By Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is visiting Asia and promising consequences against the North Korean sinking of the South Korean naval vessel:
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday that North Korea must faces consequences after a report that it fired a torpedo that sank a South Korean warship in March.
“I think it’s important to send a clear message to North Korea that provocative actions have consequences,” she said amid heightened tensions and a diplomatic war of words between Seoul and Pyongyang over the incident. “We cannot allow the attack on South Korea to go unanswered by the international community.”
Clinton was speaking in Tokyo, Japan, for the first leg of her week-long tour in Asia. She said she was consulting with international allies to find the appropriate reaction. [CNN]
I will be very interested to see what these consequences are, but so far I haven’t seen anything other than sanctions being offered that will have little effect as long as China continues to back their client state. This makes sanctions little more than a symbolic diplomatic face saving measure to make it look like the North Koreans are being punished. If the State Department wants to take a symbolic measure against the North Koreans, why aren’t they being re-added to the State Sponsors of Terrorism List? How is this not an act of state sponsored terrorism by the North Koreans?
Plus the North Koreans last month were caught sending an assassination team into South Korea to only further add to their long list provocations against the South Koreans. I was a critic of when the Bush administration removed the North Koreans from the list for a bunch of false promises and I have continued to criticize the Obama administration for not re-adding them despite all these provocations.
If this doesn’t put the North Koreans back on the list then this list then why have this list at all?
By the way you can read what I recommend should be done here.
9:46 pm on May 20th, 2010 1
"Why Doesn’t She Add Them to the State Sponsors of Terrorism List?"
I wouldn't play that card just yet.
11:02 pm on May 20th, 2010 2
Because the US is afraid of China's wrath.
11:41 pm on May 20th, 2010 3
That is so very true TOM. America is terrified of China. The American State Department even APOLOGIZED to China for Arizona's new state law that is less powerful than the Federald (uninforced) law.
Not a good day.
12:53 am on May 21st, 2010 4
At least we agree on something!
By the way, how's your stock piling of your survival kit going?
Did you get a tank to protect your drive way yet?
1:17 am on May 21st, 2010 5
We agree that the "current" leadership of America is an embarrassment to many Americans.
The Kit is coming along nicely!
Need to think about alternate commo equipment. Ham radio maybe with a CB for the truck. 
Yes, I know your being sarcastic.
3:49 am on May 21st, 2010 6
Retired GI…
"Ham radio maybe with a CB for the truck"
You are showing your age there, old-timer. I highly recommend a software defined radio (SDR).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software-defined_rad…
You can build a working receiver for a few dollars… or break down and spend less than a couple thousand to buy one that will talk to anyone in the world on any frequency.
I built mine years ago when they were not really well-known… but I think, these days, the price has gone down enough that it is better to buy one.
This is not an optional piece of the Kit.
You also need information and materials to build a quick antenna for whatever frequency you might want to transmit on.
…and you need software to interpret the signals you get… which are increasingly digital… and, increasingly encoded digital.
Those who make fun of the Kit deserve what they get if the shyt hits the fan, by the way.
Better to have it and not need it… than to need it and not have it.
4:03 am on May 21st, 2010 7
Is that mean you admit you guys are bankrupt?
I also recommend loading up with ammo, setup 4 machine gun nests around the perimeter, dig deeper into the bunker to protect yourselves from marauding desperate hungry thieves and illegal immigrants when America defaults and the sh*t hits the fan. Don't forget to set up the booby traps just in case some bandit tries to sneak in while you're off duty. And don't hesitate to pull the trigger!
4:06 am on May 21st, 2010 8
Agreed that the Americans are an embarrassment. But why do you build a radio and give your position away? Should you not be hiding your whereabouts to protect your stash? hmm..
4:35 am on May 21st, 2010 9
ChickenHead
Yep, not a young Pup any longer. I do have a concern with the SDR. I skimmed the article. Didn't see info concerning source traceability. As you know the CB can be moble. The HAM less tracable than a cell. Am I mistaken?
Just thinking of any situation where I might what info without leaving a trail.
No plan is perfect. Being retired, I have time to think.
