North Korea has said it now has nuclear weapons, according to US officials
 

well now it seems north korea has admitted it has nukes (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2974213.stm)


where do we go from here
is military action even an option now

how does the worlds only super power wage war with a nuclear capable country without the rest of the wolrd shiting its pants

Of course military action is an option now. It's a simple matter of who has more nukes... North-Korea could launch two, maybe three hiroshima-style nuclear bombs at South Korea, Japan, or the US. If they go for the latter, there's a good chance of them landing in the ocean. Also, if they do launch, there's a good chance of the nukes being shot down by Patriots and their kin.

The resulting backlash would be quick and dirty. No more North-Korea after that. It'd be blown to bits. Of course, you'd first get a conventional war before that, with millions of hungry North-Korean soldiers fighting their way into Seoul (if not nuked) and looting everything they can. They'd also get blown to bits eventually. In fact, they might not even make it that far - the initial NK bombardment will be intense, but their supplies will run out *very* quickly.

However... I believe China would take action long before this all would even happen. North-Korea with nukes is also a danger to China, and they do *not* like danger at their southern border - that's exactly the reason they want North-Korea there: to protect China's border!

North-Korea is going down, and everything they do seems to get them into more and more trouble. The US can just wait for the country to fall apart. The US *could* give in to NK's demands, but that'd be bad, and highly unlikely to happen.

The world just got a whole lot scarier.

I hope that the US is able to diffuse this situation.

Boy, glad we have those patriot missles. Either this Pyong Yang fellow is crazy, or he's up to something other then getting into a fight. The latter sounds more sensible considering their potential opponents. Whatever they're doing, I think Dragonlich is right; North Korea is going down.

Now! now! now! gentlemen - we should write our proposal and present it in triplicate to the United Nations for proper debate and if they are all in agreement after this has been examined from all angles, and the nations all agree - and of course, it must be unanimous agreement, then we can consider what steps should be taken to deal with this problem. Perhaps a team of French, German and Russian inspectors should be dispatched to see if they actually possess such weapons and to determine if they are indeed a threat to any of North Korea's neighbors. If, upon proper inspection, and a mandatory cooling off period to allow the inspectors to go over their notes, they should then return to the United Nations and present the findings of the inspection. If it is determined that North Korea does indeed possess such weapons, an independent board should be established to determine where they got the materials to construct the weapon in question. If it is determined that....

Let's nuke 'em!

BWAAAHAAAHAAAAHAAAHAAAA!!!!!! :D :D :D

That was awesome. Although it does make you wonder what channels the government would have to go through in response to a nuclear attack.

If they actually have such weapons and threaten Japan with them - and Japan has already said that the loading of a vehicle with such a weapon would be considered as an attack on Japan then......... We are gonna' be in trouble with France again - I can see it coming!!!

Well hopefully it is just a ploy by north korea to get us into dialogue. There economy is in the toilet, there is no real hope for them. They are surrounded by countries that are none to friendly with them. South korea has opened up a little, but they cant offer any real aid. By announcing they have nukes is only gonna piss off china even more. Japan already fells threatened. What i dont understand is that NK might have a couple nukes that could reach our western shores, but we probably have enough nukes to make SK an island so i dont think they want to push us into war, they are just desperate for help.

:D :D Laughed my ass off. The bad part is its not far from true.
I think N. Korea just got bumped to the front of the line. Syria and Iran may have to wait.

grin, thats great :)

I never understood why we went after Iraq first. I always felt that NK was a far far greater threat to our (north america's) national security.

For the longest time it seemed like the US was just ignoring NK hoping they'd go away.

didnt they also threaten war?


they always do this crap before sitting down and talking.

Believe me, they do not want war with the U.S.. They have been conditioned by past experience into making outrageous threats, in order to recieve rewards for behaving. It has always worked in the past for them so they keep on doing it. I don't believe it will work this time, but who knows.

The Chinese will start smacking their little step-child real soon, Bush and Co. understand this, this is why we havent flinched at all.
The Chinese government will not allow a conflict with NK and the US for reasons when it is over they will not want a USA friendly Korean peninsula.

The Chinese will step in first.