We'll attack, Japan tells North Korea

[AZTOY]

We'll attack, Japan tells North Korea
February 15 2003
By Shane Green
Japan Correspondent
Tokyo

Japan has warned that it is prepared to launch a strike against North Korea if it believes the communist state is preparing a ballistic missile attack on it.

In Tokyo's most robust military stance since the end of World War II, Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Japan would be prepared to strike if it detected North Korea was fuelling ballistic missiles in preparation for an attack.

"It is too late if (a missile) flies towards Japan," Mr Ishiba said. "Our nation will use military force as a self-defence measure if (North Korea) starts to resort to arms against Japan."

Mr Ishiba was at pains to portray a Japanese strike against North Korea as an act of self-defence, in line with Japan's post-war constitution, which forbids military aggression.

But his warning pushes constitutional restraint to the limits, and sends a clear message that Japan will not be a passive target.


As the crisis over North Korea's nuclear arms program worsens, Pyongyang has issued increasingly strident warnings that it is prepared to strike against US forces in the region and their allies. Japan, a chief ally, is within easy missile range.

North Korea maintained its strong line yesterday, rejecting this week's decision by the United Nations nuclear watchdog to refer the nuclear crisis to the UN Security Council.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency dismissed the International Atomic Energy Agency as "America's lapdog", saying Pyongyang had no obligations to the IAEA since its withdrawal from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty last month.

On Wednesday the IAEA declared North Korea in breach of atomic safeguards, sending the crisis to the 15-nation Security Council.

It was not immediately clear exactly what form any Japan strike against North Korea could take. The country has well-equipped forces but is more geared towards self-defence.

Mr Ishiba's warning will further raise tension in the crisis over North Korea's nuclear arms program.

The US yesterday reaffirmed that it would not immediately push for UN sanctions following the IAEA decision, instead continuing to pursue a diplomatic solution.

The Japanese defence chief also gave his strong support to the development of a missile defence shield with the US, part of Washington's push for a national missile defence system for US forces and allies in Asia.

Japan is extremely vulnerable to a missile attack. In 1998 North Korea test-fired a missile over Japan that landed in the Pacific. Since then, Tokyo and Washington have been researching a missile defence system.

Mr Ishiba foreshadowed a boosting of Japan's own forces to lessen its reliance on US forces based in the country, saying there was no "free ride" in the post-Cold War era.

The North Korean crisis is also certain to provide impetus to push special emergency legislation through the Diet, Japan's parliament, designed to prepare the country for an attack.

The legislation was bogged down in the Diet last year, but the Government is making a renewed push to have it passed in the current session.

Mr Ishiba's comments came as the the US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, James Kelly, said he believed the North Korean crisis could prompt Japan to rethink its position as a non-nuclear weapons state.

"Certainly, this is a problem that is of a very serious impact on Japan and will cause Japan to rethink all of its positions," he told the House of Representatives International Relations Committee.

But Mr Kelly - the official to whom North Korea confessed to having a nuclear arms program last September - said he believed Japan would stay non-nuclear while it remained under the US nuclear umbrella.

Separately, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld signalled a possible overhaul of US forces in South Korea, which could include a reduction in the 37,000 troops stationed there.

He told a congressional hearing that he would like to see forces moved away from the heavily fortified border and the South Korean capital, Seoul.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/02/14/1044927800992.html

 

[jmbg29]

On a couple of different occasions, I got to work with the J.M.S.D.F. AKA Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force AKA 4th largest navy in the world IIRC. Good folks.

Japan had a few thousand years of a fierce warrior culture. We and they have done quite a bit of work to, if you will, temper the fierceness of their culture.

I would say that if the North Korean nutjobs don't cut it out, then they may not have to rouse the "Sleeping Giant", I'm thinking that the giants little brother could handle the light work.

I don't think that I would want to be on the recieving end of almost 60 years of pent up hostility.

Or as E.T. might say...Oooowwwch.

