North Korea US Tension - News & Discussion

[simple Brain]

North Korea 'ready to strike' US aircraft carrier as Trump leans on China, Japan

James Pearson and Steve Holland - Reuters on April 24, 2017, 1:21 pm
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The United States ordered the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group to sail into waters off the Korean peninsula in response to growing concern over the North's nuclear and missile tests, and its threats to attack the US and its Asian allies.

The US government has not specified where the carrier strike group is as it approaches the area.

Aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson transits the Sunda Strait in Indonesia on Friday. Source: US Navy/AFP
The aircraft carrier is currently in the Indian Ocean and US Vice President Mike Pence said on Saturday it would arrive "within days," but gave no other details.

North Korea remained defiant.

"Our revolutionary forces are combat-ready to sink a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with a single strike," the Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party, said in a commentary.

The paper likened the aircraft carrier to a "gross animal" and said a strike on it would be "an actual example to show our military's force".

The commentary was carried on page three of the newspaper, after a two-page feature about leader Kim Jong Un inspecting a pig farm.

North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests, two of them last year, and is working to develop nuclear-tipped missiles that can reach the United States. Photo: AAP
A senior US administration official said Trump was expected to speak later on Sunday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

In another sign of the intense focus on Pyongyang in Washington, the White House is expected to host US senators for a top-level briefing on North Korea on Wednesday, a White House official said.

The official said the briefing would be led by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

US and South Korean officials have been saying for weeks the North could soon stage another nuclear test, something the United States, China and others have warned against.

• China warns US not to provoke North Korea
• 'In three years': N Korea making missiles which 'could hit Australia'
• North Korea threatens Australia, Julie Bishop with nuclear strike
• US citizen detained by North Korea named

South Korea has put its forces on heightened alert.

China, North Korea's sole major ally, opposes Pyongyang's weapons programs and has appealed for calm. The United States has called on China to do more to help defuse the tension.

Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has joined Trump in leaning on China to step up and defuse matters.

"If Australia persists in following the US' moves to isolate and stifle North Korea... this will be a suicidal act," a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said after Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop called the hermit state a "serious threat".

Speaking during a visit to Greece, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said there was already enough shows of force and confrontation and appealed for calm.

"We need to issue peaceful and rational sounds," Wang said, according to a statement issued by China's Foreign Ministry.

US CITIZEN DETAINED
Adding to the tensions, North Korea detained a Korean-American man in his 50s, bringing the total number of US citizens held by Pyongyang to three.

The man, Tony Kim, had been in North Korea for a month teaching accounting at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST), the institution's chancellor, Chan-Mo Park, told Reuters. He was arrested at Pyongyang International Airport on his way out of the country.

The arrest took place on Saturday morning local time, the university said in a statement, and was "related to an investigation into matters that are not connected in any way to PUST".

US and South Korean officials have been saying for weeks the North could soon stage another nuclear test, something the United States, China and others have warned against. Photo: AAP
North Korea will mark the 85th anniversary of the foundation of its Korean People's Army on Tuesday. It has in the past marked important anniversaries with tests of its weapons.

North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests, two of them last year, and is working to develop nuclear-tipped missiles that can reach the United States.

It has also carried out a series of ballistic missile tests in defiance of UN sanctions.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/3514219...-carrier-as-trump-leans-on-china-japan/#page1

 

[powastick]

Kim ain't' going to take US seriously. US need evacuated its civilians in South Korea, to prove its seriousness.

 

[terranMarine]

Kim ain't' going to take US seriously. US need evacuated its civilians in South Korea, to prove its seriousness.

Kim knows the Beast is protecting his arse

 

[gambit]

What Would the Second Korean War Look Like?
The first 24 hours of war on the Korean peninsula could cost hundreds of thousands of lives.

By Franz-Stefan Gady
April 19, 2017

http://thediplomat.com/2017/04/what-would-the-second-korean-war-look-like/

I read similar 'analyses', to use the word generously, about Desert Storm before I got the the order from the CO to go home and ready my 'mo-bag' (mobility bag). I walked into the squadron room, spent about a minute, and walked out.

