Hello:

If we board a North Korean ship in international waters, is it an act of war? Should we anyway? Specially if we think they're selling nukes?

excon

I don't know yet ; it probably would be a violation of some law or provisions of the still unsigned LOST... but I have to check into the anti-proliferation agreements. The Obama adm. Is appealing to the UN for permission now so he probably doesn't think we have standing to act alone.

Hello tom:

I think it would be an act of war. For sure, THEY think it would be an act of war, and they're just itching for a fight. We'd win, of course, but South Korea would be destroyed.

And... They got missiles and nukes too.

excon

The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution June 12 calling on all states to inspect vessels suspected of containing contraband. If a ship refuses, it is to proceed to the closest port for a mandatory inspection.So the question of a legal basis is covered .
UN Security Council Resolution 1874, North Korea - Council on Foreign Relations (http://www.cfr.org/publication/19625/)

May 26, 2009, the Republic of Korea (South Korea) announced its endorsement of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) Statement of Interdiction Principles.

According to the State Dept. the PSI is :



... a global effort that aims to stop trafficking of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), their delivery systems, and related materials to and from states and non-state actors of proliferation concern. Launched by President Bush on May 31, 2003, U.S. involvement in the PSI stems from the U.S. National Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction issued in December 2002. That strategy recognizes the need for more robust tools to stop proliferation of WMD around the world, and specifically identifies interdiction as an area where greater focus will be placed. Today, more than 90 countries around the world support the PSI.
The PSI is an innovative and proactive approach to preventing proliferation that relies on voluntary actions by states that are consistent with national legal authorities and relevant international law and frameworks. PSI participants use existing authorities -- national and international -- to put an end to WMD-related trafficking and take steps to strengthen those authorities as necessary. UN Security Council Resolution 1540, adopted unanimously by the Security Council, called on all states to take cooperative action to prevent trafficking in WMD. The PSI is a positive way to take such cooperative action
Proliferation Security Initiative (http://www.state.gov/t/isn/c10390.htm)
The PSI was John Bolton's idea while he served in the State Dept. and later as the US representative to the UN . It was instrumental in discovering Libya's nuclear weapons program.


Note the date ,May 26, 2009 .This was a day after the NORKS did their latest nuke test. Clearly the South Koreans knew the risks when they signed onto the coalition.
The Norks declared it an act of war when S. Korea made the announcement so it is no surprise that they will continue to make such declarations .

Singapore is also a PSI member . The ship is purportedly headed there and they have pronounced that they will cooperate in any interdiction of WMD .

This week South Korean sent Lee Jang-geun, director of the foreign ministry's disarmament and nonproliferation department, to serve at the PSI's European Regional Operational Experts Group meeting, held in Sopot, Poland. So they are now active members in the PSI .

Today the Norks told the world to stay out of their eastern waters for the next 16 days so they could hold live shooting tests . This falls within the time frame that they threatened to launch a "test " at Hawaii.
They have used the term "act of war " frequently since April 5 when they tested a long range missile .


Screw them ! You know what an act of war was ? Abducting Euna Lee and Laura Ling and sentencing them to 12 years hard labor for trying to expose their human slave trafficking . They have been harassing US and South Krean vessels in international waters .That is an act of war! Threatening to launch at Hawaii is an act of war . Are we supposed to be afraid they might do something if we don't just wait until they can target Honolulu with a nuke? I am tired of worrying what they will do . They should worry instead about what we will do.

This week ,with the NORKS bombastic announcement of launching towards Hawaii an interesting development happened . The House Armed Services Air and Land Forces Subcommittee voted 31-30 to add $369 million for the production of an additional 12 F-22 Raptors to keep assembly lines open while a debate over the need for the jet reopens. The head of the subcommittee is Neil Abercrombie, a Democrat from Hawaii .
After the Norks made their announcement the US deployed
The first of 12 Raptor fighter jets to Kadena Air Base on Okinawa.
The reason the Raptors are there is because the stealth jet is simply the best aircraft of its kind in the world. It penetrates enemy air defenses and clears the skies of enemy planes virtually undetected giving us instant air superiority .
During exercises in Alaska in 2006, 12 Raptors "downed" 108 adversaries without losing a single plane. In a test of its ground-attack capabilities, a Raptor dropped a 1,000-pound JDAM precision guided bomb and struck a moving target 24 miles away.
The Nork missiles need time for fueling and can either be taken out on the launching pad ,or our anti-ballistic capabilities that no one wanted us to develop can kick in.