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What doesn't give another country the right to seek to prevent North Korea from firing missiles?

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Cubie said:

Yea so Korea launched the missile that we specifically told them not to or we would take it as a direct threat.
The whole world told them not to do it.

What do you think is gonna happen?

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Annapurna1 said:

and it didnt fly...im like soooo scared ...

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Chespirito said:

Zappa claimed recently that going to war with Iraq was justified because they broke numerous UN resolutions.  I cant even imagine how hard he wants to go to war with North Korea, he must be literally on a plane over there right now with a bomb strapped to himself

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ScavengerType said:

Why is war with NK such a contentious issue? When bush was making the drumbeat for Iraq they declared defiantly "We're developing nuclear weapons" and when they did detonate one underground they threatened the surrounding states of SK and Japan with the bomb even to the point of launching non nuclear rockets off the coast of japan to show them what could happen. With an ICBM they would nuke the USA. They have millions of propaganda posters showing NK nuking the USA or otherwise destroying them in their national museum. Why hasn't the US even considered some sort of NATO or other multilateral action to get rid of the NK government and remove their nuclear capabilities.

I am essentially an anti-war person but even for me this is a no-brainier. I've seen a lot of international and impartial media about NK and I will say without a doubt that I trust them much less than a Muslim country with nuclear weapons. When you see a Muslim country working towards nukes (like Iran) you will see that there are moderate segments of the population who think the whole idea is absurd and you can see that the nuke issue is just appealing to a religious base like the republicans do in the US over other matters. However in NK, you never see anyone who dissagrees with the government overtly, only people who live in the rural areas far from the capital can get away with vocalizing dissaproval with the leader's oppinions/choices. Nobody is telling the leader not to fire the nukes ever, whereas in a Muslim society they are permitted this.

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The capital Seoul, only 60 km (37 miles) south of the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone that has divided the peninsula since the end of the Korean War in 1953, has long been within range of one of the world's most powerful artillery batteries.

South Korea's Defense Ministry said the North had amassed more than 13,000 pieces of artillery and multiple rocket launchers, much of it aimed at Seoul.

Jane's International Defense Review estimates that if North Korea launched an all-out barrage, it could achieve an initial fire rate of 300,000 to 500,000 shells per hour into the Seoul area -- home to about half the country's 48.5 million people.

The biggest are 170-mm self-propelled artillery guns and 240-mm multiple rocket launchers. It also has hundreds of Scud missiles that could hit any part of South Korea.

North Korea is also thought to have been working to attach chemical and biological weapons to its long-range artillery.

"The threat from the North's artillery is the indiscriminate firing against our capital region and urban centers with its multiple rocket launchers and field artillery," a South Korean defense officer said.

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Redstorm said:

Sovereignty?

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Its usually a nice concept, but its just a concept. The country is completely prepared for the destruction of a city with dozens of millions of people, and it is launching missiles over Japan, risking striking it. At the same time, the citizens of the country itself are mostly impoverished. The government is essentially a black hole for life.
"Sovereignty" only applies if people apply it.

zouden said:

Well as I mentioned earlier, war with NK would result in hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of civilian casualties. That's why it's not really an option.

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N. Korea is really weird man.  You think that guy would try and be halfway reasonable.  What does he gain by being the nutty bastard he is?

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Jaw, jaw is better than war, war. But then there’s the United Nations:

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The United States and its allies labored Sunday to devise a concerted response to North Korea’s launch of a long-range rocket, but quickly ran into divisions over how to confront the defiant regime.

The United Nations Security Council met in a hastily-called session to consider official condemnation of the launch, but ended the meeting with no immediate action beyond a promise to continue to seek a common response in the coming days.

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We had the ability to shoot down that missile. We could even, with a subtle assist, have turned it over to Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force to knock the thing down. And since the missile launch proved that North Korea could put a nuclear warhead anywhere on Japan’s Home Islands, Tokyo had a vested interest in proving their mettle. But apparently, we told them no.

The White House claims that the missile launch was a failure. We have to take the President on his word on that one, and I will. But I also say: So what? Even a failed test teaches you things — like, how not to fail in the future. A shot down missile would have taught the North Koreans only one thing: We mean business.

Instead, President Obama has taught the Dear Leader an entirely different set of lessons.

1. We have the means but not the will.

2. We will restrain our allies but not you.

3. You can rely on Russia and China at the UN to thwart even our most feeble efforts to sanction you.

4. We’re big effing idiots.

Thank you, Mr. President. It’s been a most illuminating weekend for Pyongyang and those of us paying attention here at home.

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Instead, President Obama has taught the Dear Leader an entirely different set of lessons.

1. We have the means but not the will.

2. We will restrain our allies but not you.

3. You can rely on Russia and China at the UN to thwart even our most feeble efforts to sanction you.

4. We’re big effing idiots.

Thank you, Mr. President. It’s been a most illuminating weekend for Pyongyang and those of us paying attention here at home.

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