First, the Iraqis were properly 'shocked and awed'.

Second, the talking heads, including the likes of Mr. Gady here, were also properly 'shocked and awed'. For these yay-hoos, they were not 'shocked and awed' at the military aspects of the war. Rather, they were more 'shocked and awed' at how wrong they were.

I know that people on this forum, or anti-US Internet forums in general, are tired of hearing about Desert Storm. But that is their intellectual loss considering the irony that they are discussing military affairs. Desert Storm have gone down in military history as one of the top events in the revolution of warfare. The intellectually shortsighted, aplenty on this forum, will focus on the poor training and old age of the hardware of the Iraqi military. We -- the Americans -- fervently hope that their kind will populate the military leaderships of their respective countries.

There will be no mass casualties like Mr. Gady said -- 'could'.

Mr. Gady seems smart enough to have learned the media lessons of Desert Storm and couched his piece carefully. Populated with escape words like 'could' and 'may'. The top lesson of Desert Storm is that the US military have become essentially -- unpredictable. More so than any modern armed forces.

There is no telling what we know, can do, and will do. Stop taking these deadline articles seriously.

 

[F-22Raptor]

WASHINGTON — It may not be “far more powerful than the aircraft carrier” — as President Trump said in a recent interview, but a well-armed U.S. submarine has arrived in Korea.

The Ohio-class guided-missile submarine Michigan pulled in to the South Korean port of Busan Tuesday for what the U.S. Navy called a "routine visit."

"During the visit sailors will experience the culture and history of the ROK [Republic of Korea], as well as foster outstanding relations between the U.S. Navy, ROK military and the local Busan community," the U.S. Navy said in a press release.

But the arrival of the Michigan is a significant addition to U.S. naval forces gathering in the Sea of Japan and elsewhere off the Korean Peninsula in response to rising tensions in the area due to a series of ballistic missile tests carried out by North Korea. The aircraft carrier Carl Vinson and its strike group, now accompanied by two Japanese destroyers, also is expected to reach the area in a day or so.

The Michigan may have been what Trump was referring to April 11 when, in an interview with the Fox Business Network, he described US forces heading for the region.

“We are sending an armada, very powerful,” Trump told Maria Bartiromo. “We have submarines, very powerful, far more powerful than the aircraft carrier. That I can tell you.”

The Michigan is one of four missile and special operations submarines converted from Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines, designated SSGN. While they no longer carry ballistic missiles, the SSGNs carry up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles and other weapons and gear in the former ballistic missile tubes.

Perhaps even more significant, the SSGNs can embark up to 66 special operations personnel, who can use the two foremost former missile tubes as lockout chambers to carry out surveillance and clandestine insertion and recovery missions. The submarines are the largest ever built in the U.S. — 560 feet long and displacing 18,750 tons submerged — but they are capable of precise navigation in close waters, a legacy of the highly-capable navigation systems needed for the original ballistic missile mission.

The Michigan arrived fitted with a dry deck shelter, often used to carry swimmer delivery vehicles used by SEALs and other special operations forces.

The SSGNs routinely carry out very long worldwide deployments, often more than a year, with Blue and Gold crews rotating aboard. The Michigan has operated in Korea on several occasions, including a visit to Busan in June 2015.

The Michigan is currently manned by her Blue Crew, commanded by Capt. Joe Turk.

"This crew has displayed incredible professionalism and dedication throughout this deployment,” Turk said in the Navy press release. “Every sailor understands the importance of our mission and every one of them is dedicated to ensuring that mission is a success. I simply cannot be more proud of their service.

"We are looking forward to a chance meet up with our ROKN [Republic of Korea Navy] partners and learn about the culture of Korea, for the first time for many of us, myself included," Turk added.

Rear Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Korea, called the visit "yet another example of the steadfast ROK and U.S. naval partnership." He noted in the press release that the two navies "work closely with one another every day of the year and this well-deserved port visit is a chance for Michigan sailors to enjoy the wonderful Busan culture that U.S. Navy Korea sailors experience each and every day."

http://www.defensenews.com/articles/missile-submarine-joining-us-naval-armada

 

[925boy]

big issue,like in a typical fight is who will hit first and give the other side an excuse to do anything. somethimg tells me NK wants to get hit first...if IS hits first Kim can get world image boos by saying US is the agggresor.

