Manoj Ambat's Blog dealing with Defence, Foreign Affairs, Strategic Affairs and Politics

Are We Prepared for a North Korean Nuclear Attack  

Image credits- KCNA North Korea is at it again. Today they again they test fired another missile, this time speculated to be their  ICBM Hwasong-15 .  The said missile flew above Japan and fell into the Japanese exclusive economic zone. What is different about this test is the fact that the missile seems to have a range of more than 13,000/- kilometres which is enough to cover most of continental United States.  North Korea seems to to be improving on it's missile and nuclear weapon technology. The above test comes soon after a nuclear test by North Korea of a weapon that is seen to be by far their largest to date. What the world especially the USA should worry is the unpredictable nature of the North Korean regime. The North Korean regime has a declared policy of seeing the USA as their principal enemy. That is imprinted in their psyche. North Korea has sene what has happened to Libya and Iraq and how their rulers were disposed by the USA and see nuclear weapons as the o

Image credits- VOA As North Korea tests a thermonuclear weapon and make rapid advances in Missile technology, it is time to analyse what can be done about this country that has become a head ache for the rest of the world.  North Korea has always has been an enigma and a security nightmare for the International Community.  It all began with the demise of the USSR which was North Korea's biggest benefactor and one of it's only ally. After 1991 when the Soviet Union seized to exist, North Korea was in one sweep left with out a guardian. It's economy which was hugely reliant on the Soviet Union was in the verge of crashing. It was also the time when Kim II Sung passed away and his son Kim Jong-il took over the reins of power of this reclusive country. In his regime, North Korea suffered it's worst famine that North Korea has ever faced. His military first doctrine also isolated North Korea from the rest of the world. The economy was also on the verge of collapse

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ Source- The National Interest Author-  Robert A. Manning Reverberations of North Korea’s recent nuclear and missile tests are still rattling nerves in an uneasy northeast Asia, one filled with new threats of nuclear annihilation from Pyongyang. This week, North Korean media reported that the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has instructed for nuclear weapons to be ready for use at any time. This comes as the specter of a North Korea with an operational nuclear-tipped ICBM raises anew questions about the credibility of the U.S. nuclear umbrella over East Asia. Pyongyang’s provocations have also torpedoed South Korea’s hopes of building a strategic partnership with China, shifting geopolitical dynamics in the region. Look no further than the overheated debate in South Korea over whether Seoul needs its own nuclear weapons to understand the precarious state of geopolitical equilibrium in East Asia. North Korea’s recent tests have put Sou

North Korea announcing that it has carried out a thermonuclear test ( Credits- AP) Source- Eurasia Review Author- South Asian Monitor / Aniket Bhavthankar On January 6, 2016 seismometers across the world had measured a 5.1 Richter scale seismic event. Immediately after that North Korea claimed that it has successfully conducted its first Hydrogen Bomb test. Arch rival and its immediate neighbor South Korea, reacted very strongly to the North Korean assertion; the United States (US) sent a stern warning to Pyongyang. Japan is equally alarmed and asked for a firm global response. China and Russia, long time supporters of North Korea have also expressed their dissatisfaction about recent developments. Unlike earlier instances, North Korea didn’t give advance notices to China, Russia or the US. North Korea is likely to face more sanctions; it has been under the UN Security Council sanctions since it first carried out a nuclear test in 2006. If claims made by North Korea are t

Image credits- Internet Pic Source- The National Interest Author- Koh Swee Lean Collin The recent reported test of North Korea’s KN-11, dubbed Pukgeukseong-1 (Polaris-1) submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) has created quite a buzz. In fact, not long before the test took place, the South Korean defense ministry remarked that there were no signs that Pyongyang would launch missiles in the near future despite the visit by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un to the country’s satellite command and control center, operated by the National Aerospace Development Administration. Washington took the recent development seriously, accusing Pyongyang of contravening existing United Nations Security Council resolutions by staging the test. South Korean government authorities sought to downplay the test, pointing out that it was no more than an ejector test and the missile was assumed to have flown only 100 meters upon lift-off. This appears to correspond with the subsequent ass

Image credits- Internet Image Source- The Diplomat Author- Ankit Panda Kim Jong-un couldn't head to Moscow to celebrate Russia’s Second World War Victory Day so he settled for the next best thing: overseeing the first-ever test-firing of a North Korean submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). The regime’s mouthpiece, Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), noted that Kim watched as North Korea’s Bukkeukseong-1 (“Polaris-1”) SLBM “soared to the skies.” The physical design of the missile, as seen in a few clear images released by KCNA, resembles the Soviet Union’s R-27/SS-N-6 Serb SLBMs, which suggest a single-stage, storable liquid-propellant design. KCNA’s images, upon preliminary analysis, appear to be authentic and presented without any manipulation. Neither KCNA nor any secondary sources have verified the location of the missile launch. KCNA noted that the launch was carried out far away from the land. In images shared by the agency, Kim Jong-un is seen obse

Source- Wikimedia Commons / Author-Keith Luse Source- The Diplomat Author- Van Jackson If the global norm against nuclear proliferation is to retain meaning, North Korea must remain isolated from the international community in certain respects.  But that doesn’t mean the United States or South Korea should be allowed to conduct naïve policy and planning toward North Korea.  Recognizing the threat we are dealing with on the Korean Peninsula—a nuclear-armed North Korea—is a distinct proposition from allowing North Korea to rejoin the international community. In recent congressional testimony and in other forums, I variously described North Korea as a “virtual” and “de facto” nuclear state, as part of a larger argument about military planning.  Subsequently the chairman of South Korea’s Saenuri Party—whose members control the National Assembly and the Presidency—suggested it was time for South Korea to “recognize” (“in-jeong”) North Korea as a nuclear state.  This has se