North Korea: US naval blockade would be 'act of war'

Sky News ^ | 14 December 2017

[Bernard Marx]

Would they really unleash all WMD assets and face imminent catastrophic retaliation which will turn their entire county into smoldering ruins (or even glass parking lot?) Or would they choke and fold in an anticlimactic fashion?

I believe they're counting on our fear that nuking them would draw both China and Russia into an all-out nuclear world war against us. Both nations share borders with NK and have concerns about the effects our bombs would have on them, directly or from radioactive fall-out. This is one for behind-the-scenes diplomacy with those countries. The stakes for everyone concerned are too high to get hot-headed.

[plain talk]

Or would they choke and fold in an anticlimactic fashion?

I see no way that would happen. You mean Fat Boy tells his generals -- ahh never mind -- forget all that stuff we've been talking about for decades? NK is fully invested in this farce and would go out in a blaze of glory.

[AndyJackson]

Doesn’t firing ballistic missiles into or over the territory of one of our allies constitute an act of war?

And setting off a large nuclear explosion and then verbally threatening the U.S. and our allies with nuclear annihilation.

He has gone way past providing a justification for preemption under international law. Way way way past that point.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Not fat boy but others. The farce would finally meet punishing blows, something which is so overwhelming. The farce has been perpetuated because they haven't met real resistance. They did invest much into it, and it is not up for negotiation. That does not mean that they would fight to the death when massive punishment starts. The prospect of certain death would weaken their response. They would rather find a way to save their life by deserting or bolting from the regime.

Their response would be rather passive not active. They would not go out and say their policy should stop. They all sing in chorus to vow the fight to the death until everything explodes around them and they have absolutely no means to fight back. I noticed a curious pattern of passive resistance in N. Korean's attitude toward their regime. It suggests that they want to be left alone. They are not active participants. Even elites vaguely feel that they are at the dead end, but somehow find no alternative to status quo.

I do not discount the fact that they were brainwashed, but they also know that they have no chance, and Kim Jong-un is not an endearing leader. He is less than what Hirohito was to Japanese during WWII. Their brainwashed mentality would cause problems after the shooting subsides and a new regime or occupation begins.

[MCF]

Your scenario does not figure that NK may have thousands of tons of nerve gas.

[ThunderSleeps]

You know, a big part of sniper missions is Intel gathering. I wonder if we, or the south Koreans, or even the Japanese have sent a team in to gather intelligence, scout possible ambush points... I just wonder if he’s ever been in the cross hairs, and is only alive today because the operators didn’t have a green light.

[plain talk]

I think if war breaks out it will escalate so fast there will be little time for anything but preplanned reactions. Any general or subordinate not towing the party line would be instantly shot, blown to bits or eaten by starving dogs. One would hope NK itself would get rid of its aggressive leadership when faced with certain doom but I have trouble seeing how that would play out.

This is why I think talks with NK would be useful to communicate their dire situation. Probably would not do any good but heck why not try?

[Arlis]

Hopefully the top NK leadership will see that their future’s are very bleak and that they too will inevitably eventually be murdered by their great leader like his #2 man was recently - and that their only hope for survival is to take him out themselves.........

Let’s pray that happens.......

[Hugin]

Yes it is. So is firing missiles over Japan.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Contrary to what many might think, such a move will only confirm N. Koreans’ belief that the situation is not indeed dire. It would be interpreted as an weakness. It is merely communicating to them that we are psychologically in a weaker position and still can be successfully intimidated. They see it as a sign that we are so afraid of pulling the trigger that chance of doing it is almost nil. We are just stroking their ego.

[Forward the Light Brigade]

if trump tried such a thing he would be called a mad war monger and pulled from power. Hillary would seize control and have congress appoint her president pro-temp.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Depends on how he starts it. Anyway, I was talking about how NK will react once the action starts.

[Pollster1]

A naval blockade is an act of war. If we are going there, we need to know that fact.

[TigerLikesRooster]

They will say it is a 'naval interdiction,' a scaled-down version of full blockade. This is a way to force NK to make a first big move. More likely, it would lead to escalating military provocations and counteractions in or near Korean Peninsula, probably topped with N. Korea's atmospheric nuclear test somewhere in Pacific with the bomb delivered by their missile.

Bombastic N. Korea regime cannot publicly back down and look weak. So they will play along.

[TigerLikesRooster]

But what they can do is to agree to a temporary freeze at a last minute. This would only happen when U.S. military is all in position, fully ready and all it needs is a go-sign from POTUS. They also got decent mileage with this gambit. They are throwing some bone for their enemy to chew on. They can always restart under some manufactured pretext later.

[Mark17]

Take him alive and dress him up in women’s underwear.

And cut his dang hair. 👍

[buckalfa]

Best answer is that China always has been and always will be the man behind North Korea’s curtain.

[COBOL2Java]

Right. After initial barrage, they have no really defense except that they all hide in underground tunnels and hope the storm will pass. Some tunnels may survive but the rest will be destroyed in massive counterattack. Most of tunnels have been already mapped. Those inside tunnels will be dead. Those who do survive will face another attack when they try to venture out of their hideouts.

N. Koreans probably know their chance of survival is really slim. Especially lower-ranking soldiers who do not have access to well-fortified bunkers deep underground or maze of escape tunnels for safe getaway.

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Trump ought to send FatBoi a modified version of the Fallout 4 video game to play with the nukes landing on Pyongyang.

[Vermont Lt]

Not taking the North’s side, but a blockade IS an act of war.

[TigerLikesRooster]

That is true. They may scale it down a bit and call it something else, such as ‘naval interdiction,’ though.