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 North Korea Attack: ‘It’s Whatever’Posted on Nov 25, 2010
SEOUL, South Korea—South Korean officials promised “enormous retaliation” if more North Korean attacks follow the shelling Tuesday of tiny Yeonpyeong island. For more than one reason, they can be glad that hasn’t happened. To match the North’s aggression would cause a destructive conflict; to do nothing is to appear weak. A taxi driver in Seoul told me North Korea would never have attacked if the South still had a strong leader, like one-time military dictator Park Chung-hee. The driver said policies of engagement with the North had made the South into a pushover, a country that can be attacked without fear of serious retaliation. Nowadays, it seems everyone has a theory on how to handle North Korea. Regardless, some things are fairly clear. To justify its military-first regime, North Korea always needs fresh evidence that the outside world wishes ill on the country. Its leaders need to present some acceptable reason why so many North Koreans are starving. According to North Korea expert Brian Myers, “If the U.S. and South Korea cannot do anything for fear of Seoul coming under attack, and are foolish enough to make this line of reasoning public, then a future ‘provocation’ is merely a matter of time.” Twenty-something Kim Jong Un is expected to take over leadership from his aging father soon, but the training wheels aren’t off yet. Some consider the North Korean attack a kind of practice for the young Kim, a way to demonstrate experience in dealing with conflict. Advertisement North Korea claims to have taken exception to South Korean military exercises near its territory. South Korea and the United States regularly hold military exercises in the Yellow Sea. “I fear that as the initial shock wears off, criticism will focus on President Lee’s [Lee Myung-bak] allegedly hard-line policy towards Pyongyang, as happened after the [South Korean naval ship] Cheonan sinking. In that case, the North will draw the logical conclusion that it has nothing to lose and everything to gain by escalating its acts of aggression,” Myers said in an e-mail. Residents of Seoul have been mostly cool, almost indifferent. People who live here generally don’t get nearly as excited about the provocations of the Kim dynasty as people elsewhere. The questions that dominate the domestic conversation are concerned less with possible war and more with damage to the economy. Threat of violence is part of the background in Seoul; the city’s workaholic residents can’t allow themselves to be too bothered by it. After a sudden decline, the South Korean market recovered quickly the day after the incident. Seo Myung-seok, vice president of Tong Yang Securities and one of the country’s leading financial analysts, expressed confidence in the country’s fundamentals. “The Korean stock market reflects the basic economic situation, and the situation in South Korea is good. I’m not concerned about North Korea’s crazy behavior,” he said. Several hundred residents of Yeonpyeong and other islands were taken by coast guard boat to the mainland. Once there, most went to stay with relatives. Evacuees who didn’t have other arrangements stayed at a large public bathhouse in Incheon near the coast. The bathhouse, usually a place of recreation, quickly became a makeshift refugee camp that contrasted sharply with its décor of fake palm trees and walls covered in pictures of idyllic beaches. Koreans on both sides of the demilitarized zone still regard each other as members of the same tribe. Evacuee Kim Eung-seok said, “We don’t understand why people of the same blood are attacking each other.” Island resident Jeong Young-ah still isn’t all that worried. “I don’t think they’d do anything serious there; it is a safe place to live. If they really wanted to start a war, they’d go up the Han River.” The most common sentiment from evacuees was a simple desire to resume regular life. Some evacuees left behind family members who are helping to reconstruct damaged and destroyed buildings. Among those left on the island was the father of 15-year-old Bang Hye-soo. When asked about her mood, in the style typical of South Korean teenagers, Bang began to play with her mobile phone, shrugged and said, “It’s whatever.”  TAGS:
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By rico, suave, November 29, 2010 at 10:13 pm Link to this comment
ITW:
I’m not sure you want to lump GRYM in with ardee. Other than that- keep up the good fight.
Report thisBy Inherit The Wind, November 29, 2010 at 10:11 pm Link to this comment
“without reservation”? Another fanatic lying about me!