 

[SodaPop]

Japan has warned that it is prepared to launch a strike against North Korea

They should threaten to crash planes into North Korean buildings.

Dare we say.....Kamikaze.

4th largest navy in the world IIRC

I'm getting lost with who ranks where as far a military power these days. I assume the vast majority of JDF was against North Korea?

 

[David Park]

I assume the vast majority of JDF was against North Korea?

These days, yes, but Japan also has a long-running border dispute with Russia regarding who controls certain northern islands. Japan made a lot of enemies in Asia during WWII.

The power of the majority Liberal Democratic Party has been weakened in recent years due to scandals and the stagnant economy. The last Prime Minister was a horrible failure, so his replacement, Junichiro Koizumi, is somewhat of a maverick reformer, at least by Japanese standards. He's very hawkish, as this article demonstrates. Japan has even been trying to figure out how to support our forces in Iraq without violating their constitution. They've publicly criticized France and supported the US position in the UN:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20030216wo02.htm

 

[Coronach]

Japan is a frigate navy. But when you are conducting operations close to land, every navy is effectively a frigate navy.

And as far as frigate navies go, Japan is by far one of the best. Their equipment is all modern and most of it is US-designed. They have Aegis destroyers, and doubtless know how to use them. The USN is superior to them only in sheer numbers, and the fact that we have carriers...and in modern warfare if you don't have carriers, you better stay close to a friendly airbase, or you will get eaten alive.

Mike

 

[Blackcloud6]

What paper, magazine, website was this article in?

 

[Coronach]

If you click on the link provided in the first post, you can see what website it is on.

Mike

 

[Bahadur]

Hard to say what the Japanese intention is in the event of an attack on it from North Korea, which is very unlikely to begin with (why would North Korea attack its biggest source of hard currency?).

I suspect it wants to avoid the repeat of the recent North Korean "test flight."

Japan had a few thousand years of a fierce warrior culture.

Not quite "a few thousand years." The reputation of "fierce warrior culture" stems from the period of internecine warring years, a couple hundred years at most, that was ended by Tokugawa Shotgunate. Even then the Japanese were no more "fierce" than many other societies based on feudal warfare.

We and they have done quite a bit of work to, if you will, temper the fierceness of their culture.

A couple of atomic bombs and a complete and humiliating occupation of their "godly" homeland by a bunch of smelly Gaijin after a maniacal colonial drive for war will do that to the psyche of the population.

I don't think that I would want to be on the recieving end of almost 60 years of pent up hostility.

There is no "60 years of pent up hostility" in Japan toward North Korea. However, the public sentiment there against the North is not great these days, what with the revelations about the Japanese abductees and the ballistic overflight.

I'm getting lost with who ranks where as far a military power these days. I assume the vast majority of JDF was against North Korea?

The JSDF was originally built to support the US in the event the Soviet Union invaded Japan. During the Reagan years, the naval component of the JSDF was built up further to aid the US in maintaining the stability of the North Pacific. These days, the JSDF is geared toward humanitarian missions and to protect Japanese sovereignty rights vis-a-vis China and North Korea (both of which have ongoing territorial and others disputes with Japan).

BTW, the JSDF is very well-budgeted and technically/technologically very sophisticated. But it is my observation that their personnel lacks a certain "warrior spirit."

The last Prime Minister was a horrible failure, so his replacement, Junichiro Koizumi, is somewhat of a maverick reformer, at least by Japanese standards.

The key operating phrase there is "by Japanese standards." Koizumi hasn't done much of a reform YET and his popularity has plummeted since his inauguration.

And as far as frigate navies go, Japan is by far one of the best. Their equipment is all modern and most of it is US-designed. They have Aegis destroyers, and doubtless know how to use them. The USN is superior to them only in sheer numbers, and the fact that we have carriers...and in modern warfare if you don't have carriers, you better stay close to a friendly airbase, or you will get eaten alive.

