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[Paxiecrunchle]

I was just wondering was there any if you had seen this analysis? I found it rather convincing but I'm sure most of you have more data on the subject than I do.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b2DtWz0yEOY

[wierd]

There are significant problems to that strategy though (see prior video);

1) A crippled/failed nation is a nation with very little wealth, even for the fabulously "wealthy".  A borderline impoverished American has more "wealth" than a "wealthy" North Korean. Basically, Un's decadence is about on par with somebody who eats out every night and routinely shops at a liquor store. (with a prostitute addiction.) Conceivably, a middle class american could get most of that ticket, and still keep the lights on.  Comparatively, ruling a nation the way Un does just results in the ruler living very low class as well.  There are better ways to live such a life without dragging thousands of people through the dirt and starving them to death.

2) With the above in mind, there are additional costs to sustaining a despotic regime, such as psychological/happiness costs. Sure, you get to be the guy who is "In charge", but you also have to watch out for knives in the back around every corner, suspect every wall of having ears, and castrate your own economy to stay "In charge."  Does the happiness boost of being "In charge" give sufficient value to offeset all the negatives and sources of systemic unhappiness that come along with this method of maintaining it? (Read the original story about the sword of damoclese, and how the flatterer begged the tyrant-king to take him off the throne in the end.)

Instead, NK could have pulled in with China, and been strong economic partners with their big red neighbor. They could have a rising standard of living, and be a real global contender.  Instead, the Kim-Jongs have systematically ground their nation into the ground, and now need "the ultimate weapon" to be taken seriously. They are a pathetic mockery.

[SaberToothTiger]

Dirt-poor people have less sway than people who can afford not to starve. As a Stalin era figure put it, as long as the common man is busy sustaining himself he won't have time nor energy to think.  If the Best Koreans were able to live the life of Soviet citizens of, say, the late 1940s to the early 1950s they would already have enough to pose a threat. Any wealth over the bare minimum makes a man more conscious of the world around him.

[wierd]

Missing the point I made:  That is how he "stays in charge"-- but staying in charge by that means comes with a heavy cost, specifically, psychologically. (sword of damoclese)

There are other ways of staying in charge, or better, making that moot. (See for instance, British royals. Not really involved in government except for a very small and well defined role, but loved by the masses, and permanently enshrined in wealth and decadence. For the most part, their nation is prosperous and wealthy.) The point of being in charge is that you get to live the high life. As stated, the NK "high life" is about on par with "middle to low wage american life." He could be sailing the world in a 200ft private yacht, with a bathtub filled with fine champaign. Instead, he has to feel naughty drinking imported hard liquor, and worrying about his cabinet assassinating him.

Somehow I doubt that Prince George worries that the houses of Lords and Commons are going to snuff him.  That is a fear that Un genuinely has.

[martinuzz]

Putin has warned that South Korea and North Korea are balancing on the edge of a major scale military conflict. He calls the US strategy 'a dead end'.
According to Putin, sanctions and military pressure are misplaced and useless for trying to persuade NK to stop it's nuclear program.
He says the the US, Russia, and the countries in the region should initiate talks with North Korea, without any predetermined terms or conditions.

Meanwhile, the French minister of foreign affairs, Jean-Yves le Drian warns that North Korea will have a deployable long range nuclear missile within a few months now, confirming suspicions of US intelligence.
He urges that the conflict should be resolved through diplomacy.
"Within a few months it will be reality. The situation gets extremely serious and explosive when North Korea has the capability to attack the US, or even Europe".

https://www.volkskrant.nl/buitenland/poetin-waarschuwt-voor-grootschalig-militair-conflict-tussen-beide-korea-s~a4514403/

Damnit, Putin. Can't you just, not meddle and interfere for once? Wasn't illegally annexing parts of Ukraine, and turning Syria into even more than a clusterfuck than it already was enough for now?

[Sheb]

Russia border NK, it's fair to say that they should be involved in whatever problem is around.

[smjjames]

They've also been involved for decades. Plus since they have a border with NK, they certainly have an interest in things not blowing up as they'd have to directly deal with any fallout (nuclear or otherwise) that comes with a conflict. Not that it would free the US from any obligation in having to deal with any long term fallout.

[martinuzz]

Being involved is one thing. Meddling and interering specifically to pester and discredit the US is another. Besides, Kim Young One is threatening the US and it's allies in the region, not Russia.

[martinuzz]

North Korean state media KCNA reports proudly that NK scientist have succeeded in creating a hydrogen bomb that can be fit into the NK missile systems.
Supposedly, Kim Young One was present at the Institute for nuclear Weapons today, when a bomb was loaded into a missile.
According to KCNA the institute recently developed an advanced nuclear weapon with great detructive power.
Kim Young One stated that he believed his scientist's claim, and praised the "unrestrainable might of the North Korean armed forces".
He added that North Korea has the capability to make as many nuclear weapons as it wants.

https://www.volkskrant.nl/buitenland/noord-korea-meldt-trots-plaatsen-van-kernwapen-op-raket~a4514685/

[redwallzyl]

Sounds a bit unlikely.

[Starver]

As I recall, none of the static tests of (probably not optimised to warhead mass) nuclear devices have yet shown any signs of being a H-Bomb, and some were even detected as likely suboptimal A-Bombs.

To have produced a provably working example that fits on their current rocket-tech is indeed unbelievable.

(I can't help but think of that room of international diplomats in Iron Skies, when the NK one claims responsibility. Although that was in a world where Dundee 1, Spitfire, a surprising Mir and three Banzai modules, amongst others, suddenly appeared in orbit, every ship a surprise to each other. Or at least (almost as bad) seemingly them all unknown by the US.)

[Trekkin]

As I recall, none of the static tests of (probably not optimised to warhead mass) nuclear devices have yet shown any signs of being a H-Bomb, and some were even detected as likely suboptimal A-Bombs.

To have produced a provably working example that fits on their current rocket-tech is indeed unbelievable.

Not to mention that they're apparently still working with spherical warheads. The picture shows a dumbbell-shaped weapon, which makes sense for a Teller-Ulam design with a spherical primary and secondary separated by a cylindrical sparkplug. It suggests their computing power is somewhat lacking, and that they will hit fundamental constraints on the size of their physics packages simply because the nose of a missile can only be so snubby.

[smjjames]

Now they've gone and done an underground nuke test, detected via 6.3 magnitude 'explosion'.

As for putting a warhead onto a missile, we certainly don't want to find out the hard way that they have that capability.

[alway]

Notably, prior tests were measured around 5.3; so I guess that verifies it being a fusion bomb.
(edit: Side note, from what I can tell, the earthquake measurements also correlate with the blast power roughly linearly; so the 10x difference from 5.3 to 6.3 means the payload itself is about an order of magnitude more powerful; this seems to be confirmed by more up to date reporting now giving ~100kt estimates compared to prior 10kt-ish in power)

[ChairmanPoo]

Not the first ti,e they make this claim