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The Military United States

North Korea Declares a State of War 628

paysonwelch writes "North Korea has declared a state of war against South Korea, stating that neither peace nor war has ended. Quoting the news release via Reuters: '1. From this moment, the north-south relations will be put at the state of war and all the issues arousing between the north and the south will be dealt with according to the wartime regulations.' The DPRK goes on to say that this will be a 'blitz' war and that they will regain control of the south, and destroy U.S. bases in the process." Great line from the declaration: "[The U.S.] should clearly know that in the era of Marshal Kim Jong Un, the greatest-ever commander, all things are different from what they used to be in the past." A senior U.S. official called this statement "pot-banging and chest-thumping." The official said, "North Korea is in a mindset of war, but North Korea is not going to war."
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North Korea Declares a State of War

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  • by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 30, 2013 @09:46AM (#43318111)

    I for one welcome our glorious new Democratic overlords.

  • by Lawrence_Bird ( 67278 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @09:47AM (#43318121) Homepage

    The Korean "war" never ended. It has been ongoing since 1950

    • by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 30, 2013 @09:50AM (#43318155)

      I have to agree that Marshal Kim Jong Un is the greatest-ever commander...after all, most commanders have lost lives, while Kim Jong Un hasn't lost any lives, or even a single battle. What US commander in chief could say that?

      Now, if he actually does have his people go to battle, I'd change my opinion, and call him an egomanical turd.

      • by ozmanjusri ( 601766 ) <aussie_bob&hotmail,com> on Saturday March 30, 2013 @11:04AM (#43318607) Journal

        Imagine you're a guy in your mid-30s, educated in Switzerland, a smart enough guy. You're not particularly interested in politics, just want to have a good time and enjoy the luxuries you've always been accustomed to. Then all of a sudden, you're dragged from your your cosy, relatively anonymous life and told you're the leader of one of the world's remaining military dictatorships.

        You don't particularly want to lead, you'd rather continue your life as a pampered playboy, but the people around you are murderous, and will brook no signs of weakness. This is a roller-coaster you're on, you have very little control and you can't get off. How do you stop it? What do you do?

        If you go soft, you'll be assassinated, you know that because it almost happened. One way might be to push harder than the generals expect and try to provoke the rest of the world into stopping the ride for you.

        Just a thought...

        • by RightwingNutjob ( 1302813 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @11:31AM (#43318767)
          Or, you know, try to escape to Japanese disneyland like his brother did...
    • by gl4ss ( 559668 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @09:54AM (#43318175) Homepage Journal

      The Korean "war" never ended. It has been ongoing since 1950

      well how many times can you announce that you're going to attack? they don't have their own memos from last week(apparently memos are in trade blockage as well).

      I'm more inclined to believe that the military is worried the middle rung layers of the military might start doing something enterprising, since their portions of booze and dried meat have lately gotten even smaller than usual.. hence the current state of things in which the entire north korean military is effectively in house arrest.

    • by CanadianRealist ( 1258974 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @10:26AM (#43318373)

      It's Schrodinger's war: neither peace nor war has ended

      They're just threatening to open the box and have a look.

    • by data2 ( 1382587 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @10:29AM (#43318391)

      I realize reading TFA is frowned upon, so just for you:

      "The state of neither peace nor war has ended on the Korean Peninsula."

  • Nothing New (Score:5, Insightful)

    by rolfwind ( 528248 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @09:47AM (#43318123)

    IIRC, North Korea has declared war on the South multiple times since the armistice. In short, it's nothing new.

    NK has had particularly bad farm yields and has trouble feeding it's army - recently China returned 12 NK soldiers that tried to escape. In years past, this wouldn't have happened as NK was keen to always make sure the Army got food but rations were cut last year. It needs an increase in foreign aid to hold itself up. That's what all this sword rattling is about. I hope that everyone lets them drop.

    • Re:Nothing New (Score:5, Insightful)

      by schwit1 ( 797399 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @10:02AM (#43318225)

      What happens when the NK leadership gets to a point where they feel they have nothing to lose by attacking?