Nobody except the 7th Fleet has carriers in the region, so Japan probably has the best naval forces in the area aside from the US.

 

[Waitone]

I've never been one to believe the Japanese's foreswearance of the use of nukes. As one of the world's largest users of nuclear power they have all the parts necessary to assemble a device.


Last week I read an article (don't have the reference) which said Japan's stance is to be able to assemble a nuclear device within 6 months from go.

So my assumption is if Japan can do it, so can Taiwan.

In all the goin's on China may be the country with the biggest surprise.

 

[jmbg29]

Even then the Japanese were no more "fierce" than many other societies based on feudal warfare.

Maybe you misunderstood me. I wasn't implying that they were "more fierce" than like cultures. But if we were to contrast the Japanese with say, the Dineh (Hopi) culture, I think we would be talking different grades of fierce.

There is no "60 years of pent up hostility" in Japan toward North Korea.

Perhaps there isn't now. I haven't been there in over 20 years. But when I was there, most Japanese (especially J.M.S.D.F. guys that I worked with) had a pent up hostility for damn near everybody. For that matter, one would be hard pressed to find a group of people that dislike each other more than the Japanese and Koreans. Given their historical interaction, I find their misgivings very understandable. Same goes for the Koreans that I worked with during Team Spirit exercises.

A couple of atomic bombs and a complete and humiliating occupation of their "godly" homeland by a bunch of smelly Gaijin after a maniacal colonial drive for war will do that to the psyche of the population.

I had more than one Japanese person of the WWII generation tell this "barbarian" that they understood why we did it, and that the suffering and death would have been much worse if we hadn't. I spent most of my time in the WestPac on Okinawa, and compared to what we had to do there with conventional stuff, a single nuke on Naha would have been a blessing. They were still digging up UXO when I was there, probably still are.

But it is my observation that their personnel lacks a certain "warrior spirit."

I once thought that myself, but I came to believe that theirs is just "different". Every Japanese person that I met, even those that lived at the fringes of that society, had a deeply ingrained sense of "group". The best way that I can describe it would be that most American soldiers/sailors give me the sense that they will personally fight to the bitter end at the drop of a hat. The Japanese on the other hand gave me the sense that none would charge ahead until they all charged ahead. After that, all bets would be off.

I also sensed a deep reluctance on their part to do anything that might result in another defeat for their country. A very real "all or nothing" kind of thing.

 

[.45Ruger]

So the government can act in self-defense but the unarmed population can't.

I just don't understand that logic. But it is their country and if that's the way they prefer things, live and let live.

 

[grampster]

Regarding Sec'y Rumsfeld's comment about pulling some of our troops out of the DMZ and ROK, mirrors my sentiment about that situation. In fact I think we should pull ALL of our troops out, period. With PRK's nuclear capability, our people are nothing but a speed bump and would be a sacrifice of American troops that is totally without merit.
ROK folk have been saying they don't want or need us. In this instance I think we should go with the popular sentiment and leave those folks to their own devices.
As far as I could see, if the PRK invades the south and or nukes it, that area of the world would be a wasteland and a problem for China to absorb and take their mind off Taiwan. PRK would then have double the starving people and the rest of the world would get a valuable lessen, again, about the realities of tyranny.
Let the ROK earn their freedom the hard way, if it's necessary.

 

[clem]

Well, the Japanese military did give the US a hard time in the Pacific during WWII. So, I think they would really give those NK jerks something to worry about, if they attack.

And ain't they got Godzillia in a cage or something?

Really, the Japanese would cause the NKs a lot of pain and trouble.

 

[Jim March]

I find it impossible to believe the Japanese don't have a few nukes stashed away for a rainy day.

I'm not bothered by that. If anything, given the close proximity to the total lunatics running North Korea and the barely-any-better Chinese leadership, I would consider it a massive dereliction of duty if Japan *hadn't* brewed up a few big bangers. Odds are they did it 20+ years ago, back when Russia was still a real threat.