I have called for an end to the settlements, to remove the clearly illegal ones, to tell settlers that if they stay, they’ll be subject to Palestinian law and not protected by Israeli law, for the US to use aid as club to force the radical right to back off.
But none of this registers on the radar…I’m still just a defender “without reservation”. Another fanatic from the GRYM/Ardee school of “The ends justify any means”.
Report thisBy Nozferatu, November 29, 2010 at 1:05 pm Link to this comment
Really? You don’t think they are????
Yet here you are….for the last X number of years….posting probably more than anyone else I can remember defending them CONSTANTLY and without any reservation.
Sorry bud…you’re an apologist and propaganda shill….nothing less. You’re an ambulance chaser for them…
Again…pathetic.
Report thisBy Inherit The Wind, November 29, 2010 at 12:57 pm Link to this comment
Nozferatu, November 29 at 7:53 am Link to this comment
Sadly for you, the world doesn’t revolve around jews…even though you think it does.
What you highlight is that you have no clue what the word “conspiracy” means. You are a clueless dolt who’s here for no other reason than to be a pathetic apologist for jewish BS and propaganda.
Perhaps the reason why you’re blamed is because you’re involved. You better forget the Liberty attack…after all that was also made up right?
You’re washed up. And everyone sees through the BS and lying and murder jews commit….yet here you are standing by their side like a good little shepherd.
You’re pathetic.
*****************
That’s just the thing. I DON’T think Jews are at the center of everything and all evil as you clearly do.
In fact I KNOW Jews are not involved in one-tenth or even one-hundredth of the stuff hate-filled bigots like you claim. It’s clear from your post that you thing all Jews are bent on murder and lying—that it’s genetic.
Now how am I involved in North Korea’s firing missiles at South Korea? Explain THAT, Einstein! I’ve never even been to that part of the world. You think some Jews are secretly in NK, pretending to be North Koreans, egging Kim Jong Ill to bomb his southern neighbor? How’s that gonna work, genius?
Do you have a swastika tattooed on your butt?
Report thisBy David J. Cyr, November 29, 2010 at 10:34 am Link to this comment
Obama is outraged that some copycat in the north end of Korea is attempting to get a Nobel Peace Prize… like he did.
Report thisBy Nozferatu, November 29, 2010 at 1:53 am Link to this comment
Sadly for you, the world doesn’t revolve around jews…even though you think it does.
What you highlight is that you have no clue what the word “conspiracy” means. You are a clueless dolt who’s here for no other reason than to be a pathetic apologist for jewish BS and propaganda.
Perhaps the reason why you’re blamed is because you’re involved. You better forget the Liberty attack…after all that was also made up right?
You’re washed up. And everyone sees through the BS and lying and murder jews commit….yet here you are standing by their side like a good little shepherd.
You’re pathetic.
Report thisBy markulyseas, November 29, 2010 at 12:59 am Link to this comment
I find the timing of this “sudden” shelling of South Korea in the midst of the Irish financial crisis and the preeminent release of Wikileaks’ docs and the dispatch of a nuclear flotilla from the USA all very convenient.
Consider this : What would a war now do for all?
Report thisIt will boost the economies, distract and unite people.
Except for the Korean peoples - it would be fratricide.
By Sabagio Mauraeo, November 28, 2010 at 9:40 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Mr. Borowiec almost got it right when he wrote: “Regardless, some things are fairly clear. To justify its military-first regime, North Korea always needs fresh evidence that the outside world wishes ill on the country. Its leaders need to present some acceptable reason why so many North Koreans are starving.”
Interpreting the actions of North Korea’s leadership, the intent of their public posturing of belligerent bellicosity, may be much simpler than describing it as a tactic for rallying the troops and telling an already frightened and starving populous to suck it up, tighten the belts and get ready for foreign invaders. No, tis a much sadder tale than that, one that can’t be told nor understood by those who have never known hunger, malnutrition and starvation. It is about “sucking on stones.”
