Should the US have done the same thing to North Korea to prevent them from getting nukes?

[Renew Deal]

Should the US have launched a military campaign similar to Israel's to stop North Korea from getting a nuclear weapon? There is no reason to believe that NK was any more powerful than Iran is now. Should they have done it?

[WarGamer]

1. No. Because of the proximity of NK to SK and American bases...

Just the artillery barrage from existing NK tubes would kill 10's of thousands.

[Renew Deal]

3. I agree

I think the risk calculation would have been different. It doesn't mean that they wouldn't do it, but there is a difference between constant artillery bombardment and occasional missiles.

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

5. Yep, the situation is different

By the 1980s, North Korea had pretty much given up any support of terrorist groups, which was pretty limited to begin with anyway. NK's focus has always been inward, the survival of the regime and deterrence from a US led invasion. Sure, they had and have plenty to say about reunification, but honestly, nobody has ever really taken that seriously. An invasion of the South by the North would be absolutely bloody, due to the amount of artillery they have just behind the DMZ, but there was never any question that they wouldn't eventually get pushed back. Its just a matter of casualties, which initially, would be high.

Iran, in contrast, actively supports multiple terrorist groups across the globe. Unlike North Korea, they are not looking inward, they desire to project their power across region. To this end, they actively work to destabilize regional governments and fund, train, and arm groups that go and attack their enemies, usually by targeting civilians. Their government glorifies martyrdom and their actions and policies paints them as aggressively expansionist, not necessarily in territory, but in influence and control.

So two very different situations.

[Uncle Joe]

2. I don't think it has anything to do with nukes

Thanks for the thread Renew Deal

[Botany]

4. N. Korea never made nuclear weapons or long range ballistic missiles until W screwed the pooch on that

Every couple of years the N. Koreans would meet Americans in the Philippians,
they liked Richardson of New Mexico and they would spend a few days running down
America and then Richardson would ask how much food they needed and then
he would get in touch with the Department of Agriculture to see what they had in
access. The N. Koreans got food, they didn’t build nukes and stuff, and American
Farmers had their goods sold. W called them the axis of evil and stopped talking to
them and they started building nukes and missiles.

[walkingman]

6. I have never been able to understand the hypocrisy of nuclear weapons

by nuclear-armed states as they engage in a double standard by criticizing other countries for pursuing nuclear weapons while maintaining their own arsenals.

As the first nuclear power, the U.S. not only used nuclear weapons, it also frequently threatened to use them, even against non-nuclear states.

Are we supposed to wait until we experience an American Hiroshima before we wake up to the very real dangers posed by US nuclear policies.

That's insanity.

[Mosby]

7. The world should have done more to prevent a nuclear North Korea

But it would have required cooperation from Russia and China to exert pressure on NK to abandon its nuclear ambitions. The world could have coordinated sanctions, and offered security guarantees if they abandoned their nuclear program.