 

[gambit]

Kim ain't' going to take US seriously.

That is exactly what we want.

 

[third eye]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39694640




In an unusual move, the entire US Senate is being called to the White House for a briefing on North Korea.

Washington has become increasingly concerned at North Korean missile and nuclear tests and threats to its neighbours and the US.

The briefing, involving 100 senators as well as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defence Secretary James Mattis, is being held on Wednesday.

China, North Korea's main ally, has called for restraint from all sides.

China's call came in a phone conversation between President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump on Sunday.

For his part, Mr Trump said North Korea's "continued belligerence" was destabilising the Korean peninsula.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Joseph Dunford, will be among those briefing the senators
White House officials regularly go to Congress to brief on national security matters, but it is unusual for the whole Senate to go to the White House.

Alongside Mr Tillerson and Gen Mattis will be National Intelligence Director Dan Coats and Gen Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Questioned by reporters at his regular briefing, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer referred further inquiries to the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell.

Aides, quoted by Reuters, say the House of Representatives is seeking a similar briefing on North Korea.

A US spy plane landing in South Korea: the US is closely monitoring activity in the North
Washington says a flotilla, led by the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, is expected to arrive off the peninsula within days, despite conflicting messages last week on its exact whereabouts.

Mr Trump has also told United Nations Security Council ambassadors, meeting at the White House, that the UN must be ready to impose new sanctions on North Korea.

The US is pursuing a multi-pronged strategy to make its point on North Korea, the BBC's Gary O'Donoghue in Washington says.

First it wants the UN to tighten sanctions even further, and to ensure those in place are properly enforced.

Secondly, it is attempting to put fresh pressure on China to rein in its communist neighbour. The third aspect is the sending of an aircraft carrier to the Korean peninsula - making clear military action is an option.

North Korean rhetoric

North Korean state media said on Sunday the country's forces were "combat-ready to sink" the Carl Vinson.

The ruling Workers' Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun called the carrier a "gross animal".

North Korea has promised to press ahead with missile tests despite Mr Trump's warnings and experts say it may be preparing for another nuclear test, in defiance of UN resolutions.

However, a North Korean ballistic missile test on 16 April failed within seconds of launch, US experts said.

Washington is concerned that Pyongyang may develop the ability to place a nuclear bomb on a missile capable of reaching the US.

Beijing is worried about the possibility of all-out conflict on the peninsula, which could lead to the collapse of the North Korean regime under its mercurial leader Kim Jong-un.

China fears this could cause a sizeable refugee problem and lead to an American presence up to the Chinese border.

Mr Xi urged all parties to "maintain restraint and avoid actions that would increase tensions", according to the Chinese foreign ministry.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

LOL didn't Obama say that he would refuse to handover the nuclear codes to Donald Trump?

I don't know what's worse, Kim Jong-Un with nukes, or Donald Trump with nukes. At least North Korea has never actually dropped nuclear weapons on civilian populations before.

 

[Carlosa]

I read similar 'analyses', to use the word generously, about Desert Storm before I got the the order from the CO to go home and ready my 'mo-bag' (mobility bag). I walked into the squadron room, spent about a minute, and walked out.

First, the Iraqis were properly 'shocked and awed'.

Second, the talking heads, including the likes of Mr. Gady here, were also properly 'shocked and awed'. For these yay-hoos, they were not 'shocked and awed' at the military aspects of the war. Rather, they were more 'shocked and awed' at how wrong they were.

I know that people on this forum, or anti-US Internet forums in general, are tired of hearing about Desert Storm. But that is their intellectual loss considering the irony that they are discussing military affairs. Desert Storm have gone down in military history as one of the top events in the revolution of warfare. The intellectually shortsighted, aplenty on this forum, will focus on the poor training and old age of the hardware of the Iraqi military. We -- the Americans -- fervently hope that their kind will populate the military leaderships of their respective countries.

