing to go to war with China as well just to turn NK into a sea of glass. In which case we’d just have to hope that the Chinese immediately made it clear to the US that they weren’t going to interfere with them, or maybe they were even going to help out with an invasion. Because if the US declares war with China, it’s game over for all of us. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-kim-jong-un-you-stupid-son-of-a-bitch/652288.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-kim-jong-un-you-stupid-son-of-a-bitch/652288.md?page=4)