# What would happen if North Korea nuked us? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 29, 2017, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-north-korea-nuked-us/792405 "2017-07-29T19:48:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-north-korea-nuked-us/792405/41 "2017-07-31T14:26:49Z")
> [@TheSundial](#): > > Does NK have an equivalent to the US Navy Seals? The DPRK has commando groups that it has used to kidnap Japanese civilians from coastal areas. I have no idea whether it could use those troops to plant a bomb that way. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-north-korea-nuked-us/792405/42 "2017-07-31T18:36:38Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > It might be good to have some kind of coordinated NATO response. That would at least take some diplomatic heat off of the US. But I think that’s unlikely. NATO? If the US was specifically attacked we could call for NATO since the treaty obligates all members to come to the defense of others. However, NATO is not our only alliance. They have been flying demonstration missions over the peninsula with combined flights of US, Japan and South Korean aircraft. Any coordinated response will most likely be a Pacific one not European. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2017, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-north-korea-nuked-us/792405/43 "2017-08-01T23:59:35Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > If you live in LA you’re right to be directly concerned for your safety. If you live in Kansas you aren’t. Though the incremental contribution of NK to the risks in an Angeleno’s life is still negligible compared to that of crossing the street given their traffic. If people in LA should be concerned, how about people who live in Seoul or Tokyo? Wonder if the huge American English Teaching population in these cities has been reduced significantly of late? I taught for awhile in Tokyo and I know I would have left months ago contract or no. Its interesting that there is also a large mainland Chinese presence in Seoul from students and businessmen and women to diplomats and their families. I wonder how the Chinese government in Beijing would feel if these individuals were suddenly vaporized? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-north-korea-nuked-us/792405/44 "2017-08-02T12:43:52Z")
The threat to Seoul hasn’t changed significantly in decades. Kim could do more damage to Seoul using conventional artillery than he could using any plausible nuke the regime might build in the foreseeable future. And that’s not even counting reliability: Nobody would be particularly surprised if North Korea tried to nuke someone, but the bomb and/or missile just fizzled. The problem with artillery, from the North Korean point of view, is that it can’t hit any place _but_ Seoul. ---
**Author:** ![EdelweissPirate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8491ac/32.png) [@EdelweissPirate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdelweissPirate)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-north-korea-nuked-us/792405/45 "2017-08-14T11:12:05Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > That video is dated April 12 and may no longer be accurate. The [Hwasong-14 missile](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hwasong-14), successfully test-fired for the first time on July 4 (and again on July 28), appears to be more powerful than the Taepodong-2 mentioned in that video. I just came across this relevant update: the Hwasong-14 may well have been derived from designs from the Ukrainian Yuzhmash facility. At least, that’s what The NY Times is reporting: > **[North Korea’s Missile Success Is Linked to Ukrainian Plant, Investigators Say...](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/14/world/asia/north-korea-missiles-ukraine-factory.html)** > > Investigators are focusing on the factory as a black-market source for North Korea, a new report and classified intelligence assessments say. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-north-korea-nuked-us/792405/46 "2017-08-14T11:17:23Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > A surface blast would result in fewer immediate deaths and injuries, but blow a fairly impressive plume of fallout across Lake Michigan. I wonder if that would cause a Lake Michigan tsunami? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-north-korea-nuked-us/792405.md?page=2)