Right? This is totally on China. They've enabled that regime of xenophobic sociopaths for decades. Well now they're gonna have a nuclear Korean peninsula as well as a nuclear Japan. Well done.
>China should have thought about that before they gave them to the lunatics in NK
Not sure where your getting that from, but I don't think China helped NK with nuclear weapons. It was the Soviet Union that helped NK's nuclear energy program.
From Wiki: The Soviet Union agreed to help North Korea develop a peaceful nuclear energy program, including the training of nuclear scientists. Later, China, after its nuclear tests, similarly rejected North Korean requests for help with developing nuclear weapons.
Yes, but nuclear capability on south koreas side will discourage NK attacks even further as they could easily hit pjongjang or wherever the Kim’s are hiding at that point with nuclear ICBMs in minutes. The Kim’s aren’t that dumb
I think just regular BMs should be plenty. It's not Inter-Continental, they are right next door! Hrm, perhaps they are Intra-Continental Ballistic Missiles though.
If you’ll allow me, just one question sir: in one of these training videos was there a duck who had a bomb go off in his face and in order to speak, he had to bring his bill from around the back of his neck back to his face?
On that cold day in November 2033, when the war began, the people of Pyonyang woke early in the morning to the eery jingle echoing out above the tower blocks:
"Purito Centella Nuclear, Purito Centella Nuclear, protect your skin with Purito Centella Nuclear Sunscreen Cream - This advert was brought to you by Samsung Arms division"
Not understanding what was going on, people ran to their windows to see where the noise was coming from, when suddenly there was a blinding flash of light.
For the small number of people who actually had access to the Anti-Nuclear Sunscreen, there was little value in applying it, as it delivered only factor 9 protection rather than the 3,000,000 that is advertised.
These people are trying to have a civil nuclear dispute, and you are threatening with the Oracle legal department? Not every dispute has to end in MAD, you know
you think your joking but it's probable that Samsung aerospace, and Hanwha Techwin, a company that is 100% owned by Samsung, will make the delivery system.
Samsung makes:
K9 (155 self propelled artillery)
MPV (Armored personal carrier)
SGR-A1 (automated sentry gun)
KF-16 (F16 variant)
^ what I could find with like 200 seconds of googling
along with computer components for basically all South Korean military vehicles and missiles
Wouldn't surprise me if more smaller countries will be looking to get nuclear weapons now with the Russian invasion and Putin hinting at going nuclear if anyone else gets involved, it would be the only way to be secure if you don't receive help from other nations.
I’ve always said that if NATO were to dissolve, then countries like Poland would certainly (or at the minimum, undergo heavy militarization) develop nuclear weapons. It’s quite the opposite of what pacifists and tankies would think would happen if NATO were to go.
Nah I’m a pacifist and 100% understand the need for NATO. Using force to prevent conflicts stops bloodshed. Giving into authoritarians is why modern wars are fought.
Flip side is that IF there is a WW3 it will be much more deadly than eith conventional weapons. It wouldn't be an instant nuclear armageddon, but I would be surprised if someone didn't use nukes on civilian targets at some point.
I doubt that very much, I can only see nuclear weapons being used by terrorists. World leaders have too much to lose and don't want to rule over nothing.
Tell that to Hitler in his bunker. He would absolutely have used them, even with the knowledge that his enemies had it as well, at that point he would have been happy to see the world go down in flames because it dared continue to exist without him.
Trusting megalomanic psychopathic dictators to be sane and rational is a dangerous thing.
In his final months, Hitler’s more insane orders were ignored. A good example is the [Nero decree](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nero_Decree), which was pretty much what you describe but without nuclear arms:
> All military transport and communication facilities, industrial establishments and supply depots, as well as anything else of value within Reich territory, which could in any way be used by the enemy immediately or within the foreseeable future for the prosecution of the war, will be destroyed.
His orders were also refused at other times like e.g. during the liberation of Paris when he ordered the occupying general to demolish landmarks like the Eiffel Tower. The general instead surrendered to the Allies and told them Hitler is insane.
If any dictator ever had direct control of the system that launches nuclear weapons we would be screwed. That’s the reason why nuclear launch systems have so many humans in the loop to prevent accidental or intentional “mistakes”. Even in North Korea, Kim doesn’t have absolute power and needs to rely on his political allies. They would not allow total control of the launch systems since it would make them powerless hostages to Kim. More nuclear systems does mean more chances that something goes wrong and we end up in a nuclear war, so this is not a comment in favor of nuclear armament.
What was the name of the guy who got kicked out of the air force for questioning how he could know if his launch orders came from a sane president again?
And many are unaware of what pacifism can actually entail.
Pacifists have been, and are, willing to endure hardship and suffering for following their morals and being forthright. They'll also protest.
Russian pacifists are being punished for being strong opposition of Putin's war.
There is nothing on earth reddit hates more than activists and people with convictions that actually do something.
They want to sit and go "welp cant possibly do anything" and activists make them look as bad as they are.
Yes. Unfortunately a dozen or so countries could fairly quickly develop or obtain the weapons (about half of those wouldnt want to).
Of the ones who would want to - and then the responses:
If Iran gets it, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and maybe Egypt get it.
If South Korea gets it, japan likely gets it. Ukraine may possibly develop it on its own. Given its more hawkish policy, Australia may eventually be in line.
Brazil, Nigeria, and Indonesia may at some point decide to flex their growing economic powers into the military, though those are more likely possibilities 20+ years from now.
