North Korea at it again

[Workingman]

Its latest missile test reached an altitude of 2,000km and travelled a lateral distance of 800km before dropping into the Sea of Japan. Working to those figures it is said to have a range of 4,000km, but it could be more.

Experts are said to be reviewing the two previous "failed" launches to try to discover whether this is a new type of missile with a more advanced propulsion system than previously observed.

A range of 4,000km puts the whole of China. Japan and the Philippines, as well as some US overseas territories and bases, under threat.

It is time to talk to Kim and his mates, and I mean sit round a table and thrash things out properly without all the threats of this and that. If he goes off on one in a fit of pique we could all be for it.

[cromwell]

Quite agree, but will they talk? China is the key player because they are North Koreas big backer. We need them onside.

[Workingman]

Another one goes off and the experts are out in force telling us that it only flew this far, that it didn't do this or that, and it was not an ICBM. We can all sleep safe in our beds.

Idiots!

Nobody anywhere, ever, has built the final deal and then fired it off to test it.

Things, from cars, to phones, to planes, to anything, get tested in stages. This is what NK is doing. And when things "fail" (let us all cheer) NK learns something new and works out ways to overcome the problem.

NK is serious about getting a deliverable nuclear weapon and when it has one the whole world will change. We can either talk (preferable) or go to war. There are no other options.

[Suff]

What a bunch of prats. NK put two satellites into orbit. Whether they worked or not is completely irrelevant, compared to putting a satellite into orbit, sending an ICBM is child's play.

When the US and the UK did all their Nuke testing in the 70's and 80's they were small modelled explosions to learn how to control plasma flow and create 3 stage fusion bombs. However they may not have been huge fusion bombs but they gave the knowledge. The same knowledge that allows the UK and the US to set the same weapon from 5kt to 150kt just by changing the parameters of how it explodes.

NK has fired 4 rockets, two failed. If the middle and last had failed, then it would not be huge cause for concern. The fact that the firs two failed and the second two didn't means they are learning and improving with every test. Exactly as the US and UK did with Nukes.

Sadly the only thing I can see with NK is war to resolve the problem. Because NK don't want to talk, they want to project power.