Now the “sucking on stones” metaphor has been in use a long time, used mostly to describe how to quench thirst when no water is available. Others like Leslie Li in her book, “Daughter of Heaven, a Memoir with Earthly Recipes “tells when she first heard it as a little girl from her mother in China.
“My parents set up house in Shanghai’s French Concession, where one evening, as they were returning home from a night out with friends, my mother noticed three beggars dressed in rags squatting by the roadside. They were poking at the contents of two tin cans - one in its original shape, the other flattened out into a serviceable pan - cooking on a small brazier. Inside the taller receptacle was freshly boiled rice with a blanket of cabbage leaves, wilted from the steam. In the ersatz frying pan, several stones sizzled in a dollop of oil. The men paid no attention to my mother, or to anyone or anything else for that matter. They filled their bowls with the rice and cabbage, placed a stone or two on top, and began, lustily, to eat. ‘They were so poor,’ my mother told us, her voice betraying both sympathy for the men and gentle reproof toward her daughters, ‘they had only a bowl of rice and a few cabbage leaves for dinner. Instead of meat they had to fry stones for something savory to eat. They sucked on that hot, oily, salty stone, spat it out into their bowl, ate another mouthful of rice, then picked up the stone again with their chopsticks and sucked on it some more, until all the rice and cabbage were gone. Imagine! Sucking on stones!”
Like the three beggars, North Korea’s leaders are trying to put up a good front with their bullying behavior, implying they have the courage and means to wage a successful war against all who threaten them. The question is, how long can they continue to suck on stones, without dying from hunger? Should the world just wait until the inevitable collapse? Or should the bluff be called, and we find out how far the North Korean Army can travel on its stomach?
Sabagio Mauraeno
Report thisBy Inherit The Wind, November 28, 2010 at 7:38 pm Link to this comment
Sure I know what “Conspiracy” means. It means another excuse to attack Jews and say we are a blight on the world.
That’s because EVERY “conspiracy” claimed here always involves Mossad and, usually, the CIA. From global warming to N.Korea firing missiles on S.Korea, from Somalia to the Nov 22, 1963, from the 2008 bank collapse, to the WTC attacks, it’s all the fault of “Mossad/CIA” ie, Jews and their co-conspirators.
The only conspiracy not blamed on the Jews and the CIA is a real one—the one to bomb Womens’ centers and murder doctors who provide abortions. They even bombed the 1996 Olympics (Eric Rudolph). But, of course, that one is totally ignored here.
Report thisBy rico, suave, November 28, 2010 at 7:03 pm Link to this comment
Blackspeare:
“A few cannon shots and four people killed——not a big deal”
Unless of course it’s Israel in Gaza.
Report thisBy Nozferatu, November 28, 2010 at 3:57 pm Link to this comment
Unfortunately you don’t even know what the word CONSPIRACY means.
Report thisBy Nozferatu, November 28, 2010 at 3:57 pm Link to this comment
Unfortunately you don’t even know what the world CONSPIRACY means.
Report thisBy Inherit The Wind, November 28, 2010 at 2:09 pm Link to this comment
Myronh, November 28 at 6:11 pm Link to this comment
ITW,what and who do you really believe initiated the Twin-Towers attack? Why did #7 fall down? Is the Commission Report accurate?
I really would like your opinion. Thanks
******************
No, you wouldn’t. You just want a soap-box to sound off from to rant and rave, and you want ME to be what you launch from. Forget it. Use the TD search engine if you are really interested.
Report thisBy gerard, November 28, 2010 at 12:47 pm Link to this comment
Please note: Before the US will talk, North Korea must give up its “illegal arsenal.” But what about the U.S. much larger arsenal? Why isn’t that Illegal?
And how is it that the world’s “nexus of evil” (so far as starting wars is concerned) can point its bloody finger of blame at an “axis of evil”?
And war GAMES! Whose hideous idea was that?
Does everyone in the world see this hypocrisy except us?
