Pyongyang to unleash NUKULAR horsemen of the Norkocalypse? Last week, UK prime minister David Cameron raised a few eyebrows when he insisted North Korea has the capability to launch a missile strike against the the US and the UK. Just like Blighty was once warned of Saddam Hussein's terrifying Weapons of Mass Destruction, the PM forewarned: “North Korea does now have missile …
I would be very surprised if the US has not already been discreetly discussing "What if?" with China. The young'un is overplaying his hand, so it must be for domestic consumption. I've read in the past that China's primary motivation in supporting NK is to prevent its collapse and the flooding of millions of starving Norks over the border. Today's China doesn't want to export revolution, they want to export business and acquire territory. Wars get in the way of business.
As for shipping containers, I find it hard to believe that the few of them coming out of NK are not totally monitored. NK has no economy, what could they be shipping? Maybe some arms or technology, and don't think those would not be of intense interest to western intelligence.
the question that needs to be asked is, how real is it to South Korea? I realize all us white Europeans and Americans can sit back and be all elitist and claim there's "No" threat and that it's no big deal because we're safe by distance and billions of dollars invested in defensive systems, early warning and interception schemes.
To the poor b@stards who buy the farm in Seoul or get torpedoed while on patrol by a NorK "accident" or barbecued in a "fizzle" that doesn't quite go off right, it doesn't matter if the weapon is delivered with pinpoint accuracy on an ICBM, or in the back of an old Russian Zil that barely makes it across the DMZ with a bungee cord on it's steering wheel and a bricked pedal "autopilot".
Dismissing the NorKs as primitive or "not a significant threat" may be trendy but please, don't pretend your non-interference desires have anything to do with desires for peace or compassion for the peoples of Korea. Some of us have family, some have friends, some have friends' family there who are gonna get hurt badly even if any "invasion" is just 15 minutes of inaccurate artillery and a bunch of bad language on TV. If grandson Kim even manages a fizzle, things will look like the aftermath of Hiroshima.
The South Koreans are shrugging it off, saying they're crying wolf as usual. Much more so than the US or Europeans. All my friends there are relaying that message back. But I can't help but think that blanking them like that just goads the North on.
The ideal would be if NK could have a burma-esque style volte-face... maybe someday it'll happen.
I'm sure everyone remembers, what, six months ago when the clatter of mahjong tiles was drowned out by the whinging of the US and its piss ant allies of the South China Sea.
China had claimed for its billion-three citizens the petroleum deposits under some scruffy islands there. So, the US dreadnoughts steamed into the sunset. And there, not far from Mandalay itself, this new flotilla lay. All of China's moves had been checked. The forces of plausible hypocrisy were ascendant.
But what's this noise? Thunder? No, it's an outcry from Pyongyang and an even louder reply from the West.
"The Pentagon confirmed Tuesday that it is positioning an array of military assets near the Korean Peninsula, as the White House stressed that the "entire national security team" is focused on the escalating threats out of Pyongyang -- with the latest being a pledge to restart a key nuclear reactor. Pentagon spokesman George Little said that two destroyer warships, the USS Decatur and USS McCain, have arrived in the region as part of a missile-defense mission. Previously, the Pentagon had only revealed that it had moved the USS McCain to the region. In addition, the Pentagon has already announced plans to have two sea-based radar systems in the western Pacific."
And all those military assets not where they were meant to be.
Back in Beijing, the relaxing clickity clack of mahjong tiles can be heard over the grunting of tai chi in the People's Park.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
