PM warns NZ war against North Korea.

[ngatimozart]

The PM has warned that NZ could end up in a shooting war against North Korea. he said that if the US and Australia go in to defend South Korea it is quite probable that NZ would too. If that is the case they better start spending some decent money on NZDF so that our people have the best kit they need and the best support possible because it isn't going to be like chasing the Taliban around the bush in Afghanistan.

[Dave Homewood]

Is New Zealand still techically at war with North Korea? The fighting ended in a ceasefire, not a surrender, capitulation or peace treaty signing, so if the ceasefire of 60 years breaks down will we legally be back into the fight regardless of what modern politicians have to say on it??

[baz62]

You may well be right there Dave.

[phil]

Did NZ ever declare war?

[ngatimozart]

There was only a truce and North Korea has just unilaterally withdrawn from it, so I would presume that now technically a state of war would exist between the UN Forces and North Korea.

[ngatimozart]

Apr 7, 2013 22:32:35 GMT 12 phil said:

Did NZ ever declare war?

No we were and are part of a UN Force that fought in defence of South Korea. So it is a mandated UN Force. The war is between North Korea as the agressor and South Korea and it's ally, the UN Police Action Force in Korea.

[kiwithrottlejockey]

From the Los Angeles Times....

Kim Jong Un is a pudgy punk with the power to create great misery

By DAVID HORSEY | 5:00AM - Wednesday, April 03, 2013



KIM JONG UN is an absurdly comical figure. If he were not holding the fate of millions of people in his hands, the North Korean dictator would provide us all with nothing but laughs.

He runs a country that, thanks to the ruinous communist policies of his father and grandfather, is an economic basket case where mass starvation is always as close as tomorrow.

He has almost no friends in the world, except for the similarly outcast nutcases that run Iran. His closest allies, the Chinese, are so disgusted with him that they have signed on to United Nations sanctions against his country.

And yet, Kim acts as if he is master of a mighty nation, not king of a hermit kingdom that survives only by imprisoning its people in an Orwellian alternative reality.

In recent days, Kim's regime has renounced the 2007 six-nation disarmament deal that was supposed to curtail North Korea's nuclear ambitions. The North Koreans have declared they will be "bolstering up the nuclear armed force both in quantity and quality."

They have also canceled the armistice with South Korea that has sustained a chilly peace on the Korean peninsula since 1953, and announced that a state of war now exists between the fraternal neighbors.

Kim and his cohort have issued a variety of threats in past months that are largely beyond their power to act on, and their rhetoric is as goofy as it is florid. An example is their pledge to "break the waists of the crazy enemies, totally cut their windpipes and thus clearly show them what a real war is like."

Though they have not been entirely successful at getting a missile to stay aloft even a few miles from their own shoreline, Kim's regime warns of nuclear strikes against the West Coast of the United States. In response, the Pentagon is beefing up missile defenses in Alaska.

The United States has also sent nuclear-capable stealth bombers and B-52s on practice missions to South Korea as a signal to Kim that there will be hell to pay if his bellicose words turn into action.

Kim's father, Kim Jong Il, played a provocative game during his years in power, but he was clever enough to know which lines he dare not cross. Foreign affairs and military analysts in the U.S., Japan, China and South Korea are not at all certain that North Korea’s new, unseasoned leader knows when to stop. Kim Jong Un may not actually understand his power is built on illusions.

It has always been assumed that North Korean leaders rattled sabers now and then simply to solidify their own power by stirring up the patriotic passions of their captive people. As warlike as they may have sounded, the old leaders generally did not seem crazy enough to provoke a war with the United States in which their regime would almost certainly be toppled.

The new Kim, surrounded by a huge army and a horde of sycophants, may not understand the precariousness of his position. Living amid a Stalinist fantasy as he does, Kim might actually think war would be a glorious fulfillment of his own exalted purpose on the planet, instead of a horrific, blood-soaked end to his family’s wicked dynasty.

It would be gratifying to see the pudgy-faced punk of Pyongyang meet an ignominious end. Unfortunately, it is not likely to happen without a cruel war that would be disastrous for Koreans, both North and South.

Kim Jong Un is a caricature of a tyrant, a person too silly to be taken seriously. Unfortunately, he is a fool with real power to destroy, and the misery he could bring about is no laughing matter.

www.latimes.com/news/politics/topoftheticket/la-na-tt-pudgy-punk-20130402,0,5498167.story

[corsair67]

As Darryl Kerrigan would say - "How's the benign-ity?" ;D

[obiwan27]

Ok lads and lasses, remember that Snickers ad, the one where they guy is playing like Betty White?

Well here is one with a twist on current events one the Korean peninsula

Attachments:

[Luther Moore]

[meo4]

;D Maybe we could ask Draken if we could lease back our Skyhawks.

[kiwithrottlejockey]

[kiwithrottlejockey]

[kiwithrottlejockey]

[errolmartyn]

KJU must go to the same hairdresser as Herr Himmler did before WWII ended so disappointingly for him. Though said HD must be getting on in years now, or perhaps it's now the son, Herr Cutz Jnr, whose taken over the excessively short-back-and-sides business.

Errol

[kiwithrottlejockey]

[Dave Homewood]

When he entered power a litle while ago, Kim Jong Un seemed to be very moderate compared with his father's attitudes. Now he seems to be suddenly ultra-extremist with his anti-American attitude. I really have to wonder what America has been doing behind the scenes to promote this, surely it cannot just be because of the annual military exercises or the sanctions as North Korea must be very used to that by now.

[Chris F]

Mr Kim is just trying to show his people he is the "Great Leader" and show his will to fight....problem he faces is China is showing signs they are at breaking point and could cut the life string to North Korea...China supply the oil....Mr Kim would be a fool to wage war!

[Dave Homewood]

If he's trying to show his people he's a great leader he's going the wrong way about it. Taking his nation to the brink of nuclear war is plain insane. If he'd taken his country o the negotiation tables and sought peace while also seeking help for his starving brain-washed people then that would make him a great leader.

[Chris F]

Truely understand that...who knows behind the scenes what deals are been done...but you can bet your bottom dollar there will be a whole lot of dealing going on to settle him down.