DPRK says nuclear weapons will prevent war with US
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DPRK to open communications channel with S.Korea in Panmunjom: Yonhap
Xinhua | Updated: 2018-01-03
SEOUL - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will open communications channel with South Korea in the truce village of Panmunjom, which has been cut since early 2016, Yonhap news agency reported Wednesday.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201801/03/WS5a4c6159a31008cf16da4db6.html
Xinhua | Updated: 2018-01-03
SEOUL - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will open communications channel with South Korea in the truce village of Panmunjom, which has been cut since early 2016, Yonhap news agency reported Wednesday.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201801/03/WS5a4c6159a31008cf16da4db6.html
yantong1980
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Uncle Sam only know now only one word "power", strength only language can 'accepted' by US of A. You weak they will screw you, you strong they will negotiate with you. Let see how South Korean Moon will deal with this, or he will succumb to US and Japan policy. Let see how far South Korean 'independent' regarding this issue.
TaiShang
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S. Korea reopens communication channel with DPRK in Panmunjom
Xinhua, January 4, 2018
South Korea's unification ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs said Wednesday that it reopened a communication channel with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the truce village of Panmunjom amid rising expectations for the DPRK's participation in South Korea-hosted winter sports event.
A South Korean government official communicates with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) side via the communication channel in Panmunjom, South Korea, on Jan. 3, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]
The ministry said in a statement that the DPRK side gave a contact to the South Korean side via the communication channel in Panmunjom at 3:30 p.m. local time (0630 GMT) as announced by Pyongyang.
During the contact, which lasted for about 20 minutes, the two sides made the technical check of the cross-border hotline, which had not operated for almost two years.
The liaison office channel of Panmunjom has been cut off since the previous South Korean government unilaterally closed down the inter-Korean industrial zone in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong in February 2016. The shutdown followed the DPRK's fourth nuclear test the previous month.
Before the cut-off, South Korea and the DPRK operated two cross-border hotlines, including the Panmunjom liaison office channel and the military hotline. Those hotlines were not physically severed, but the DPRK hadn't responded to Seoul's call.
During the first inter-Korean contact via the restored hotline, the two sides discussed no detail on Seoul's proposal Tuesday to Pyongyang holding a senior-level, inter-governmental dialogue on Jan. 9 at the Peace House, the South Korean building in Panmunjom.
The dialogue proposal came a day after top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un said in his New Year address that his country was willing to participate in the South Korea-hosted Winter Olympics and to talk with South Korea about it.
The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games were slated to kick off in February at South Korea's namesake county of PyeongChang in the eastern Gangwon province.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in hailed Kim's New Year speech, ordering government officials to rapidly restore inter-Korean talks and draw up follow-up measures to allow the DPRK's delegation to join the Winter Olympics.
Earlier in the day, the DPRK's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland announced that the DPRK's leader ordered the reopening of the communications channel in Panmunjom to make working-level discussions on issues on the dispatch of the DPRK's delegation to the Winter Olympics.
The committee said the DPRK will closely contact the South Korean side from an earnest and sincere attitude as it was commissioned by top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un.
Yoon Young-chan, senior press secretary for President Moon, told reporters that the reopening had a great meaning, saying it would make possible inter-Korean talks in a regular manner.
The unification ministry said in a statement that it hailed Pyongyang's positive response to Seoul's offer to resume the communications channel in Panmunjom.
It said South Korea will make working-level discussions on issues on the senior-level, inter-governmental dialogue via the reopened communication channel.
http://www.china.org.cn/world/2018-01/04/content_50189191.htm
***
Keep the US regime in check. They will definitely do something to derail positive developments.
Xinhua, January 4, 2018
South Korea's unification ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs said Wednesday that it reopened a communication channel with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the truce village of Panmunjom amid rising expectations for the DPRK's participation in South Korea-hosted winter sports event.
A South Korean government official communicates with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) side via the communication channel in Panmunjom, South Korea, on Jan. 3, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]
The ministry said in a statement that the DPRK side gave a contact to the South Korean side via the communication channel in Panmunjom at 3:30 p.m. local time (0630 GMT) as announced by Pyongyang.
During the contact, which lasted for about 20 minutes, the two sides made the technical check of the cross-border hotline, which had not operated for almost two years.
The liaison office channel of Panmunjom has been cut off since the previous South Korean government unilaterally closed down the inter-Korean industrial zone in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong in February 2016. The shutdown followed the DPRK's fourth nuclear test the previous month.
Before the cut-off, South Korea and the DPRK operated two cross-border hotlines, including the Panmunjom liaison office channel and the military hotline. Those hotlines were not physically severed, but the DPRK hadn't responded to Seoul's call.
During the first inter-Korean contact via the restored hotline, the two sides discussed no detail on Seoul's proposal Tuesday to Pyongyang holding a senior-level, inter-governmental dialogue on Jan. 9 at the Peace House, the South Korean building in Panmunjom.
The dialogue proposal came a day after top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un said in his New Year address that his country was willing to participate in the South Korea-hosted Winter Olympics and to talk with South Korea about it.
The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games were slated to kick off in February at South Korea's namesake county of PyeongChang in the eastern Gangwon province.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in hailed Kim's New Year speech, ordering government officials to rapidly restore inter-Korean talks and draw up follow-up measures to allow the DPRK's delegation to join the Winter Olympics.
Earlier in the day, the DPRK's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland announced that the DPRK's leader ordered the reopening of the communications channel in Panmunjom to make working-level discussions on issues on the dispatch of the DPRK's delegation to the Winter Olympics.
The committee said the DPRK will closely contact the South Korean side from an earnest and sincere attitude as it was commissioned by top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un.
Yoon Young-chan, senior press secretary for President Moon, told reporters that the reopening had a great meaning, saying it would make possible inter-Korean talks in a regular manner.
The unification ministry said in a statement that it hailed Pyongyang's positive response to Seoul's offer to resume the communications channel in Panmunjom.
It said South Korea will make working-level discussions on issues on the senior-level, inter-governmental dialogue via the reopened communication channel.
http://www.china.org.cn/world/2018-01/04/content_50189191.htm
***
Keep the US regime in check. They will definitely do something to derail positive developments.
TaiShang
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Peninsula opportunity should not be spurned
chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2018-01-03
The United Nations Security Council meets to discuss imposing new sanctions on North Korea, in New York, US, Dec 22, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]
Although the signs of easing animosity on the Korean Peninsula are welcome, the offer of talks from Kim Jong-un may represent merely a transient change of tone, rather than a shift in policy, and his overture is likely to come with a price tag.