For at least 15+ years, Fujitsu and others have been building supercomputers (backed by massive gov't underwriting), which can be used to model nukes without actually lighting the wick on 'em.

Let's not forget that one of the world's largest untapped areas of dry-land natural resources is Siberia, which Russia doesn't have the money to properly exploit. *Somebody* is gonna get at those goodies, which is basically "everything found in Alaska, times 3 or 4". Gold, oil, metals, natural gas, etc. China is eyeing it hungrily. If Japan can get it's economy back together, they'll buy access. The US could do the same.

And it's all right in Japan's back yard - if a fight breaks out, they'll get dragged in.

 

[jmbg29]

And ain't they got Godzillia in a cage or something?

I think he's stuck in a glacier or something.

 

[David Park]

I find it impossible to believe the Japanese don't have a few nukes stashed away for a rainy day.

I read somewhere last week that Japan reported some of its plutonium was "missing." The implication was that the plutonium had disappeared inside of Japan's nonexistent nuclear weapons, just in case the DPRK started some trouble.

 

[Bahadur]

jmbg29:

Maybe you misunderstood me. I wasn't implying that they were "more fierce" than like cultures.

You misunderstood me. I never wrote "like cultures."

My contention was that the supposed fierceness of the Japanese soldiery during WWII was mostly hype, which came into being in the Western minds during the Russo-Japanese War, then cemented by their early successes during World War II.

In part, this was a part of that natural human instinct, which is to assign extra-normal qualities to an opponent (particularly one belonging to a very different culture). A similar set of attributions also applied to the Germans (to a much lesser degree, of course, since they were "Christian Europeans").

Certainly our marines in the South Pacific could be just as fierce as the Japanese, and quite often more so. Some Japanese units in the Pacific were quite courageous and "fierce" no doubt, but that kind of resistance was not always the norm. The Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria was supposed to be the cream of the crop for the Imperial Japanese Army. Yet when the Soviets launched a Blitzkrieg of their own in 1945, the Japanese crumbled and gave up many prisoners (!).

Perhaps there isn't now. I haven't been there in over 20 years. But when I was there, most Japanese (especially J.M.S.D.F. guys that I worked with) had a pent up hostility for damn near everybody. For that matter, one would be hard pressed to find a group of people that dislike each other more than the Japanese and Koreans. Given their historical interaction, I find their misgivings very understandable. Same goes for the Koreans that I worked with during Team Spirit exercises.

Oh, there is hostility between Japanese and Koreans all right, but the intensity of it usually goes one-way. Hmmm, I wonder which way it goes...

I had more than one Japanese person of the WWII generation tell this "barbarian" that they understood why we did it, and that the suffering and death would have been much worse if we hadn't.

That may be. The current consensus in Japan from all age groups, however, is that the Japanese were a "victim" of a nuclear attack. For many Japanese, the war began with the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Most Japanese school texts still teach that the Japanese began their military effort to "liberate" their fellow Asians from European imperialism and ended up losing the war because the US used inhumane nuclear weapons. What about the Japanese atrocities you ask? "Well, war is terrible" (!). No, really? I see, so the Japanese atrocities were merely the normally terrible aspects of warfare, but, see, what the Japanese suffered, that was just ghastly inhumane "special" victimhood.

I once thought that myself, but I came to believe that theirs is just "different". Every Japanese person that I met, even those that lived at the fringes of that society, had a deeply ingrained sense of "group".

Very much so, to be stereotypical about it. Japan is very much a group society even now. What's that got to do with "warrior spirit"? The Japanese are almost uniformly pacifist.

I also sensed a deep reluctance on their part to do anything that might result in another defeat for their country. A very real "all or nothing" kind of thing.

