Fuss turns into relief in northern Japan after N Korean rocket launch

Monday 06th April, 06:14 AM JST

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GW at 09:25 AM JST - 6th April

By Sunday evening, most of the municipalities in the northeastern areas dissolved their crisis management liaison offices, which had been set up by the end of Friday considering the potential risk the rocket could bring.

boy oh boy I bet there was a few good nomikais up in Tohoku last night!!
likeitis at 09:32 AM JST - 6th April

It isn't all that hard to imagine a new NKorean govt that doesn't theaten our surveillance planes publically but actually just shoots them down without warning.

The easy solution to that is to STOP SPYING.

The lunatic we know may bew far better than what may be in store for the future and simply "waiting it out" may not prove to be the best course of action in the long run.

I prefer to risk peace than to guarantee war.

I agree that if the generals ever take over we will have more to worry about. But it is still going to take a long time for NK to develop significant numbers of non-conventional anything that actually works. And so, I am not worried about NK being able to do more damage any time soon, and it hardly matters who takes over on that score. If we get war under Elvis or his generals, the damage will be much the same. So if anyone starts it, I prefer it be them.

Maintaining the status quo ensures that they will have continued difficulty obtaining non-conventional weapons, and hopefully in that that time something will happen to make NK open up and join the world. I would much prefer to take that chance and cross the bridge of war if and when we come to it and I certainly do not want to increase the pace getting there.
Shiningfinger at 10:40 AM JST - 6th April

This situation seems to have only one winner and that is NK, but Japan seems to be looking to gain something from it as well. Out of everybody Japan has been playing this rocket/missile saga the hardest. I think this situation gives them a window to increase military spending and not just defense spending longterm the Japanese can utilize this. But If anyone should have been playing this hard it should have been the U.S. who really ignored it up until the actual launch took place. This launch sole purpose was for testing ICBM long range capability and it succeded. And there is only one goal of an ICBM launched from NK and that is U.S. soil. And now they can imply the threat if needed. The biggest losers in this is South Korea. And I sorta agree with OssanAmerica the future of N.K policy can shift even more.
Shiningfinger at 10:51 AM JST - 6th April

The S.K. have little room to negotiate anything at the moment. Their new leadership have made entirely to many mistakes in only a short amount of time. The S.K. govt has absolutely No long term vision for the two nations and don't even recognize that the N.K might have one. The present S.K admin. have ignored N.K, reversed earlier signed agreements, and critized previous policy that in the past opened doors. Because of the current S.K. govt tensions between the two countries have risen the highest level in years. The sad part about it is that the South maybe their own worst enemy if they can't find better diplomatic ways to deal with the north. Why anger someone who is already prepared to fight you? especially if the person who is suppose to be protecting you is leaving in the next 12-18months. (U.S. troops stationed in S.K.)
Stonecoldsoba at 11:55 AM JST - 6th April

Farmboy:

"(CBS) North Korea has made good on a promise to launch a long-range rocket, but there are doubts the rocket successfully carried a satellite into orbit as Pyongyang claims."

Now...are there doubts? Or not?

If there seemed to be a new object in an orbit consistent with the rocket's trajectory, that would support North Korea's claim to have succeeded.

If you don't find such a new object, that doesn't prove that it isn't there, hence the doubt.
dr_jones at 12:30 PM JST - 6th April

Actually Jpn gave birth, China became the nurse soon after wards.

Not exactly! Rather the US and Russia gave birth.

Personally I'm wondering how many of KJI's workers will get shot for doing a fail missile (or for the people here who turn around every speck of dust: rocket)?
Farmboy at 01:56 PM JST - 6th April

Stonecoldsoba,

Thanks for your response. It does seem odd that we don't have certainty about the orbit of the missile, or about its resting place in the Pacific if that's where it is, since one gets the idea that the US and other countries were watching the launch carefully.

Maybe the matter has been resolved, but I don't get satellite TV so I don't have the latest news. I looked on the Internet, and found more hesitancy. This is from AP through Yahoo. Note the key word, "apparently."

The U.S. and its allies sought punishment for North Korea's defiant launch of a rocket that apparently fizzled into the Pacific, holding an emergency U.N. meeting in response to the "provocative act" that some believe was a long-range missile test.
rivx at 04:51 PM JST - 6th April

What you suggest actually promotes a war. Just keep him comfy and I am sure he will die in peace. This is not Hitler we are talking about or the cease-fire would have broken down long ago.