Kim's nice-guy approach may not last long, if Pyongyang fails to get what it covets. Be that the easing of sanctions, grain, oil or anything else that helps it subsist. Certainly that has been the case in several past attempts at ice-breaking.
Yet, be that as it may, what matters now is whether the relevant parties can maneuver a meaningful break from the tense standoff that has developed on the peninsula.
Since almost all stakeholders are in favor of a peaceful solution to the crisis, they should not let a chance like this slip by without giving it a try. Pyongyang has a poor track record credibility-wise. But what if it is seriously eager for engagement this time?
United States President Donald Trump may very well be correct in observing Pyongyang's olive branch to Seoul shows "sanctions and 'other' measures are beginning to have a big impact".
And the stakeholders have the option of substantially upgrading sanctions if Pyongyang does revert to past practices.
Therefore, instead of flippantly and childishly claiming to have a "much bigger and more powerful nuclear button", the US president should try to be supportive of Seoul's enthusiasm for talking with Pyongyang.
US UN envoy Nikki Haley says her country would not take any talks seriously since, instead of "a Band-Aid", they want Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons now.
But a Band-Aid is exactly what Seoul wants while it hosts the Winter Olympics next month.
And the intended dialogue on Olympic cooperation does have the potential to lead to further inter-Korean engagement.
Kim reopened a key cross-border communication channel with the Republic of Korea for the first time in nearly two years on Wednesday, as the rivals explored the possibility of sitting down and talking after months of acrimony and fears of war.
And Seoul has responded positively and agreed to talk next Tuesday on cooperation regarding the Winter Olympics. Such diplomatic pragmatism could serve Seoul well, at least for the duration of the games. However, it is to be hoped that something more substantive can be produced beyond that if the two sides can proceed in the current direction of engagement.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201801/03/WS5a4cc879a31008cf16da4ed2.html
chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2018-01-03
The United Nations Security Council meets to discuss imposing new sanctions on North Korea, in New York, US, Dec 22, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]
Although the signs of easing animosity on the Korean Peninsula are welcome, the offer of talks from Kim Jong-un may represent merely a transient change of tone, rather than a shift in policy, and his overture is likely to come with a price tag.
Kim's nice-guy approach may not last long, if Pyongyang fails to get what it covets. Be that the easing of sanctions, grain, oil or anything else that helps it subsist. Certainly that has been the case in several past attempts at ice-breaking.
Yet, be that as it may, what matters now is whether the relevant parties can maneuver a meaningful break from the tense standoff that has developed on the peninsula.
Since almost all stakeholders are in favor of a peaceful solution to the crisis, they should not let a chance like this slip by without giving it a try. Pyongyang has a poor track record credibility-wise. But what if it is seriously eager for engagement this time?
United States President Donald Trump may very well be correct in observing Pyongyang's olive branch to Seoul shows "sanctions and 'other' measures are beginning to have a big impact".
And the stakeholders have the option of substantially upgrading sanctions if Pyongyang does revert to past practices.
Therefore, instead of flippantly and childishly claiming to have a "much bigger and more powerful nuclear button", the US president should try to be supportive of Seoul's enthusiasm for talking with Pyongyang.
US UN envoy Nikki Haley says her country would not take any talks seriously since, instead of "a Band-Aid", they want Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons now.
But a Band-Aid is exactly what Seoul wants while it hosts the Winter Olympics next month.
And the intended dialogue on Olympic cooperation does have the potential to lead to further inter-Korean engagement.
Kim reopened a key cross-border communication channel with the Republic of Korea for the first time in nearly two years on Wednesday, as the rivals explored the possibility of sitting down and talking after months of acrimony and fears of war.
And Seoul has responded positively and agreed to talk next Tuesday on cooperation regarding the Winter Olympics. Such diplomatic pragmatism could serve Seoul well, at least for the duration of the games. However, it is to be hoped that something more substantive can be produced beyond that if the two sides can proceed in the current direction of engagement.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201801/03/WS5a4cc879a31008cf16da4ed2.html
TaiShang
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S. Korea sends list of delegation to DPRK for high-level talks
Xinhua, January 7, 2018
South Korea's unification ministry said Saturday that it has sent the list of a five-member delegation to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DRPK) through the restored hotline for next week's inter-Korean high-level talks.
The proposed South Korean delegation will be led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, according to Seoul's unification ministry.
Four other delegates include Vice Unification Minister Chung Haesung, Second Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Roh Tae-kang, Ahn Moon-hyun, deputy director-general at the Prime Minister's Office, and Kim Ki-hong, a vice president of games planning at the organizing committee for the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games.
The hotline operation was closed without receiving the DPRK's list of its delegation. It will be resumed Sunday.
The DPRK accepted South Korea's dialogue overture Friday, agreeing to hold senior-level, inter-governmental talks Tuesday at the Peace House in the South Korean side of Panmunjom that straddles the inter-Korean land border.
The hotline of direct dialogue between the two Koreas was reopened earlier this week for the first time in almost two years.
Signs of a thaw were seen on the Korean Peninsula as top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un said in his New Year's address that his country was willing to dispatch a delegation to the South Korea-hosted Winter Olympics set to kick off in February.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed earlier this week with U.S. President Donald Trump that the two allies would not conduct the annual springtime war games during the Winter Olympic period.
http://www.china.org.cn/world/2018-01/07/content_50199665.htm
Xinhua, January 7, 2018
South Korea's unification ministry said Saturday that it has sent the list of a five-member delegation to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DRPK) through the restored hotline for next week's inter-Korean high-level talks.
The proposed South Korean delegation will be led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, according to Seoul's unification ministry.
Four other delegates include Vice Unification Minister Chung Haesung, Second Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Roh Tae-kang, Ahn Moon-hyun, deputy director-general at the Prime Minister's Office, and Kim Ki-hong, a vice president of games planning at the organizing committee for the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games.
The hotline operation was closed without receiving the DPRK's list of its delegation. It will be resumed Sunday.
The DPRK accepted South Korea's dialogue overture Friday, agreeing to hold senior-level, inter-governmental talks Tuesday at the Peace House in the South Korean side of Panmunjom that straddles the inter-Korean land border.
The hotline of direct dialogue between the two Koreas was reopened earlier this week for the first time in almost two years.
