quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:

quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:


KIS presented Juche…

KJI changed it up a bit to "Songun"…

If the forum software will allow Korean characters, would you please write them in Korean?

선군정치 and 주체

Thank you. History lesson from the wife now.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
C'mon guys... How many time do we have to do this?

There are folks on this forum that are bonafide experts in certain fields. That is inevitable, on a forum this large and diverse.

But the sad truth is that a decent number of them end up getting driven away from the forum by the actions of other members. It usually goes something like this:

A topic is posted about which someone is an expert. They post information based on their expertise. Then the thread gets dogpiled by other members who think they are experts in their own mind, based on what they've seen on the news, or read on the interwebs, or heard at the lunch counter, or whatever, but who actually don't know what they're talking about (or as much as they think they know). The expert's information then gets drowned out - or even actively argued against - by the musing of the uninformed/misinformed.

Unfortunately, this tends to happen often enough that the experts then get frustrated and either quit the forum altogether, or just stop responding to threads involving their expertise, depriving us of their valuable input either way.

Doesn't matter if it's appliances, or foreign relations, or the law, or finances, or gunsmithing. It's happened before, and will likely happen again.

We've gotta do better.

Alas, the facts have very little to do with people's beliefs. They can, and will engage in all sorts of mental gyrations to square their beliefs with actual facts. I catch myself doing it sometimes. No one is immune.

Here is a brief description of the problem. Note that this comes from Texas A&M, which is not a hotbed of woke thought. TAMU is as conservative as a big, mainstream university can get.

https://today.tamu.edu/2020/12...contradictory-facts/

Read through but came back to this.

A wise old member once said something about this…can’t remember exactly what it was…hmmmmmmm

quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:
Guys,

Since this is my area of expertise, and my actual job I'm gonna take the time to explain this in a way that relates to many topics I see on this forum.

NO US President has altered NK's actions. Trust me on that. President Trump did nothing more to better the situation in NK than anyone has Since Truman.

Now everytime something bad happens it doesn't mean someone else did it better.

There are areas to be upset about our current leaders and there are areas where it appears that people have no F'ing clue what they are talking about. Choose wisely.

Making silly statements like that is akin to crying wolf, it takes away from the times when there is actually a new deficiency.

Stop with this nonsense. There hasn't been a Utopia long as I've been around so these silly things just show that folks have no idea what they are talking about.

Trump was netiher feared nor respected by KJU. Trust me.

And despite everything else, KJU isn't an idiot (as asshole, sure, but not an idiot). He KNOWS that the US isnt' going to invade his country (which would cost TRILLIONS of dollars, and a TREMENDOUS amount of American lives, even though we would win) over a missile launch. We ARE NOT going to do that. Doesn't matter if Trump is President, if Biden is President, if Hillary is President, or if Bozo the Clown is President. IT ISN'T GOING TO HAPPEN.

It is just like a toddler leaving their toys on the living room floor. They KNOW their mom isn't going to drop them off at a orphanage and abandon them, not matter what they threaten.

quote:

Originally posted by KevinCW:

quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:
Guys,

Since this is my area of expertise, and my actual job I'm gonna take the time to explain this in a way that relates to many topics I see on this forum.

NO US President has altered NK's actions. Trust me on that. President Trump did nothing more to better the situation in NK than anyone has Since Truman.

Now everytime something bad happens it doesn't mean someone else did it better.

There are areas to be upset about our current leaders and there are areas where it appears that people have no F'ing clue what they are talking about. Choose wisely.

Making silly statements like that is akin to crying wolf, it takes away from the times when there is actually a new deficiency.

Stop with this nonsense. There hasn't been a Utopia long as I've been around so these silly things just show that folks have no idea what they are talking about.

Trump was netiher feared nor respected by KJU. Trust me.

And despite everything else, KJU isn't an idiot (as asshole, sure, but not an idiot). He KNOWS that the US isnt' going to invade his country (which would cost TRILLIONS of dollars, and a TREMENDOUS amount of American lives, even though we would win) over a missile launch. We ARE NOT going to do that. Doesn't matter if Trump is President, if Biden is President, if Hillary is President, or if Bozo the Clown is President. IT ISN'T GOING TO HAPPEN.