      • Re:Nothing New (Score:5, Insightful)

        by binarylarry ( 1338699 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @10:10AM (#43318273)

        Unified Korea and scores of dead North Koreans.

        But the people in North Korea have created this mess, so it's only right they take the heaviest losses.

        • Re:Nothing New (Score:5, Insightful)

          by Rockoon ( 1252108 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @10:30AM (#43318397)

          Unified Korea and scores of dead North Koreans.

          This, and its the last thing that China wants. Korea would become the next Germany in 25 or so years.

          • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

            by Anonymous Coward

            This, and its the last thing that China wants. Korea would become the next Germany in 25 or so years.

            Not exactly. East Germany's economy was much more developed than South Korea, yet unification almost crippled the Germany economy. Unification with N. Korea is not going to be an easy task.

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          Unified Korea and scores of dead North Koreans.

          But the people in North Korea have created this mess, so it's only right they take the heaviest losses.

          The situation on the Korean peninsula wasn't exactly created by the Korean people. It was engineered by the Americans, Chinese, Russians and Japanese; because a unified Korea would have been so economically powerful NONE of the above wanted it to exist. Even though these parties were so ideologically opposed to each other they could still agree that a powerful Korea would be bad for their interests.

          Seriously; had Korea not been divided it would be immensely powerful economically and militarily, due to miner

          • by amiga3D ( 567632 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @11:26AM (#43318725)

            I'm pretty sure we've always been at war with East Asi....uh.....North Korea.

          • Re:Nothing New (Score:5, Informative)

            by gtall ( 79522 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @11:36AM (#43318801)

            N. Korea attacked first. History is always an interesting read.

          • Re:Nothing New (Score:4, Informative)

            by Black Parrot ( 19622 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @12:11PM (#43319017)

            The situation on the Korean peninsula wasn't exactly created by the Korean people. It was engineered by the Americans, Chinese, Russians and Japanese; because a unified Korea would have been so economically powerful NONE of the above wanted it to exist.

            When this situation was 'engineered', "Made in Japan" wasn't even a joke yet, "Made in Korea" came along even later.

          • Re:Nothing New (Score:5, Insightful)

            by rastoboy29 ( 807168 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @01:51PM (#43319551) Homepage
            Nice theory, too bad it's nonsense.  Seriously, do you have any evidence?

            Isn't it much more logical that it was simply a struggle for control over Korea by the more powerful nations, that ended in a deadlock?

            Korea had never been a potent independent economic player in history--I very much doubt the current status of the south, for example, was something anyone from outside Korea was expecting.

            It's *not* that big a country, bro.  Your argument doesn't make any sense, and you have no evidence, so please don't spread drivel.  Bad enough we have Glen Beck conjecturing on camera...
          • Re:Nothing New (Score:4, Informative)

            by DragonWriter ( 970822 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @03:04PM (#43319919)

            The situation on the Korean peninsula wasn't exactly created by the Korean people. It was engineered by the Americans, Chinese, Russians and Japanese; because a unified Korea would have been so economically powerful NONE of the above wanted it to exist.

            Not really true. Japan might not have, but no one was really listening to them at the end of WWII. America and Russia both wanted a United Korea to exist, and both wanted to direct how it was going to be set up. Same as in Germany, they each saw half a loaf and not fighting a war with each other immediately as superior, in the short term, to any other alternative that was on the table.

        • Seoul is within shelling range of a huge number of N Korea artillery. It wouldn't be outrageous to say that millions of S Koreans could die on the first day of the war.
      • Then watch the regime falls quickly within days and people will be liberated. This is even easier than Iraq.

        • Re:Nothing New (Score:5, Insightful)

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 30, 2013 @10:31AM (#43318405)

          The North Korean military isn't any match for the South Koreans & the USA. Everyone knows that.

          The real threat is because Seoul is so close to the border. You'll get thousands (millions?) of artillery shells fired at Seoul, resulting in lots of civilian casualties & destruction.

        • Re:Nothing New (Score:5, Insightful)

          by confused one ( 671304 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @10:35AM (#43318433)

          No it won't, for two reasons.