Signs of a thaw were seen on the Korean Peninsula as top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un said in his New Year's address that his country was willing to dispatch a delegation to the South Korea-hosted Winter Olympics set to kick off in February.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed earlier this week with U.S. President Donald Trump that the two allies would not conduct the annual springtime war games during the Winter Olympic period.
http://www.china.org.cn/world/2018-01/07/content_50199665.htm
TaiShang
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China, ROK nuclear envoys meet in Seoul
CGTN, January 7, 2018
China's special envoy on Korean issues flew to Seoul on Friday for consultations ahead of new exploratory talks next week between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea (ROK).
Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou, who is also China's special representative on Korean Peninsula affairs, said his country welcomed the "positive" developments on the peninsula, where tensions have risen as a result of the DPRK's nuclear and missile programs.
He held talks with Lee Do-hoon, the ROK's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs.
"Currently, some positive things are unfolding with regard to the situation on the Korean Peninsula, though there are still complicated challenges," Kong said during the meeting.
"We're talking with DPRK. We hope the dialogue between the Koreas run smoothly."
The nations on the divided peninsula are due to meet at the border village of Panmunjom on Tuesday
Kong said that he would like February's Winter Olympic Games in the ROK city of PyeongChang to be an opportunity to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula.
"DPRK showed its intention to send a delegation to the Winter Olympics, and this is something we should welcome with open arms," he said. "South Korea and DPRK are compatriots of the same blood. We absolutely support (DPRK's PyeongChang Olympic participation) and we hope the two can continue exchanges even after the PyeongChang Olympic Games."
Kong also expressed the hope that Seoul and Beijing will strengthen strategic communication and advance mutual trust based on agreements their leaders reached during a summit in Beijing in December.
In response, Lee said that the current situation meant that "it is more important than ever" to maintain cooperation between South Korea and China.
"I hope that the cooperation between the governments of the two countries remain close going forward," he said.
"We'll try our best," Kong replied, "but only God knows if that will happen or not," in reference to the possibility of reopening the six-party talks on the Korean crisis.
Earlier Friday, DPRK accepted Seoul's offer for high-level talks to discuss the North's participation in the PyeongChang Olympics.
Moon and US President Donald Trump on Thursday agreed also to delay their countries' regular joint military exercises during the PyeongChang Olympics. The tentative agreement came at the request of Moon, according to the South Korean presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae.
http://www.china.org.cn/world/2018-01/07/content_50199718.htm
***
China's foreign diplomacy corps seem to be at full throttle. Impressive speed and efficiency on part of the foreign relations bureaucracy. This is what I expect to see: A proactive foreign diplomacy
CGTN, January 7, 2018
China's special envoy on Korean issues flew to Seoul on Friday for consultations ahead of new exploratory talks next week between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea (ROK).
Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou, who is also China's special representative on Korean Peninsula affairs, said his country welcomed the "positive" developments on the peninsula, where tensions have risen as a result of the DPRK's nuclear and missile programs.
He held talks with Lee Do-hoon, the ROK's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs.
"Currently, some positive things are unfolding with regard to the situation on the Korean Peninsula, though there are still complicated challenges," Kong said during the meeting.
"We're talking with DPRK. We hope the dialogue between the Koreas run smoothly."
The nations on the divided peninsula are due to meet at the border village of Panmunjom on Tuesday
Kong said that he would like February's Winter Olympic Games in the ROK city of PyeongChang to be an opportunity to bring peace to the Korean Peninsula.
"DPRK showed its intention to send a delegation to the Winter Olympics, and this is something we should welcome with open arms," he said. "South Korea and DPRK are compatriots of the same blood. We absolutely support (DPRK's PyeongChang Olympic participation) and we hope the two can continue exchanges even after the PyeongChang Olympic Games."
Kong also expressed the hope that Seoul and Beijing will strengthen strategic communication and advance mutual trust based on agreements their leaders reached during a summit in Beijing in December.
In response, Lee said that the current situation meant that "it is more important than ever" to maintain cooperation between South Korea and China.
"I hope that the cooperation between the governments of the two countries remain close going forward," he said.
"We'll try our best," Kong replied, "but only God knows if that will happen or not," in reference to the possibility of reopening the six-party talks on the Korean crisis.
Earlier Friday, DPRK accepted Seoul's offer for high-level talks to discuss the North's participation in the PyeongChang Olympics.
Moon and US President Donald Trump on Thursday agreed also to delay their countries' regular joint military exercises during the PyeongChang Olympics. The tentative agreement came at the request of Moon, according to the South Korean presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae.
http://www.china.org.cn/world/2018-01/07/content_50199718.htm
***
China's foreign diplomacy corps seem to be at full throttle. Impressive speed and efficiency on part of the foreign relations bureaucracy. This is what I expect to see: A proactive foreign diplomacy
TaiShang
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+4vsgorillas-Apebane
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TaiShang
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Young Kim has received A+++ from one of the most strategic minded statesmen of this century. That's something you would not easily get.
President Putin basically says, Young Kim: 1 - Dotard: 0.
***
Putin praises 'mature politician' Kim Jong Un
CGTN
2018-01-12
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday praised Kim Jong Un, leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as a "mature politician" with a formidable arsenal, but also urged him to defuse international tensions over Pyongyang's controversial nuclear program.
Kim, 34, has been locked in an increasingly bitter standoff with US President Donald Trump, with the pair trading threats of war and personal insults.
However, there have been signs of a potential cooling after Pyongyang this month unexpectedly restored dialogue with Seoul two years after relations broke down.
"I believe Kim Jong Un has won this round," Putin told Russian journalists on Thursday.
"He has achieved his strategic task – he has a nuclear warhead, and a global-range missile with a range of up to 13,000 kilometers (8,000 miles), which can now reach practically any point of the globe, at any rate any point on the territory of its potential enemy."
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with heads and editors of Russian mass media in Moscow, Russia on January 11, 2018. /VCG Photo
"He is an absolutely competent and already mature politician," the Russian president said.
However, Putin added that it was in Kim's "interest to harmonize, calm the situation."
The Winter Olympics in PyeongChang next month have long been overshadowed by geopolitical tensions, with the DPRK repeatedly test-firing missiles it says are capable of reaching the US mainland, and detonating its most powerful nuclear device to date.
But Pyongyang, which boycotted the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, agreed Tuesday to send athletes and officials to the Games as the two countries held their first formal talks in two years at Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone.