Its also quite possible some other European countries would wish to acquire them.
Brazil wouldnt ever chase a nuke. We are in a relatively stable region when it comes to borders and we basically have no enemies, so the diplomatic hit that we would take were we to chase a nuke wouldnt ever be worth it for us.
It is not as if countries don’t know *how* to build nuclear weapons, but it takes effort to do so that does not go unnoticed by the international community. Iran and North Korea are notably two examples. Meanwhile a country like Israel definitely has a few, but they officially deny it.
>Meanwhile a country like Israel definitely has a few, but they officially deny it.
Actually Israel neither denies nor confirms it has nukes, they call it nuclear ambiguity
I kind of expect that too. The only difference is I think they aren't completely assembled, so they have plausible deniability. But, they're easy to assemble quickly.
How would a disassembled nuke give any more plausible deniability than a completely operational one? It’s not so hard to hide one bomb, and it’s not likely that UN inspectors will know where to look.
Also, making a functioning atomic bomb is trivial if you have fissile material and are a government. The hard part, which is much harder to hide and incredibly expensive, is enriching uranium or plutonium to weapons grade.
Not a nuclear experts or anything like that at all, but if I recall correctly from news posts and documentaries about Iran, is that you need the same basic infrastructure for a nuke, as you do for nuclear energy plant, so it can be 'hidden' that way.
So, their leaders can honestly say they do not have nukes. I completely agree with the second paragraph. Nukes are an exercise in political will for industrialized nations.
I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t want nuclear weapons at this point.
Ukraine would have lost sovereignty without swift action from the West. Imagine a world where Trump was still President, cheering Putin on as the invasion happened.
We live in a world where the former US president was compromised by hostile foreign powers and one party participated in an attempted coup and has a fascist movement underway. What do you do if the US is suddenly hostile to you, or suddenly is content to let your adversaries invade you, your best protection is nuclear weapons.
With a modest budget, you can ensure no hostile action against your country no matter what is going on geopolitically.
I don’t think so. Proliferation means more actors which means a higher risk of miscalculations and/or irrational people going trigger happy. Even with the 9 or so confirmed nuclear states, it’s only a matter of time before something bad happens. People who think humanity will exist forever without using nuclear weapons are delusional.
You’re looking at it from the perspective of someone in a country with nukes. From a perspective of a small country without nukes and a possible conflict brewing with a more powerful neighbour, it absolutely makes sense to get nukes
North and South Korean are both some of the top producers of artillery shells in the world. Hence they both play a role in Ukraine.
It doesn't surprise me that tensions are rising across that entire region.
Yes, there is a lot of (old) firepower that’s pointed towards Seoul, and other large cities.
There’s thinking that 200k+ South Koreans could die in the opening hour of an all out war. So, while the ongoing joke on Reddit is that NK can’t do anything, they can still inflict awful amounts of damage from regular and chemical weapons.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelpeck/2020/08/11/north-koreas-artillery-could-inflict-200000-casualties-in-just-one-hour/
Most of our best formations are positioned within striking distance of the dmz.
The gov since moon has also been heavily emphasizing a first strike non-nuclear attack plan. Which is why moon negotiated removing the limit on our missiles range. Our industry was already prepared to built longer range munitions, it was just a matter of the missile treaty being removed.
Rokmd is also planning on launching Intelligence satellites to further Bolster this first strike capability.
Moon was honestly one of the better presidents korea has had. And one of the really good things he did was enabling the rok armed forces to possess more full spectrum capabilities. Under his tenure we've made significant progress in r&d or production of PGMs, new naval assets, better radars/sigint/elint capabilities, a more capable and better equipped and much larger range of coverage BMD & Air defense, warrior platform (tho the quality kinda varies. But it's better than being handed a Molle or a webbing from Vietnam or worse ww2 surplus), and helped expand koreas defens industries production rates via greater expansions of facilities and also promoting Korean weapons internationally more.
He also did other stuff but yeah. Stuff the previous negligent conservative crooks in office never bothered to do for the rok armed forces in 10 fucking years he did it in 5 and then some.
Bro Moon did support the defense industry in a good way, but let's not pretend like he built up the industry from the ground up during his tenure. SK was continually removing missile ranges and payload in previous administrations. All the programs you listed were started in previous administrations and would have mattered if a conversation or liberal at the seat of the presidency. The only unique program I can think of right now that was Moon's big contribution was the start of the carrier program.
You have to understand that you don't get results immediately within one administration for defense programs. Most only take off after a decade of hard work. Most of Moon's contribution will not show until +5 yr after his presidency.
Let's be honest, at this point in time they may as well be two separate countries. Words on paper and arbitrary lines on maps mean nothing if the two cultures have diverged so far that they no longer believe themselves to be part of the same culture.
“3 days to Kyiv.”
The South Koreans have been preparing this for 65 years. Do you honestly think any armored unit would survive running right into pre-planned fire zones like that.
Did it move a single time since the start of the war? Last time I heard about it was it being closer to midnight because trump said something, can't even remember what.
Not only did he justify the continued existence of NATO, he also sent Finland and Sweden into its arms. Invading Ukraine to stunt the expansion of NATO was a strategic blunder of the greatest caliber. If Putin truly wanted to make NATO redundant, all he had to do is focus on creating warmer relations with the west and stop with the KGB killings of foreigners.
World: Everything is going pretty well.
Russia: i nEEd To iNVadE crIMeA
All of Eastern Europe: Joins NATO, gets nukes.