          For 60 years they've been instilling in their populous that their Dear Leader is a god (or god-like). While many fear and loath him, any that have shown open dissent have been killed or put in re-education camps. The population will not rise up against the NK leadership.

          For 60 years NK has been digging in and building weapons. They may not be as technically sophisticated as their neighbor, they may not have the weapons technology available to the U.S., but they have weapons and personell in quantity. Technically, they have one of the largest armies in the world, with over a million active and eight million reserve. A conflict with NK could drag on for years.

          • Re:Nothing New (Score:5, Insightful)

            by CdBee ( 742846 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @11:09AM (#43318629)
            Or it could be ended in 5 minutes if anyone had the balls to use a neutron weapon in the role it was designed for.
          • by dinfinity ( 2300094 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @11:14AM (#43318663)

            but they have weapons and personell in quantity

            Half of them are photoshopped, though.

          • Re:Nothing New (Score:4, Insightful)

            by cdrudge ( 68377 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @11:26AM (#43318735) Homepage

            For 60 years they've been instilling in their populous that their Dear Leader is a god (or god-like).

            I seriously wonder how quickly their beliefs would change should food, clothing, medicine, etc become readily available by the "imperialist aggressors".

            If I'm cold, sick, and on the brink of starvation, it's not going to take much for me to ditch whatever current beliefs I have.

    • by DarkOx ( 621550 )

      Exactly this.

      Its a ploy to get more handouts from the West nothing more nothing less. You can't say "shut up or the aide check is void either." If he shuts up he will appear weak and it will probably get him killed. The best thing to do here is simple cut the aide off no discussion. The time to do this is now before they create more reliable weapons and delivery systems. One of three things will happen in order of likeliness:

      1) Nothing; South Korea and China will step in and provide the food and monetar

  • by HangingChad ( 677530 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @09:48AM (#43318131) Homepage

    You know you're seriously off the rails when you start provoking the planet's grand champions at killing people and breaking things and Russia and China are telling you to calm down.

  • Go ahead (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Hentes ( 2461350 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @09:49AM (#43318141)

    But China won't help you out this time.

  • Actually scary (Score:5, Interesting)

    by bryan1945 ( 301828 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @09:51AM (#43318157) Journal

    I really think there is a chance that NK leadership has gone so bonkers they would actually try something like bombing SK. I doubt it would be effective unless they bring a nuke to the fight, but we're still talking about one of China's maybe-buddies. The USSR was scary, but they weren't so honking insane as these guys.

    Hopefully, NK will just keep doing the "chest thumping" thing until they get tired. Or it's all just a bluff in the first place. I, personally, have had enough wars/actions/what-have-you for now. Too much death. Everyone (including the US) just chill and have a cup o' tea and a biscuit.

    • by stevew ( 4845 )

      Looking at history ( a novel concept I know) you find that indeed this has happened before.

      You have a few things coming together that is causing this noise. 1) New leader in NK trying to show his ability to stand up to the West. 2) New leader in South Korea which is a cue for NK to become bellicose. 3) Annual SK/USA war games which NK always uses as a provocation. 4) Even tougher sanctions just put into place.

      The US has no desire to go to war, nor does SK. The US is doing what has been doing for 50+ yea

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward

        2) New leader in South Korea which is a cue for NK to become bellicose

        This is one woman with whom they should not fuck. Seriously, her mother was killed by a North Korean assassin [wikipedia.org], and she was the de-facto first lady in her place. I'm think we might have a Korean Maggie Thatcher on our hands; she's not cowed by the North. From what I gather her attitude seems to be "we don't want this.. we won't start this.. but if you do, we're fucking bringing it hard."

    • China is a buddy to North Korea in the same way that Iraq was a buddy to the United States.