The White House said Wednesday that Trump was open to the US holding talks with the DPRK "under the right circumstances," after the Republic of Korea's President Moon Jae-in signaled a willingness to sit down with Kim.
https://news.cgtn.com/news/3467444d78677a6333566d54/share_p.html
President Putin basically says, Young Kim: 1 - Dotard: 0.
***
Putin praises 'mature politician' Kim Jong Un
CGTN
2018-01-12
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday praised Kim Jong Un, leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as a "mature politician" with a formidable arsenal, but also urged him to defuse international tensions over Pyongyang's controversial nuclear program.
Kim, 34, has been locked in an increasingly bitter standoff with US President Donald Trump, with the pair trading threats of war and personal insults.
However, there have been signs of a potential cooling after Pyongyang this month unexpectedly restored dialogue with Seoul two years after relations broke down.
"I believe Kim Jong Un has won this round," Putin told Russian journalists on Thursday.
"He has achieved his strategic task – he has a nuclear warhead, and a global-range missile with a range of up to 13,000 kilometers (8,000 miles), which can now reach practically any point of the globe, at any rate any point on the territory of its potential enemy."
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with heads and editors of Russian mass media in Moscow, Russia on January 11, 2018. /VCG Photo
"He is an absolutely competent and already mature politician," the Russian president said.
However, Putin added that it was in Kim's "interest to harmonize, calm the situation."
The Winter Olympics in PyeongChang next month have long been overshadowed by geopolitical tensions, with the DPRK repeatedly test-firing missiles it says are capable of reaching the US mainland, and detonating its most powerful nuclear device to date.
But Pyongyang, which boycotted the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, agreed Tuesday to send athletes and officials to the Games as the two countries held their first formal talks in two years at Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone.
The White House said Wednesday that Trump was open to the US holding talks with the DPRK "under the right circumstances," after the Republic of Korea's President Moon Jae-in signaled a willingness to sit down with Kim.
https://news.cgtn.com/news/3467444d78677a6333566d54/share_p.html
TaiShang
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Latest: DPRK proposes working-level talks with ROK on Wednesday
CGTN
2018-01-15
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has proposed to hold another set of working-level talks with the Republic of Korea (ROK) on the PyeongChang Winter Olympics Games, Yonhap reported, hours after the two Koreas started talks at the border village of Panmunjom on Monday.
Officials from both sides have also discussed the appearance of Pyongyang's state-run artistic performers at next month's Winter Olympics hosted by the ROK.
Seoul's delegation led by Lee Woo-sung, head of the culture and arts policy office at the culture ministry, crosses the concrete border to attend their meeting at Tongilgak, the North's building in the truce village of Panmunjom, Jan. 15, 2018. /Yonhap Photo
Last week, Pyongyang expressed its willingness to send athletes, high-level officials, cheerleaders and an art troupe along with taekwondo demonstration teams to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, easing months of high tension over its weapons programs.
The art troupe is a well-known all-female music band that was established in 2012.
Four officials from each side started Monday's working-level meeting at Panmunjom, Seoul's Unification Ministry said.
The two sides have discussed the number of the delegates that the DPRK will be sending to Pyeongchang, and more details will be available later, Baik Tae-hyun, the spokesman of ROK Unification Ministry, told reporters in Seoul.
Pyeongchang: Not so cold for the Koreas
The two Koreas are also set to hold talks with the International Olympics Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Saturday over participation of the DPRK athletes at next month's Winter Olympic Games.
Seoul and Olympic organizers have been keen for Pyongyang – which boycotted the 1988 Summer Games in the ROK capital Seoul – to take part in what they have been promoting as a "peace Olympics."
The DPRK had remained silent to the offer until its top leader Kim Jong Un announced an intention to take part during his 2018 New Year's address, in a move seen as aiming to easing military tension with the US.
Although the number of the athletes in the delegation is still under-discussion, only two from the DPRK have qualified for the Games. They are figure skaters Ryom Tae Ok and Kim Ju Sik.
The IOC has welcomed the "mutual intention" of the two sides to bring DPRK's athletes to the Winter Olympics. While they have missed the deadline to confirm their participation, the IOC said it will keep its invitation for a delegation from the DPRK open, according to an IOC statement.
DPRK: Too early for family reunion talks
Baik said Pyongyang believes it is still too early to hold bilateral talks for this.
The DPRK said the two sides should have more contact and focus on improving their bilateral relationship first before discussing arrangements for reuniting families split by the 1950-1953 Korean War, the spokesman said, citing sources from Panmunjom.
Chae Hoon Sik, 88, from the ROK reacts as he meets his relative Chae Hee-yang, 65, from the DPRK, during the separated family reunions at Mount Kumgang resort, Oct. 20, 2015. /Reuters Photo
Pyongyang cut cross-border military and government hotlines in February 2016, in response to Seoul's imposition of new economic sanctions after a nuclear test by the DPRK, but the two sides restored the hotline earlier last week.
Family reunion is one of the major agendas for the inter-Korean talks.
The last family reunion was held in October 2015. About 100 people from each side, selected randomly by computer, had a brief meeting at the Mount Kumgang resort in the DPRK.
https://news.cgtn.com/news/30496a4e78677a6333566d54/share_p.html
CGTN
2018-01-15
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has proposed to hold another set of working-level talks with the Republic of Korea (ROK) on the PyeongChang Winter Olympics Games, Yonhap reported, hours after the two Koreas started talks at the border village of Panmunjom on Monday.
Officials from both sides have also discussed the appearance of Pyongyang's state-run artistic performers at next month's Winter Olympics hosted by the ROK.
Seoul's delegation led by Lee Woo-sung, head of the culture and arts policy office at the culture ministry, crosses the concrete border to attend their meeting at Tongilgak, the North's building in the truce village of Panmunjom, Jan. 15, 2018. /Yonhap Photo
Last week, Pyongyang expressed its willingness to send athletes, high-level officials, cheerleaders and an art troupe along with taekwondo demonstration teams to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, easing months of high tension over its weapons programs.
The art troupe is a well-known all-female music band that was established in 2012.
Four officials from each side started Monday's working-level meeting at Panmunjom, Seoul's Unification Ministry said.
The two sides have discussed the number of the delegates that the DPRK will be sending to Pyeongchang, and more details will be available later, Baik Tae-hyun, the spokesman of ROK Unification Ministry, told reporters in Seoul.
Pyeongchang: Not so cold for the Koreas
The two Koreas are also set to hold talks with the International Olympics Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Saturday over participation of the DPRK athletes at next month's Winter Olympic Games.
