Is North Korea preparing for war or bluffing the U.S.?

Answer 1

North Korea is a bankrupt state. People are starving. Yet it arrogates and fires missiles causing unending tension in the region. Question is why? Military dictators are known not to care for their people. They are in hallucinated state. There is no one to tell them(no free press or institutions) the truth or ground realities. Bhutto was another guy in Pakistan who swore-"we will eat grass- but we will get a nuclear bomb" Even dictator as in North Korea are sure of one thing. If they start something it is end of their nation-destruction and devastation beyond repair is all they can expect. It will take another five decades or more to recover provided neighbors/international community help. Under the circumstances it is any one's guess that North Korea wants to blackmail and get concessions. They know fully well they have no chance whatsoever to win against the combined might of Japan and US.

Answer 2

NorKor has been preparing for war since 1950. Their stated policy is reunification of the penninsula. Their armed forces are prepared for offensive operations.

The Taepedong 2 and 3 have an additional use: Scaring the living daylights out of South Korea, Japan and possibly the US, thus achieving the political purpose of being taken more seriously at the conference table, without firing a shot.

But then, as they say, "you don't buy a condom unless you're going to f* someone". Countries do not produce missiles to travel over thousands of kilometers to deliver mere “Fire Cracker” conventional high energy explosive warhead weapons unless they are intended to carry primarily nuclear, or chemical, biological weapons.

The advances in the missile launch vehicle and re-entry vehicle program do mirror the advances in the nuclear weapons program of the larger total weapons program. Generally speaking no country makes the investment up to the threshold of actually having nuclear weapons without completing the process.

So there's two schools of thought, i don't know which one Kim is using....does anyone?

Answer 3

Well.. they have to agricultural base, no manufacturing base and if China had to chose between providing aid to N Korea or maintaining it's economic relationship with the US they would chose the later. So I would say... bluffing.

Answer 4

With a one million man army and developing technology they could be the ones to start wwlll. The do not seem a bit scared as you would think that they would, If China or Russia, which they are inclined to do, side with them then no they are not bluffing.

Answer 5

North Korea usesits military to extract aid from its neighbors all out war is not their goal because no ratter the size of their army, it is mainly defensive and their technology is too far behind. It would be for to easy for the rest of the world to cut off their resources

Answer 6

North Korea is not bluffing, it is paranoid.

Answer 7

Most rational people would assume NK is just bluffing or yanking our chain. However, rational people do not run NK. If the ol' Dear Leader thinks he can beat the US in whatever way, he's probably deluded enough to think he can pull it off and crazy enough to try.

Remember, too, that his advisors are probably not too inclined to try and talk him out of anything, either -- just like Saddam's advisors, they value their necks to much to complain!

The NK situation is definitely in "stay-tuned" mode.

Answer 8

N. Korea is playing a game of high stakes poker. They have been successful in getting economic aid by acting crazy enough to try something stupid - but it looks like their bluff has been called.

Answer 9

Bluffing. I think that they are looking for economic handouts and use their missle testing as a basis for starting diplomatic talks.

Answer 10

My guess is that they don't have the capability to fight a real war. Their soldiers are starving for starters.

Their leaders don't have a very good grasp of what the rest of the world is actually like, since they isolate themselves just as much as they isolate their people.