North Korea deploys surface-to-air missiles on its coast as U.S. and South Korea Prepare.
163 replies, posted
[Quote=CNN]Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- South Korea and the United States began assembling ships for joint war exercises Sunday off the west coast of the Korean peninsula in the Yellow Sea, a source at the South Korean Joint Chiefs told CNN.
The exercises are set to begin as diplomats worked to ease tensions in the Koreas after North Korea warned of unpredictable "consequences" if the United States fulfills its vow of deploying an aircraft carrier to the Yellow Sea for joint military maneuvers with South Korea.
The exercises are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. Sunday (1 a.m. ET).
China's foreign minister spoke with his Russian, U.S., and Japanese counterparts, and a Chinese representative visited Seoul as envoys underscored the need to lower the temperature in the longtime flash-point region, days after four South Koreans died when North Korea shelled Yeonpyeong Island.
North Korea said the South provoked the Tuesday attack because shells from a South Korean military drill landed in the North's waters. South Korea was holding its annual Hoguk military drill when the North started its shelling, and the South returned fire.
Gallery: Protesters denounce North Korea's attacks
Koreas on edge
Joint US, S. Korea military exercise
Explainer: All eyes on North Korea
RELATED TOPICS
* North Korea
* South Korea
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Saturday slammed South Korea and the United States for provoking the crisis.
It called reports of civilian casualties part of South Korea's "propaganda campaign" and accused the "enemy" of creating "a human shield by deploying civilians around artillery positions and inside military facilities before the launch of the provocation."
"If the U.S. brings its carrier to the West Sea of Korea at last, no one can predict the ensuing consequences," said KCNA, referring to the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, which is set to join South Korea's forces near the coasts of China and North Korea for the four-day military drill scheduled to start Sunday.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Nicole Thompson called the claims "outrageous."
"This is just another example of North Korea's own internal propaganda. The North Koreans for many years, including the Cheonan warship incident, have taken provocative action. This didn't have anything to do with U.S. actions," Thompson told CNN, referring to the sinking of a South Korean ship in March that left 46 people on board dead.
The United States and South Korea blame the sinking on the North, which has consistently denied responsibility.
Diplomats, seeking a lessening of tensions and a return to the six-party talks with North Korea over the country's nuclear aspirations, busily labored to avert more hostilities. The United States, China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and North Korea are the six countries that have been involved in the talks, which were put on hold in 2008.
"These parties should call on the DPRK and South Korea to exercise calmness and restraint and hold dialogue and make contacts, and not to take actions that would escalate the conflict," China's official Xinhua news agency quoted Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi as saying. China is North Korea's largest trading partner.
Yang and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov "stressed the need to prevent the situation from exacerbating and to work toward relieving the tensions," according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Xinhua reported that Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara said his country "is willing to work together with China to joint safeguard peace and stability on the Korean peninsula."
And a Twitter message from U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke with Yang on Friday and "encouraged Beijing to make clear that North Korea's behavior is unacceptable."
Meanwhile, Dai Bingguo, a Chinese state councilor, sat down with South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan in Seoul to discuss the tensions.
The violence has sparked anger and political turmoil in South Korea. The country's defense minister, Kim Tae-young resigned after the exchange of fire, and veterans of the South Korean military protested Saturday on the streets of Seoul, stating they were angry that their country's government had not done enough to respond to the North's shelling.
One group of protesters gathered near the defense ministry building Saturday, clashing with police officers with some charging and kicking officers.
Two South Korean marines were among the four killed in the shelling. Hundreds of mourners attended their nationally televised funeral Saturday, weeping before photos of the two men set among an array of flowers.
As for Sunday's joint military exercises, China appeared to criticize them Friday and Chinese analysts warned against the United States and South Korea embarking on "sensitive and provocative military actions."
"We oppose any party to take any military acts in our exclusive economic zone without permission," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement, Xinhua reported.
But the United States has described the drill as defensive in nature. The exercises were planned months ago, and are meant to underscore strong ties between South Korea and the United States, defense officials from both countries have said.
