North Korean warship heavily damaged during ceremonial launch

[wemay]

I probably watched a dozen or so documentaries and VLOGs of North Korea. I've always been fascinated by how cut off it is from the rest of the world. Such a bizarre country. One of the most bizarre to me. God awful place to be.

Couldn't agree more on both, sentiment and description.

 

[Mazomopar]

The Netflix watching part of my brain wants to think we sent some Mission Impossible types in and sabotaged the rigging by removing a few two dollar bolts to destroy a billion dollars worth of Kim's arsenal.

 

[barryh]

Those are fairly strange looking "bogies" I guess there calling them? It says the last one did something - but if you watch closely it stays on just like the other ones?

Agreed so I'm not convinced that the video is of the actual accident launch. There are satellite photos of the aftermath showing the ship on it's side with one end on dry land which would be a more plausible outcome of a bogie at one end malfunctioning

They covered the ship with blue tarpaulins to try and hide it.

 

[y_p_w]

Agreed so I'm not convinced that the video is of the actual accident launch. There are satellite photos of the aftermath showing the ship on it's side with one end on dry land which would be a more plausible outcome of a bogie at one end malfunctioning

They covered the ship with blue tarpaulins to try and hide it.

View attachment 280963

Which video? I included a couple of videos by Lockheed Martin and the US Navy of the USS Billings (LCS-15) as an example of what a side launch should look like when properly executed. I haven't seen any video of the actual launch of this North Korean vessel. Lots of video of Kim Jong Un at the event and some with his wife and even his daughter, but none of the launch itself.

 

[goblin]

This is what happen when you run a country like a cult. In order for communism to work in large scale they sort of have to lock people in, brain wash them, and punish those who refuse to drink the cool-aid. The only truth comes from the smuggler and the black market pricing of all sorts of "import".

Humans adapt to any imposed frame. It's not even need to brainwash them - like plants, they will develop as normally as possible following the crookedness of the frame, into something crooked.
There is as much happyness and misery there as it is here. It's just that they are happy to see they can feed their kids for yet another day, and we are happy when we get our kids to college or buy them a house. If there was a happyness meter, it would register equal value for us and for them.

They don't need to be brainwashed to obey. Some are of course, but they don't need to. When an industrial machine is put together to opress, it is effective, and it works. Books and movies show a radious opposite, but books and movies are books and movies. Mostly fiction.

The real misery with such society is the insane expense in human potential put into achieving regular daily achievements, which in a free society will flow freely. It's like having to run with weights on your legs. Used with moderation they'll make you stronger, used with excess they will hurt and deform you.

The real tragedy is that we simply DON'T know what's going on there. Things are tightening up every year since Junior took the lead.
One other little known detail is that China used to deport caught up defectors to camps in China before, from where there was a slim chance to jump to South Korea, they now deport them back to NorKo. So the stream of defectors has gone from several thousands per year to a few dozens. Mostly military, as the regular defector routes through China are mostly cut, and you can't get even close to the NorKo<>SouthKo border to cross it in the first place.

 

[y_p_w]

"Build it or you and your family are getting executed" and they did their best on mission impossible. What do you expect?

Some of the talk is that they had help from China and Russia, at least regarding the ship’s design and construction. Not sure about the side launch though.

 

[y_p_w]

The Netflix watching part of my brain wants to think we sent some Mission Impossible types in and sabotaged the rigging by removing a few two dollar bolts to destroy a billion dollars worth of Kim's arsenal.

Something like that was the plot of a Bond movie.

 

[barryh]

Which video? I included a couple of videos by Lockheed Martin and the US Navy of the USS Billings (LCS-15) as an example of what a side launch should look like when properly executed. I haven't seen any video of the actual launch of this North Korean vessel. Lots of video of Kim Jong Un at the event and some with his wife and even his daughter, but none of the launch itself.

Now I understand - my mistake. There is no video of the failed launch and I suppose there wouldn't be unless someone wanted to risk their life.

 

[nomas]

Three people have been arrested . I think we know how that will end .

 

[goblin]

...I think we know how that will end .

We actually don't. We have no idea how this will end. We know neither whether the right people were arrested, nor whether the people punished will be the ones arrested.

We're in a double negative.

Totalitarian states are intricate organizations. You can't keep power without a totalitarian apparatus and the tools that go with it. The seeming randomness of where lightning can strike and punish anybody at any time is such a tool, and an essential part of this apparatus. But behind it, there's a ruthless, very pragmatic organization. Pragmatism si key there. Everything is calculated.

So IF it was indeed someone's fault AND this someone is not needed to complete the project - yes, indeed, there will be matching lifelines cut. But if it turns out it was a genuine mechanical issue, and/or a lack of knowledge (this is apparently the first time they launch something that big) - then it will eventually branded either individual error and/or sabotage, and the randomless of drones will pay the price - because the state and the party can't make mistakes.