South Korea: I now need nukes.
Japan: I now also have nukes.
Russia: hOw iS tHIs pOSsIBLe?
I can't blame them, but I don't like it. I don't like that any country has nukes. Humans are far too stupid to have that kinda power. Gonna end up making WW2 look like a joke one day cause all it takes is that one wrong organization or government.
Since non-nuclear countries signed the non-proliferation treaty, countries like China, India, Russia, and yes the USA, have vastly increased the lethality of nuclear weapons and long range missiles they have (some have reduced the number but the effectiveness and range increased).
What are non-nuclear countries supposed to do? The deal was we don't get nukes as long as you get rid of yours eventually.
South Korea is gaming out what would happen if North Korea nuked Seoul.
Realistically, the US would likely squash North Korea in response, but only with conventional weaponry, to prevent escalation.
South Korea is probably not happy about that, and realize that without their own nukes, they can't turn North Korea into a sheet of glass as retribution for any attack on them.
Hence, since the West cannot be relied on to adhere to MAD, South Korea must do it themselves.
All in all, it is a reasonable step for a single nation, but a bad step for all of humanity.
That seems to be the story of our own demise, btw... we are constantly doing things that are good for small groups of people, and bad for the whole.
This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/south-korea-now-openly-discussing-arming-itself-with-nuclear-weapons) reduced by 96%. (I'm a bot)
*****
> While attempting to get Washington to rethink the role of nuclear weapons in the defense of South Korea is one thing, the prospect of Seoul actually building and fielding its own nuclear weapons is potentially far more significant - and challenging.
> As a signatory of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, or NPT, South Korea is currently prohibited from developing nuclear weapons.
> At the same time, surveys seem to show that a majority of the South Korean people would support either the United States redeploying nuclear weapons to the South or the building of a domestically produced nuclear arsenal.
*****
[**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/10aimfp/south_korea_now_openly_discussing_arming_itself/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ "Version 2.02, ~672677 tl;drs so far.") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr "PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome.") | *Top* *keywords*: **nuclear**^#1 **South**^#2 **weapon**^#3 **Korea**^#4 **North**^#5
Russia invading Ukraine tells every dictator and scum lord that if they have nukes they can invade whoever they want with minimal repercussions... worst case, nato funds your enemy.
This is what we are teaching the world by allowing Russia to continue this war. Nuclear weapons have finally come 360 and bit us in the rear.
"Minimal repercussions"
The repercussions aren't minimal and no one is learning from this conflict that they can get away with shit as long as they have nukes. It's quite the opposite. Everyone is seeing that Russia fucked up big time and bit off more than it can chew. I highly doubt even Russian leaders think they did the right thing.
Yeah, if Russia is in the top 3 of military powers (on paper) and is still having a tough go, to say the least, then it's all the more reason to not invade your neighbors.
This is the real reason NATO exists. It wasn’t **just** to protect Europe from Russian invasion. It was also the reality that unless the US extended its nuclear umbrella to include European countries, those countries would all actively seek nuclear weapons programs and we’d end up with rampant proliferation.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has completely and irreversibly reignited this problem on a global scale. If Ukraine still had nuclear weapons, the war Ukraine invasion would never have happened. If Russia *didn’t* have nuclear weapons, the Ukraine war would have never happened. Thus the litmus test between who can be an aggressor, and who can be aggressed, is nuclear weapons. After 70 years of relative checks and balances, *every* country on the planet received a wake-up call in February 2022, that nuclear-armed aggressors will not be afraid to test the world’s loyalties to non-nuclear countries.
These countries have two choices… Either “nuclearize,” or join a treaty organization that promises a trustworthy defensive umbrella. Joining the umbrella *sounds* great on the surface. But Turkey’s objections to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, and Ukraine’s joining starting too late, send yet another warning shot to every country on the planet. “Getting into an umbrella alliance is going to be harder than you think, and take a *lot* longer than you think.”
This just further inflames global nuclear aspirations. The Russian move on Ukraine has set the world order on fire in ways we can’t really even measure yet, but nuclear proliferation will be part of that fire.
South Korea, the Korean Republic does not have any other options to survive. The reason is North Korea and its diplomatic background China would like to provoke openly Korea’s national defense. On top of that, China’s central government has invaded Korea’s KADIZ even so many times, what’s more, the CCP regime used to say officially Korea should support China’s international politics instead of the US government.
It was a sort of intimidation actually. Why should Korea follow China’s bullshit? These two crazy nations don’t know the word “peace”, thus, South Korea should develop its nuclear weapons right now to survive. Most Korean citizens wished to develop nuclear missiles to protect their nation for a long time ago…but the US federal government didn’t agree.
However, now, the US administration should change its attitude to maintain far east Asia’s peaceful situation and destroy China’s unlimited ambition to be a conqueror. Only Korea’s nuclear weapons stop China’s dark ambition and North Korea’s insane mood.
So few things to visit from the past.
Is us willing to give up nyc Washington la and many other cities to retaliate for Seoul and Tokyo? Same question was asked by France and US could not answer.
India and China conflict they make tensions but try really hard not to escalate too much, fighting with stones and sticks. As both have nukes.
The majority of Europeans don't think their countries should help the US if it were attacked so yeah, why the fuck would the US respond to that bullshit? also, neither of these 2 countries are building anything nuclear unless the US gives them the nod
Good for them.