Report thisBy Myronh, November 28, 2010 at 12:11 pm Link to this comment
ITW,what and who do you really believe initiated the Twin-Towers attack? Why did #7 fall down? Is the Commission Report accurate?
I really would like your opinion. Thanks
Report thisBy Robert, November 28, 2010 at 11:54 am Link to this comment
China condemns U.S. over plans for war games off Korean coast
North, South exchanged fire earlier this week
By Peter Foster, The Daily Telegraph November 25, 2010
“China criticized U.S. plans to hold war games off the coast of South Korea on Thursday in the same terms used to rebuke North Korea after it bombarded a South Korean island on Tuesday, killing four people.
China’s foreign ministry said it was concerned after America said it would send a carrier battle-group into the Yellow Sea.
“We oppose any act that undermines peace and stability on the (Korean) peninsula,” said a spokesman, echoing the words of Wen Jiabao, China’s premier, who urged “restraint” and an end to “provocative military acts” on all sides.
Kim Tae-young, South Korea’s defence minister resigned after coming under intense criticism over the attack both from the public and within parliament.
China’s refusal to condemn Kim Jong-il’s regime for Tuesday’s attack and its opposition to the U.S. show of force pointed to a deepening rift between China and America over how best to curb Pyongyang’s belligerence. Beijing again called for a return to the stalled Six Party talks on nuclear disarmament but Washington believes this is impossible until North Korea shows it is serious about giving up its illegal arsenal.
North Korea kept up the rhetorical pressure, threatening further attacks against the South on Thursday and blaming Tuesday’s shelling on America’s role in the region.“North Korea will wage second and even third rounds of attacks without any hesitation if warmongers in South Korea make reckless military provocations again,” a military statement was reported as saying.”
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/China+condemns+over+plans+games+Korean+coast/3883965/story.html
Report thisBy Inherit The Wind, November 28, 2010 at 9:24 am Link to this comment
Yeah. Right. We REALLY want a major war right on China’s border.
That makes about as much sense as “Give me a match. I think my tank’s empty.”
But, to a conspiracy crack-pot, there’s ALWAYS a way to blame the CIA/Mossad axis for EVERY danger in the world.
That’s so much easier than actual research and analysis.
Report thisBy M L, November 28, 2010 at 8:11 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Dick Cheney is the architect for the war on terror and his war is abstract, illusive and unending. As the architect, and with assistance from the Pentagon, CIA and State Department loyalist, he has planned controlled and implemented most, if not all, events and acts associated with his war. Bracing for and countering the release of the Wikileaks documents exposing his lies and deceit, he ordered a foiled terror attack in Portland and North Korea’s (Cheney’s Axis of evil) threat of military agression against South Korea. Dick Cheney is an evil and dangerous man weilding way too much power and authority.
Report thisBy Nozferatu, November 28, 2010 at 3:03 am Link to this comment
There were no less than 15 “war games” going on the day of 9/11.
War games ALWAYS precede actual attacks. It’s no surprise this is happening. It’s more US bullsht…more false flag BS….they need just ONE incident to stick to create a reason to attack NK.
Report thisBy brewerstroupe, November 27, 2010 at 7:59 pm Link to this comment
Inherit The Wind.
“Sometimes I think you guys have watched too many James Bond movies”
In James Bond movies, the villains are usually mad megalomaniacs bent on World domination/destruction etc.
Now which side of this debate maintains that North Korea and Iran are ruled by mad megalomaniacs bent on World domination/destruction etc.?
Report thisBy Inherit The Wind, November 27, 2010 at 5:55 pm Link to this comment
Yeah, no weigh NORTH Korea could be at fault….
Report thisSometimes I think you guys have watched too many James Bond movies and think S.P.E.C.T.R.E. is real.
By CheatKarma, November 27, 2010 at 5:28 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Here’s something all of you should agree with: Fuck the US, North & South Korean military generals and all those higher class assholes willing to continue a stupid war. Fuck off, and power to the peaceful.