      Kim better not give them an excuse.
  • Suddenly... (Score:5, Funny)

    by fph il quozientatore ( 971015 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @09:54AM (#43318181)
    Suddenly, Zergling rush!
  • by Kwelstr ( 114389 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @09:55AM (#43318185)
    North Korea is trying to blackmail the west once again. It worked in the 90's with Clinton and it worked in the 2000's with Bush, they make a big fuss and they get money to calm down. And the US media loves it too, they get to scare people and talk endlessly about it during a slow news cycle. Ratings up, win-win.
    • Yesterday on the PBS New Hour, a Clinton era official was upset US actions in Korea were labelled a failure, pointing to agreements that in the end were not honored. He could not get it through his head that the measure of success is whether or not those policies lead to lasting peace and cooperation, which they clearly did not. It was a pathetic exercise in "We got it right, we were awesome, the bad things happening now have no relation to my successes."
    • by jjohnson ( 62583 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @10:36AM (#43318439) Homepage

      Actually, in the '00s, Bush tore up the Agreed Framework negotiated by Carter, under which NK received regular food and fuel aid in exchange for placing their nuclear weapons program under international inspection. "Axis of Evil", he said. "No more blackmail", he said. So NK ripped the UN inspector's seals of their uranium, built a nuke, and detonated it. Bush came running back, and now the crazy Norks are still demanding food and fuel aid while rattling their sabres, but their sabre is nuclear.

      Heckuvajob, Bushie!

  • This little guy (Score:5, Interesting)

    by blackholepcs ( 773728 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @09:58AM (#43318203) Journal
    Can someone explain to me what it is that gives such a small country that has comparably weak military (they are ranked number 28 in the world according to http://www.globalfirepower.com/countries-listing.asp [globalfirepower.com]) and pretty much zero chance of surviving a week in a real war the balls to be so dickish and war-hungry?

    Are they really THAT brainwashed and misinformed (or uninformed) as to believe that they can just threaten nuclear war every time they don't get their way? It's like a little kid threatening to run away every time he has to eat his broccoli.

    The only scary thing here is that sometimes, very rarely, the little kid DOES run away for an hour or so. Well, I hope for the sake of any innocent people in North Korea that this little boy doesn't run away, and instead learns to shut the fuck up and eat his broccoli.
    • Re:This little guy (Score:5, Insightful)

      by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Saturday March 30, 2013 @10:14AM (#43318305) Homepage Journal

      Can someone explain to me what it is that gives such a small country that has comparably weak military (they are ranked number 28 in the world according to http://www.globalfirepower.com/countries-listing.asp [globalfirepower.com]) and pretty much zero chance of surviving a week in a real war the balls to be so dickish and war-hungry?

      It keeps working.

    • Re:This little guy (Score:5, Informative)

      by Attila Dimedici ( 1036002 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @10:29AM (#43318381)
      Quite simply, it is twofold. First China does not want Korea unified under an nominal U.S. ally (South Korea). Second, China finds NK a useful catspaw to find out how far they can provoke the U.S. before the results become unpalatable. There is a third element that purely involves NK, but that only works because of the first two. Every so often the situation in NK becomes so bad that they need an infusion of outside aid to keep things from completely collapsing. They have learned that by rattling their cage and threatening violence, they can gain such aid. If the outside world does not respond with sufficient aid soon enough, NK starts various low level acts of violence against those in the vicinity, gradually escalating until the aid is forthcoming (which is why ignoring them is not an option).
      If NK ever stops being useful to China, they will cease to exist.
    • by AdamHaun ( 43173 )

      Can someone explain to me what it is that gives such a small country that has comparably weak military ... and pretty much zero chance of surviving a week in a real war the balls to be so dickish and war-hungry?

      They have artillery lined up by the border. Within the first few hours of a war, they can devastate Seoul and probably other South Korean cities, killing millions. I think they also have rocket artillery that could hit Tokyo. North Korea would lose the war pretty quickly, but the civilian cost would be *very* high.