The Russia-Ukraine war has *very clearly* shown that superiority in conventional military no longer means much in terms of national security. Russia is militarily weak af compared to NATO but NATO can't do shit to Russia because of Russia's nukes. Heck, Europe and USA can't even arm Ukraine properly because of Russia's nuclear threats, let alone retalitate Russia directly.
Conventional military power is like MMA skills, and nukes are like guns. A professional MMA fighter will beg for mercy to an average guy who has zero fighting skills but a loaded gun in his hands ready to fire. No amount of tanks, artilleries, drones and fighter jets can protect your country against an enemy who has nukes. It's either MAD or no MAD.
Everyone knows they have them, it's called the USA. The difference is a change in rhetoric and politics. North Korea has one more disincentive against escalation because there is one less step to launch nukes for them.
North Korea will say they can't do that and threaten them with nukes if they..try to copy North Korea.
Funny thing is the only response to military threats is armament.
Will US sacrifice New York for Seoul? People are not doubting US-ROK alliance. But after Trump, and now Russia going apeshit, alot of people are realizing that other nuclear countries will never fight each other. That goes for US too.
SK getting nukes will likely push the Japanese into creating their own nuclear weapons and I am sure China will love that.
I was hoping for giant robots and Kaiju out of Japan. We need innovation.
We need a gundam, and a reluctant 16 year old to pilot it
Best I can do is a second gundam with a hotshot 16 year old who is friends with the reluctant 16 year old and their shared girl "friend".
How about a know it all 16 year old who doesn’t like to be told he has a girl’s name ?
So long as their shared mentor dies horrifically during their first training exercise / initial enemy attack, baby you got a stew goin’
Can we also have an older man who keeps his face hidden behind mask and has his own secret gundam?
What about how poor his family is
Netflix would like to order 2 seasons and a cliffhanger.
Best I can do is 7 episodes, cancelled Season Two, and a weird sex cult documentary instead.
If you agree to different animators and voice actors throughout the episodes…we have a deal.
How about an Eva and a fucked up teenager to not pilot it
Get in the eva, shinji
Give me a few minutes, I'm in Asuka's hospital room.
Oh no
What da dawg doin?
Anyone not named Shinji, of course.
Get in the fucking robot, shinji.
*in the movies*, get out of the fucking robot Shinji
*In a raspy voice*, METAL GEAR !
Metal Gear Rex was designed to perform tactical nuclear strikes
Tell me about Alaskan field mice.
[Tell me about Big Chungus.](https://youtu.be/srTqxL_6Ysg)
A bipedal tank? What a ridiculous concept! The Shagohod is far superior!
Raiden! Turn the game onsole off right now!
#!
You can hear this comment.
Just a box
Did the guards never wonder why there were so many stray boxes around their bases? Like just sitting in the middle of an otherwise empty walkway?
Or why some boxes have vanished by the time you make one round on your patrol?
A WEAPON TO SURPASS METAL GEAR!
Yeah I’m sick of nukes. Too depressing.
China's not gonna love SK building one either so let's not play too much into this.
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Last thing we need is a nuclear galaxy
*Now you get a smart home notification every time your country nukes another with our new Fuck-around-and-find-out-o-meter^tm*
Then maybe China could have tried just a tiny bit harder to enforce the anti nuclear sanctions on NK
Right? This is totally on China. They've enabled that regime of xenophobic sociopaths for decades. Well now they're gonna have a nuclear Korean peninsula as well as a nuclear Japan. Well done.
Then China needs to check their pet nut jobs in North Korea.
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China should have thought about that before they gave them to the lunatics in NK. Also, Taiwan will want them too.
Taiwan almost got nukes decades ago, but the US convinced them not to as to provoke China into invading the Island
There were nukes stationed on Taiwan previously
Tsmc *should* be surrounded by nukes if you ask me.
Honestly, Taiwan probably _is_ surrounded by nukes. I'd bet there's at least one US sub hiding nearby with nukes on board. Probably more.
>China should have thought about that before they gave them to the lunatics in NK Not sure where your getting that from, but I don't think China helped NK with nuclear weapons. It was the Soviet Union that helped NK's nuclear energy program. From Wiki: The Soviet Union agreed to help North Korea develop a peaceful nuclear energy program, including the training of nuclear scientists. Later, China, after its nuclear tests, similarly rejected North Korean requests for help with developing nuclear weapons.
China only has themselves to thank for the situation. Their propping up and supporting of the DPRK is why we're now where we are.
It will be built by Samsung with very sleek round edges.
0 bezels on the mushroom cloud
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Yes, but nuclear capability on south koreas side will discourage NK attacks even further as they could easily hit pjongjang or wherever the Kim’s are hiding at that point with nuclear ICBMs in minutes. The Kim’s aren’t that dumb
I think just regular BMs should be plenty. It's not Inter-Continental, they are right next door! Hrm, perhaps they are Intra-Continental Ballistic Missiles though.
BMs.... Shouldn't these be called incontinental missiles.
hehe
usually call those irbms, intermediate-range ballistic missiles
Wouldn't really need to mount them on ICBMs to hit north Korea.
This looks like a bot stole an earlier top-level comment and just changed the ending punctuation.
and pointy tip
The shape of the missile top has nothing to do with aerodynamics, it is about the payload delivery...
No, it sticks in the ground, and then "kaboom".
No way /u/octoreadit consulted Professor Bobeye about this
If you’ll allow me, just one question sir: in one of these training videos was there a duck who had a bomb go off in his face and in order to speak, he had to bring his bill from around the back of his neck back to his face?