There will be no mass casualties like Mr. Gady said -- 'could'.

Mr. Gady seems smart enough to have learned the media lessons of Desert Storm and couched his piece carefully. Populated with escape words like 'could' and 'may'. The top lesson of Desert Storm is that the US military have become essentially -- unpredictable. More so than any modern armed forces.

There is no telling what we know, can do, and will do. Stop taking these deadline articles seriously.

Oh I don't take them too seriously, I just post them as a contribution to the thread; most of the articles about the situation with North Korea are done from a perspective of sensationalism for the most part. People get paid when they get an article published, so that's an incentive to get a lot of material out there.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39694640




In an unusual move, the entire US Senate is being called to the White House for a briefing on North Korea.

Washington has become increasingly concerned at North Korean missile and nuclear tests and threats to its neighbours and the US.

The briefing, involving 100 senators as well as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defence Secretary James Mattis, is being held on Wednesday.

China, North Korea's main ally, has called for restraint from all sides.

China's call came in a phone conversation between President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump on Sunday.

For his part, Mr Trump said North Korea's "continued belligerence" was destabilising the Korean peninsula.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Joseph Dunford, will be among those briefing the senators
White House officials regularly go to Congress to brief on national security matters, but it is unusual for the whole Senate to go to the White House.

Alongside Mr Tillerson and Gen Mattis will be National Intelligence Director Dan Coats and Gen Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Questioned by reporters at his regular briefing, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer referred further inquiries to the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell.

Aides, quoted by Reuters, say the House of Representatives is seeking a similar briefing on North Korea.

A US spy plane landing in South Korea: the US is closely monitoring activity in the North
Washington says a flotilla, led by the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, is expected to arrive off the peninsula within days, despite conflicting messages last week on its exact whereabouts.

Mr Trump has also told United Nations Security Council ambassadors, meeting at the White House, that the UN must be ready to impose new sanctions on North Korea.

The US is pursuing a multi-pronged strategy to make its point on North Korea, the BBC's Gary O'Donoghue in Washington says.

First it wants the UN to tighten sanctions even further, and to ensure those in place are properly enforced.

Secondly, it is attempting to put fresh pressure on China to rein in its communist neighbour. The third aspect is the sending of an aircraft carrier to the Korean peninsula - making clear military action is an option.

North Korean rhetoric

North Korean state media said on Sunday the country's forces were "combat-ready to sink" the Carl Vinson.

The ruling Workers' Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun called the carrier a "gross animal".

North Korea has promised to press ahead with missile tests despite Mr Trump's warnings and experts say it may be preparing for another nuclear test, in defiance of UN resolutions.

However, a North Korean ballistic missile test on 16 April failed within seconds of launch, US experts said.

Washington is concerned that Pyongyang may develop the ability to place a nuclear bomb on a missile capable of reaching the US.

Beijing is worried about the possibility of all-out conflict on the peninsula, which could lead to the collapse of the North Korean regime under its mercurial leader Kim Jong-un.

China fears this could cause a sizeable refugee problem and lead to an American presence up to the Chinese border.

Mr Xi urged all parties to "maintain restraint and avoid actions that would increase tensions", according to the Chinese foreign ministry.

Holy guacamole, this means that something is about to happen.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/intern...-submarine-docks-in-south/article18209461.ece

North Korea conducted a big live-fire exercise on Tuesday to mark the foundation of its military as a U.S. submarine docked in South Korea in a show of force amid growing concern over the North's nuclear and missile programmes.

The port call by the USS Michigan came as a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group steamed towards Korean waters and as top envoys for North Korea policy from South Korea, Japan and the United States met in Tokyo.

Fears have risen in recent weeks that North Korea would conduct another nuclear test or long-range missile launch in defiance of U.N. sanctions, perhaps on the Tuesday anniversary of the founding of its military.

But instead of a nuclear test or big missile launch, North Korea deployed a large number of long-range artillery units in the region of Wonsan on its east coast for a live-fire drill, South Korea's military said. North Korea has an air base in Wonsan and missiles have also been tested there.