It is just like a toddler leaving their toys on the living room floor. They KNOW their mom isn't going to drop them off at a orphanage and abandon them, not matter what they threaten.

In a game with NK, the US is ill "equipped" when compared to China. I don't mean equipped as in assets. Just playstyle.

Otto (or anyone who knows), what is the point of these constant missile tests? It must be very expensive for the North Koreans to conduct them. I don’t feel any more threatened than I otherwise would, it just seems like a pointless exercise to me. Is the North Korean regime gaining anything tangible from these constant tests? Is it about internal legitimacy? They aren’t going to actually shoot a ballistic missile into Japan or use their nuclear weapons, they know that would spell the end of their regime. The whole thing looks like posturing for posturing‘s sake.

^^^It's likely posturing for Pyongyang's sake...

quote:

Originally posted by arabiancowboy:
Otto (or anyone who knows), what is the point of these constant missile tests?

If you had an entire country doing your whim with very little internal constraint, completely ostresized from the world and absolutely immune from outside opinion, and your commanding missiles to be lobbed from time to time got the world in a complete tizzy . . . I mean, the answer is pretty obvious.

It checks off all the boxes. National prestige, personal glory, world headlines, ego stroking, generals happy . . . why wouldn't you do it more?

quote:

Originally posted by arabiancowboy:
Otto (or anyone who knows), what is the point of these constant missile tests?

Very short answer, R&D. We did the same thing, just before any of us were old enough to remember or know. It takes a lot of trial and error to develop rockets. An ICBM or space launch vehicle is quite complex, and can be nearly identical except for payload. Think of how many tests we did between our tactical and scientific launches.

Long answer? They serve a couple purposes.

1. Internally, as I mentioned before, KJU's entire regime is built on the idea that NK NEEDS to be a nuclear state in order to defeat the impending invasion from "American Devils and their puppets in South Korea". So these launches serve as a way to show the people that their efforts are not in vain and their hard work is leading to something great for the nation. That's all bullshit as we know and propoganda.

2. I do believe they THINK somehow that having nuclear weapons will be a greater deterent from invasion (more on that later), and at one point they may have thought it could buy them a larger barganing chip with regards to sanctions but that isnt the case asnymore in my opinion. I think the UN and world has had enough and is standing firm with some pretty severe sanctions.

3. North Korea has, since it's technical creation at the end of WWII, found that a cycle of aggression, followed by peace and concessions, yields them monetary gain (either in the form of actual money, or aid, food, materials) from the international community. So while the launches serve to fill the two roles mentioned above, if the can leverage launches, breaks in launches to gain favor or be a bigger "brat" internationally, then that's 2 birds - 1 stone.

As I mentioned before. Anything but 100% ultimate success to become a total nuclear power would be an admission in defeat by KJU. And when your entire country is taught that you literally desecended from Gods, thats simply not an option.

Estimates placed the German Reunification at North of 2T dollars. That was a long time ago and North Korea is no were near the level of independence East Germany was. This is a POOR country. The international cost of reunification is going to be massive, with a majority of the burden falling on South Korea. And that's IF its a peaceful one. No country wants to invade North Korea. But you don't keep millions of people oppressed by letting them know that the world wants to help them, you do it in these times by keeping them isolated and indoctrinated that the rest of the world, especially America and the West, wants to literally kill them and eat their babies.

quote:

Originally posted by arabiancowboy:
what is the point of these constant missile tests?

In addition to the previous comments, something I believe deserves stressing is that history is full of examples of poor countries’ spending money on military armaments and efforts that would have been better used for the benefit of their people. One of the reasons despots do it is to gain and retain the support of their high ranking military leaders. As Mao Zedong reportedly said, “All power grows out of the barrel of a gun,” and who has the guns?

The military leaders usually enjoy significant privileges in return for their support of the despots, but it’s better for the despots and the generals if the populace at large believes that a strong military is vital to their survival. In most cases the generals don’t have to believe that themselves, but sometimes they may, and sometimes it may be true.

All that in turn means that the nations that are spending more money on the military than for other purposes need to keep showing the masses what the money is being spent on. Large, splashy things like rocket programs do more to impress the populace—and possible foreign donors who will be concerned about how those weapons will be used—than, “Yeah, we bought 5,000 more howitzers to cover the border with.”

Marketing. Don't forget they are selling tech to Iran