Seoul and Olympic organizers have been keen for Pyongyang – which boycotted the 1988 Summer Games in the ROK capital Seoul – to take part in what they have been promoting as a "peace Olympics."
The DPRK had remained silent to the offer until its top leader Kim Jong Un announced an intention to take part during his 2018 New Year's address, in a move seen as aiming to easing military tension with the US.
Although the number of the athletes in the delegation is still under-discussion, only two from the DPRK have qualified for the Games. They are figure skaters Ryom Tae Ok and Kim Ju Sik.
The IOC has welcomed the "mutual intention" of the two sides to bring DPRK's athletes to the Winter Olympics. While they have missed the deadline to confirm their participation, the IOC said it will keep its invitation for a delegation from the DPRK open, according to an IOC statement.
DPRK: Too early for family reunion talks
Baik said Pyongyang believes it is still too early to hold bilateral talks for this.
The DPRK said the two sides should have more contact and focus on improving their bilateral relationship first before discussing arrangements for reuniting families split by the 1950-1953 Korean War, the spokesman said, citing sources from Panmunjom.
Chae Hoon Sik, 88, from the ROK reacts as he meets his relative Chae Hee-yang, 65, from the DPRK, during the separated family reunions at Mount Kumgang resort, Oct. 20, 2015. /Reuters Photo
Pyongyang cut cross-border military and government hotlines in February 2016, in response to Seoul's imposition of new economic sanctions after a nuclear test by the DPRK, but the two sides restored the hotline earlier last week.
Family reunion is one of the major agendas for the inter-Korean talks.
The last family reunion was held in October 2015. About 100 people from each side, selected randomly by computer, had a brief meeting at the Mount Kumgang resort in the DPRK.
https://news.cgtn.com/news/30496a4e78677a6333566d54/share_p.html
TaiShang
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South Koreans should be made known of how much Muricans really care about them. Of course, Korean right wing fascist media would rather be raped by the US on daily basis than achieve rapprochement with the DPRK.
***
It’s Time to Bomb North Korea
Destroying Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal is still in America’s national interest.
BY EDWARD LUTTWAK | JANUARY 8, 2018, 12:48 PM
U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers flying with F-35B fighter jets and South Korean Air Force F-15K fighter jets on September 18, 2017 in Gangwon-do, South Korea. (Getty Images)
Nothing can be known about this week’s talks between North and South Korea other than their likely outcome. As in every previous encounter, South Korea will almost certainly reward North Korea’s outrageous misconduct by handing over substantial sums of money, thus negating long-overdue sanctions recently imposed by the United Nations Security Council. Meanwhile, the North will continue to make progress toward its goal of deploying several nuclear-armed, mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles, having already tested nuclear-explosive devices in October 2006, May 2009, February 2013, January 2016, September 2016, and September 2017
Each test would have been an excellent occasion for the United States to finally decide to do to North Korea what Israel did to Iraq in 1981, and to Syria in 2007 — namely, use well-aimed conventional weapons to deny nuclear weapons to regimes that shouldn’t have firearms, let alone weapons of mass destruction. Fortunately, there is still time for Washington to launch such an attack to destroy North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. It should be earnestly considered rather than rejected out of hand.
Of course, there are reasons not to act against North Korea. But the most commonly cited ones are far weaker than generally acknowledged.
One mistaken reason to avoid attacking North Korea is the fear of direct retaliation.
One mistaken reason to avoid attacking North Korea is the fear of direct retaliation. The U.S. intelligence community has reportedly claimed that North Korea already has ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads that can reach as far as the United States. But this is almost certainly an exaggeration, or rather an anticipation of a future that could still be averted by prompt action. The first North Korean nuclear device that could potentially be miniaturized into a warhead for a long-range ballistic missile was tested on September 3, 2017, while its first full-scale ICBM was only tested on November 28, 2017. If the North Koreans have managed to complete the full-scale engineering development and initial production of operational ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads in the short time since then — and on their tiny total budget — then their mastery of science and engineering would be entirely unprecedented and utterly phenomenal. It is altogether more likely that they have yet to match warheads and missiles into an operational weapon.
It’s true that North Korea could retaliate for any attack by using its conventional rocket artillery against the South Korean capital of Seoul and its surroundings, where almost 20 million inhabitants live within 35 miles of the armistice line. U.S. military officers have cited the fear of a “sea of fire” to justify inaction. But this vulnerability should not paralyze U.S. policy for one simple reason: It is very largely self-inflicted.
When then-U.S. President Jimmy Carter decided to withdraw all U.S. Army troops from South Korea 40 years ago (ultimately a division was left behind), the defense advisors brought in to help — including myself — urged the Korean government to move its ministries and bureaucrats well away from the country’s northern border and to give strong relocation incentives to private companies. South Korea was also told to mandate proper shelters, as in Zurich for example, where every new building must have its own (under bombardment, casualties increase dramatically if people leave their homes to seek shelter). In recent years, moreover, South Korea has had the option of importing, at moderate cost, Iron Dome batteries, which are produced by both Israel and the United States, that would be capable of intercepting 95 percent of North Korean rockets headed to inhabited structures.
But over these past four decades, South Korean governments have done practically nothing along these lines. The 3,257 officially listed “shelters” in the Seoul area are nothing more than underground shopping malls, subway stations, and hotel parking lots without any stocks of food or water, medical kits or gas masks. As for importing Iron Dome batteries, the South Koreans have preferred to spend their money on developing a fighter-bomber aimed at Japan.
Even now, casualties could still be drastically reduced by a crash resilience program. This should involve clearing out and hardening with jacks, props, and steel beams the basements of buildings of all sizes; promptly stocking necessities in the 3,257 official shelters and sign-posting them more visibly; and, of course, evacuating as many as possible beforehand (most of the 20 million or so at risk would be quite safe even just 20 miles further to the south). The United States, for its part, should consider adding vigorous counterbattery attacks to any airstrike on North Korea.
Nonetheless, given South Korea’s deliberate inaction over many years, any damage ultimately done to Seoul cannot be allowed to paralyze the United States in the face of immense danger to its own national interests, and to those of its other allies elsewhere in the world. North Korea is already unique in selling its ballistic missiles, to Iran most notably; it’s not difficult to imagine it selling nuclear weapons, too.