Report thisBy Rudolfo, November 27, 2010 at 4:57 pm Link to this comment
.....By Inherit The Wind, November 26 at 3:58 am Link to .....this comment
.....OK, I’m waiting for “conspiracy”
Just read the news, the US is sending ships to the area, promising joint ‘exercises’ on Sunday. Escalating. Trying to provoke a war. This cannot possibly be happening, but it is. We’re watching it.
Report thisBy brewerstroupe, November 27, 2010 at 3:23 pm Link to this comment
Aarky.
Thanks for drawing my attention to the links in my previous post. I have no idea what happened, the links look exactly the same as my originals which still work.
Here are the links again, copied and pasted from the actual sites.
http://www.seoprise.com/board/view.php?table=seoprise_12&uid=154146
http://gowans.wordpress.com/2010/05/20/the-sinking-of-the-cheonan-another-gulf-of-tonkin-incident/
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100710b2.html
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/427801.html
A couple more:
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/US-Professors-Raise-Doubts-About-Report-on-South-Korean-Ship-Sinking—98098809.html
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=20100801&articleId=20408
If the links don’t work, try copying and pasting them directly into your browser.
Report thisBy JimBob, November 27, 2010 at 12:24 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
This is that crazy midget doing his bit to keep the arms industry flourishing.
Report thisBy gerard, November 26, 2010 at 9:48 pm Link to this comment
Aarky: Gtsnkly, snyone advocating the further use of cluster bombs needs to have their head examined.
Report thisBy Blackspeare, November 26, 2010 at 6:11 pm Link to this comment
Not to worry——North Korea has nukes albeit inefficient, but nonetheless effective. NK is a rogue nation under the influence of China and right now China is more in it’s economic conquest of the world——it will keep NK in check. A few cannon shots and four people killed——not a big deal except for the news media——more people are killed in accidents in SK.
Report thisBy Inherit The Wind, November 26, 2010 at 5:54 pm Link to this comment
All the crack-pot “conspiracies” found here would be laughable if we didn’t have to worry that sooner or later people with such ideas get elected—because on the Right their counter-parts already are. Think about it: Crackpots have been elected like Michelle Bachmann, Coburn, DeMint, Rand Paul, and Rick Scott.
Report thisBy Aarky, November 26, 2010 at 2:48 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Inherit the Wind—I didn’t expect to see a Zionist troll spreading the usual disinformation at this site. Brewerstrope had a number of web sites listed that challenged the S Korean version of what happened to their ship. They have all been taken down!! I could understand one or two, but all four? No, the Mossad isn’t involved, but I would bet $10 that the US and S Korean’s are involved.
Report thisHas anyone considered that a N Korean General decided on his own to order the firing of 200 shells without consulting Pyongyang. The S. Koreans and the N. Korean military must have a communications link and it seems like the time to talk. I would think that if they can’t resolve this that it’s time to shut off all the free oil and food that have been given to the North. If the military steps go further, S Korean F-16’s with cluster bombs would work fairly well on artillery locations in the North.
By dihey, November 26, 2010 at 8:50 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
This posting has caused me to stop reading Truthdig which has turned into Falsedig.
Report thisBy Inherit The Wind, November 26, 2010 at 8:08 am Link to this comment
I KNEW the conspiracy gang would blame the “usual suspects”.
Thanks, Radson for the hint.
In 1939, Hitler and his pals blamed the Jews for all the ills in the world. Stalin was blaming a large part of the Soviet’s ills on..The Jews.
Today, the conspiracy tin-hats blame Mossad, the CIA, and (supposed) dual US/Israeli citizens….IOW, all the evils in the world are AGAIN blamed on….The Jews.
Just like Hitler and Stalin, redux.
Report thisBy BarbieQue, November 26, 2010 at 6:52 am Link to this comment
SB>>“Regardless, some things are fairly clear. To justify its military-first regime, North Korea always needs fresh evidence that the outside world wishes ill on the country. Its leaders need to present some acceptable reason why so many North Koreans are starving…”<<
Well it certainly is comforting at least to know that this kind of boorish reprehensible national behavior is a rare and isolated thing.