Those who didn't plan will be looking for those that did. I can see hordes of starving "tom's" killing each other (with my help) for my stuff.
4:36 am on May 21st, 2010 10
Tom,
"Is that mean you admit you guys are bankrupt?"
Close to it… I agree with you here, Tom.
The United States has some serious financial problems right now… brought on by Democratic tax-and-spend and Neo-Republican reduce-tax-yet-spend.
The biggest problem is that large portions of the population have become terribly reliant on government services… which has created needy classes wallowing in helplessness and dependence… which grow angry and indignant any time there is a possibility of being forces to be self-sufficient.
…as well as a large semi-criminal class of people that take advantage of it… and will look for something else to take advantage of if easy, fo' free government money dries up.
There is a very real possibility that the government will be economically forced to cut many of these services (they are already doing it)… which will lead to crime and violence within the dependent population… that may overflow into the self-sufficient population.
In these times of uncertainty in the United States, ammo is probably a more stable currency than dollars… quality firearms are as good as gold… and the ability to protect what is yours should never be ridiculed.
Tom, most Koreans are lucky to have close relationships and relatives that own farms… which is something that Americans had during the '30s depression… but not now.
…not saying there will be any "collapse" or catastrophic social failure… but it is so cheap and easy to be prepared to weather a lot of different scenarios of unrest, it is foolish not to be prepared.
I respect those who consider these possibility.
6:55 am on May 21st, 2010 11
Dear Tom, life is great. We just bought another house and it's already rented for 30% more than the mortgage. Got my bonus from Boeing and put in a tennis court next to the pool. Danny graduates from Harvard next fall a year and a half ahead of his peers. Mary finishes her residency in July and starts with Neurosurgery afterwards. Julie and I are taking another cruise around the world, this time with Richard Branson. When we get off the East coast of Africa we transfer to a Russian tour company that lets you shoot pirates. Soon expect to have my packet approved by the Russians and will move to the cosmodrome at Baikonur for a couple of months before the launch. The canola fields of Europe are grand this time of year, just as yellow as can be. Well got to go, hope all is ok in Korea – hows the yellow dust this year?
Lemmy
7:00 am on May 21st, 2010 12
[...] buddy, GI Korea at ROKDrop asks why we can’t place the 19th century fiefdom on the State-sponsors of terrorism list. [...]
7:19 am on May 21st, 2010 13
You took the words right out of my mouth. This is something the US should do (and I'm glad you reminded readers that it was Bush, not Obama or Clinton, who took them off), but it's a big card to play, so it should be done at the right time.
7:23 am on May 21st, 2010 14
ChickenHead, having worked for a second time under the auspices of the US government, I don't think the problem is getting people reliant on a reasonable safety net (Medicare, road construction, national parks, etc) but on the gross waste that occurs in many government-run projects. I don't think it is necessarily so (I've worked under ROK government contracts which had far less waste), and this is where I'd like to see savings made. There are too many people who use government jobs or contracts as a license to print money for themselves.
7:25 am on May 21st, 2010 15
Tom the whole world will bein flames before the United States defaults. China does not want a fallen U.S. and vice versa. It is not going to happen unless every other nation on Earth toppls first, keep dreaming. The European currency is collapsing while the value of the Dollar rises.
7:27 am on May 21st, 2010 16
Retired GI if you will not admit that the prior U.S. administration was considered to be a unanimous embaressment worldwide to the United States, then I have to question your logic in passing all the blame to the current one.
8:46 am on May 21st, 2010 17
All on your VISA/Master credit card.
8:48 am on May 21st, 2010 18
If they were bankrupt, we wouldn't be selling them all that oil (the excavation of which will eventually turn Alberta into a toxic wasteland).
8:51 am on May 21st, 2010 19
That's the like the Titanic. EU sinks on one end, but the other end, the US, rises abov – for a while, before it too sinks with the rest of the western civilization.
Of course Korea will not fare well either, but at least Koreans will better survive the elements, than the fat Americans who've never had to go three days without 2 pound cheese burgers. I've already laid it all out before, a few weeks back, on why Koreans will survive better.
