North Korea lit off a dud

[OnlineStageGear]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,219284,00.html

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapc...est/index.html

I remember them saying yesterday that initial indications estimated the yield of what they lit off as 550 tons, (the Hiroshima Bomb was 15 Kilotons) and they refered to it as a fizz bomb. Guess they were trying to use 550 tons of TNT to lite off a Plutonium core and it failed, if that is even what they were trying to do. That is far from having a Nuke that will fit on the warhead of a rocket.

Matt

[~K~]

Kim Jong Fahted

[Shawn Lutz]

or it is possible that it was no nuke at all...

[RacerX]

I like that you included links to both Fox & CNN!

[rjohnstone]

I guess we should add this link then...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15200996/

[mattsmusiccenter]

Looks like Kim Jong pissed off China... I'm no expert but I wouldn't think that would be a good idea.

[OnlineStageGear]

I like that you included links to both Fox & CNN!

I thought I would show the middle's point of view and then the left.

[OnlineStageGear]

Looks like Kim Jong pissed off China... I'm no expert but I wouldn't think that would be a good idea.

Seeing as how China is just about the only think keeping North Korea alive, no, it is not a good idea.

or it is possible that it was no nuke at all...

That is very possible.

[mm2002]

It's not only possible...it's likely

[bombtek]

Guys ...I've had training on these
lots...on how to ID...disarm fired and armed nukes, whether they be foriegnor domestic and unconventional nukes.....It is ENTIRELY likely ...given today's technology (not just the US and our allies) that this was a nuclear weapon of some sorts.

No it is NOT economical nor feasible to just set off 550 tons of TNT just to detonate the core element of a nuke......but it IS entirely feasible to set of 5lbs of explosives to compress a core of nuclear material, and cause an explosion that would register 550 tons of TNT.

No I am not saying that this is what happened......I haven't been there to monitor so I can't say. All I am saying is that it is VERY possible to make a nuke yield 550 tons of TNT....as a matter of fact, to test a nuke with limited material, this is a very smart way to go about testing as you are not wasting your material to conduct only one test.

I personally am siding with the opnion that this WAS in fact a test of a nuclear detonation, and I am watching this situation VERY closely.

Will there be a United States military action against NOrth Korea.....I HIGHLY doubt it. will there be a reduction of the former ongoing withdrawal of US troops from South Korea...YUP.....of that I have no doubt...little good it'll do though....It is well known that the US and South Koream (ROK) army are but a speed bump for the North Korean Army...maybe provide a slow-down of 30 hours total before the Koream penninsula is taken over.

In all honesty, I really think that our (and the international community's) hope lies with China as they hold more sway with N.. Korea than any other power on the globe today.

Yes Kim Jon ILwants to have a face to face with the US...this was a REALLY foolish way to go about trying to accomplish that.....all it has accomplished is for the US to encourage China to let Kim Jon Il know that the fate of his countrymen may lay in the hands of Red China and China holds the power to starve, and bankrupt Korea right now (although Kim Jon Il may not really care as his military will still have rations for a time to come....he deosn't really seem to care for his fellow countrymen).

This is turning out to be one tough situation, and I for one ...due to the nature of my job and who I work for.....am keeping my bags packed...I really think that China holds the key in this one.

[OnlineStageGear]

U.S. military aircraft equipped with radiation-detection instruments were monitoring the Korean peninsula for nuclear activity at the time of the reported explosion. Intelligence officials have said that it should be apparent within hours after a nuclear test whether it was successful, and the longer time passes without that indication the greater the likelihood that it was not.

None of the officials are saying it did, or it didn't happen, but they are basicly saying it is more likely not.

as a matter of fact, to test a nuke with limited material, this is a very smart way to go about testing as you are not wasting your material to conduct only one test.

You do make a good point. They do only have a limited amount of Plutonium, on the other hand, North Korea told China that the test should yield 14 Kilotons.

[horns666]

Guys ...I've had training on these
lots...on how to ID...disarm fired and armed nukes, whether they be foriegnor domestic and unconventional nukes.....It is ENTIRELY likely ...given today's technology (not just the US and our allies) that this was a nuclear weapon of some sorts.

No it is NOT economical nor feasible to just set off 550 tons of TNT just to detonate the core element of a nuke......but it IS entirely feasible to set of 5lbs of explosives to compress a core of nuclear material, and cause an explosion that would register 550 tons of TNT.

No I am not saying that this is what happened......I haven't been there to monitor so I can't say. All I am saying is that it is VERY possible to make a nuke yield 550 tons of TNT....as a matter of fact, to test a nuke with limited material, this is a very smart way to go about testing as you are not wasting your material to conduct only one test.

I personally am siding with the opnion that this WAS in fact a test of a nuclear detonation, and I am watching this situation VERY closely.

Will there be a United States military action against NOrth Korea.....I HIGHLY doubt it. will there be a reduction of the former ongoing withdrawal of US troops from South Korea...YUP.....of that I have no doubt...little good it'll do though....It is well known that the US and South Koream (ROK) army are but a speed bump for the North Korean Army...maybe provide a slow-down of 30 hours total before the Koream penninsula is taken over.

In all honesty, I really think that our (and the international community's) hope lies with China as they hold more sway with N.. Korea than any other power on the globe today.

Yes Kim Jon ILwants to have a face to face with the US...this was a REALLY foolish way to go about trying to accomplish that.....all it has accomplished is for the US to encourage China to let Kim Jon Il know that the fate of his countrymen may lay in the hands of Red China and China holds the power to starve, and bankrupt Korea right now (although Kim Jon Il may not really care as his military will still have rations for a time to come....he deosn't really seem to care for his fellow countrymen).

This is turning out to be one tough situation, and I for one ...due to the nature of my job and who I work for.....am keeping my bags packed...I really think that China holds the key in this one.

yeah, what he said..who can argue that..he's a pro!!
Lil' Kim is a silly fucker..I like him!!

He's like a Looney Toons cartoon character!!

[Tashtego]

<QUOTE: bombtek> It is well known that the US and South Koream (ROK) army are but a speed bump for the North Korean Army...maybe provide a slow-down of 30 hours total before the Koream penninsula is taken over.</QUOTE:bombtek>

Why is this? I understand the border being overrun and Seoul's enevitable destruction but the South Korean Army is very large, well equiped, well trained, and probably hard fighting. The CIA world fact book used to give the numbers but I can no longer find them, on the sizes of the two armies. What I remember was S. Korea had just under a million in standing trained troops while the north had something around 1.25 Million. The South has better equipment, better support, better infrastructure. Is the assumption still that China would throw in with the North?

[QuantumRider]

...the South Korean Army is very large, well equiped, well trained, and probably hard fighting.

They have mandatory 2 year military service over there, for males at least. So from the age of 18 to 20, everyone becomes a soldier. I'm sure that there are many many South Koreans who would rejoin to augment the number of the "standing army" if attacked by the North.

[OnlineStageGear]

It is well known that the US and South Koream (ROK) army are but a speed bump for the North Korean Army...maybe provide a slow-down of 30 hours total before the Koream penninsula is taken over.

The South Korean Army is hardly a speedbump. They would give the North Koreans a hell of a fight today.