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What is NK's goal? They know perfectly well that to launch a nuke against another country, especially the US, could result in NK being entirely obliterated. ~

What is NK's goal? They know perfectly well that to launch a nuke against another country, especially the US, could result in NK being entirely obliterated. ~30 mostly little cites: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_North_Korea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_North_Korea How far along has this strategy been considered?

weavie 10y ago
Does NK as a country have any goals? I think it is more just the few at the top just want to stay at the top, and play whatever games they deem necessary in order to do so.
- roryisok 10y ago
  Everything that NK does is in order to keep those people at the top. It is the absolute definition of a dictatorship. Kim Jong-un only wants to maintain his own wealth and control. That is the only goal
  - anticodon 10y ago
    It's too simple view to be true. For one thing, Kim Jong-un understands that if he's not in control, he and his family members are dead. Of course, they want to maintain wealth and control, just like everyone else. But they also don't want to become dead. And they're dead in either of situations: - if they relax the control - if some other country decide to "liberate" NK They probably don't see any possible way out.
throwanem 10y ago
> What is NK's goal? To preserve its sovereignty, and preserve the inflow of foreign aid that the regime uses to prop itself up by preventing the starvation and likely resulting chaos that'd occur if forced to try to support its population from its own ill-managed resources. I'm sure at least someone close to Kim knows that to actually nuke an American city would invite massive retaliation. But seeming plausibly crazy enough to do it anyway is a good way to make an otherwise absurdly insignificant little country seem like one that needs to be reckoned with. They're banking on the idea that the US will go far out of its way to avoid even the remote possibility of even a minor nuclear strike, and thus far it's worked out for them.
wruza 10y ago
They know if you're going to obliterate their country anyway, they have a little present for you. And you know it too. That's how nuclear weapons work.
- karmacoda 10y ago
  So you're saying it's only self defence? In that case what's the fuss?
  - rickycook 10y ago
    i'd say because they can be pretty unpredictable at times
  - redwood 10y ago
    Because it's self defense of the regime... The regime is the #1 human rights abuser on earth with hundreds of thousands of people in brutal slavery
crdoconnor 10y ago
Probably immunizing themselves against invasion.
gozur88 10y ago
The North Koreans have no hope of beating the South in a conventional conflict. Strategically, they're in the same situation as Pakistan, which acquired nuclear weapons as a guarantee against an attack from India. The Norks have also gotten a lot of mileage from their blackmail/bullying behavior over the years. They may be calculating other countries will be willing to make concessions to keep the crazy guy with nukes quiet.
rhcom2 10y ago
Maybe something along the lines of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madman_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madman_theory

weavie 10y ago

Does NK as a country have any goals? I think it is more just the few at the top just want to stay at the top, and play whatever games they deem necessary in order to do so.

roryisok 10y ago
Everything that NK does is in order to keep those people at the top. It is the absolute definition of a dictatorship. Kim Jong-un only wants to maintain his own wealth and control. That is the only goal
- anticodon 10y ago
  It's too simple view to be true. For one thing, Kim Jong-un understands that if he's not in control, he and his family members are dead. Of course, they want to maintain wealth and control, just like everyone else. But they also don't want to become dead. And they're dead in either of situations: - if they relax the control - if some other country decide to "liberate" NK They probably don't see any possible way out.

throwanem 10y ago

> What is NK's goal? To preserve its sovereignty, and preserve the inflow of foreign aid that the regime uses to prop itself up by preventing the starvation and likely resulting chaos that'd occur if forced to try to support its population from its own ill-managed resources. I'm sure at least someone close to Kim knows that to actually nuke an American city would invite massive retaliation. But seeming plausibly crazy enough to do it anyway is a good way to make an otherwise absurdly insignificant little country seem like one that needs to be reckoned with. They're banking on the idea that the US will go far out of its way to avoid even the remote possibility of even a minor nuclear strike, and thus far it's worked out for them.

wruza 10y ago

They know if you're going to obliterate their country anyway, they have a little present for you. And you know it too. That's how nuclear weapons work.

karmacoda 10y ago
So you're saying it's only self defence? In that case what's the fuss?
- rickycook 10y ago
  i'd say because they can be pretty unpredictable at times
- redwood 10y ago
  Because it's self defense of the regime... The regime is the #1 human rights abuser on earth with hundreds of thousands of people in brutal slavery

crdoconnor 10y ago

Probably immunizing themselves against invasion.

gozur88 10y ago

The North Koreans have no hope of beating the South in a conventional conflict. Strategically, they're in the same situation as Pakistan, which acquired nuclear weapons as a guarantee against an attack from India. The Norks have also gotten a lot of mileage from their blackmail/bullying behavior over the years. They may be calculating other countries will be willing to make concessions to keep the crazy guy with nukes quiet.

rhcom2 10y ago

Maybe something along the lines of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madman_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madman_theory