North Korea attacks the South!

[iHUMAN]

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea on Tuesday fired dozens of artillery shells at a South Korean island, setting buildings on fire and prompting a return fire by the South, Seoul's military and media reports said. Seoul's YTN television quoted a witness as saying 60 to 70 houses were on fire after the shelling. The military confirmed the exchange of firing, without providing more details. Several South Korean civilians and soldiers were wounded and many others were being evacuated to bunkers on an island hit by dozens of artillery shells fired by North Korea on Tuesday, a Seoul television reported. YTN cable news channel also quoted an witness as saying power failure was reported on Yeonpyeong island near the border with the North after the firing, while pictures from the channel showed at least four plumes of smoke on the island.

[yt]47kDIUtoGrg[/yt]

War...What are you gonna do?

[Ikemen-of-d00m]

So far one South Korean soldier has been reported dead, and three others are severely wounded. If this was a deliberate attack(duh), then it's the most dramatic incident since the war.

[iHUMAN]

Japanese Government sets up info coordination office

Kyodo News--

The Japanese government set up an information coordination office Tuesday after North Korea fired around 50 rounds of artillery toward South Korean waters and an island near the tense western sea border earlier in the day.

The office was established in the crisis management center at the prime minister's office, Japanese government officials said.

[Mulboyne]

Second marine death now being reported.

Guardian live text coverage here.

Yonhap news agency English Twitter feed here.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Japanese Government sets up info coordination office

Kyodo News--

The Japanese government set up an information coordination office Tuesday after North Korea fired around 50 rounds of artillery toward South Korean waters and an island near the tense western sea border earlier in the day.

The office was established in the crisis management center at the prime minister's office, Japanese government officials said.

I love Japanese responses to any (potential?) emergency:
1) Set up a committee
2) Bring out the tape measure and start measuring things
3) Extend the right index finger on white-gloved hand and move it back and forward in conjunction with swaying the body in the same directions

[Ikemen-of-d00m]

10.36am: North Korea has accused South Korea of firing first, saying it was provoked into the military action, which has killed two soldiers in the South and set dozens of houses ablaze.

I guess it will be another case of "word-against-word"..

[Mock Cockpit]

Residents on the border island described scenes of terror. "Some time after our own military staged an artillery exercise, shells from the North started falling into our island," said Woo Soo-Woo, 62, a guest house owner on Yeonpyeong island.

Interesting. Sounds like South Korea were playing silly buggers.

[Kanchou]

I hope the people responsible get their doctor-prescribed dose of Tomahawk enemas.

[Pearse]

I hope the people responsible get their doctor-prescribed dose of Tomahawk enemas.

Do you mean this kind? Ouch.

[Tsuru]

Interesting. Sounds like South Korea were playing silly buggers.

I wonder what exactly is meant with "artillery exercise"? Loading and firing drills only? Firing blanks? Firing live weapons into a secure area?

It could be an observer in the North watched the guns fire, lost his nerve and radioed in that SK was firing artillery shells in their direction... cue orders from top brass to return fire. But even if this or something similar is in fact what happened, such an excuse NK doesn't exactly hold a lot of water, even if that is really what happened.

[Coligny]

I hope the people responsible get their doctor-prescribed dose of Tomahawk enemas.

I thought only my sister was using this expression...

wait...

you wuz talking aboot the missile thingy ?

mah bad...

[Samurai_Jerk]

I flew out of Gimpo tonight. Everyone was glued to the airport TVs watching the latest updates. It was all in Korean though so I had no idea what was going on till I got back to Tokyo and went online.

[FranciscoDeXavier]

Sad

[iHUMAN]

South Korea and its ally the United States might now finally want to consider moving their maritime military training exercises about 100km away from the borders of what each of the Koreas considers their territorial waters. North Korea is being condemned by the international press for their provocative actions, but I have to ask... What are South Korea's actions -shooting live rounds that close to (in?) North Korea's territory- to be considered, not provocative?? Plenty of water in the Yellow Sea to conduct your war games IMHO.