All this to say that if this was a one-pesrson's fault, and this person is important enough to the project - they'll be spared, at least for now - till the project is finished. Few people work better than those with a pending sentence.

 

[Donald]

Not sure what the deal is where they're calling it a "side launch". I guess where it was pushed off the dock (I guess it's called a slipway) rather than built in a drydock that then gets flooded to launch. This was the example I found of what it's supposed to look like when successful:

https://apnews.com/article/north-ko...aged-nuclear-9f66685ad8f34d5bef027750a0678370
During a launching event at the northeastern port of Chongjin on Wednesday, the newly built 5,000-ton-class destroyer became unbalanced and was punctured in its bottom sections after a transport cradle on the stern section slid off first and became stuck, according to the Korean Central News Agency.​

​

KCNA didn’t provide details on what caused the problem, the severity of the damage or whether anyone was injured.​

​

According to KCNA, Kim, who was present at the ceremony, blamed military officials, scientists and shipyard operators for a “serious accident and criminal act caused by absolute carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism.” Kim called for a ruling Workers’ Party meeting slated for late June to address their “irresponsible errors.”​

​

https://www.twz.com/air/aftermath-of-disastrous-north-korean-frigate-launch-seen-in-satellite-image​

In a very rare move, the incident was quickly confirmed by North Korea, perhaps in an effort to get ahead of the news cycle once satellite imagery of the warship put any question about what had happened beyond doubt.​

​

Pyongyang’s state-run KCNA news agency provided the following details of what happened:​

​

“Due to inexperienced command and operational carelessness, the parallel movement of the bogies could not be guaranteed, resulting in the launching sled in the stern detaching first and causing the ship to capsize. The ship’s balance was destroyed due to a rupture in the hull in some sections, and the bow section was unable to detach from the keel.”​

The ship is apparently on its side now and partially covered with tarps where it's grounded on the dock.

I am thinking those found responsible will be heavily damaged also or maybe volunteered to help Russia fight Ukraine.

 

[KrisZ]

That’s how communist regimes operate. China is the same.
Funny how people clearly see NK as an enemy, yet China is our “partner” all because we buy cheap junk from them.

 

[Blagoje]

I wonder what the truth is

I'm wondering if they're having any 70 million dollar aircraft falling off their ships like the US Navy is?

 

[ArrestMeRedZ]

I'm wondering if they're having any 70 million dollar aircraft falling off their ships like the US Navy is?

Nope, nobody else does because nobody else has even a tiny fraction of the capability of the air arm of the US Navy. And as to losing aircraft overboard, that's just the price of doing business. Hate to tell you this, but at even $70 million dollars, aircraft are expendable. The carrier isn't.

 

[Vercingetorix]

North Korea is known for using anti-aircraft guns for executions. Wouldn’t be much left.

 

[y_p_w]

North Korea is known for using anti-aircraft guns for executions. Wouldn’t be much left.

Seems a bit excessive, especially with a country like North Korea with limited resources. I would have thought they had something like a Minigun.

Might want to change that slogan.

 

[4WD]

I'm wondering if they're having any 70 million dollar aircraft falling off their ships like the US Navy is?

People who do nothing never make mistakes - but the reality is we have to do allot. A guided missile destroyer just left our shipyard in the EU …
Various US Navy vessels come here often for supplies …

 

[Pew]

I'm wondering if they're having any 70 million dollar aircraft falling off their ships like the US Navy is?

To be fair, we did leave $7 bill worth of equipment in Afghanistan, $70mil is a reasonable loss lol.

 

[nomas]

We actually don't. We have no idea how this will end. We know neither whether the right people were arrested, nor whether the people punished will be the ones arrested.

We're in a double negative.

Totalitarian states are intricate organizations. You can't keep power without a totalitarian apparatus and the tools that go with it. The seeming randomness of where lightning can strike and punish anybody at any time is such a tool, and an essential part of this apparatus. But behind it, there's a ruthless, very pragmatic organization. Pragmatism si key there. Everything is calculated.

So IF it was indeed someone's fault AND this someone is not needed to complete the project - yes, indeed, there will be matching lifelines cut. But if it turns out it was a genuine mechanical issue, and/or a lack of knowledge (this is apparently the first time they launch something that big) - then it will eventually branded either individual error and/or sabotage, and the randomless of drones will pay the price - because the state and the party can't make mistakes.

All this to say that if this was a one-pesrson's fault, and this person is important enough to the project - they'll be spared, at least for now - till the project is finished. Few people work better than those with a pending sentence.

Those people will be made an example of , regardless of whether they are the " right people " or not .

 

[Vil_Riker]

North Korea is known for using anti-aircraft guns for executions. Wouldn’t be much left.

That turned out to be incorrect when the supposed executed person showed up on TV some time later. There is a group in South Korea that comes up with these stories that for some reason spread rapidly in our media.