8:53 am on May 21st, 2010 20
"I owe you's" are going to be worthless.
9:06 am on May 21st, 2010 21
Let me guess, you never take the batteries out.
The radios I used in the military were connected to a power source that had a kill switch.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_puls…
9:10 am on May 21st, 2010 22
Dude, you don't know much about physiology, do you?
Obesity=energy reserves.
9:27 am on May 21st, 2010 23
Sadly, I know people who really think that way.
10:51 am on May 21st, 2010 24
I define the current one as starting in 2006. With Nancy Pelosi, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank and Harry Reid. Chit started going badly then.
The current Administration is beyond embarrising. The one prior was re-elected overwhelmingly.
The current CIC has been in office nearly a year and a half. Still blaming the past while not keeping one promise or changing anything except the growing debt to China. OH, and bowing to anyone who will stand in front of him long enough. Except the Queen of course. But I happen to agree with him on that one.
But you obviously STILL suffer from B.D.S.
I assume I was mistaken to believe a shiny new president would help. He is still using the same rules as the previous CIC. Guess he can't think of anything better.
11:03 am on May 21st, 2010 25
Not worried about EMP much. Just tracking of present location. But thanks anyway.
2:00 pm on May 21st, 2010 26
Retired GI,
The key point is that you can receive/broadcast at any frequency and with any modulation… good old analog (AM, FM, SSB, etc.), digital (ASK, FSK, MFSK, OOK, etc), spread spectrum (CSS, DSSS, FHSS and THSS)… and, I imagine, even PWM or PCM (if you wanted to drive motors or light LEDs with your transmitter for some strange reason).
There are probably many other types of modulation I have no idea about.
You can watch SSTV, decode packet radio, capture satellite transmissions…
Further, you can transmit and receive everything from cellphones to wireless LAN networks to police radios to military radios to DMB broadcasts (which is good to jam your wife's DMB cellphone when she should be doing something more productive than watching TV.)
Not only can you encode/decode any format, you can save coded transmission to disk for later brute-force decoding, send compressed burst transmission to your buddies with a directional antenna… anything you can dream up… because it is all about the software.
…and the radios are smaller than most other radios… you just need a notebook computer to do all the "radio stuff" and an antenna tuned to the frequency you are transmitting on.
In the end, a SDR can act as ANY other kind of radio… which will be just as traceable/untraceable as the radio it is emulating… although there are all sorts of tricks to confuse anyone who is tracking you…
…although if you are being tracked, you should probably understand that you probably can't escape the team of professionals armed with VERY expensive tax-dollar-funded equipment that has targeted you for whatever reason.
6:16 pm on May 21st, 2010 27
Irregaurdless of, Retired GI is in fact capable of that,. He is still to me is not only my fellow American Citizen, but war hero. Anyone who served in the United States Military, whether they flunked out of High School and/or were put in mobile Infantry. Others got the mental mathematical pass to flight school, During the Second American Domination war, (As I like to call it) The Korean War. To people like Retired GI. I salute him and his sacrefice,. Yet I thank God that we can disagree on things as Americans should be able to do even to the top of our Chambers of Legistlation.
GOD BLESS AMERICA
Hopefully we do not grow impatient of South Korea…
8:35 am on May 25th, 2010 28
Has anyone else noticed the value of the Korean currency has been falling lately? It first took a big dip at the beginning of the month when the Greek crisis left the strength of the European economies in question. That could be understood by the fact that the Korean economy is heavily dependent on exports. Depressed European countries will be importing less.
It started on a slight recovery until the 18th, when South Korea officially declared North Korea responsible for the attack on the Cheonan. It's since been on a continuing fall but took a steeper dip on Monday after President LMB announced a stop to all trade with North Korea.
World currency markets are uncertain about Korea right now. Let's see if anything comes out of Clinton's meetings in China to turn this around.
9:06 am on May 25th, 2010 29
I agree. One willful unprovoked attack and 46 dead is absolutely no reason to add them to the list.
Like that list means anything these days. America will do nothing. DPRK has nothing to lose, and therefore nothing to worry about.
As far as the DPRK is concerned, America is once again a "Paper Tiger".