That was the genesis of their pacifism - not wanting to be defeated militarily again. They found that the best way to not be defeated militarily - ever - was not to get into a war - ever. Of course, it came in handy that another warrior nation guaranteed their security. After all, why fight if you can work on your economy and make it the second richest in the world?

clem:

Well, the Japanese military did give the US a hard time in the Pacific during WWII. So, I think they would really give those NK jerks something to worry about, if they attack.

Well, the American Indians gave the US Army "a hard time" for a while too. Where are they now as a warrior nation?

Jim March:

I find it impossible to believe the Japanese don't have a few nukes stashed away for a rainy day.

The Japanese are categorically, almost allergically opposed to the development of nuclear weapons. However, they retain the *capacity* to create one in short order. Likewise, their space program is exclusively devoted to civilian purposes, but they retain the *capacity* to produce ICBMs if necessary. It's just that their sense of that necessity threshold is very, very high.

Let's not forget that one of the world's largest untapped areas of dry-land natural resources is Siberia, which Russia doesn't have the money to properly exploit. *Somebody* is gonna get at those goodies, which is basically "everything found in Alaska, times 3 or 4". Gold, oil, metals, natural gas, etc.

For now, that kind of an estimate remains a hyperbole rather than fact. It is certainly possible, but exploitation of Siberia pose some unique obstacles (which translate into high cost).

China is eyeing it hungrily.

China is busy right now. The "WTO reform" has bankrupted hundreds, probably thousands, of state-owned businesses. They are tottering in the brink of collapse. Millions of workers have been laid off without the promised salaries or pensions. The pressure building inside is tremendous. Unless there is some kind of an outlet built soon, I am afraid that China might experience a great deal of instability.

Remember the maxim that revolutions occur when the lives improve rather than decline. Why? Because when there is a high-speed growth, it tends to be uneven. Unfortunately, however, expectations are universal when there is much growth. Soon, there exists a gap between the expectation and the actual growth.

Both Taiwan and South Korea escaped the Third World status economically while under tremendous internal political pressures. Their potential instabilities were, to some extent, countered and contained by serious external threats (mainland China and North Korea, respectively). Yet, they still went through a tumultous periods of popular protests before some semblance of "democracy" and stable transfers of power took place. Because of more adverse circumstances, I am less optimistic about China.

If Japan can get it's economy back together, they'll buy access. The US could do the same.

While the Japanese are doing poorly, let's put that in perspective. Japan is still the 2nd richest country in the world. Even if it were to fall behind Germany and become the 3rd richest country, it would only be a very MINOR "disaster." Certainly beats the likes of China, which has millions of migrants and vagabonds roaming the countryside and the urban landscape looking for handouts and jobs.

 

[jmbg29]

My contention was that the supposed fierceness of the Japanese soldiery during WWII was mostly hype

My grandfather on my mom's side that was wounded in the battle of the Coral Sea, disagreed with your contention to his dying day.

Oh, there is hostility between Japanese and Koreans all right, but the intensity of it usually goes one-way. Hmmm, I wonder which way it goes...

That's only because the Koreans always lose.

The current consensus in Japan from all age groups, however, is that the Japanese were a "victim" of a nuclear attack.

No need to go to Japan to hear that point of view. Visit a local American High School.:banghead:

What's that got to do with "warrior spirit"?

Isolated out of context, nothing. Taken with the rest of what I said, the obvious. A small group of people, on a tiny set of islands, with marginal resources, stomped all of their neighbors.

 

[Jim March]

Quoting Bahadur:

"The Japanese are categorically, almost allergically opposed to the development of nuclear weapons. However, they retain the *capacity* to create one in short order. Likewise, their space program is exclusively devoted to civilian purposes, but they retain the *capacity* to produce ICBMs if necessary. It's just that their sense of that necessity threshold is very, very high."

Publicly, you bet.

Do you really think their leaders are as squeamish?

Look, what goes on in Japan in public is a very different thing than what goes on in private.

I once talked to a guy who was close to the President of a major Japanese corp. In private, that guy got the type of bow that would have gone to one of the old Feudal Lords. Officially there ain't any such critter as a Feudal Lord.