[iHUMAN]

The South Korean naval vessel ROKS Cheonan sank near Baengnyeong island on March 26, 2010. The 1,200 ton vessel broke in two pieces with nearly half the crew dying (mainly in the stern section) and a little more than half surviving (mainly in the bow section). A multinational investigation concluded that a torpedo striking the ship was of North Korean origin, although this was subsequently challenged.

[iHUMAN]

U.N. chief condemns N.Korea attack, urges restraint

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday condemned a deadly North Korean artillery attack on a South Korean island, which he said was one of the most serious incidents since the Korean War ended.

"The secretary-general is deeply concerned by the escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula caused by today's artillery attack by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) on the Yeongpyeong Island," the U.N. press office said in a statement.

Aren't you South Korean so anything you have to say on this matter would be seen by the international community as biased.

Non?

This might be a good time to change the United Nations Secretary General.

[iHUMAN]

This is gonna escalate FAST!

(Reuters) - A U.S. aircraft carrier group set off for Korean waters on Wednesday, a day after North Korea launched artillery shells on a South Korean island, a move likely to enrage Pyongyang and unsettle its ally, China.

The nuclear-powered USS George Washington, which carries 75 warplanes and has a crew of over 6,000, left a naval base south of Tokyo and would join exercises with South Korea from Sunday to the following Wednesday, U.S. officials in Seoul said.

[let`s talk]

South Korea and its ally the United States might now finally want to consider moving their maritime military training exercises about 100km away from the borders of what each of the Koreas considers their territorial waters.

No way. South Korean gave a favor to the US- stage or provokate the attack. It worked. Now the US have an excuse to start a new war. This time in Asia. Please folks, don't think that it will pass you. The previous wars were started by the US in Europe, then in the Middle east and Afganistan. All regions were affected by war. The same will be in Asia, no matter how isolated North Korea is.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Looks like things just got worse. Two civilians confirmed dead: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_koreas_clash

South Korea found the burned bodies Wednesday of two islanders killed in a North Korean artillery attack, marking the first civilian deaths in the incident and dramatically escalating the tensions in the region's latest crisis.

The South Korean Coast Guard pulled the bodies of two men, believed in their 60s, from a destroyed construction site on the tiny island of Yeonpyeong near the disputed maritime border with North Korea ....

[IkemenTommy]

This incident is going to be a good excuse to blow NKor out of the map and unify Korea altogether but I doubt there will be nothing more than diplomatic exchanges with the help of the current weak U.S. administration.

What's I find it even more disturbing is how P.M. Kan was notified about the incident by the television media. Just imagine if it was Japan being attacked and these amateur Minshitoheads running the show. It's a scary thought.

[Yokohammer]

This incident is going to be a good excuse to blow NKor out of the map and unify Korea altogether but I doubt there will be nothing more than diplomatic exchanges with the help of the current weak U.S. administration.

I think Afghanistan and Iraq are proof that it's really not that easy for even a major military power like the US (or Russia in the case of Afghanistan) to simply waltz into a country and use force to make it all nice and democratic, or blow it off the map, or whatever the objective might be. We should probably include Vietnam as well. The cost and loss of human life are invariably huge for questionable returns. It's just not likely to happen that way.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I think Afghanistan and Iraq are proof that it's really not that easy for even a major military power like the US (or Russia in the case of Afghanistan) to simply waltz into a country and use force to make it all nice and democratic, or blow it off the map, or whatever the objective might be. We should probably include Vietnam as well. The cost and loss of human life are invariably huge for questionable returns. It's just not likely to happen that way.

Actually, if you're willing to blow a country off the map you can win. It's surgical strikes and trying to minimize collateral damage that don't work. I'm not advocating the first option but I am saying it makes more sense militarily.

[Yokohammer]

Actually, if you're willing to blow a country off the map you can win. It's surgical strikes and trying to minimize collateral damage that don't work. I'm not advocating the first option but I am saying it makes more sense militarily.

Sure, but nobody's going to do that (although NK might try to make a show of it). The days of dropping big-ass uncontrolled nukes on a country are over, partly because everyone and their brother has a couple of the infernal things now and some form of large scale retaliation from somewhere, or at least a new and dangerous nuclear arms race, would be the likely result.