    • Re:This little guy (Score:5, Informative)

      by Subm ( 79417 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @12:40PM (#43319211)

      This series of posts describes North Korean strategy at a high level -- http://joshuaspodek.com/north-korea-strategy-preview [joshuaspodek.com]

  • by spanky_poppagasket ( 2644453 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @10:03AM (#43318229)
    The Kaesong Industrial complex [wikipedia.org], a North/South industrial park, is apparently still open for business which means economic relations are undisturbed. Most news sources are highlighting this as a sign that the North isn't serious about the threats. If I were NK, though, I'd keep that puppy open as long as possible considering the new sanctions.
  • by rmdingler ( 1955220 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @10:05AM (#43318237) Journal
    There has to be a growing group of North Koreans who are rolling there eyes every time this Tard opens his mouth nowadays... Tell me they're not going to put up with Lil Kim much longer. This is right out of Machiavelli's playbook. Lil Prince needs to keep his citizens occupied with a foreign 'conflict' to keep their collective attention away from strife at home.
  • nothing major (Score:5, Interesting)

    by crossmr ( 957846 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @10:05AM (#43318247) Journal

    Since i live in South Korea, I base my concern level on the people around me, rather than western media.

    Today all the girls were out in their 6 inch skirts, 10 inch heels, and all the guys were out following them around.

    Seems to be just another day.

  • No more rhetorics (Score:4, Insightful)

    by rasmusbr ( 2186518 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @10:09AM (#43318269)

    It seems to me that the North Korean leadership has just spent all of its rhetorical ammo. If the next thing out of Kim's mouth isn't a launch code and an authorization to launch a nuclear tipped missile he's just ruined his credibility. And North Korea does not even have a nuclear tipped missile.

    This is very dangerous, because this means that at some time before the next time Kim wants to blackmail South Korea and the US he is going to have to use enough force that his threats will regain credibility. I don't think there will be a major war, but I think a minor exchange of fire, at least, is inevitable at some point in the not too distant future if Kim wants to stay in power.

    I wonder what his generals and other top officials in Pyongyang are whispering to one another when he can't hear. I guess the time to stage a coup without looking like total traitors would be a couple of months after this blows over.

    • I guess the time to stage a coup without looking like total traitors would be a couple of months after this blows over.

      Maybe that's the plan all along.. someone (or some group) somewhere is pushing young kim to make a fool of himself and his country so that he can then be deposed and NK can finally be rid of the old dynasty..

      Or maybe they are all just nuts.

  • Cyberwar (Score:5, Funny)

    by Mister Liberty ( 769145 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @10:36AM (#43318443)

    I can see prices of Android tablets skyrocketing.
    Apple must be behind all this.

  • by raymorris ( 2726007 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @10:51AM (#43318535) Journal
    I wonder what would happen if the US used a stealth bomber to drop a 500 lb. bag of candy on Kim's house, just to make the point that we can drop anything on him at any time. Just a reminder that he lives precisely as long as Obama chooses to allow. Maybe follow it up with dropping a few thousand teddy bears on major population centers.
    • by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 30, 2013 @11:14AM (#43318653)

      That doesn't seem useful.

      Kim Jong Un knows that the US can kill him at any time, Kim Jong Un also knows that the North Korean military leadership can kill him at any time. He has to appease both, which he does by rattling the saber enough to please the military and not quite enough to make the US really angry.

    • by Chemisor ( 97276 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @12:06PM (#43318987)

      It should be cake. Then he'd know it's not a lie.

    • Better idea: take the top generals in the hard-line faction, and identify which of them have a bunch of young grandchildren. On a day those grandchildren are at the general's house, drop a dud bomb loaded with 100lbs of Pop Rocks dead-center of the courtyard. A nice dual message: "Yes, we know who's really behind this and are perfectly willing and able to put an end to you." and "Yes, we're perfectly willing and able to make you suffer before we put an end to you.".

  • Blitz (Score:5, Funny)

    by wisnoskij ( 1206448 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @10:51AM (#43318539) Homepage

    This is not how you conduct a blitz.

  • by roc97007 ( 608802 ) on Saturday March 30, 2013 @11:18AM (#43318687) Journal

    So... during all this falderall, we get to see a lot of photos of Young Dear Leader surrounded by elderly men in military uniforms with ridiculously large hats, pointing dramatically this way and that. Occasionally you get a side view of Dear Leader and... all I can think of is MAN he's fat. Looks like close to 300 pounds. They try to disguise it with clothes and camera angles but there's no denying that he is a Big Boy. Maybe we should just send truckloads of Cinnabuns and wait for the inevitable?

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