Another frequently cited reason for the United States to abstain from an attack — that it would be very difficult to pull off — is even less convincing. The claim is that destroying North Korean nuclear facilities would require many thousands of bombing sorties. But all North Korean nuclear facilities — the known, the probable, and the possible — almost certainly add up to less than three dozen installations, most of them quite small. Under no reasonable military plan would destroying those facilities demand thousands of airstrikes.
Unfortunately, this would not be the first time that U.S. military planning proved unreasonable. The United States Air Force habitually rejects one-time strikes, insisting instead on the total “Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses.” This is a peculiar conceit whereby every single air-defense radar, surface-to-air missile, airstrip, and combat aircraft in a given country must be bombed to destruction to safeguard U.S. pilots from any danger, instead of just bombing the targets that actually matter. Given that North Korea’s radars, missiles, and aircraft are badly outdated, with their antique electronics long since countermeasured, the Air Force’s requirements are nothing but an excuse for inaction. Yes, a more limited air attack might miss a wheelbarrow or two, but North Korea has no nuclear-warhead mobile missile launchers to miss — not yet.
Perhaps the only good reason to hesitate before ordering an attack on North Korea is China.
Perhaps the only good reason to hesitate before ordering an attack on North Korea is China. But that’s not because Beijing would intervene against the United States. The notion that China is North Korea’s all-around protector is badly out of date. Yes, the Chinese do not want to see North Korea disappear with U.S. troops moving up to the Yalu River and China’s border. But President Xi Jinping’s support for maximum economic sanctions, including a de facto blockade of oil imports — a classic act of war — amounts to a change of sides when it comes to North Korean nuclear weapons. Anybody who believes China would act on North Korea’s behalf in the event of an American attack against its nuclear installations has not been paying attention.
But China’s shift has surfaced a quite different reason for the United States not to bomb: While North Korea’s acquisition of nuclear weapons is of course very dangerous, it does ensure its independence from Chinese influence. In a post-strike scenario, the Pyongyang regime might well crumble, with the country becoming a Chinese ward. That could give Beijing dominant influence over South Korea as well, given the preference of some South Koreans — including President Moon Jae-in, according to reports — for Chinese as opposed to American patronage. A China-dominated Korean Peninsula would make Japan less secure and the United States much less of a Pacific power.
In theory, a post-attack North Korea in chaos could be rescued by the political unification of the peninsula, with the United States assuaging Chinese concerns by promptly moving its troops further south, instead of moving them north. In practice, however, this would be a difficult plan to carry out, not least because South Korea’s government and its population are generally unwilling to share their prosperity with the miserably poor northerners, as the West Germans once did with their East German compatriots.
For now, it seems clear that U.S. military authorities have foreclosed a pre-emptive military option. But the United States could still spare the world the vast dangers of a North Korea with nuclear-armed long-range missiles if it acts in the remaining months before they become operational.
It’s true that India, Israel, and Pakistan all have those weapons, with no catastrophic consequences so far. But each has proven its reliability in ways that North Korea has not. More pertinently, those other countries have gone through severe crises, and even fought wars, without ever mentioning nuclear weapons, let alone threatening their use as Kim Jong Un already has. North Korea is different, and U.S. policy should recognize that reality before it is too late.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2018/01/08/its-time-to-bomb-north-korea/
***
It’s Time to Bomb North Korea
Destroying Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal is still in America’s national interest.
BY EDWARD LUTTWAK | JANUARY 8, 2018, 12:48 PM
U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers flying with F-35B fighter jets and South Korean Air Force F-15K fighter jets on September 18, 2017 in Gangwon-do, South Korea. (Getty Images)
Nothing can be known about this week’s talks between North and South Korea other than their likely outcome. As in every previous encounter, South Korea will almost certainly reward North Korea’s outrageous misconduct by handing over substantial sums of money, thus negating long-overdue sanctions recently imposed by the United Nations Security Council. Meanwhile, the North will continue to make progress toward its goal of deploying several nuclear-armed, mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles, having already tested nuclear-explosive devices in October 2006, May 2009, February 2013, January 2016, September 2016, and September 2017
Each test would have been an excellent occasion for the United States to finally decide to do to North Korea what Israel did to Iraq in 1981, and to Syria in 2007 — namely, use well-aimed conventional weapons to deny nuclear weapons to regimes that shouldn’t have firearms, let alone weapons of mass destruction. Fortunately, there is still time for Washington to launch such an attack to destroy North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. It should be earnestly considered rather than rejected out of hand.
Of course, there are reasons not to act against North Korea. But the most commonly cited ones are far weaker than generally acknowledged.
One mistaken reason to avoid attacking North Korea is the fear of direct retaliation.
One mistaken reason to avoid attacking North Korea is the fear of direct retaliation. The U.S. intelligence community has reportedly claimed that North Korea already has ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads that can reach as far as the United States. But this is almost certainly an exaggeration, or rather an anticipation of a future that could still be averted by prompt action. The first North Korean nuclear device that could potentially be miniaturized into a warhead for a long-range ballistic missile was tested on September 3, 2017, while its first full-scale ICBM was only tested on November 28, 2017. If the North Koreans have managed to complete the full-scale engineering development and initial production of operational ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads in the short time since then — and on their tiny total budget — then their mastery of science and engineering would be entirely unprecedented and utterly phenomenal. It is altogether more likely that they have yet to match warheads and missiles into an operational weapon.
It’s true that North Korea could retaliate for any attack by using its conventional rocket artillery against the South Korean capital of Seoul and its surroundings, where almost 20 million inhabitants live within 35 miles of the armistice line. U.S. military officers have cited the fear of a “sea of fire” to justify inaction. But this vulnerability should not paralyze U.S. policy for one simple reason: It is very largely self-inflicted.
When then-U.S. President Jimmy Carter decided to withdraw all U.S. Army troops from South Korea 40 years ago (ultimately a division was left behind), the defense advisors brought in to help — including myself — urged the Korean government to move its ministries and bureaucrats well away from the country’s northern border and to give strong relocation incentives to private companies. South Korea was also told to mandate proper shelters, as in Zurich for example, where every new building must have its own (under bombardment, casualties increase dramatically if people leave their homes to seek shelter). In recent years, moreover, South Korea has had the option of importing, at moderate cost, Iron Dome batteries, which are produced by both Israel and the United States, that would be capable of intercepting 95 percent of North Korean rockets headed to inhabited structures.