Report thisBy sukhbir, November 26, 2010 at 4:38 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
I’m not surprised that South Koreans are indifferent. After sixty years of this they know this is just a game. In this case, the South Koreans, probably at the urging of the US, provoked the North by holding live fire attack exercises in a disputed area close the North Korean coast. The media is spinning it as crazy, unstable North Korea behaving unpredictably, but that is a lie. The North Korean reaction was expected.
The question that isn’t supposed to be asked is why did South Korea provoke the North, and why did the US go along with it? Who benefits from this crisis? Immediately, the heightened tensions have caused the beleaguered US dollar to rally. It is also a welcome distraction from political scandals and rising domestic unrest. So what if a few soldiers get killed? “Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy.”-Henry Kissinger
Report thisBy SteveL, November 26, 2010 at 12:18 am Link to this comment
South Korean head of defense resigns over this. Here is the U.S. after 9-11 Bush gave out medals and congratulated everyone in the CIA, FBI. Still convinced this country will be around for much longer in its present form?
Report thisBy radson, November 25, 2010 at 11:36 pm Link to this comment
ITW
Report thisThe only thing I could offer you is ‘canned goods’along with a good dose of ‘quantitive easing’ and a cup of green tea .
alright i’ll give you a hint ‘gliwice 1939’
By brewerstroupe, November 25, 2010 at 11:17 pm Link to this comment
Eh? Come again.
“The skirmish began when Pyongyang warned the South to halt military drills in the area, according to South Korean officials. When Seoul refused and began firing artillery into disputed waters, albeit away from the North Korean shore, the North retaliated by bombarding the small island of Yeonpyeong, which houses South Korean military installations and a small civilian population.”
http://preview.tinyurl.com/35txf5a
This looks like a reprise of the Cheonan incident (is there a South Korean election in the offing). On that occasion, once the evidence for a submarine attack was exposed as highly dubious and the U.N. refused to endorse it, the story was quietly dropped. It is well worth re-visiting some of the information that came out subsequently.
Some links:
http://www.seoprise.com/board/view.php?table=seoprise_12&uid;=154146
http://gowans.wordpress.com/2010/05/20/the-sinking-of-the-cheonan-another-gulf-of-tonkin-incident/
Scholars doubt Cheonan finding
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100710b2.html
Scientists question Cheonan investigation findings
Report thishttp://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/427801.html”
By Inherit The Wind, November 25, 2010 at 9:58 pm Link to this comment
OK, I’m waiting for “conspiracy” that this was really engineered by the current fave villains of so-called “progressives”—Mossad and the CIA together.
Report thisBy Robespierre115, November 25, 2010 at 6:42 pm Link to this comment
Few in the West are discussing another real problem here provoking these conflicts: The Obama regime refuses to hold direct talks with North Korea or do anything positive to limit its isolation. The NK regime is one of the most disgusting in the world, but we need to be adults and have serious talks here or risk catastrophe.
Report thisBy gerard, November 25, 2010 at 5:49 pm Link to this comment
The most salient fact is that these people are brothers and sisters, cousins, aunts and uncles. The spliitting of the Korean Peninsula was done by outsiders as a half-baked “settlement” between formerly warring powers, one communist, one free-market capitalist.
Report thisAs alienation still exists between “private enterprise” and “state ownershiop and management” and as states that have nuclear weapons are considered “first-class” and states that do not, feel themselves to be “second-class”—and further, as North Korea is extremely poor and dangerously autocratic, and as the U.S. maintains a huge threatening presence in the area, it would be totally surprising if “incidents” did not occur and recur. It’s all part of the mechanism for keeping fear in the foreground so the militarization of world societies can be continued.
Much of it is a kind of “job machine” to keep unemployed people scared and busy.
All that money, time, energy and all those resources could be put into peaceful endeavor. Why not?