Well it seems that North Korea has the ability to strike the US according to the well respected and much vaunted Janes publication.

Emerging reports indicate that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea - DPRK) is developing-- and is in the process of deploying--at least two new ballistic missile systems.
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The first is a land-based road-mobile medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM)/intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) with an estimated range of 2,500-4,000km. The second is a companion submarine or ship-mounted ballistic missile system with a range of at least 2,500km.
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The R-27 was an excellent choice upon which the DPRK could build a new system. The liquid-fuelled missile features 40-year-old technology and is well within the level of skill and industrialisation of the DPRK. More significantly, the R-27 engine was designed by the Isayev Design Bureau, which had also developed the 9D21 engine. This was being produced by the DPRK for its Hwasong 5/6 (Scud B/C) and, in a modified form, for the No-dong. The R-27 also represents a proven system that the DPRK would be able to develop and deploy without having to conduct a significant test and evaluation programme.
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http://www.janes.com/defence/news/jdw/jdw040802_1_n.shtml



In another article the Russians deny that they helped NK develop this missile:

Russian military experts with close links to the government poured scorn yesterday on claims that Moscow has helped North Korea develop two new ballistic missile systems capable of hitting mainland America with nuclear warheads.
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"[This] would fundamentally alter the missile threat posed by [North Korea] ... and could finally provide its leadership with something that it has long sought to obtain - the ability to directly threaten the continental US," the journal claimed. [Jane's Defence Weekly]
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The magazine also suggested that North Korea had obtained further vital missile intelligence from its 1993 purchase of 12 decommissioned Russian Foxtrot and Golf II-class submarines.
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http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=548092


This fundamentally shifts this into high gear for the US, but yet there is not a mention of it on the US media! This threat is quite different then from all other threats that NK once had. If it is true that NK bought Golf submarines they would have the ability to launch these SLBM’s against the western coast line of the US. The missiles in question are of a proven design, NK does not have to actually launch these missiles to determine if they are reliable, they were in the Soviet inventory for over 20 years. So you by saying “why does this matter?” it matters a lot. The NK’s have now obtained the ability to destroy US targets not only in the western Pacific with the land based version of this missile which has a range of 4000 km (Guam, and Okinawa are now within NK’s nuclear range), this means that NK has the ability to attack the USA at any time without warning. The US’ $60 billion NMD now cannot defend the US from the very threat it was designed to stop, a North Korean missile attack.

The Soviet SS-N-6 was originally designed to be fired from a submarine. The Soviets also evaluated firing missiles of this class from surface ships that would be designed to blend in with normal commercial shipping. The US Government is evidently concerned that the North Koreans may intend to launch this missile from small commercial vessels that have approached the coastlines of the United States.
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Such a basing mode could be attractive to North Korea because under many scenarios it would under-fly the missile defense system currently being deployed by the United States. It would also require less complex technology than the unflown Taepodong-2 ICBM.


What else does this mean? Well it means even if the US were to destroy NK with nuclear weapons, NK would ultimately would not be destroyed. The whole point of having SLBM forces is to have nuclear assets survive a nuclear strike from the opposing country, so a retaliatory strike would be possible. Should war ever start on the peninsula it would be surprising to have all SLBM submarines out going towards the US, and unmarked merchant ships as well quietly patrolling the world’s oceans. This increases NK’s strength exponentionally because the US would be hard pressed to find a small submarine in the middle of the world’s largest ocean. I will have to imagine that these missions for the North Koreans would be suicide missions; they don’t have anywhere to come back to. So I don't expect to be seeing a war against NK anytime soon. (http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/dprk/images/nd-b-map.jpg)

oh well i still hope NK get attacked aswell as Syria and Iran.

only good comes out of it.

more matyrs,
more terrorists emerge.
more people hate America
what Bin Laden makes says more sense
America will hopefully get itsa ass kicked

Well…one thing is having the missiles and another the fuel
to shoot it further then their cost line! :p

Regardless on how ugly the north Korean may appear to luxurious
western mentalities. Any country, as unpleasant as it may be, has
the right to arm themselves. I think that neither NK nor many other
countries would think twice in losing two eyes to half blind the US
government.

