Two North Korean submarines are allegedly missing from port. The subs could simply have gone deep under water, but the lack of a visible presence is causing quite a bit of concern. The North Korea subs supposedly disappeared at the beginning of April, but the news has just recently garnered attention. The submarines allegedly vanished after leaving a naval base in the Hwanghae Province.
North Korea also allegedly imported 1,452 pounds of silver from China. That is a whole lot of silver for a supposedly poverty-ridden country. Some analysts feel that the silver is being used for batteries on Sang-O (Shark) mini-subs. Generals in the North Korean Navy supposedly believe the Shark subs could be viable weapons against both South Korea and the United States.
In 2010, a Sang-O was used to sink a South Korean corvette vessel. The older version of the Shark weighs about 250-tons and is 105-feet long. The subs are primarily considered a coastal submarine. The mini-submarines can dive 465-feet deep and reportedly travel up to 17 kilometers-per-hour.
The small North Korean submarines can carry 15-member crews and space for either six scuba commandos or a 12-man shore boat crew. The newer versions of the Sang-O subs are reportedly 121-feet long and may be able to go as fast as 27-kilometers per hour. The country is rumored to possess more than 50 of the Shark subs. South Korea managed to capture one of the Sang-Os when it ran aground in 1996.
Recently Off The Grids News sat down for a conversation with bestselling author Dr. William Forstchen. The renowned North Carolina professor wrote “One Second After”; a book about what happed in a picturesque small town after an EMP attack. Bill and I talked for more than an hour about the EMP Commission and EMP attack threats from North Korea. The incredibly intelligent professor is not only a pleasurable chatting companion, he also boasts a wealth of information about EMPs and the frailties of the power grid.
The EMP Commission was established under the Floyd D. Spence National Defenses Authorization Act in 2001. The commission was reestablished via the same act in 2006. The commission was originally created by a Republican-majority and reestablished when Democrats were in charge.
The national security issue was approached in a bipartisan manner, a real rarity in Washington. The EMP Commission was terminated in 2008, even though the threat of such an attack still looms and steps to protect our power grid remain untaken. EMPact America is leading the charge to pressure Congress into reinstating the EMP Commission.
One of the most shocking bits of information Dr. Forstchen noted was that that North Korea does not need a sophisticated guidance system to launch an EMP attack. Many Americans are likely blissfully unaware exactly how possible an EMP attack by the rogue nation truly is.
During the Cold War Era, the government kept the population informed of likely threats and urged preparedness. Today … not so much. MSNBC commentators discuss the topic of an EMP attack by North Korea in an almost mocking tone. The possibility of a downed power grid and the civil unrest which would quickly follow is barely even mentioned by most media outlets. An informed populace creates prepared communities where neighbors work together to maintain order.
The ‘it can’t happen here’ mindset will only enhance the likelihood of chaos. The Boston Marathon bombings should highlight exactly how vulnerable we are to man-made disasters. The general populace and many governmental entities have far too short of an attention span. The lessons we learned from 9/11 are fading, leaving us with a very false sense of security.
Newt Gingrich, a pal of Dr. Forstchen’s, has long been a supporter of the necessity to keep the EMP Commission active. During the 2011 Presidential Debate, Gingrich warned about the dire nature of an EMP attack.
During the debate Gingrich cited an EMP Commission report warning which read, “One weapon of this kind that went off over Omaha would eliminate most of the electrical production in the United States.”
Gingrich might not have been my first choice for a presidential candidate, but I completely believe the former speaker was the most intelligent man in the room. I think he would have made the most amazing press secretary in the history of the United States. Can you even imagine having a man at the podium who always says exactly what he thinks, Washington double-speak and political correctness be damned?
Detractors who called Gingrich’s comments “far-fetched” and other less printable terms, must simply be content to bury their heads in the sand. Even if North Korea does not have the capability to launch a medium or a long-range ballistic missile, the threat of an EMP attack on the continental United States still exists.
As Dr. Forstchen so adeptly pointed out, a Russian boomer went undetected in the Gulf of Mexico for weeks last summer. The nuclear-powered submarine with long-range cruise missiles in U.S. waters very distinctly pointed out our security weaknesses. In 2009, a Russian sub also patrolled very close to U.S. shores. The submarine emerged about the same time as Russian bombers ventured into restricted airspace near California and Alaska.
The power grid is not just another piece of American infrastructure in need of a massive overhaul. The antiquated and overly-taxed electricity-giving system holds the power of life and death. It would take mere days for the elderly, the very young, and ill Americans to die if an EMP attack took down the power grid. Without access to a heat or a cooling source, the most vulnerable among us would soon perish. Hospital generators left functional after an EMP attack would be reduced to useless pieces of metal without access to fuel.
Grocery stores carry about three-day’s worth of food. Those same people who mock the homesteading activities of preppers will run, not walk, out of metro areas in search of virtually anything to fill their empty bellies. Those who pushed for stricter gun control measures may not live long enough to fully comprehend the foolishness of their anti-Second Amendment beliefs.
North Korea could launch an attack via a submarine in or near U.S. waters. An attack of some type launched from a cargo ship or a submarine is all too real of a possibility. Now is definitely not the time to cut defense spending. We are in the middle income realm that President Obama promised tax increases would harm – once again, he was wrong. I would be far less irritated if the $11,000 we had saved for our daughter’s tuition (that instead had to go to Uncle Sam) would be utilized to protect America and not to finance overly-indulgent entitlement programs which breed dependency.
How concerned are you about an EMP attack and national security?