But over these past four decades, South Korean governments have done practically nothing along these lines. The 3,257 officially listed “shelters” in the Seoul area are nothing more than underground shopping malls, subway stations, and hotel parking lots without any stocks of food or water, medical kits or gas masks. As for importing Iron Dome batteries, the South Koreans have preferred to spend their money on developing a fighter-bomber aimed at Japan.
Even now, casualties could still be drastically reduced by a crash resilience program. This should involve clearing out and hardening with jacks, props, and steel beams the basements of buildings of all sizes; promptly stocking necessities in the 3,257 official shelters and sign-posting them more visibly; and, of course, evacuating as many as possible beforehand (most of the 20 million or so at risk would be quite safe even just 20 miles further to the south). The United States, for its part, should consider adding vigorous counterbattery attacks to any airstrike on North Korea.
Nonetheless, given South Korea’s deliberate inaction over many years, any damage ultimately done to Seoul cannot be allowed to paralyze the United States in the face of immense danger to its own national interests, and to those of its other allies elsewhere in the world. North Korea is already unique in selling its ballistic missiles, to Iran most notably; it’s not difficult to imagine it selling nuclear weapons, too.
Another frequently cited reason for the United States to abstain from an attack — that it would be very difficult to pull off — is even less convincing. The claim is that destroying North Korean nuclear facilities would require many thousands of bombing sorties. But all North Korean nuclear facilities — the known, the probable, and the possible — almost certainly add up to less than three dozen installations, most of them quite small. Under no reasonable military plan would destroying those facilities demand thousands of airstrikes.
Unfortunately, this would not be the first time that U.S. military planning proved unreasonable. The United States Air Force habitually rejects one-time strikes, insisting instead on the total “Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses.” This is a peculiar conceit whereby every single air-defense radar, surface-to-air missile, airstrip, and combat aircraft in a given country must be bombed to destruction to safeguard U.S. pilots from any danger, instead of just bombing the targets that actually matter. Given that North Korea’s radars, missiles, and aircraft are badly outdated, with their antique electronics long since countermeasured, the Air Force’s requirements are nothing but an excuse for inaction. Yes, a more limited air attack might miss a wheelbarrow or two, but North Korea has no nuclear-warhead mobile missile launchers to miss — not yet.
Perhaps the only good reason to hesitate before ordering an attack on North Korea is China.
Perhaps the only good reason to hesitate before ordering an attack on North Korea is China. But that’s not because Beijing would intervene against the United States. The notion that China is North Korea’s all-around protector is badly out of date. Yes, the Chinese do not want to see North Korea disappear with U.S. troops moving up to the Yalu River and China’s border. But President Xi Jinping’s support for maximum economic sanctions, including a de facto blockade of oil imports — a classic act of war — amounts to a change of sides when it comes to North Korean nuclear weapons. Anybody who believes China would act on North Korea’s behalf in the event of an American attack against its nuclear installations has not been paying attention.
But China’s shift has surfaced a quite different reason for the United States not to bomb: While North Korea’s acquisition of nuclear weapons is of course very dangerous, it does ensure its independence from Chinese influence. In a post-strike scenario, the Pyongyang regime might well crumble, with the country becoming a Chinese ward. That could give Beijing dominant influence over South Korea as well, given the preference of some South Koreans — including President Moon Jae-in, according to reports — for Chinese as opposed to American patronage. A China-dominated Korean Peninsula would make Japan less secure and the United States much less of a Pacific power.
In theory, a post-attack North Korea in chaos could be rescued by the political unification of the peninsula, with the United States assuaging Chinese concerns by promptly moving its troops further south, instead of moving them north. In practice, however, this would be a difficult plan to carry out, not least because South Korea’s government and its population are generally unwilling to share their prosperity with the miserably poor northerners, as the West Germans once did with their East German compatriots.
For now, it seems clear that U.S. military authorities have foreclosed a pre-emptive military option. But the United States could still spare the world the vast dangers of a North Korea with nuclear-armed long-range missiles if it acts in the remaining months before they become operational.
It’s true that India, Israel, and Pakistan all have those weapons, with no catastrophic consequences so far. But each has proven its reliability in ways that North Korea has not. More pertinently, those other countries have gone through severe crises, and even fought wars, without ever mentioning nuclear weapons, let alone threatening their use as Kim Jong Un already has. North Korea is different, and U.S. policy should recognize that reality before it is too late.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2018/01/08/its-time-to-bomb-north-korea/
terranMarine
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South Koreans should be made known of how much Muricans really care about them. Of course, Korean right wing fascist media would rather be raped by the US on daily basis than achieve rapprochement with the DPRK.
***
It’s Time to Bomb North Korea
Destroying Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal is still in America’s national interest.
BY EDWARD LUTTWAK | JANUARY 8, 2018, 12:48 PM
U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers flying with F-35B fighter jets and South Korean Air Force F-15K fighter jets on September 18, 2017 in Gangwon-do, South Korea. (Getty Images)
Nothing can be known about this week’s talks between North and South Korea other than their likely outcome. As in every previous encounter, South Korea will almost certainly reward North Korea’s outrageous misconduct by handing over substantial sums of money, thus negating long-overdue sanctions recently imposed by the United Nations Security Council. Meanwhile, the North will continue to make progress toward its goal of deploying several nuclear-armed, mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles, having already tested nuclear-explosive devices in October 2006, May 2009, February 2013, January 2016, September 2016, and September 2017
Each test would have been an excellent occasion for the United States to finally decide to do to North Korea what Israel did to Iraq in 1981, and to Syria in 2007 — namely, use well-aimed conventional weapons to deny nuclear weapons to regimes that shouldn’t have firearms, let alone weapons of mass destruction. Fortunately, there is still time for Washington to launch such an attack to destroy North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. It should be earnestly considered rather than rejected out of hand.
Of course, there are reasons not to act against North Korea. But the most commonly cited ones are far weaker than generally acknowledged.
One mistaken reason to avoid attacking North Korea is the fear of direct retaliation.
One mistaken reason to avoid attacking North Korea is the fear of direct retaliation. The U.S. intelligence community has reportedly claimed that North Korea already has ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads that can reach as far as the United States. But this is almost certainly an exaggeration, or rather an anticipation of a future that could still be averted by prompt action. The first North Korean nuclear device that could potentially be miniaturized into a warhead for a long-range ballistic missile was tested on September 3, 2017, while its first full-scale ICBM was only tested on November 28, 2017. If the North Koreans have managed to complete the full-scale engineering development and initial production of operational ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads in the short time since then — and on their tiny total budget — then their mastery of science and engineering would be entirely unprecedented and utterly phenomenal. It is altogether more likely that they have yet to match warheads and missiles into an operational weapon.