“North Korea is conducting a large-scale firing drill in Wonsan areas this afternoon,” the South's Office of Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

The South Korean military was monitoring the situation and "firmly maintaining readiness", it said.

The South's Yonhap News Agency said earlier the exercise was possibly supervised by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

North Korea's state media was defiant in a commentary marking the 85th anniversary of the foundation of the Korean People's Army, saying its military was prepared “to bring to closure the history of U.S. scheming and nuclear blackmail".

“There is no limit to the strike power of the People's Army armed with our style of cutting-edge military equipment including various precision and miniaturised nuclear weapons and submarine-launched ballistic missiles,” the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a front-page editorial.

North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threat is perhaps the most serious security challenge confronting U.S. President Donald Trump. He has vowed to prevent North Korea from being able to hit the United States with a nuclear missile and has said all options are on the table, including a military strike.

Trump sent the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group for exercises off the Korean peninsula as a warning to North Korea and a show of solidarity with U.S. allies.

South Korea's navy said it was conducting a live-fire exercise with U.S. destroyers in waters west of the Korean peninsula and would soon join the carrier strike group approaching the region.

China, North Korea's sole major ally which nevertheless objects to its weapons development, has repeatedly called for calm, and its envoy for Korean affairs, Wu Dawei, was in Tokyo on Tuesday.

“We hope that all parties, including Japan, can work with China to promote an early peaceful resolution of the issue, and play the role, put forth the effort, and assume the responsibility that they should,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters in Beijing.

Japan's envoy on North Korea, Kenji Kanasugi, said after talks with his U.S. and South Korean counterparts that they agreed China should take a concrete role to resolve the crisis and it could use an oil embargo as a tool to press the North.

“We believe China has a very, very important role to play," said the U.S. envoy for North Korea policy, Joseph Yun.

South Korea's envoy, Kim Hong-kyun, said they had also discussed how to get Russia's help to press North Korea.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 27, the Kremlin said. It did not elaborate.

RARE SENATE BRIEFING

Matching the flurry of diplomatic and military activity in Asia, the State Department in Washington said on Monday U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would chair a special ministerial meeting of the U.N. Security Council on North Korea on Friday.

Tillerson, along with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Joint Chiefs chairman General Joseph Dunford, would also hold a rare briefing for the entire U.S. Senate on North Korea on Wednesday, Senate aides said.

A North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said those meetings called by U.S. officials clearly reflected the U.S. pressure that could “ignite a full-out war” on the Korean peninsula.

“The reality of today again proves the decision to strengthen nuclear power in quality and quantity under the banner of pursuing economic development and nuclear power was the correct one,” the unidentified spokesman said in a statement issued by the North's state media.

On Monday, Trump called for tougher U.N. sanctions on the North, saying it was a global threat and “a problem that we have to finally solve".

“The status quo in North Korea is also unacceptable,” Trump told a meeting with the 15 U.N. Security Council ambassadors, including China and Russia, at the White House. “The council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.”

The official China Daily said it was time for Pyongyang and Washington to take a step back from harsh rhetoric and heed calls for a peaceful resolution.

“Judging from their recent words and deeds, policymakers in Pyongyang have seriously misread the U.N. sanctions, which are aimed at its nuclear/missile provocations, not its system or leadership,” the newspaper said in an editorial.

“They are at once perilously overestimating their own strength and underestimating the hazards they are brewing for themselves.”

The nuclear-powered submarine the USS Michigan, which arrived in the South Korean port of Busan, is built to carry and launch ballistic missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles.

 

[Hindustani78]

In this photo provided by South Korean Defense Ministry, a South Korean navy sailor watches the destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer during a joint exercises between the United States and South Korea in South Korea’s West Sea Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (South Korean Defense Ministry via AP)

Meanwhile, a US nuclear-powered submarine was docked in Busan. But Seoul said it might not participate in joint naval exercises with South Korea.