There was somebody who suffered a deformity like that.
Now I am 100% sure you are watching cartoons
Pretend that I’m an idiot, explain to me how this rocket will not bounce back from Israel and blow up Wadiya?
>Pretend that I'm an idiot Ok, I'm there...
*looks at guards and makes a kill gesture*
That’s what I tell my wife.
It’s useless if it can only stay airborne for a minute before payload delivery, your wife tells us. /s
Duh, it's hypersonic...
A short missile is nothing to be ashamed of!
And a smart tv display built in!
Don't forget the ads on that smart tv/nuclear ballistic missile
Targeting and guidance by Bixby
*hits Apple HQ*
*„Hello Bixby, Target Apple HQ in Cupertino, USA.“* *„Here is a list of grocery stores in your immediate vicinity. Starting launch sequence now.“*
Watch this ad for 30 seconds to release the nukes.
Military high official : " Forget it... Just skip the nukes!!! I'll not watch more of these mobile games ads...""
And that is how nuclear winter was prevented by boing-boing anime waifus.
This nuclear war was prevented by Raid Shadow Legends!
On that cold day in November 2033, when the war began, the people of Pyonyang woke early in the morning to the eery jingle echoing out above the tower blocks: "Purito Centella Nuclear, Purito Centella Nuclear, protect your skin with Purito Centella Nuclear Sunscreen Cream - This advert was brought to you by Samsung Arms division" Not understanding what was going on, people ran to their windows to see where the noise was coming from, when suddenly there was a blinding flash of light. For the small number of people who actually had access to the Anti-Nuclear Sunscreen, there was little value in applying it, as it delivered only factor 9 protection rather than the 3,000,000 that is advertised.
*Samsung Calamity N*
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That division was sold to Hanhwa...
*fires missile* Sorry, the Samsung UI has crashed. Please restart your ICBM.
I'm just imagining it designed by Oracle..
They are going to sue North Korea for infringing their ICBM patents?
These people are trying to have a civil nuclear dispute, and you are threatening with the Oracle legal department? Not every dispute has to end in MAD, you know
Now foldable!
The warhead is made out of recycled Note 7s
Good to see eco-friendly nuclear weapons.
you think your joking but it's probable that Samsung aerospace, and Hanwha Techwin, a company that is 100% owned by Samsung, will make the delivery system. Samsung makes: K9 (155 self propelled artillery) MPV (Armored personal carrier) SGR-A1 (automated sentry gun) KF-16 (F16 variant) ^ what I could find with like 200 seconds of googling along with computer components for basically all South Korean military vehicles and missiles
Choosing Samsung as manufacturer would really be a smart decision...after all, they do have a record of making things that go boom.
Well, Samsung did make self-propelled artillery and automated sentry guns in the past.
ICBM Note 7
Incoming Apple lawsuit
iBomb
Wouldn't surprise me if more smaller countries will be looking to get nuclear weapons now with the Russian invasion and Putin hinting at going nuclear if anyone else gets involved, it would be the only way to be secure if you don't receive help from other nations.
I’ve always said that if NATO were to dissolve, then countries like Poland would certainly (or at the minimum, undergo heavy militarization) develop nuclear weapons. It’s quite the opposite of what pacifists and tankies would think would happen if NATO were to go.
Nah I’m a pacifist and 100% understand the need for NATO. Using force to prevent conflicts stops bloodshed. Giving into authoritarians is why modern wars are fought.
Glad someone understands what a deterrent is. Arguably, having nukes and MAD prevented an all out WW3.
Flip side is that IF there is a WW3 it will be much more deadly than eith conventional weapons. It wouldn't be an instant nuclear armageddon, but I would be surprised if someone didn't use nukes on civilian targets at some point.
I doubt that very much, I can only see nuclear weapons being used by terrorists. World leaders have too much to lose and don't want to rule over nothing.
Tell that to Hitler in his bunker. He would absolutely have used them, even with the knowledge that his enemies had it as well, at that point he would have been happy to see the world go down in flames because it dared continue to exist without him. Trusting megalomanic psychopathic dictators to be sane and rational is a dangerous thing.
In his final months, Hitler’s more insane orders were ignored. A good example is the [Nero decree](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nero_Decree), which was pretty much what you describe but without nuclear arms: > All military transport and communication facilities, industrial establishments and supply depots, as well as anything else of value within Reich territory, which could in any way be used by the enemy immediately or within the foreseeable future for the prosecution of the war, will be destroyed. His orders were also refused at other times like e.g. during the liberation of Paris when he ordered the occupying general to demolish landmarks like the Eiffel Tower. The general instead surrendered to the Allies and told them Hitler is insane. If any dictator ever had direct control of the system that launches nuclear weapons we would be screwed. That’s the reason why nuclear launch systems have so many humans in the loop to prevent accidental or intentional “mistakes”. Even in North Korea, Kim doesn’t have absolute power and needs to rely on his political allies. They would not allow total control of the launch systems since it would make them powerless hostages to Kim. More nuclear systems does mean more chances that something goes wrong and we end up in a nuclear war, so this is not a comment in favor of nuclear armament.
What was the name of the guy who got kicked out of the air force for questioning how he could know if his launch orders came from a sane president again?
Looked him up [Harold Hering](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Hering) thats his Wikipedia page
Tbh, he was by far gone even before the bunker. He had an agenda even before that time and nukes would have aligned with it.
You'd think so, but look what putin is doing to his own country.