There will be no live firing element in the drills; live firing exercises can only take place in a designated training range or in a closed-off area at sea, Cmdr. Jeff Davis, public affairs officer for the U.S. 7th Fleet, and such firing exercises are not possible given the amount of traffic in the area.
The drills will include anti-air attack and anti-surface-attack exercises, communications and data drills, expert exchanges, logistical support, and replenishment drills. For example, a Korean oil tanker will refuel a U.S. ship, Davis said.
But the prospect of more violence has prompted alarm across the region. Japan's Kyodo news agency reported that Japanese "Cabinet members have been ordered to stay in Tokyo until Wednesday and be at their ministry offices within an hour in the event emergency situations develop."
South Korea said Thursday that it will strengthen its rules of engagement in the Yellow Sea. South Korean marine forces based in five islands near North Korea and the disputed Northern Limit Line also will be reinforced, a government spokesman said.
The tense maritime border between the two Koreas has become the major military flash point on the Korean peninsula in recent years.
The Yeonpyeong attack was the first direct artillery assault on South Korea since 1953, when an armistice ended fighting, though both Koreas are still technically at war.[/quote]
Source: [url]http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/11/27/koreas.crisis/index.html[/url]
[Quote=Yonhap News Agency]SEOUL, Nov. 28 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has deployed SA-2 surface-to-air missiles to its west coast near the Yellow Sea border with South Korea as U.S.-led naval drills got underway in a show of force against the North's deadly artillery attack on a South Korean island earlier last week, government sources said Sunday.
"(The missiles) appear to be targeting our fighter jets that fly near the Northern Limit Line (NLL)," the source said on customary condition of anonymity, referring to the Yellow Sea border.
South Korea and the U.S. on Sunday launched large-scale naval drills off the Korean Peninsula's west coast, far south of the border where four people were killed and 18 others wounded in Tuesday's surprise attack on Yeonpyeong Island.
The Soviet-designed SA-2 missile has a range of between 13 and 30 kilometers. Other missiles on the North's west coast, such as the Samlet and Silkworm with ranges of up to 95km, have also been put onto launch pads, the source said.
"The military is preparing for the possibility of further provocations as the North Korean military has deployed firepower near the NLL and is preparing to fire," the source said.[/quote]
Source: [url]http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2010/11/28/91/0301000000AEN20101128000700315F.HTML[/url]
If anyone's wondering about Military Statistics + Budget...
[img]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/50114000/gif/_50114613_military_balance_464.gif[/img]
Source: [url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11855162[/url]
Fellas, we're about to see either Vietnam Round II or, World War III.
Or as Gunfox posted,
[QUOTE=GunFox;26346065]How about "Second Korean War."[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=R3mix;26346036]Source: [url]http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/11/27/koreas.crisis/index.html[/url]
Fellas, we're about to see either Vietnam Round II or, World War III.[/QUOTE]
How about "Second Korean War."
Shiiiiiiiit
I don't want there to be another war :frown:
[QUOTE=GunFox;26346065]How about "Second Korean War."[/QUOTE]
Technically they're still at war.
I really hope this settles down quickly and doesn't escalate into a serious war.
looks like things might go down after all.
fuck
if this escalates into something huge, and I die
I'll have spent all my life playing video games and browsing fp
SHIITT
[QUOTE=R3mix;26346036] World War III.[/QUOTE]
Stop overplaying this nothing's happened yet.
[QUOTE=Overwatch 7;26346083]Technically they're still at war.[/QUOTE]
it probably be called "The Second Korean Conflict" regardless if this is the same war.
or just world war three if china gets involved (its safe to assume they will)
so WW3 HERE WE COME!
I got my Doritos and Coca Cola, I'm set for some action
[QUOTE=POLOPOZOZO;26346105]Stop overplaying this nothing's happened yet.[/QUOTE]
Look at every other major war in history, look what happened leading up to them.
similar shit going down.
We need Kim Jong-Il in here to read OP's avatar...
I only saw half this thread's title on the main page, and I audibly yelled "Oh for fucks sake" while instinctually facepalming. That's how fucking stupid this is.