This mouse and cat games it’s getting out of date. :rolleyes:

I'll bet a dollar that Bush wishes Saddam had some of these missiles - he might have actually had a reason to go to war.

I'll also bet a dollar that Bush will not say the words "North Korea" between now and November 3rd. He just better hope that Pyongyang doesn't decide to just take South Korea - the U.S. doesn't have enough troops to stop the North, period.

Tis' true...

I dunno why you guys are so happy. If NK will have the possibilty to atack US with nuclear weapons ,and US will have some retarded muppet on a leash of oil crooks (e.g. bush and his croonies) as a governement all this will lead to is a death of a dozens of millions of American people.

Would the fact that NK will be anhilated serve as any consolation to lose a few major US cities to NK nukes? Death toll could easily reach 100 million on american side.

I dunno why you guys are so happy.

Well I am not happy; I just think the US has finally met its match in NK. For all the bluster that this administration has said over the last four years, from “Axis of Evil” to calling Kim Jung Il names now the US would be crazy to actually attack NK should this evidence be truly credible (which I believe it is, it’s from Jane’s). I’m sad that NK has spend billions upon billions on this nuclear/missile program and up to 1-3 million have died in that country, to me that’s disgusting. But I also understand that NK has one goal, regime survival.

If NK will have the possibilty to atack US with nuclear weapons ,and US will have some retarded muppet on a leash of oil crooks (e.g. bush and his croonies) as a governement all this will lead to is a death of a dozens of millions of American people.

That’s why Bush has failed the US when he abandoned South Korea’s Sunshine policy and Clinton’s policies as well. Iraq was never a threat to the US, North Korea is and it’s too late to do much.

Would the fact that NK will be anhilated serve as any consolation to lose a few major US cities to NK nukes? Death toll could easily reach 100 million on american side.

Although I doubt the death toll would be 100 million, North Korea’s nuclear weapons are about as powerful as the ones dropped on Hiroshima, not all that powerful. I would say that the death toll would be in the range of 20-40 million in a war with North Korea if nuclear weapons are involved, much being North Korean deaths.

I'll bet China won't like this in their back yard!

I doubt China has a choice...anyways it may prove to be in China's best interests.

Why would China want to let Kim erect a missle network that could hit China much easier than America?

and isnt China dependant on America?

Why would China want to let Kim erect a missle network that could hit China much easier than America?

Ever hear of the concept of Proxy?

The nKPA don't "have" anything yet, and nothing is "done", per se. As usual nico's North Korean fanboyism (hooray for autocratic shitbags with nuclear weapons) causes him to be a bit presumptuous. Too bad he didn't quote the rest of the article, since Jane's Defence Review kicks ass. They are over and above the dime-store conjecture you often encounter on Tripod-hosted sites like globalsecurity.org and usasuxlol.ru

Since I have access to a Jane's account here at work, here's a snippet of the relevant stuff from the third page. This is with respects to the R-27 derivative they're hot for:

The obstacles to be surmounted before these systems remain stark, however.

In the case of the R-27U, reliability and operability need to be achieved. This involves addressing the various glaring design flaws that caused it to be quickly purged from the Soviet arsenal in the late-1960s as the Soviets sought after solid-propellant rocket motor castings. In particular, the R-27U's turbo pumps, which funneled oxidizer into the rocket's combustion chamber, were prone to siezing if the missile was left fueled for too long due to the low storage temperature of its liquid oxygen oxidizer. These failures caused so many problems in the development of the R-27U that the programme manager at the time was nearly fired by Dmitri Belenko himself.