Stalin did the same and didn't use nukes, there was far more tension back then (even early warning system failures didn't result in nukes being used).
Ozzy understood 50 years ago. “Thank God for the bomb.”
Even countries like Canada quietly have policies to convert their nuclear energy tech into arms tech almost overnight if needed.
Similar policies in place in Japan and Brazil if I remember correctly
Well pacificts also are woefully unaware of the happenings in the world, so this genuinely doesn't surprise me.
And many are unaware of what pacifism can actually entail. Pacifists have been, and are, willing to endure hardship and suffering for following their morals and being forthright. They'll also protest. Russian pacifists are being punished for being strong opposition of Putin's war.
There is nothing on earth reddit hates more than activists and people with convictions that actually do something. They want to sit and go "welp cant possibly do anything" and activists make them look as bad as they are.
Yes. Unfortunately a dozen or so countries could fairly quickly develop or obtain the weapons (about half of those wouldnt want to). Of the ones who would want to - and then the responses: If Iran gets it, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and maybe Egypt get it. If South Korea gets it, japan likely gets it. Ukraine may possibly develop it on its own. Given its more hawkish policy, Australia may eventually be in line. Brazil, Nigeria, and Indonesia may at some point decide to flex their growing economic powers into the military, though those are more likely possibilities 20+ years from now. Its also quite possible some other European countries would wish to acquire them.
> Saudi Arabia The Saudis may well have (undeclared) nukes already thanks to their deal with Pakistan.
Brazil wouldnt ever chase a nuke. We are in a relatively stable region when it comes to borders and we basically have no enemies, so the diplomatic hit that we would take were we to chase a nuke wouldnt ever be worth it for us.
The Trump administration killed nuclear non-proliferation for good.
Every time we think the actions and aftershocks of that administration can't get worse, we discover a new low.
Buckle up we've got a solid decade of direct after shocks, and another century of analysis and revelations.
I more so expect to find out how many had nukes the entire time and just didn’t say
It is not as if countries don’t know *how* to build nuclear weapons, but it takes effort to do so that does not go unnoticed by the international community. Iran and North Korea are notably two examples. Meanwhile a country like Israel definitely has a few, but they officially deny it.
>Meanwhile a country like Israel definitely has a few, but they officially deny it. Actually Israel neither denies nor confirms it has nukes, they call it nuclear ambiguity
Wouldn’t surprise me, it’s 80year old tech after all
I kind of expect that too. The only difference is I think they aren't completely assembled, so they have plausible deniability. But, they're easy to assemble quickly.
How would a disassembled nuke give any more plausible deniability than a completely operational one? It’s not so hard to hide one bomb, and it’s not likely that UN inspectors will know where to look. Also, making a functioning atomic bomb is trivial if you have fissile material and are a government. The hard part, which is much harder to hide and incredibly expensive, is enriching uranium or plutonium to weapons grade.
Not a nuclear experts or anything like that at all, but if I recall correctly from news posts and documentaries about Iran, is that you need the same basic infrastructure for a nuke, as you do for nuclear energy plant, so it can be 'hidden' that way.
So, their leaders can honestly say they do not have nukes. I completely agree with the second paragraph. Nukes are an exercise in political will for industrialized nations.
I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t want nuclear weapons at this point. Ukraine would have lost sovereignty without swift action from the West. Imagine a world where Trump was still President, cheering Putin on as the invasion happened. We live in a world where the former US president was compromised by hostile foreign powers and one party participated in an attempted coup and has a fascist movement underway. What do you do if the US is suddenly hostile to you, or suddenly is content to let your adversaries invade you, your best protection is nuclear weapons. With a modest budget, you can ensure no hostile action against your country no matter what is going on geopolitically.
I don’t think so. Proliferation means more actors which means a higher risk of miscalculations and/or irrational people going trigger happy. Even with the 9 or so confirmed nuclear states, it’s only a matter of time before something bad happens. People who think humanity will exist forever without using nuclear weapons are delusional.
You’re looking at it from the perspective of someone in a country with nukes. From a perspective of a small country without nukes and a possible conflict brewing with a more powerful neighbour, it absolutely makes sense to get nukes
Fallout is becoming more like real history than fiction.
Can't North Korea hit Seoul using ordinary artillery?
Certain North Korean artillery systems could indeed hit Seoul from the NK side of the border, yes.
North and South Korean are both some of the top producers of artillery shells in the world. Hence they both play a role in Ukraine. It doesn't surprise me that tensions are rising across that entire region.
Yes, there is a lot of (old) firepower that’s pointed towards Seoul, and other large cities. There’s thinking that 200k+ South Koreans could die in the opening hour of an all out war. So, while the ongoing joke on Reddit is that NK can’t do anything, they can still inflict awful amounts of damage from regular and chemical weapons. https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelpeck/2020/08/11/north-koreas-artillery-could-inflict-200000-casualties-in-just-one-hour/
Most of our best formations are positioned within striking distance of the dmz. The gov since moon has also been heavily emphasizing a first strike non-nuclear attack plan. Which is why moon negotiated removing the limit on our missiles range. Our industry was already prepared to built longer range munitions, it was just a matter of the missile treaty being removed. Rokmd is also planning on launching Intelligence satellites to further Bolster this first strike capability. Moon was honestly one of the better presidents korea has had. And one of the really good things he did was enabling the rok armed forces to possess more full spectrum capabilities. Under his tenure we've made significant progress in r&d or production of PGMs, new naval assets, better radars/sigint/elint capabilities, a more capable and better equipped and much larger range of coverage BMD & Air defense, warrior platform (tho the quality kinda varies. But it's better than being handed a Molle or a webbing from Vietnam or worse ww2 surplus), and helped expand koreas defens industries production rates via greater expansions of facilities and also promoting Korean weapons internationally more. He also did other stuff but yeah. Stuff the previous negligent conservative crooks in office never bothered to do for the rok armed forces in 10 fucking years he did it in 5 and then some.