If a war breaks out, it's going to end rather predictably.
[QUOTE=ScoutKing;26346140]Look at every other major war in history, look what happened leading up to them.
similar shit going down.[/QUOTE]
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Crisis_of_1961[/url]
[QUOTE=Arachnidus;26346168]I only saw half this thread's title on the main page, and I audibly yelled "Oh for fucks sake" while instinctually facepalming. That's how fucking stupid this is.[/QUOTE]
Might want to tell that to North Korea, they seem to think otherwise. =/
All this shit is already covered in my thread.
And of course
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis[/url]
Let's just hope NK has the order to not fire a SAM, at all. Because if they do, they're going to lose a lot of their toys
[QUOTE=POLOPOZOZO;26346195]And of course
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis[/url][/QUOTE]
That was extremely extremely close. Do you know about the Doomsday Clock?
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_Clock[/url]
Back on-topic:
[QUOTE=TheTalon;26346197]Let's just hope NK has the order to not fire a SAM, at all. Because if they do, they're going to lose a lot of their toys[/QUOTE]
Let's hope NO missiles are launched. I really don't want another war.
[QUOTE=Miskatonic;26346192]All this shit is already covered in my thread.[/QUOTE]
A mod should make that the only thread as this is filling up the news section quite a lot.
Look on the bright side; if something [I]does[/I] happen, at least it'll be more interesting than the usual stuff that happens. Interesting in a very negative way, but interesting.
Fall of the dictatorship has to happen some time.
[QUOTE=evlbzltyr;26346241]Look on the bright side; if something [I]does[/I] happen, at least it'll be more interesting than the usual stuff that happens. Interesting in a very negative way, but interesting.[/QUOTE]
What are you implying?
[QUOTE=POLOPOZOZO;26346195]And of course
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis[/url][/QUOTE]
okay there is some close calls, regardless if the situation becomes similar to that, dosn't mean you can just say "PFFFF forget it nothings going to happen" in both those scenarios you posted, WW3 was on the horizon. The soviet leaders and the US leaders at the time were more cautious.. the NK government has exercised no restraint or shown any regard to their actions and the US government seems to be flaunting by continuing to do navy exercises with SK off the coast of Korea.
[QUOTE=R3mix;26346212]That was extremely extremely close.[/QUOTE]
As was the tank standoff at the Berlin wall, my point is much worse things have happened that were much more likely to pull us into war but they didn't, meaning this has much less chance of doing the same and shouldn't be so overplayed.
[QUOTE=TheTalon;26346197]Let's just hope NK has the order to not fire a SAM, at all. Because if they do, they're going to lose a lot of their toys[/QUOTE]
well thats the issue, A few months ago I remember a similar article after the sinking of the SK ship.
The article basically said the NK army had moved artillery emplacements on the boarder..
well look back a few weeks ago, they were not afraid to use them.
NK has shown their not hesitant to use force while at the same time the US has shown its not going to retaliate to these little attacks... so it would be pretty realistic to say NK may use them...
[QUOTE=evlbzltyr;26346241]Look on the bright side; if something [I]does[/I] happen, at least it'll be more interesting than the usual stuff that happens. Interesting in a very negative way, but interesting.[/QUOTE]
A conflict that will lead to hundreds of thousands if not millions of deaths is interesting.
When all this shit first happened, I figured it would just be another "incident", but how things are going now.... I'm starting to sweat at the thought of war.
North Korea better buckle the fuck down because if one American is killed from their dick waving, the United States would go in full-force.
[QUOTE=ScoutKing;26346255]okay there is some close calls, regardless if the situation becomes similar to that, dosn't mean you can just say "PFFFF forget it nothings going to happen" in both those scenarios you posted, WW3 was on the horizon. The soviet leaders and the US leaders at the time were more cautious.. the NK government has exercised no restraint or shown any regard to their actions and the US government seems to be flaunting by continuing to do navy exercises with SK off the coast of Korea.[/QUOTE]
You mean the same shit they've been doing since 1953? Yeah it's worth worrying over but don't be misinformed about the situation thinking we're on the brink of war.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.