North Korea has joined the space-faring club

[JazHaz]

North Korea has successfully placed a satellite into orbit and joined the club of nations with successful space launch capabilities.

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1212/12 ... MhILIO6ck4

[Selezen]

The war machine springs to life
Opens up one eager eye
Focusing it on the sky
Ninety-nine red balloons go by

This is what we've waiting for
This is it boys, this is war
The President is on the line
As ninety-nine red balloons go by

With orders to identify, to clarify and classify
Scrambling in the summer sky
As ninety-nine red balloons go by
Ninety-nine red balloons go by

Ninety-nine dreams I have had
Every one a red balloon
Now it's all over and I'm standin' pretty
In this dust that was a city

[Smivs]

This is quite a feat for a relatively small and poor nation, who persisted despite three earlier failures.
It is interesting (and rather sad) to note the reactions from around the World regarding this launch. Much of the coverage seems to revolve around the fact that this technology could be used in ballistic missiles, despite the fact that this does seem to be a genuine satellite launch.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea successfully fired a long-range rocket on Wednesday, defying international warnings as the regime of Kim Jong Un took a giant step forward in its quest to develop the technology to deliver a nuclear warhead.

(Reuters) - North Korea successfully launched a rocket on Wednesday, boosting the credentials of its new leader and stepping up the threat the isolated and impoverished state poses to its opponents.
The rocket, which North Korea says put a weather satellite into orbit, has been labeled by the United States, South Korea and Japan as a test of technology that could one day deliver a nuclear warhead capable of hitting targets as far as the continental United States.

[NigelJK]

I notice that one comment has it that the US robot space plane was also launched, and without any irony at all.

[Selezen]

It always makes me laugh that the US criticise every other nation who "might" develop nukes. All very hypocritical from a nation that is the ONLY one to have ever actually fired a nuke in anger.

Apologies to any US citizens here. I don't tar the nation with the brush, just the biased media and the various politicians and their clearly mindless comments.

[Cody]

A dictatorship controlled by nutters with that capability is a little worrying.
Even their closest ally, China, views the launch with 'regret'... ho-hum!

[Smivs]

It's the same 'problem' that the World has with Iran's nuclear program. Ostensibly for peaceful use (generating electricity) but with obvious military applications.
These nations argue that they should have the same right as the West to develop these technologies, and that is a valid arguement. Also valid is El Viejo's point that these states are not stable and do pose a threat.
No easy answer!

[Selezen]

It's not unreasonable to suggest that some arabian or "eastern" nations may look on the western nations as being unstable, but in different ways. One of the most popular subjects in Cold War political or military fiction was the possibility of a world war being prompted by financial reasons. Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising, for example, posited that a cash-strapped USSR would start a war to replenish dwindling oil supplies.

Given that most of the "first world" nations are currently in a recession that shows no sign of ending soon, some of the less capitalist nations of the world could be worrying that this kind of desperation could be settling in the minds of some leaders. America (and the UK to an extent) have a bit of a reputation for drastic actions to underscore military or technological superiority - it was this exact reputation that nearly sparked a nuclear exchange in 1985 during operation Able Archer.

Fact: some European and US nuclear reactors spew out weapons grade material, but we don't care what other nations think. Is that any different? We also change our leadership every x years on a schedule and there's no clue about who we are really putting in charge - one of the worrying issues about a democratic system but an issue that puts it on the same footing as a communist or monarchic system.

Leadership tell lies. Our leadership has been caught in so many lies lately that our own society is starting to question whether we can trust politicians any more. Do we really have the moral right to question other countries whose leadership lie?

[Disembodied]

Leadership tell lies. Our leadership has been caught in so many lies lately that our own society is starting to question whether we can trust politicians any more. Do we really have the moral right to question other countries whose leadership lie?

There's a spectrum here: North Korea is a vast prison camp, filled with a starving population and led by a paranoid military Junta. When desperate people are regularly risking death to escape from a country, I think it's legitimate to worry about that country's development of advanced military technologies. Morality isn't really the issue: it's proliferation. It's bad news that any country, any clique of politicians and generals, ours or theirs, has access to long-range missiles and WMDs: so it's never a happy event when this technology spreads, especially not towards the nuttier end of the spectrum.

[Pleb]

Maybe North Korea is attempting to thwart Obama's newest weapon...?

*cue Imperial March music...*

[CaptSolo]

Maybe North Korea is attempting to thwart Obama's newest weapon...?

*cue Imperial March music...*

Thank you, Pleb, for inserting that bit of humour into an otherwise depressing discussion.

[Disembodied]

For more North Koreans (not to mention Combat Archaeologists) in space, I can recommend Newton's Wake by Ken MacLeod ...

[Selezen]

It's bad news that any country, any clique of politicians and generals, ours or theirs, has access to long-range missiles and WMDs: so it's never a happy event when this technology spreads, especially not towards the nuttier end of the spectrum.

Hear hear on that. Don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of NK having the technology to deliver WMDs, nor am I a fan of any country having nukes or chemical/bio weapons. In fact, weaponry of any sort is bad due to its defined purpose. It's just a shame that some of it looks darned cool.

Now if there's one thing you can be sure of, it's that nothing is more powerful than a young boy's wish. Except an Apache helicopter. An Apache helicopter has machine guns AND missiles. It is an unbelievably impressive complement of weaponry, an absolute death machine.

[ClymAngus]

North Korea isn't a threat. North Korea's entire culture is paranoid about invasion (apart from getting back south Korea which they would kind of like). The problem is if you have a country that has a load of embargo's on it, that has a product someone wants. Like intercontinental ballistic missile plans for instance! Then normal supply and demand take over. Suddenly pariah states (rightly or wrongly) are trading with each other and it's totally out of control.

Problem is with China to the north (you know China, the place that makes most of the cheap things we all own and rely on now) you can't just smart bomb it. Politicians might actually have to stop sabre rattling and try some actual diplomacy. An interesting prospect.