Bro Moon did support the defense industry in a good way, but let's not pretend like he built up the industry from the ground up during his tenure. SK was continually removing missile ranges and payload in previous administrations. All the programs you listed were started in previous administrations and would have mattered if a conversation or liberal at the seat of the presidency. The only unique program I can think of right now that was Moon's big contribution was the start of the carrier program. You have to understand that you don't get results immediately within one administration for defense programs. Most only take off after a decade of hard work. Most of Moon's contribution will not show until +5 yr after his presidency.
Most South Koreans are pretty blasé about it all too. I guess the constant threats from the Kim Regime just become white noise after a while.
Most South Koreans were born well after the war. They have never known a unified Korea.
Let's be honest, at this point in time they may as well be two separate countries. Words on paper and arbitrary lines on maps mean nothing if the two cultures have diverged so far that they no longer believe themselves to be part of the same culture.
basically - tanks can be there in 2 hours.. it's 50 miles or so to the DMZ
Anyone trying to get a tank to Seoul from the border is not going to live 2 more hours.
“3 days to Kyiv.” The South Koreans have been preparing this for 65 years. Do you honestly think any armored unit would survive running right into pre-planned fire zones like that.
Well...what time will the Doomsday Clock be set to, this year?
Does this so called 'doomsday clock' have a known location, that maybe we could bomb? Seems like an easy solution that has been overlooked.
My god we can just doomsday the doomsday to cancel out the doomsday.
Just gotta keep bombing until the death counter hits an integer overflow and rolls over to 0.
Yeah, this is big brain time.
One past 12. The Doomsday is late 1 min.
Doomsday is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to.
Did it move a single time since the start of the war? Last time I heard about it was it being closer to midnight because trump said something, can't even remember what.
It's been 100 seconds to midnight since 2020. It will be updated on January 24th.
[удалено]
It was reviewed in 2021 and 2022, it just didn't change position.
The war started right after the review in 2022 when it wasn't moved past 100 seconds.
Whats that old saying? Even a Doomsday Clock is right twice a year?
Probably one minute to midnight, not that it means anything anymore. But hey, at least we'll get 4K high-def footage of nukes, I guess?
I would like to thank Russia for setting back disarmament by 50 years. The bunch of cunts.
On the other side of the coin, they just completely justified the continued existence of NATO.
Not only did he justify the continued existence of NATO, he also sent Finland and Sweden into its arms. Invading Ukraine to stunt the expansion of NATO was a strategic blunder of the greatest caliber. If Putin truly wanted to make NATO redundant, all he had to do is focus on creating warmer relations with the west and stop with the KGB killings of foreigners.
And significantly rehabilitated US image abroad, even among honest critics. Though kicking 45 out of office contributed a lot to that.
World: Everything is going pretty well. Russia: i nEEd To iNVadE crIMeA All of Eastern Europe: Joins NATO, gets nukes. South Korea: I now need nukes. Japan: I now also have nukes. Russia: hOw iS tHIs pOSsIBLe?
This always calms everybody right down.
It actually does. Nukes are clearly the only way to ensure nobody tries to invade you.
I can't blame them, but I don't like it. I don't like that any country has nukes. Humans are far too stupid to have that kinda power. Gonna end up making WW2 look like a joke one day cause all it takes is that one wrong organization or government.
Yeah, honestly, I wouldn't trust any superpowered states at their word anymore either.
It's Friday. South Korea could probably have a working nuke by next Wednesday if they work the weekend.
Shit they could have one by 11AM tomorrow morning if they really wanted to
Can hardly blame them tbh, considering their location
Welcome to the nuclear weapons family
Since non-nuclear countries signed the non-proliferation treaty, countries like China, India, Russia, and yes the USA, have vastly increased the lethality of nuclear weapons and long range missiles they have (some have reduced the number but the effectiveness and range increased). What are non-nuclear countries supposed to do? The deal was we don't get nukes as long as you get rid of yours eventually.
Only China made a promise not to nuke non-nuclear countries. I don't think any other nuclear powers done the same.
South Korea is gaming out what would happen if North Korea nuked Seoul. Realistically, the US would likely squash North Korea in response, but only with conventional weaponry, to prevent escalation. South Korea is probably not happy about that, and realize that without their own nukes, they can't turn North Korea into a sheet of glass as retribution for any attack on them. Hence, since the West cannot be relied on to adhere to MAD, South Korea must do it themselves. All in all, it is a reasonable step for a single nation, but a bad step for all of humanity. That seems to be the story of our own demise, btw... we are constantly doing things that are good for small groups of people, and bad for the whole.
