Open Sources: Threats and Deterence

I suppose I get why some South Korean politicians are asking the United States to moves nukes back into South Korea, but is such a decision really worth all of the diplomatic and cosmetic complications it would bring? Don’t we already have the ability to fire nuclear-tipped cruise missiles from ships and submarines off North Korea’s coasts, or from Guam based aircraft anyway? In that light, how much deterrence to we really gain by putting nukes in South Korea? The greater limit to American nuclear deterrence isn’t ready access to weapons, it’s the perception of American restraint. If South Korea really wants some effective nuclear deterrence, let it build its own nukes, and let it be known to all that hot-tempered, chain-smoking ajoshis are holding all the keys. For that matter, let Japan and Taiwan build them, too.

North Korea, which was removed from the list of state sponsors of terrorism on October 11, 2008, threatens war again:

“The army and people of (North Korea) will return bolstered nuclear deterrent of our own style for the continued nuclear threat by the aggressors,” North Korea’s military said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

It accused South Korea and the U.S. of plotting to topple the North’s communist government. It said if provoked, North Korea would start a “full-scale” war, take “merciless counteraction” and turn Seoul into a “sea of flames.”

North Korea also warned it will take “our own missile striking action” against what it called moves by the U.S. and South Korea to eliminate the North’s missiles. The statement didn’t elaborate.

Korea Real Time introduces us to the new KCNA, which looks slightly less user-friendly than the old KCNA, but just as stultifying. Of course, there is a prominent and convenient link button for those of you who want to stay current on Kim Jong Il’s activities.

Has it occurred to the Chosun Ilbo that the electricity China is supplying to the Rason district will be used for that huge electric fence that surrounds it, rather than for the few meager industries within?

The latest Good Friends dispatch is here.