Let's not even get into the ties between the Japanese corporate world and the Yakuza...many of which function as and think of themselves as the old Bushido (Samurai).

Your average Japanese in the street doesn't even want to think about all this. They don't want to think about the hookers in the schoolgirl uniforms, either . Or Bukkake .

Weird bunch, once you take a closer look.

 

[Bahadur]

jmbg29:

My grandfather on my mom's side that was wounded in the battle of the Coral Sea, disagreed with your contention to his dying day.

Your maternal grandfather may very well be right about the Japanese bunch *he* ran into. But as I stated before, the cream of the IJA in Manchuria collapsed like a house of cards and ran like little girls when the Soviet mechanized armies showed up. Everyone's got his fierce group of warriors (we had the USMC, just to name one group).

That's only because the Koreans always lose.

Only in the modern times. During the ancient times, the Koreans used to thwack the Japanese with regularity (except in one occassion during the medieval period when a surprise Japanese invasion almost toppled the Chosun dynasty). But, as they say, it is ancient history.

No need to go to Japan to hear that point of view. Visit a local American High School.

Touche!

Isolated out of context, nothing. Taken with the rest of what I said, the obvious. A small group of people, on a tiny set of islands, with marginal resources, stomped all of their neighbors.

A lucky turn of history. Had the Chinese or the Koreans westernized first, they'd have stomped the composite bow wielding Japanese bannermen instead of the reverse.

Jim March:

Publicly, you bet.

Do you really think their leaders are as squeamish?

Yes, indeed. The Old Guard of the LDP is pathologically averse to anything military. The military chiefs exercise virtually no say in the government. To serve in the military side of the government is a deadend for a bureaucrat (unlike the US, prestigious bureaucrats, not politicians, run Japan).

Look, what goes on in Japan in public is a very different thing than what goes on in private.

On somethings, yes. Sexual perversion is one.

I once talked to a guy who was close to the President of a major Japanese corp. In private, that guy got the type of bow that would have gone to one of the old Feudal Lords. Officially there ain't any such critter as a Feudal Lord.

Ah, but the head of a Zaibatsu or now a Keiretsu is a feudal lord, the paternal figure responsible for rewards and punishments of corporate feudalism.

Let's not even get into the ties between the Japanese corporate world and the Yakuza...many of which function as and think of themselves as the old Bushido (Samurai).

Yakuza is Yakuza. It has its own code. It does not care for, nor pretend to be, practitioners of Bushido. BTW, the most powerful Yakuza clan in Japan is made up of about 40% ethnic Koreans. As anywhere else, organized crime is often the choice of profession for those who are oppressed.

Your average Japanese in the street doesn't even want to think about all this. They don't want to think about the hookers in the schoolgirl uniforms, either . Or Bukkake .

Whaaa? They love young women in schoolgirl uniforms!

Weird bunch, once you take a closer look.

Hey, now, we all have our weirdnesses! They are just different

 

[The Nip]

Japanese might have a queer culture, but if I'm picking one country in that region to trust, it'll be them.

Chinese? Nope. Either Korea? NOPE. And every other country in "Asia" is such a worthless starving 3rd-world dump, that I could honestly care less what they think or want. They want to oppose us? Fine...we'll stop sending free handouts and those primates can go back to climbing banana trees and eating bugs.

Like I said in the other thread, I'm all for rearming Japan, because looking at this current situation with the commies in the Pacific, we're probably going to need them.

Besides...it'd be nice to have the Koreans angry at another country, redirecting their missles.


The Nip

 

[Jim March]

TN: we actually agree on that. Weird is one thing, completely psycho is another.

Now, as to North Korea shifting attention to Japan: it's already there. Look, NK foreign policy is NOT based on actual reality, it's based on the most distorted load of PR horsecrap you've ever heard. In their "realtime mythology", the Japanese are still rampaging horrors. The US is worse, of course .