This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/south-korea-now-openly-discussing-arming-itself-with-nuclear-weapons) reduced by 96%. (I'm a bot) ***** > While attempting to get Washington to rethink the role of nuclear weapons in the defense of South Korea is one thing, the prospect of Seoul actually building and fielding its own nuclear weapons is potentially far more significant - and challenging. > As a signatory of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, or NPT, South Korea is currently prohibited from developing nuclear weapons. > At the same time, surveys seem to show that a majority of the South Korean people would support either the United States redeploying nuclear weapons to the South or the building of a domestically produced nuclear arsenal. ***** [**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/10aimfp/south_korea_now_openly_discussing_arming_itself/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ "Version 2.02, ~672677 tl;drs so far.") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr "PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome.") | *Top* *keywords*: **nuclear**^#1 **South**^#2 **weapon**^#3 **Korea**^#4 **North**^#5
Russia invading Ukraine tells every dictator and scum lord that if they have nukes they can invade whoever they want with minimal repercussions... worst case, nato funds your enemy. This is what we are teaching the world by allowing Russia to continue this war. Nuclear weapons have finally come 360 and bit us in the rear.
Yup. It means you need nukes to have ultimate security.
"Minimal repercussions" The repercussions aren't minimal and no one is learning from this conflict that they can get away with shit as long as they have nukes. It's quite the opposite. Everyone is seeing that Russia fucked up big time and bit off more than it can chew. I highly doubt even Russian leaders think they did the right thing.
Yeah, if Russia is in the top 3 of military powers (on paper) and is still having a tough go, to say the least, then it's all the more reason to not invade your neighbors.
This is the real reason NATO exists. It wasn’t **just** to protect Europe from Russian invasion. It was also the reality that unless the US extended its nuclear umbrella to include European countries, those countries would all actively seek nuclear weapons programs and we’d end up with rampant proliferation. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has completely and irreversibly reignited this problem on a global scale. If Ukraine still had nuclear weapons, the war Ukraine invasion would never have happened. If Russia *didn’t* have nuclear weapons, the Ukraine war would have never happened. Thus the litmus test between who can be an aggressor, and who can be aggressed, is nuclear weapons. After 70 years of relative checks and balances, *every* country on the planet received a wake-up call in February 2022, that nuclear-armed aggressors will not be afraid to test the world’s loyalties to non-nuclear countries. These countries have two choices… Either “nuclearize,” or join a treaty organization that promises a trustworthy defensive umbrella. Joining the umbrella *sounds* great on the surface. But Turkey’s objections to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, and Ukraine’s joining starting too late, send yet another warning shot to every country on the planet. “Getting into an umbrella alliance is going to be harder than you think, and take a *lot* longer than you think.” This just further inflames global nuclear aspirations. The Russian move on Ukraine has set the world order on fire in ways we can’t really even measure yet, but nuclear proliferation will be part of that fire.
They should. North Korea has them thanks to Pakistan. Pakistan has them thanks to Israel. Israel has them thanks to the US.
I'm surprised South Korea does not have nukes, with neighbours like North Korea it is completely justified
The Russia effect. Everyone sees that paper agreements with world powers can be meaningless, and what can happen to countries without nukes.
South Korea, the Korean Republic does not have any other options to survive. The reason is North Korea and its diplomatic background China would like to provoke openly Korea’s national defense. On top of that, China’s central government has invaded Korea’s KADIZ even so many times, what’s more, the CCP regime used to say officially Korea should support China’s international politics instead of the US government. It was a sort of intimidation actually. Why should Korea follow China’s bullshit? These two crazy nations don’t know the word “peace”, thus, South Korea should develop its nuclear weapons right now to survive. Most Korean citizens wished to develop nuclear missiles to protect their nation for a long time ago…but the US federal government didn’t agree. However, now, the US administration should change its attitude to maintain far east Asia’s peaceful situation and destroy China’s unlimited ambition to be a conqueror. Only Korea’s nuclear weapons stop China’s dark ambition and North Korea’s insane mood.
So few things to visit from the past. Is us willing to give up nyc Washington la and many other cities to retaliate for Seoul and Tokyo? Same question was asked by France and US could not answer. India and China conflict they make tensions but try really hard not to escalate too much, fighting with stones and sticks. As both have nukes.
The majority of Europeans don't think their countries should help the US if it were attacked so yeah, why the fuck would the US respond to that bullshit? also, neither of these 2 countries are building anything nuclear unless the US gives them the nod
Good for them. The Russia-Ukraine war has *very clearly* shown that superiority in conventional military no longer means much in terms of national security. Russia is militarily weak af compared to NATO but NATO can't do shit to Russia because of Russia's nukes. Heck, Europe and USA can't even arm Ukraine properly because of Russia's nuclear threats, let alone retalitate Russia directly. Conventional military power is like MMA skills, and nukes are like guns. A professional MMA fighter will beg for mercy to an average guy who has zero fighting skills but a loaded gun in his hands ready to fire. No amount of tanks, artilleries, drones and fighter jets can protect your country against an enemy who has nukes. It's either MAD or no MAD.
$50 says they already have them.
Everyone knows they have them, it's called the USA. The difference is a change in rhetoric and politics. North Korea has one more disincentive against escalation because there is one less step to launch nukes for them.
North Korea will say they can't do that and threaten them with nukes if they..try to copy North Korea. Funny thing is the only response to military threats is armament.
I thought the whole point of their alliance with the US is that they don't need their own nuclear weapons when they have ours.
After Trump, can you really call the US a reliable ally? One election can undo decades of careful statecraft and diplomacy.
Will US sacrifice New York for Seoul? People are not doubting US-ROK alliance. But after Trump, and now Russia going apeshit, alot of people are realizing that other nuclear countries will never fight each other. That goes for US too.
I dont see a problem the insane neighbors have them I'd want them too