Kim said there was “no reason” the two countries “cannot get along well,” but only if the United States withdraws what he calls its “hostile policy” and respects North Korea’s nuclear status as laid out in its constitution.

How big of an asshole does one have to be to spend all those words to say ' were-gonna-kill-you Kim Jong Un!' and then put scare quotes on "hostile policy"?

Also, how does one develop this "while we're at it" mindset towards going to war? Like, the US is already running out of shit, why would this be the time to start another, completely unrelated, war of aggression on the opposite side of the planet?

[–] Evilsandwichman@hexbear.net 19 points 1 week ago

why would this be the time to start another, completely unrelated, war of aggression on the opposite side of the planet?

It's Lockheed Martin and Raytheon's fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders

[–] lil_tank@hexbear.net 25 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Forgetting one little detail nuke

[–] Flyberius@hexbear.net 17 points 1 week ago (2 children)

My fear is, what if they call North Korea's bluff. Assuming the US did start bombing them, who would they nuke? The only fair target would be the US, but can they even hit them? Part of me thinks that they'd hesitate nuking a population centre in SK, and in the event that they did, I'm not sure the US would even care. It would just give the US their wet dream excuse to start dropping their own nukes.

[–] purpleworm@hexbear.net 18 points 1 week ago (2 children)

The only fair target would be the US, but can they even hit them?

Yes, they've had ICBMs capable of hitting the basically anywhere for like a decade now. As it turns out, "military first" policy doesn't just mean having lots of parades, they have been relentlessly developing technology for opposing the US for many years.

Part of me thinks that they'd hesitate nuking a population centre in SK

I agree, but the main thing that they have against SK is a whole lot of artillery because SK is a much closer target. They could turn major cities to rubble if that's what they need to do.

If the DPRK got attacked, it has the potential to be catastrophic for the US and SK, which is why they haven't been attacked.

[–] Flyberius@hexbear.net 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Well it's good to hear they have the range. It puts me at ease

[–] Grapho@lemmy.ml 14 points 1 week ago

And maybe that's the only way gringos would get off their asses and do something about a war, if they think they could actually get bombed themselves.

[–] Damarcusart@hexbear.net 6 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Yes, they've had ICBMs capable of hitting New York for like a decade now.

Oh really? I thought it was the west coast and maybe Washington DC. Didn't know it was the entire continental US.

[–] purpleworm@hexbear.net 12 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

DC is on the east coast, so the question at that point would just be if the missiles can reach the extreme northeast and southeast, but for the purpose of war with the DPRK, I don't think Maine and Florida are that strategically significant. That said, here's a recent example of a missile that can hit anywhere in the continental US, the Hwasong-20. I think the example that I was thinking of when I said they've had this capability for a decade is the Hwasong-15, which was unveiled in 2017.

The main limitation is that they reportedly have that many, and even if the DPRK is hiding the size of the stockpile (which would make sense), it still probably isn't very many. Nonetheless, you don't need a huge number of nukes to cause horrendous damage.

[–] Damarcusart@hexbear.net 7 points 1 week ago

I always think DC is a little more towards the center, south of the great lakes, I didn't realise it was basically just next to Baltimore (though I also thought Baltimore was on the Mississippi for some reason, only adding to my confusion). This is why I shouldn't be in charge of the missiles.

[–] I_Voxgaard@hexbear.net 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Do ICBMs not have to worry about interceptors? Too fast? Too nuclear?

[–] purpleworm@hexbear.net 2 points 1 week ago

I think very recent ones have a better shot of intercepting an ICBM, but you don't need to land every nuke to nuke a place.

[–] PorkrollPosadist@hexbear.net 7 points 1 week ago

They don't only have ICBMs. They've launched satellites. They have a space program.

[–] ThermonuclearHoxha@hexbear.net 16 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Definitely not something to do lightly but the US needs no excuse to be evil — they're still the only country to have started and escalated a nuclear war. How far can the DPRK reach? Would China's second strike capacity factor into it?

[–] Damarcusart@hexbear.net 23 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I remember them doing this during the Iraq war too, a bunch of talking heads were all "We should attack North Korea too, because they're probably maybe possibly thinking about attacking us perhaps!"

[–] ElChapoDeChapo@hexbear.net 9 points 1 week ago

Thanks for reminding me, god I hate how everything I was against when I was a teenager is still a thing 20 years later doomer

[–] peeonyou@hexbear.net 17 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

i don't agree to cnn's bullshit so i never see their articles

edit: never mind, just blocking all their javascript fixes that

also, are they using AI generated pics through that whole article? why does everything look like it was painted in watercolors?

[–] Speaker@hexbear.net 10 points 1 week ago

I especially like the pearl-clutching photo captions about his "special train" (which kinda just looks like a train) as if every other head of state isn't taking a jet everywhere branded according to which bloodfeast power they're aligned with.

[–] Thordros@hexbear.net 15 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

AO3 would delete this for CNN being too horny for war.

spray-bottle wolf-spritzed

[–] Assian_Candor@hexbear.net 12 points 1 week ago

posadist-nuke

[–] chgxvjh@hexbear.net 2 points 1 week ago

Someone is trying to help their poly market bet along