History UsefulNotes / TheHoovesOfChollima

However, early 2018 saw both Korean leaders began a peace agreement in a historical moment after decades of war with North Korea announcing that it will begin the dismantlement of its nuclear arsenal. There are indications that outside of Western pressure, domestic factors such recent disasters involving their test sites and nuclear bases may have pushed North Korea to drop its plans, though it remains to be seen if they will remain true to their word.

The name is a reference to a transliteration of "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qianlima qianlima]]", a {{pegasus}}-like creature of East Asian mythology, said to be too swift for any human to mount and capable of traveling 1,000 [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_(unit) li]][[note]]Over three miles[[/note]] in one day.

However, early 2018 saw both Korean leaders began a peace agreement in a historical moment after decades of war with North Korea announcing that it will begin the dismantlement of its nuclear arsenal. There are indications that outside of Western pressure, domestic factors such recent disasters involving their test sites and nuclear bases may have pushed North Korea to drop its plans, though it remains to be seen if they will remain true to their word.

There was much debate as to whether [[UsefulNotes/NorthKorea North Korea]] had nukes or not, until they finally demonstrated that yes, they do have them, in the late [[TurnOfTheMillennium Aughts]]. Apparently, there were several false starts, including the very first genuine nuclear test that seemed to "fizzle"[[note]]To go off much below the projected output, generating more fallout than blast[[/note]], but now they seem to be on track. This pretty much surprised a lot of people, as the general consensus was that North Korea lacked the resources and technology to create a fully functional nuclear device, and that technology gap was projected to close much later.

Things have gotten even more messy as of 2017, when North Korea rapidly modernized their nuclear program and actually got their hands on working [=ICBMs=] and even (allegedly) hydrogen bombs. Whether they've managed to build nuclear warheads small enough to actually fit in the missiles remains unknown, but given the rapid improvement of their nuclear technology that's worryingly possible. The fact that the rockets themselves are visibly knock-offs of Cold War era Ukranian designs the North Koreans never had themselves during the Cold War has [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment not gone unnoticed, but that's neither here nor there.]] They have been testing their missiles much more often than they usually do since then, and have been firing them over Hokkaido, Japan to the ocean beyond, causing major panic in that country and escalating tensions between them, the US and South Korea. While this is mostly still just saber-rattling, it has still caused major alarm regardless.

There was much debate as to whether North Korea has nukes or not, until they've finally demonstrated that yes, they do have them, in the early Oughts. Apparently, there were several false starts, including the very first genuine nuclear test that seemed to "fizzle"[[note]]To go off much below the projected output, generating more fallout than blast[[/note]], but now they seem to be on track. This pretty much surprised a lot of people, as the general consensus was that North Korea lacks the resources and technology to create a fully functional nuclear device, and that technology gap was projected to close much later.

Still, it looks like their nukes are representative of the Fifties technology that was used to create them, and thus are very bulky and heavy, severely limiting the delivery options. KPAF lacks heavy bombers that could deliver these unwieldy devices to their targets, and these bombers stay little chance against ROK's air defense anyway. [=TBMs=] like Scud ''could'' be adapted to carry them, and apparently early Taepodong missiles were just that, but they are limited in distance and could barely hit Japan. That's why they are now mostly used as a bargaining chips, with North threatening to conduct a nuclear test each time its foreign relations deteriorate.

Things have gotten even more messy as of 2017, when North Korea rapidly modernized their nuclear program and actually got their hands on working [=ICBMs=] and even (allegedly) hydrogen bombs. Whether they've managed to build nuclear warheads small enough to actually fit in the missiles remains unknown, but given the rapid improvement of their nuclear technology that's worryingly possible. The fact that the rockets themselves are visibly knock-offs of Cold War era Ukranian designs the North Koreans never had themselves during the Cold War has [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment not gone unnoticed, but that's neither here nor there.]] They have been testing their missiles much more often than they usually do since then, and have been firing them over Hokkaido, Japan to the ocean beyond, causing major panic in that country and escalating tensions between them, the US and South Korea. While this is mostly still just saber-rattling, it has still caused major alarm regardless.

Things have gotten even more messy as of 2017, when North Korea rapidly modernized their nuclear program and actually got their hands on working [=ICBMs=] and even (allegedly) hydrogen bombs. Whether they've managed to build nuclear warheads small enough to actually fit in the missiles remains unknown, but given the rapid improvement of their nuclear technology that's worryingly possible. The fact that the rockets themselves are visibly knock-offs of Cold War era Ukranian designs the North Koreans never had themselves during the Cold War has [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment not gone unnoticed, but that's neither here nor there.]] They have been testing their missiles much more often than they usually do since then, and have been firing them over Hokkaido, Japan to the ocean beyond, causing major panic in that country and escalating tensions between them, the US and South Korea. While this is mostly still just saber-rattling, it has still caused major alarm regardless.

Things have gotten even more messy as of 2017, when North Korea rapidly modernized their nuclear program and actually got their hands on working [=ICBMs=] and even (allegedly) hydrogen bombs. Whether they've managed to build nuclear warheads small enough to actually fit in the missiles remains unknown, but given the rapid improvement of their nuclear technology that's worryingly possible. The fact that the rockets themselves are visibly knock-offs of Cold War era Ukranian designs the North Koreans never had themselves during the Cold War has [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment not gone unnoticed, but that's neither here nor there.]] They have been testing their missiles much more often than they usually do since then, and have been firing them over Hokkaido, Japan to the ocean beyond, causing major panic in that country and escalating tensions between them, the US and South Korea. While this is mostly still just saber-rattling, it has still caused major alarm, especially with the very controversial and highly incompetent US president and administration currently in power.

Things have gotten even more messy as of 2017, when North Korea rapidly modernized their nuclear program and actually got their hands on working [=ICBMs=] and even (allegedly) hydrogen bombs. Whether they've managed to build nuclear warheads small enough to actually fit in the missiles remains unknown, but given the rapid improvement of their nuclear technology that's worryingly possible. They have been testing their missiles much more often than they usually do since then, and have been firing them over Hokkaido, Japan to the ocean beyond, causing major panic in that country and escalating tensions between them, the US and South Korea. While this is mostly still just saber-rattling, it has still caused major alarm, especially with the very controversial US president and administration currently in power.

Things have gotten even more messy as of 2017, when North Korea rapidly modernized their nuclear program and actually got their hands on working [=ICBMs=] and even hydrogen bombs. They have been testing their missiles much more often than they usually do since then, and have been firing them over Hokkaido, Japan to the ocean beyond, causing major panic in that country and escalating tensions between them, the US and South Korea. While this is mostly still just saber-rattling, it has still caused major alarm, especially with the very controversial US president and administration currently in power.

Things have gotten even more messy as of 2016, when North Korea rapidly modernized their nuclear program and actually got their hands on [=ICBMs=]. They have been testing their missiles much more often than they usually do since then, and have been firing them over Hokkaido, Japan to the ocean beyond, causing major panic in that country and escalating tensions between them, the US and South Korea. While this is mostly still just saber-rattling, it has still caused major alarm, especially with the very controversial US president and administration currently in power.