Russia sees 'colossal danger' of Korea escalation

[Better Believe It]

Russia sees 'colossal danger' of Korea escalation
Reuters
November 23, 2010

Russia sees a 'colossal danger' of an escalation in fighting on the Korean peninsula after North Korea's artillery attacked a South Korean island on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

"It is necessary to immediately end all strikes. There is a colossal danger which must be avoided. Tensions in the region are growing," Lavrov told reporters during a visit to the Belarussian capital Minsk.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE6AM0U520101123

Miscalculation by North or South Korean officials could make this spin out of control.

This is what Russian leaders fear. BBI

[no_hypocrisy]

1. I know N. Korea "started it", but isn't it also true that S. Korea and the U.S. were

doing "military exercises" in the N. Korean vicinity and that might have been provocative?

[Angry Dragon]

2. So if someone is going "na na na na na na" at you

you take a gun and shoot them??

[Better Believe It]

5. So who did they shoot that simply said "na, na, na,na,na and na"?

[Angry Dragon]

8. A South Korean Island

It is my understanding that the US and South Korea were having astandard joint navel exercise
A standard practice of navies around the world.
If you find that a threat then there is nothing more to be said.
I do not believe North Korea was threatened at all.

[Mudoria]

3. Provocative? Hardly...

They conduct execises virtually every year to better co-ordinate forces in case the loonies from the North do something stupid. The US and the South Koreans aren't interested in invading the North, who would want the task of resurrecting that horror?

[Renew Deal]

6. NK throws a fit if you catch fish in the wrong area.

This probably has more to do with some sort of attention seeking.

[slackmaster]

4. It's late November. The NORKS probably want some heating oil, or maybe some food.

It wouldn't be the first time they pulled some crap and agreed to stop in exchange for free stuff.

[Abq_Sarah]

7. Bingo!

After all, it's worked pretty damned well for them over the last few decades.

[leveymg]

10. Is it NORKS or NOKOs?

I think they're pissed because of western intelligence reports that more of their centrifuges were found.

But, the problem with those reports that I've seen is that NK (I'll be ecumenical in my nomenclature) traditionally builds their bombs from plutonium harvested from a reactor, not highly enriched uranium spun by centrifuges. The AQ Khan network sold a bunch of primative, inefficient P-1 and P-2 machines to NoKo, Libya, Iran, and Iraq in the 1980s and 1990s, but that may have just slowed everyone down and diverted resources away from the NORK plutonium program.

Anyone know anything about this?

[GoldMedals4U]

9. Just posturing

It was saber rattling, both sides know a war with each other would be disastrous.