I totally disagree with you on this. There are nations here funding this NK monkey who is a obvious bully. Not forgetting that the funds or food supplies are from tax payers! Why keep feeding this NK monkey? The NK are using the support provided by other countries to develop rockets and nukes? Here we are with a economic crisis and we still waste our tax payers money on these idiots? Drop all support and let him starve and if he attacks, i say we take him out.
roomtemperature at 05:12 PM JST - 6th April

rivx, before we talk any further, could you clarify who you mean by "we"?
grafton at 08:49 PM JST - 6th April

likeitis at 08:41 AM JST - 6th April

I am not worried about a war, you are. I am worried about your policy would do in the future. I did say that time is the important element here & you would give NK the time they need to become a lot more dangerous than they already are. I want that monkey off all our backs because the longer it is there the harder it will be to deal with. Keeping the people at the top “comfy” is simply prolonging the misery that the people below have to endure & whatever a change of government might bring it is not going to do the little people any good. No, starvation isn’t going to be much fun I agree, but the circle must be broken before it is too strong or too dangerous to break. Attacking NK is out of the question, that would simply force China into helping them & that is not what is wanted. But leaving NK to deal with it’s won problems would eventually bring it down & it would do so a lot faster than keeping them “comfy”.
likeitis at 09:12 PM JST - 6th April

But leaving NK to deal with it’s won problems would eventually bring it down & it would do so a lot faster than keeping them “comfy”.

Lets just hope that while starving to death they do not decide to go out with a bang.

With all the crap this government spends my tax money on already, I actually don't mind feeding the sad brainwashed people of NK in hopes of keeping the peace.

One day, there may be fighting again on the Korean Peninsula. It may come no matter what we do. And if and when that happens, somebody is going to ignore all those times over 60 years that others said "the cease-fire will stand" and triumphantly scream "See! I told you so!" despite 60 years of being wrong. Hindsight will be 20/20 as ever.

The way I see it, the peace has been kept by every action, and the price has not been so high; for us anyway.
OssanAmerica at 02:14 AM JST - 7th April

China gave birth to this mad monkey so China can feed it & control it, >let’s see how long that lasts. Actually Jpn gave birth, China became the nurse soon after wards

No, Japan did not give birth to the DPRK, the USSR did. Firstly, Imperial Japan was vehemently anti-communist to the extent of persecuting suspected communists within Japan. Secondly, all of the Korean Penninsula would have been the ROK as the US intended if not for Stalin who threw a monkey wrench into that plan.
OssanAmerica at 02:21 AM JST - 7th April

The easy solution to that is to STOP SPYING.

We'll stop spying when we disband our military and we can all sit around the campfire singing Cumbaya.

I prefer to risk peace than to guarantee war.

Sounds great, except in gthe real world you can never guarantee either.

I agree that if the generals ever take over we will have more to worry >about. But it is still going to take a long time for NK to develop >significant numbers of non-conventional anything that actually works. >And so, I am not worried about NK being able to do more damage any time >soon, and it hardly matters who takes over on that score. If we get war >under Elvis or his generals, the damage will be much the same. So if >anyone starts it, I prefer it be them.

Actually you put forth a very good argument for takig them down sooner rather than later.

Maintaining the status quo ensures that they will have continued >difficulty obtaining non-conventional weapons, and hopefully in that >that time something will happen to make NK open up and join the world.

Like what? An alien spaceship lands on Kim's front yard?

Iwould much prefer to take that chance and cross the bridge of war if >and when we come to it and I certainly do not want to increase the pace >getting there.

So you'd rather wait until NKOrea definitely has the ability to retaliate with ballistic missles with nuclear warheads? Because that's exactly what the status-quo means, NKorea continues to play games and delay while developing their weapons.
OssanAmerica at 02:30 AM JST - 7th April

With all the crap this government spends my tax money on already, I >actually don't mind feeding the sad brainwashed people of NK in hopes of >keeping the peace.

I believe alot of people wouldn't mind as you do.....IF it was the people who were getting fed, and not the North Korean People's Liberation Army. You're undoubtedly aware the North Korea has a Song Gun (military First) policy where the people do not get priority. And I'm sure you are also aware that NKorea has refused repeatedly to allow International organizations to monitor their food shipments to ensure that they are reaching the people.
grafton at 05:07 AM JST - 7th April

likeitis at 09:12 PM JST - 6th April

Normally you are one of the few people on this site worth either agreeing with or arguing with, today you are just being incredibly stubborn & obtuse. You can see the reasoning perfectly, there are in essence two North Koreas, one made up of the little people that are nothing more than frightened indoctrinated & for the most part hungry nobodies & then there is the military with the mad monkey on top. Is he in control or are the generals working him? I don’t know, but I know he “thinks” he’s the boss monkey. What you are saying is to continue what has been tried for so long, keep feeding the guards of the prison that is NK so those guards don’t get upset & turn nasty & start a war. That in itself would be fine if that is all there was to it, but it isn’t & you know it isn’t. NK is building up it’s ability to fight off all comers & your appeasement approach is giving them the time they need to become seriously dangerous. At what point do you believe they become too dangerous to be nice to?

Another point that you don’t allow for is that many of those little people might just be hoping some one would come to their rescue, they might be more frightened than indoctrinated & they might just be wishing a war on their own country in the hope that their own country loses. In the meantime your policy would leave them to suffer.

I will this again so that there are no mistakes, I do not want that there be a war, but at some point there is going to be one, probably NK will go against SK again when it believes it has become strong enough to keep SK’s helper away, are you willing to wait for that rather than find a way of stopping what would be the total destruction of all Korea & possibly Japan too? The bad times will come, letting NK say when is a bad idea.