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ummm I certainly have given points to the contrary, just cuz u dont like em doesn't negate their existance.
umm... did you see any of my posts? i answer many of them, point by point.
also its pretty clear ur biasing a lot of ur points w/ adjectives like ludicrous. and the seemingly random US bashing is a lil disturbing too. basically ur saying "omg japan has nukes" we're s. korea lets build a ****load! and Im saying tha twont happen. I not saying s. korea wont get any, just that this ever escalating japan/s. korea arms race wont happen.
why not? i'm asking. you've said it won't happen because "it makes no sense"
u've conceeded neither consider military action as a viable resolution of conflict between the two. and that there are more dangerous nations in the region THAT ALREADY HAVE NUKES. but u still u insist an ardent pacifist like japan posessing nukes will ignite a firestorm th elikes of which the world has not witnessed before.
"firestorm"? no. that's not what i said. i said that it would trigger an arms race. not specifically between japan and skorea, but more between all of east asia.
china might play games but they have all the nukes they need wrt japan. like I've already said and u haven't disagreed w/.
you're right, i didn't disagree. but i also think you're wrong in that they wouldn't spend more if japan remilitarized.
so I really dont know where that leaves u? I guess to flame me again. I really thot this was winding down then all of a sudden u flared it back up.
when did i ever flame you?
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how about i finally bring evidence to the table?
Where will this lead? How about a nuclear arms race in Asia? North Korea is not the only proliferation problem on the Korean peninsula. In March 1994, the head of the South Korean National Security Planning Agency, Suh Su- Joong, revealed that former President Roh Tae Woo had approved a covert nuclear weapons program. South Korea has also successfully tested a mobile missile launcher and has more than 24 tons of plutonium on hand.
There are at least two other countries in Asia that can produce nuclear weapons within months if they so choose- Japan and Taiwan.
According to the CIA, Taiwan, Israel and the then apartheid regime in South Africa tested a nuclear weapon over the South Atlantic on Sept. 22, 1979. We can assume the Taiwanese didn't throw away the blueprints from that test and can recreate it any time it wishes.
And in May of last year, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yasuo Fukuda, said that Japan was considering abandoning its long-term opposition to nuclear weapons. In the face of Korean and Chinese alarm, the government backed away from the statement, but experts agree it would be easy for Japan to build nuclear weapons.
There are at least two other countries in Asia that can produce nuclear weapons within months if they so choose- Japan and Taiwan.
According to the CIA, Taiwan, Israel and the then apartheid regime in South Africa tested a nuclear weapon over the South Atlantic on Sept. 22, 1979. We can assume the Taiwanese didn't throw away the blueprints from that test and can recreate it any time it wishes.
And in May of last year, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yasuo Fukuda, said that Japan was considering abandoning its long-term opposition to nuclear weapons. In the face of Korean and Chinese alarm, the government backed away from the statement, but experts agree it would be easy for Japan to build nuclear weapons.
Sowing The Wind (Conn Hallinan, San Fransisco Examiner)
Vice President **** Cheney raised the specter this weekend, saying a nuclear-armed North Korea could incite neighboring nations to build their own bombs.
Such an Asian arms race could spill over from Pyongyang to Tokyo and put some of the world's most populous areas in the shadow of atomic weapons. Some could even end up being possessed by previously reluctant powers like South Korea or Taiwan.
Analysts admit that's unlikely to happen soon but warn it could erupt if North Korea keeps dabbling with atoms.
"There's a very high likelihood that North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons will trigger an arms race in East Asia," said Paik Haksoon, a North Korea expert with the Sejong Institute, a foreign relations think tank outside Seoul.
Such an Asian arms race could spill over from Pyongyang to Tokyo and put some of the world's most populous areas in the shadow of atomic weapons. Some could even end up being possessed by previously reluctant powers like South Korea or Taiwan.
Analysts admit that's unlikely to happen soon but warn it could erupt if North Korea keeps dabbling with atoms.