To achieve a reliable operational status with a daughter of the original R-27U, the North Koreans must first re-engineer the turbo pumps to handle cryogenic liquids reliably, or begin using a liquid oxidizer of a higher temperature, such as Nitrogen Tetroxide. Neither of these hurdles are easy to overcome. The Soviets, at their Cold War peak, did not even bother to. Thus, it remains largely suspicious that the economic and scientific infrastructure of the DPRK missile programme is capable of correcting these issues.
There's another bit for the Hwasong-7 that I can also quote later if need be. So as you can see, this alleged threat is nowhere near as present as it purports itself to be. If any of you have Jane's access you can get to the rest of that article by following nico's link above. Alternatively, I can quote the whole thing, and I would have, but goofyfish probably wouldn't like that.

The nKPA don't "have" anything yet, and nothing is "done", per se.

Exactly Per se, but the North Korean’s are building the missiles because they are confident enough in their performance. As stated in the article the SS-N-6 is well within the grasp of North Korean production capabilities. There are actual examples of these new missiles, they have been spotted outside Pyongyang in Mirim AB if I am not mistaken, so it is at least to my knowledge these missiles are a real threat.

As usual nico's North Korean fanboyism (hooray for autocratic shitbags with nuclear weapons) causes him to be a bit presumptuous.

It’s not as you name it “fanboyism” it is merely relaying the facts. I have to admit, something that our jingoistic nationalist friend here will not admit, it is shocking if not admirable that a country whose economy is smaller then Guatemala can put the US mainland under direct nuclear threat. Sorry but I am a not “rejecton automaton” who uses simple American indoctrination as a means to an argument. I mean its pretty sad to me that morals play a role in all this…oh well.

They are over and above the dime-store conjecture you often encounter on Tripod-hosted sites like globalsecurity.org

Global security is not a tripod site, it is regularly used by news organizations in the US especially CNN it has my respect.

usasuxlol.ru

That’s your own opinion not mine…

There's another bit for the Hwasong-7 that I can also quote later if need be. So as you can see, this alleged threat is nowhere near as present as it purports itself to be.

The R-27 also represents a proven system that the DPRK would be able to develop and deploy without having to conduct a significant test and evaluation programme.

Then there must a disconnect here! Too me it is pretty obvious that the NK’s have the R-27 ready to go. They already built some…

I think the U.S. should (1) apologize for invading the Korean peninsula in the first place, (2) withdraw all of our 40,000 troops from Korea, (3) give a lot of food to North Korea to feed its people, (4) encourage them to cut way back on military spending, allow independent unions, etc. and (5) set up exchange programs between the workers, college students, etc. of both countries.

That would go a long way to normalizing relations between the 2 nations, and that's what's necessary to prevent war.

If I was the President of ANY THIRD WORLD NATION, I would be building nukes as fast as possible. Thats the ONLY way to prevent an American invasion.

I think the U.S. should (1) apologize for invading the Korean peninsula in the first place,

To be fair the US did not invade the Korean peninsula the North Koreans invaded South Korea and the US along with many other states under a UN mandate and flag went to save South Korea. The US has nothing to apologize for in that instance.

(2) withdraw all of our 40,000 troops from Korea,

Well hey it’s not the US isn’t trying; the US is withdrawing 13,000 men and moving the rest away from the DMZ. The American forces in South Korea would be destroyed within what? 2 hours or so? The US troops in SK are basically known as the trip wire.

(3) give a lot of food to North Korea to feed its people,

That should be a given, and the US does give to NK but has been cutting down dramatically the amount of food aid being given to NK which is disgusting.

(4) encourage them to cut way back on military spending, allow independent unions, etc.

The only way to do that is to make sure that both NK and the US start to sign treaties that sign that neither country will ever preemptively attack each other. This Bush administration is basically being as obstinate as the North Korean’s. A new administration in Washington is needed so real negotiations can start.

(5) set up exchange programs between the workers, college students, etc. of both countries.

Not in North Korea, North Koreans are expressly forbidden with any contact with outsiders. Sure there is a booming tourist base in NK (of which I want to be part of), but western tourists are kept at a safe distance from the average North Korean. There is a reason for it, the NK’s don’t want any outside influence to be pushed on to their citizens.

If I was the President of ANY THIRD WORLD NATION, I would be building nukes as fast as possible. Thats the ONLY way to prevent an American invasion.

Isn’t it sad, that’s actually true…