We're not dealing with reality here. We're dealing with total nutcases from top to bottom. With nukes. It's nightmarish.

 

[The Nip]

We're not dealing with reality here. We're dealing with total nutcases from top to bottom. With nukes. It's nightmarish.

JM, I agree. Koreans aren't known for their logical capacity. It's even scarier for me, because I live in HAWAII. If they don't send one our way, the fallout from an attack on Japan might turn our kids three-legged.

You know, I've always said that the Japs should've been allowed to finish their conquest in Asia....at least to the point where Korea was destroyed. People called me a whacko, but hey...looks like I was right all along.


NIP

 

[Bahadur]

The Nip:

Japanese might have a queer culture, but if I'm picking one country in that region to trust, it'll be them.

Gee, you wouldn't be ethnically Japanese now, would you? Just an ignorant guess, judging from your handle.

Chinese? Nope. Either Korea? NOPE. And every other country in "Asia" is such a worthless starving 3rd-world dump, that I could honestly care less what they think or want.

Well, Taiwan and South Korea are hardly "worthless starving 3rd-world dumps." They are two of the top 20 industrial and commercial powers.

They want to oppose us? Fine...we'll stop sending free handouts and those primates can go back to climbing banana trees and eating bugs.

Come again?

Like I said in the other thread, I'm all for rearming Japan, because looking at this current situation with the commies in the Pacific, we're probably going to need them.

Need I remind you that the communist and leftist parties are quite powerful in Japan? In Taiwan and South Korea, to be a declared communist is to earn an invitation to weeks of interrogation and a trip to solitary confinement under "national security" laws. They are much more "anti-communist" countries than Japan.

JM, I agree. Koreans aren't known for their logical capacity.

Hmmm. Seoul, South Korea has the highest number of Ph.D. holders per capita in the world. I'd refrain from making such a drastic statement if I were you. That is IF I were you.

You know, I've always said that the Japs should've been allowed to finish their conquest in Asia....at least to the point where Korea was destroyed. People called me a whacko, but hey...looks like I was right all along.

If you wanted the Japanese to obliterate Koreans or any other groups of people, you are indeed a wacko. And, no, you haven't been right all along. There are people other than Koreans who suffer from delusions, apparently.

Jim March:

Look, NK foreign policy is NOT based on actual reality, it's based on the most distorted load of PR horsecrap you've ever heard.

Horsecrap or no, North Korean foreign policy is actually quite rational despite the tiresome rhetoric. North Korea is trying to get some attention and cut a better deal with the US while its attention is occupied elsewhere. I seriously doubt that it wants an actual war with the US.

It is a perfectly rational gain-maximization strategy for them. Of course, our best counter would be to ignore them until we're done with Iraq and then deal with them from a position of strength (as we re-allocate our forces to East Asia). Sadly, that may or may not be possible thanks to the idiots who buy into the "dangerous immedate threat" hype in the media and those who want the US to disengage from the Iraqi situation at any cost.

 

[The Nip]

Seoul, South Korea has the highest number of Ph.D. holders per capita in the world. I'd refrain from making such a drastic statement if I were you. That is IF I were you.

That's why Americans are sending all of our terminally ill to Seoul, right? Or perhaps, that says something about the quality of schools in S. Korea, or the scholastic requirements in Korean colleges. Oh wait....I can't think of a single reputable Korean academic institution.

Well, Taiwan and South Korea are hardly "worthless starving 3rd-world dumps." They are two of the top 20 industrial and commercial powers.

...for third-world labor industries. Last I remembered, Taiwanese employed more children in sweat-shops than India. And "top 20" doesn't really mean much, being that there are barely 20 nations on this planet that don't require funding and aid from countries like us.

Hey, if you're a big fan of Korea then that's your business. I won't look down on anyone for liking a foreign country, God knows, that's where my sorry butt came from. Let's just not attribute non-existent qualities to countries that definitely don't deserve them.


NIP