nuclear-news

Realistic fears that North Korea might use nuclear weapons

A diplomatic black hole, guardian.co.uk, 24 May 2010,  Having accused North Korea of sinking its warship, Seoul finds its options severely limited “……The threat of annihilation is fairly par for the course for Pyongyang, the equivalent of a demarche from any other government. A year ago, the regime threatened the US with a “fire shower of nuclear retaliation” and an “annihilating blow” in response to any attack, at a time when an American naval vessel was shadowing a North Korean cargo ship suspected of carrying banned goods off the Chinese coast.Just because a threat is used frequently does not mean it can safely be ignored, however. Pyongyang is very unlikely to court its own destruction by launching a nuclear attack, but no responsible government in Seoul can bet on that. There is always the small chance that Kim Jong-il has descended into total madness or a struggle for power in Pyongyang has unleashed a strain of suicidal militarism…… A diplomatic black hole | World news | guardian.co.uk

May 24, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | North Korea, weapons and war | AUSTRALIA, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear weapons