"There's a very high likelihood that North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons will trigger an arms race in East Asia," said Paik Haksoon, a North Korea expert with the Sejong Institute, a foreign relations think tank outside Seoul.
Just last month, Japan's Defense Agency admitted that Tokyo considered developing its own nuclear arsenal in 1995 to counter the threat of a nuclear-armed North Korea. But Tokyo ultimately rejected the idea because it might deprive Japan of U.S. military protection and alarm Asian countries.
Paik said a nuclear Japan would likely trigger a domino effect, with China buttressing its own arsenal of an estimated 410 warheads as an insurance policy. Pointing to its nuclear-armed neighbors and the potential increased threat from Beijing, Taiwan would then feel justified in joining the atomic club, he said.
Paik said a nuclear Japan would likely trigger a domino effect, with China buttressing its own arsenal of an estimated 410 warheads as an insurance policy. Pointing to its nuclear-armed neighbors and the potential increased threat from Beijing, Taiwan would then feel justified in joining the atomic club, he said.
Japan has no aircraft carriers, bombers or long-range missiles to project force. And as the only nation attacked by nuclear weapons, by the United States at the end of World War II, there is ingrained abhorrence of possessing atomic bombs.
But building them would not take long.
Japan has approximately 72 tons of plutonium in spent fuel rods from its nuclear power plants, according to 1999 figures of the International Atomic Energy Commission. North Korea, by contrast, is believed to possess no more than 66 pounds.
Both South Korea and Japan have largely relied on the U.S. nuclear umbrella as insurance against attack. But when faced with the verified presence of atomic bombs on the other side of the border, South Korea may consider arming itself, Paik said.
"It is not enough for South Korea to simply rely on the United States," he said. "They may not always be able to deter an attack or protect us."
But building them would not take long.
Japan has approximately 72 tons of plutonium in spent fuel rods from its nuclear power plants, according to 1999 figures of the International Atomic Energy Commission. North Korea, by contrast, is believed to possess no more than 66 pounds.
Both South Korea and Japan have largely relied on the U.S. nuclear umbrella as insurance against attack. But when faced with the verified presence of atomic bombs on the other side of the border, South Korea may consider arming itself, Paik said.
"It is not enough for South Korea to simply rely on the United States," he said. "They may not always be able to deter an attack or protect us."
Specter of Asian arms race looms in shadow of North Korean nuclear program (HANS GREIMEL; Associated Press Writer)
The North's state-run Central Radio said the world was watching the Pyongyang-Washington standoff "with sweating hands," and vowed that the Stalinist state would maintain its "mighty army-first policy."
"The victory in the nuclear conflict is ours, and the red flag of the army-first policy will flutter ever more vigorously," said the broadcast, monitored by South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
Washington and its allies are pressuring North Korea to abandon its suspected nuclear weapon programs. The North has insisted on direct talks first with the United States, from which it wants a nonaggression treaty.
The bluster from the North came as South Korea's outgoing president warned that Pyongyang's production of atomic weapons could force his country and Japan to built nuclear bombs as well.
"If North Korea has nuclear weapons, South Korea could possess such weapons ... and Japan could arm with nuclear weapons. This is what a lot of people worry about. This cannot be tolerated," Kim Dae-jung told tourism officials.
"The victory in the nuclear conflict is ours, and the red flag of the army-first policy will flutter ever more vigorously," said the broadcast, monitored by South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
Washington and its allies are pressuring North Korea to abandon its suspected nuclear weapon programs. The North has insisted on direct talks first with the United States, from which it wants a nonaggression treaty.
The bluster from the North came as South Korea's outgoing president warned that Pyongyang's production of atomic weapons could force his country and Japan to built nuclear bombs as well.
"If North Korea has nuclear weapons, South Korea could possess such weapons ... and Japan could arm with nuclear weapons. This is what a lot of people worry about. This cannot be tolerated," Kim Dae-jung told tourism officials.
North Korea says 'victory is ours' in nuclear dispute as Southerner warns of arms race (JAE-SUK YOO, Associated Press Writer)
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