It’s true that North Korea could retaliate for any attack by using its conventional rocket artillery against the South Korean capital of Seoul and its surroundings, where almost 20 million inhabitants live within 35 miles of the armistice line. U.S. military officers have cited the fear of a “sea of fire” to justify inaction. But this vulnerability should not paralyze U.S. policy for one simple reason: It is very largely self-inflicted.
When then-U.S. President Jimmy Carter decided to withdraw all U.S. Army troops from South Korea 40 years ago (ultimately a division was left behind), the defense advisors brought in to help — including myself — urged the Korean government to move its ministries and bureaucrats well away from the country’s northern border and to give strong relocation incentives to private companies. South Korea was also told to mandate proper shelters, as in Zurich for example, where every new building must have its own (under bombardment, casualties increase dramatically if people leave their homes to seek shelter). In recent years, moreover, South Korea has had the option of importing, at moderate cost, Iron Dome batteries, which are produced by both Israel and the United States, that would be capable of intercepting 95 percent of North Korean rockets headed to inhabited structures.
But over these past four decades, South Korean governments have done practically nothing along these lines. The 3,257 officially listed “shelters” in the Seoul area are nothing more than underground shopping malls, subway stations, and hotel parking lots without any stocks of food or water, medical kits or gas masks. As for importing Iron Dome batteries, the South Koreans have preferred to spend their money on developing a fighter-bomber aimed at Japan.
Even now, casualties could still be drastically reduced by a crash resilience program. This should involve clearing out and hardening with jacks, props, and steel beams the basements of buildings of all sizes; promptly stocking necessities in the 3,257 official shelters and sign-posting them more visibly; and, of course, evacuating as many as possible beforehand (most of the 20 million or so at risk would be quite safe even just 20 miles further to the south). The United States, for its part, should consider adding vigorous counterbattery attacks to any airstrike on North Korea.
Nonetheless, given South Korea’s deliberate inaction over many years, any damage ultimately done to Seoul cannot be allowed to paralyze the United States in the face of immense danger to its own national interests, and to those of its other allies elsewhere in the world. North Korea is already unique in selling its ballistic missiles, to Iran most notably; it’s not difficult to imagine it selling nuclear weapons, too.
Another frequently cited reason for the United States to abstain from an attack — that it would be very difficult to pull off — is even less convincing. The claim is that destroying North Korean nuclear facilities would require many thousands of bombing sorties. But all North Korean nuclear facilities — the known, the probable, and the possible — almost certainly add up to less than three dozen installations, most of them quite small. Under no reasonable military plan would destroying those facilities demand thousands of airstrikes.
Unfortunately, this would not be the first time that U.S. military planning proved unreasonable. The United States Air Force habitually rejects one-time strikes, insisting instead on the total “Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses.” This is a peculiar conceit whereby every single air-defense radar, surface-to-air missile, airstrip, and combat aircraft in a given country must be bombed to destruction to safeguard U.S. pilots from any danger, instead of just bombing the targets that actually matter. Given that North Korea’s radars, missiles, and aircraft are badly outdated, with their antique electronics long since countermeasured, the Air Force’s requirements are nothing but an excuse for inaction. Yes, a more limited air attack might miss a wheelbarrow or two, but North Korea has no nuclear-warhead mobile missile launchers to miss — not yet.
Perhaps the only good reason to hesitate before ordering an attack on North Korea is China.
Perhaps the only good reason to hesitate before ordering an attack on North Korea is China. But that’s not because Beijing would intervene against the United States. The notion that China is North Korea’s all-around protector is badly out of date. Yes, the Chinese do not want to see North Korea disappear with U.S. troops moving up to the Yalu River and China’s border. But President Xi Jinping’s support for maximum economic sanctions, including a de facto blockade of oil imports — a classic act of war — amounts to a change of sides when it comes to North Korean nuclear weapons. Anybody who believes China would act on North Korea’s behalf in the event of an American attack against its nuclear installations has not been paying attention.
But China’s shift has surfaced a quite different reason for the United States not to bomb: While North Korea’s acquisition of nuclear weapons is of course very dangerous, it does ensure its independence from Chinese influence. In a post-strike scenario, the Pyongyang regime might well crumble, with the country becoming a Chinese ward. That could give Beijing dominant influence over South Korea as well, given the preference of some South Koreans — including President Moon Jae-in, according to reports — for Chinese as opposed to American patronage. A China-dominated Korean Peninsula would make Japan less secure and the United States much less of a Pacific power.
In theory, a post-attack North Korea in chaos could be rescued by the political unification of the peninsula, with the United States assuaging Chinese concerns by promptly moving its troops further south, instead of moving them north. In practice, however, this would be a difficult plan to carry out, not least because South Korea’s government and its population are generally unwilling to share their prosperity with the miserably poor northerners, as the West Germans once did with their East German compatriots.
For now, it seems clear that U.S. military authorities have foreclosed a pre-emptive military option. But the United States could still spare the world the vast dangers of a North Korea with nuclear-armed long-range missiles if it acts in the remaining months before they become operational.
It’s true that India, Israel, and Pakistan all have those weapons, with no catastrophic consequences so far. But each has proven its reliability in ways that North Korea has not. More pertinently, those other countries have gone through severe crises, and even fought wars, without ever mentioning nuclear weapons, let alone threatening their use as Kim Jong Un already has. North Korea is different, and U.S. policy should recognize that reality before it is too late.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2018/01/08/its-time-to-bomb-north-korea/
Jewish ruling class in America ofcourse love the well being of South Koreans. The Jews love liberating people don't they?
TaiShang
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The above article reflects very well the way they think of their allies: A meat shield at best. I have no sympathy toward the right wing business, bureaucracy and media elites in Korea and Japan, but I still care about the regular people. In some way and some form, they need to be violently brought back to reality of being seen as lab rats by the US and the likelihood of being sacrificed with no remorse.
terranMarine
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For the region to have peace, the US military will have to leave the Korean Peninsula. Pretty sure there are plenty Koreans in the South wishing the same thing too but too bad the government prefer being a US lapdog. As long China and Russia having a big say on the matter Jewmerica ain't gonna start any war anytime soon on our doorstep. Not even the fake alert of missiles flying to Hawaii can convince the world that DPRK is the aggressor.
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