New North Korean ballistic missiles

[Dilandu]

I don't really think North Korea will give up reunification; it's just that the time for reunification hasn't come yet. However, I am sure that throwing nuclear bombs at South Korea would definitely not be conducive to reunification.

But you have to admit, North Korea has done very well in missile development.

It's more about claiming of being a true heir to the continious Korean states, than any kind of "reunification" desire. Essentially, both DPRK and ROK are claiming the historical sucsession from ancient Korean kingdoms and empires (spanning for more than two millenias of history) and therefore declare themselves as truly legitimate governments of all Koreans. It's not that they actually want to do anything about that, hovewer. Both sides perfectly realize, that they could not assimilate each other population due to tremendous ideological divide & soon-to-be-a-century of propaganda.

All we can hope for is a normalization of relations between the two.

Its possible that some kind of compromize could be found, if both Koreas agree to "share the historical sucsession", i.e. mutually admit each other.

 

[Dilandu]

Excuse me if I don't take his word for it.

Look from pragmatic point of view. Why Kim the 3rd might want to took over Korea? Despite all propaganda claims, North elites perfectly realize, that assimilating fifty millions of South Koreans would be simply impossible task. And there would be no economic advantages of doing that, since South Korean economy is lucrative only when intact & integrated into international trade. So why bother? Kim dynasty is generally isolationistic; their ideology almost completely shred all remains of communism & now concentrated soley on North Korean nationalism.

 

[lancer21]

Probably diverging too much, but just to say there can't be any sort of compromise as long as american occupation forces are in SK essentially running it, with the local government just doing as told. Otherwise i can see someone as astute as KJU proposing some very favourable compromises such as a two systems country and offering to share the nuclear deterrent with the south, as long as there are no more american occupation troops in SK and normal relations are restored.

 

[Forest Green]

Look from pragmatic point of view. Why Kim the 3rd might want to took over Korea? Despite all propaganda claims, North elites perfectly realize, that assimilating fifty millions of South Koreans would be simply impossible task. And there would be no economic advantages of doing that, since South Korean economy is lucrative only when intact & integrated into international trade. So why bother? Kim dynasty is generally isolationistic; their ideology almost completely shred all remains of communism & now concentrated soley on North Korean nationalism.

Since when has the Kim dynasty been concerned with pragmatsm?

 

[Dilandu]

Since when has the Kim dynasty been concerned with pragmatsm?

Since ever. If you didn't notice, they even managed to stay neutral during Soviet-Sino split, despite depending heavily on both USSR and PRC. And current Kim is basically realpolitik embodied; he purged nearly all Communist elements from North Korean ideology, concentrated external politics on doing only what is beneficial for North Korea and put heavy emphasis on improving economy situation (small detail that many don't notice - on all public events, Kim's speeches are recorded by public listeners on smartphones).

 

[Dilandu]

Probably diverging too much, but just to say there can't be any sort of compromise as long as american occupation forces are in SK essentially running it. Otherwise i can see someone as astute as KJU proposing some very favourable compromises such as a two systems country and offering to share the nuclear deterrent with the south, as long as there are no more american occupation troops in SK and normal relations are restored.

Quite likely. Moreover, I suspect that Kim the 3rd would be perfectly willing to discuss transparency and size limitations on his nuclear arsenal - if US would officially drop the total denuclearization demands.

 

[SUPER=BUG]

How were their missile launch vehicles developed?

 

[Sineva]

How were their missile launch vehicles developed?

They were originally based on the chinese built Wanshan WS51200 chassis
that the dprk purchased a small number [6?] of back in 2010.
These days I`d imagine that the 9-11 axle versions we now see are probably built almost entirely in the dprk.

 

[EmoBirb]

Actually, from the current point of view, the North Korea government is probably one of the most rational and responsible around.

Absolutely, unlike their southern neighbors who live in a corporate dystopia which sees coup attempts every other year (usually coupled with attempted false flags to frame North Korea in order to facilitate a power grab). What does North Korea do in these cases? Destroy the roads South, put their military on readiness and watch what the crazies down there are doing this time.

The DPRK engages in plenty of saber rattling, like many powers do (every nuclear power except maybe China engages in similar behavior on basically a weekly basis). But that, coupled with the continued development and modernization of their strategic forces, their missile and artillery forces and their already fairly developed drone forces is meant to do one thing: deter US and US-backed southern aggression.

And seeing how Iran had to learn the hard way that there is no such thing as reason or good faith in the US leadership, they know the only thing that will keep the peace is a nuclear deterrent. Only when you can threaten to toast millions of Americans you'll be able to keep the hounds in their government at arms length.

Subsequently, they will continue to invest a large portion of their resources into their missile program, of which we regularly see various updates because they want these to be seen. And now more than ever China and especially Russia are willing to offer valuable assistance on these matters. Countries which haven't stagnated with regards to strategic missile development.

 

[Dilandu]

And seeing how Iran had to learn the hard way that there is no such thing as reason or good faith in the US leadership, they know the only thing that will keep the peace is a nuclear deterrent. Only when you can threaten to toast millions of Americans you'll be able to keep the hounds in their government at arms length.

The major difference between DPRK and Iran is that DPRK was coherent in their strategy. They decided that they wanted nuclear deterrence, and agreed to pay the price in terms on international sanctions, political damage, ect., ect., ect. End result - they have bombs, missiles, building nuclear submarines, and world more and more agree with the nuclear North Korea as simple fact of the world.

Iran, on the other hand, never was coherent about their goals. The Iranian nuclear program was always more a bargaining tool, than the straightforward effort to build the bomb. As a result, they both failed to bargain, and failed to deter.

 

[lancer21]

Hard to believe it's been 20 years since DPRK detonated their first nuke. Wonder if they have something in store to celebrate the anniversary later this year.

 

[Dilandu]

Hard to believe it's been 20 years since DPRK detonated their first nuke. Wonder if they have something in store to celebrate the anniversary later this year.

Many suspect that there would be a space launch.