On the other hand, if some fanatical terrorist group that doesn't give a shit what happens to even their own asses gets big-drop capability, all bets are off.

[American Oyaji]

Actually, if you're willing to blow a country off the map you can win. It's surgical strikes and trying to minimize collateral damage that don't work. I'm not advocating the first option but I am saying it makes more sense militarily.

You and I disagree on a lot of stuff, but on this...

RIGHT ON BROTHA!!! PREACH!!!!

[Kanchou]

The presence of nuclear weapons has more or less prevented large-scale conventional wars (except for proxy wars and conflicts started by the ones with the nuclear weapons) for the last sixty years.

But NK knows it can get away with almost anything but an invasion because we aren't willing to use nuclear ordinance or commit to large-scale retaliation.

I predict that North Korea as we know it will cease to exist inside 20 years, especially when it's leader is more adept to playing Starcraft than running a despotic rogue state.

[Yokohammer]

But NK knows it can get away with almost anything but an invasion because we aren't willing to use nuclear ordinance or commit to large-scale retaliation.

The fact that they have a couple of big guys (China and Russia) standing behind them with more firepower gives them a bit of a confidence boost as well, even though that confidence may not be entirely justified.

I predict that North Korea as we know it will cease to exist inside 20 years, especially when it's leader is more adept to playing Starcraft than running a despotic rogue state.

Man, I hope you're right. The sooner the better.

[Ketou]

I think Afghanistan and Iraq are proof that it's really not that easy for even a major military power like the US (or Russia in the case of Afghanistan) to simply waltz into a country and use force to make it all nice and democratic, or blow it off the map, or whatever the objective might be. We should probably include Vietnam as well. The cost and loss of human life are invariably huge for questionable returns. It's just not likely to happen that way.

Or is it merely proof that the industrial military complex is good at prolonging the profit making potential of conflict?

[Tsuru]

The fact that they have a couple of big guys (China and Russia) standing behind them with more firepower gives them a bit of a confidence boost as well, even though that confidence may not be entirely justified.


Man, I hope you're right. The sooner the better.

Russian and Chinese support is dwindling as It's no longer in their best interest to keep propping up the regime, but the only reason they do it is that when the regime collapses they have a massive humanitarian crisis overflowing into their countries. Nobody wants to deal with the millions of refugees such a situation creates. Added to this is the fact that NK has a much, much smaller per capita GDP than SK, it's nothing like the situation that existed between the GDR and West Germany at the time when Germany was unified. A Korean Wende without South Korea dropping like a stone on all known economic and development rankings is simply not possible. And I also remember reading something about the average South Korean no longer being interested in a unification for the sake of seeing long-lost familiy and friends again, as it's been over half a century since the two countries where divided. By comparison, the Berlin wall only existed for 26 years (1963-1989) with travel of Wessies into the east still possible.

[iHUMAN]

No way. South Korean gave a favor to the US- stage or provokate the attack. It worked. Now the US have an excuse to start a new war. This time in Asia. Please folks, don't think that it will pass you. The previous wars were started by the US in Europe, then in the Middle east and Afganistan. All regions were affected by war. The same will be in Asia, no matter how isolated North Korea is.

Yep, sure looks like it...

They even got their satellite images ready!!!

Satellite images of the nuclear facilities that

......... *wait for it* ..........

the United States sold them!




Satellite images just like the ones that proved that Iraqi had

"Weapons of Mass Destruction"

Wut???????

Oh, oops...



This American't claims to have seen Kim's missile...


"It was about this big"



Da Man: "I'll blow you away!"

[Kanchou]

The fact that they have a couple of big guys (China and Russia) standing behind them with more firepower gives them a bit of a confidence boost as well, even though that confidence may not be entirely justified.


Man, I hope you're right. The sooner the better.

NK is the tiny shithead who picks fights at bars because his friend is 6'5" and 240 pounds. I hope next time he looks back and realizes his friend left him with the tab.