North-Korea

In case anyone has forgotten this country is still technically at war with the unbalanced other end of the peninsula—North and South Korean troops exchanged gunfire in a brief incident along the border on Monday.

The incident happened shortly before sunset when North Korean soldiers fired two bullets towards a South Korean guard post in the eastern part of the Demilitarized Zone, said Maj. Kim Tae-hoon of the Joint Chiefs of Staff office.

South Korean soldiers immediately fired back six rounds, Kim said.

He said South Korea does not know what prompted the North troops to open fire and the secretive communist country has not said anything to the South about it.

So, do we think the NK soldiers just got bored and decided they needed some excitement? Or was this another attention-getting measure ordered by Kim Jong Il?

Via CNN

So as almost everyone knows by now, North Korea test-fired its Taepodong-2 missile (along with several others of different types (some sources claim they were all ICBMs). As I was busy dealing with immigration and registration issues (don’t ask . . . ), I wasn’t around for the updates.

For the benefit of my family back home (and anyone here who just crawled out from under a a rock), here’s my Thursday morning recap of the best of the Korean blogosphere response.

Oranckay has, as usual, a great overview of the events and possible South Korean reaction. (As well as the best post title. Wish I’d thought of that.)

RazorNylon adds his two cents accompanied by some neat graphics.

For those of us not up on the latest in military/scientist/foreign policy euphemism, Asiapundit clarifies that missile “failure” means the thing exploded 40 seconds after liftoff, making the missile more of a threat to North Korea itself than any of its neighbors.

The Marmot posts a roundup of news reports and analysis, from the usual (and some unusual) sources. South Korea is considering suspension of rice and fertilizer shipments, but is otherwise treading cautiously. And, China has deep-sixed a UN Security Council resolution calling for sanctions.

So, what’s new in your world?

Posted on the online English-language version of the Chosun Ilbo:

A North Korean mouthpiece in Japan said Wednesday the U.S. fabricated stories of an imminent ballistic missile test-launch by Pyongyang but hinted the North may halt the launch all the same.

Come again?

The U.S. is lying about the missile that you say you *might* delay launching anyway? Either something is getting lost in the translation or we’re all being treated to another episode of ‘let’s pretend North Korea has a legitimate, rational government instead genocidal thug dictator with a Hollywood complex.’ Apparently a popular reality show here.

Lest you think it’s all about Dokdo, the World Cup and what to wear during the monsoon over here, some are indeed preoccupied with our burgeoning Asian missile crisis.

While reminding us that the Western news media’s version of “covering” the Korean peninsula is to monitor what’s published in translations of the Seoul major dailies, the Marmot also points out why Seoul’s reaction isn’t what some in the international community expect:

You also have to take into consideration the fact that most of South Korea has been within North Korean missile range for quite some time, and most here in Seoul—well within the range of North Korean artillery—take it for granted that in the event of hostilities, we’d have at most a couple of minutes to kiss our asses goodbye, nukes or no nukes. ICBMs are even more irrelevant.

Intercontinental missiles are, pretty much by definition, not for use in hitting countries a six-seven hour drive away. Yes, they put parts of the United States within range of North Korean stupidity, but so what? Welcome to our world.

Contrary to popular opinion, however, he says South Korea has a lot to lose from a DPRK test launch and the government knows it. (Recent whistling past the graveyard notwithstanding).

Seoul does take the potential missile test seriously. Actually, I think they dread a test even more than Washington or Tokyo. Dollars to donuts the U.S. and Japan actually want the North to launch, as it provides them even more justification to up the pressure on the North, makes it tougher for China to continue protecting the North in the UN (which Beijing will continue to do anyway, but at greater diplomatic cost), and who knows—they might even get a chance to try out that snazzy new missile defense system they’ve been working on.

If the North fires a missile, the black haze you’ll see on the horizon won’t be from a warhead going off; it will be South Korea’s efforts to get the Americans to play nice with Pyongyang going up in smoke. The North would have shot itself in the foot once again, but it will be the South that does the bleeding.

It’s probably also worth noting that there are probably a few South Korean officials who fear the Americans might actually respond to a test by delivering a world of hurt on the North via B-2 or F-117, and do I really have to explain why somebody within North Korean artillery range and a one-hour drive from a goodly percentage of the Korean People’s Army might not necessarily view that as a fortuitous turn of events?

The South Koreans aren’t underplaying reports because they’re not concerned about a test. They’re simply trying to keep the situation calm while they pray to sweet Jesus the North doesn’t screw them once again.

I’ve clipped some of the interesting stuff here, but the entire post is really a must-read, particularly the ensuing discussion in the comments. I’m glad to see this getting more attention. I was wondering why we haven’t been hearing about this, like nonstop, for days, instead of it taking a back seat to soccer.

Maybe, like Kushibo says, it’s simply “threat fatique.” I guess it sort of indicates I’m new here. Hello? Dictator within a day’s drive is planning to test an ICBM . . . That’s not good, right?

Um, right?