The New York Times
SHANGHAI — A North Korean plane crashed in northern China on Tuesday, apparently killing the pilot, the only person on board, according to China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency.
Yonhap, the South Korean news agency, citing unnamed intelligence sources, said that the plane appeared to be a Soviet-era military jet and that the pilot might have been trying to defect.
Xinhua said the plane crashed into a house in a rural area of Liaoning Province, which borders North Korea. The Chinese report, which described the crash as an accident, said that no one on the ground was killed or injured.
No explosion… must have been out of fuel.
That thing was built when Eisenhower was still President.
Yeah… beware of the dangerous North Korean Air Force.
I’m sure the teabaggers will be screaming for other people’s kids to invade North Korea.
Someone trying to defect TO China. That’s different…
Do note that NK air force deliberately gives just enough fuel to prevent pilots from flying away from NK.
3, Animal Mother,
North Korea is a non-issue IMHO. Anytime North Korea rattles its saber to confront the USA, China will step in every time to smooth things over. The reason is China has no desire of having a democracy in their back yard. North Korea is their buffer so the Chinese will do just enough to keep things the way they are for as long as they can to prevent the USA from ever taking serious military action against NK.
4, MR,
North Korean families have been doing it for years in an effort to escape the living conditions of North Korean and/or possibly reunite in South Korea.
I think he could have gotten away with it if he didn’t try to hide the plane underground.
The pilot may have been surprised to learn at the last moment that the ejection seat had long ago become unusable. The NK did not want the pilots bailing out.
The crashed aircraft is a Mig-21
The NorKo’s must have gone crazy – launching an air assault on China??
Mr. Ronery is seriouswey TICKED off! Now he does not have an air force.
#7
Note: This is not the 1950s.
There were, are and never shall be a communist nation.
Take off the CD helmet, put down the pamphlet about the red threat and climb over the Berlin Wall. It is 2010.
The Arabs are now the Bogeyman, get with the program. Next it will be the Chinese again like they were in the 1850s.
After that I’m betting the Brazilians. I suppose we will denigrate them by calling them the Nutz.
Remember Governmental Manipulation Rule Number One:
Make the people fear something more than they fear you.
Cursor_
The PRC would have sent the pilot back to the DPRK to be shot.
There goes half their air force.
#5 Guyver…
China is between a rock and hard place when it comes to NK. On one hand, China doesn’t want US troops on the Chinese border. On the other hand, they don’t want millions of NK refugees should NK totally collapse.
So they do enough to keep NK’s military in power and in control of the population. But not enough to unleash a war that will bring in the US.
What China’s long term plans are for NK, I can’t guess. I think that there are old coots still in power in China that feel a loyalty to NK. So I think the younger leaders are waiting for the old coots in charge in both China and NK to die off. Then they hope that NK will slowly deflate, and perhaps get reunited with SK in a controller manner.
#16, Secretly many in South Korea don’t want to reunite. They would just have to bear the costs of supporting the North Korean population. It is much worse than the German situation. The lack of food by people not able to get connected to the powers that be, has made the population shorter. And they weren’t that tall to begin with. So long as the US is willing to man the border, South Korea is happy with the status quo.
Americans love to make fun of other countries military (in)capacities.
I guess it is because you guys have long won many wars: Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq.
Keep up the good work!
Well I guess China would be a bit better than North Korea. Poor guy.
#18 And North Korea has won what?
#18 In a contest between N.Korea and the U.S., specifically their air forces, my $$$ is on the USAF…
Accidents happen, even in N.Korea. Jet fighters are high performance machines and require an amazing amount of work to maintain. A good comparison would be like trying to use a NASCAR for a daily driver and expect to be as reliable as a consumer vehicle.