A U.S. Air Force U-2 spy plane prepares to land at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. South Korea’s military said Tuesday that North Korea held major live-fire drills in an area around its eastern coastal town of Wonsan as it marked the anniversary of the founding of its military. (Hong Hae-in/Yonhap via AP)

South Korean Navy’s spokesperson told Associated Press that the USS Michigan made a routine stop to reload supplies and rest its crew members. USS Michigan arrived on the same day as North Korea’s military anniversary celebrations. If history is any indicator, North Korea usually marks important dates with a massive show of military might. In a show of force, US President Donald Trump has sent an ‘armada’ of ships, which include an aircraft carrier. There also seems to be an air of unease between US and South Korea as reported by a clutch of South Korean newspapers. Some have questioned whether Trump is deliberately keeping South Korea out as he realigns his North Korea strategy. Trump reportedly skipped calling Seoul during his telephone conversations with Beijing and Tokyo over North Korea’s belligerent actions.

One of the South Korean newspapers, The Maeil Business Daily, claimed on Tuesday that Trump not calling the South Korean Prime Minister was evidence that relations between the allies are “not normal.” The paper also said that Washington is yet to name its new ambassador to Seoul nearly three months after the departure of Mark Lippert. It further questioned whether Trump has ‘entirely left out South Korea in his picture for the Korean Peninsula’.

In this March 15, 2017, file photo, U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, approaches Busan port in Busan, South Korea, to participate in an annual joint military exercise called Foal Eagle between South Korea and the United States. (Source: AP)

 

[gambit]

Oh I don't take them too seriously, I just post them as a contribution to the thread; most of the articles about the situation with North Korea are done from a perspective of sensationalism for the most part. People get paid when they get an article published, so that's an incentive to get a lot of material out there.

What the Chinese on this forum do not understand is that a shooting fight -- not necessarily a war -- between the US and NKR would be a disaster for China.

According to those who have been to the DMZ, the border between China and NKR is even more open than the border between the US and Mexico. Plus there is a large Korean population in Manchuria.

https://www.nknews.org/2014/10/manchuria-the-third-korea/

So when the shooting starts and NKR losses mounts, where will the people go ? Certainly not southward. China can tolerate the current Korean population in Manchuria but not a mass exodus of terrified war refugees. So if there is that mass exodus of war refugees, PLA troops will start shooting and CNN will be broadcasting the carnage live.

 

[Carlosa]

What the Chinese on this forum do not understand is that a shooting fight -- not necessarily a war -- between the US and NKR would be a disaster for China.

According to those who have been to the DMZ, the border between China and NKR is even more open than the border between the US and Mexico. Plus there is a large Korean population in Manchuria.

https://www.nknews.org/2014/10/manchuria-the-third-korea/

So when the shooting starts and NKR losses mounts, where will the people go ? Certainly not southward. China can tolerate the current Korean population in Manchuria but not a mass exodus of terrified war refugees. So if there is that mass exodus of war refugees, PLA troops will start shooting and CNN will be broadcasting the carnage live.

In my view, from a Chinese perspective, whatever happens there, its a loss, there is nothing to gain over the current situation which is the reason why the Chinese have tolerated the North Koreans; as long as they have a buffer zone there, they are happy, anything else creates tremendous risk.

If there is a war, the possible options for China are:
A) Receive a tremendous number of refugees, millions most likely.
B) Attack NK in order to keep the americans out before its too late, that's not fun, many risks including the possible use of NK nuclear weapons against the Chinese, long insurgency after the occupation, Korean people are very nationalistic, they will not give in.
C) Chinese induced regime change, this would be the easiest way out for China if they can make it.
D) Accept a SK takeover of NK after NK gets defeated, worst option for China, China will most likely cross the border and fight SK and USA.
E) Full scale Chinese war with SK and USA in order to prevent NK been taken over

Did I miss anything?

 

[925boy]

D) Accept a SK takeover of NK after NK gets defeated, worst option for China, China will most likely cross the border and fight SK and USA.
E) Full scale Chinese war with SK and USA in order to prevent NK been taken over

Did I miss anything?

IMO these are very likely in the event of serious military escalation. I am very confident China will not "cooperate" with SK or US to reign in/militarily punish North Korea.