MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Kim Jong un is challenging Donald Trump or Xi Jinping?
North Korea's display of missiles and nuclear weapons seems more directed to challenge Xi Jinjping's China than United States and president Donald Trump. In effect the timing of events seems to indicate Pyongyang is clearly on tack to disappoint and embarrass Beijing. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesQuestion for anyone - Does China recognise and have reasonable relations with South Korea?
Sep 05th, 2017 - 01:05 pm - Link - Report abuse +1If it does then possible solution could be- USA says it will flatten the North and remove its troops from Korean Penninsular - South can then take over and rebuild the north when radiation levels allow and all are happy - China-South Korea- USA and all the rest of the sane world!
Yes, they have normal relations and China is South Korea's biggest trade partner, but are you seriously suggesting the US should launch an unprovoked nuclear attack on North Korea?
Sep 05th, 2017 - 02:09 pm - Link - Report abuse -1NK is already nuclear armed, they may not be able to reach the US mainland yet but there's a decent chance they could hit targets in SK or Japan. And where do you think the fallout will go? Plus the fact the US does NOT do this kind of thing is the main reason other countries have agreed not to develop nuclear weapons.
And then there are the massive artillery batteries aimed at Seoul, which is just over the border. These are in hardened bunkers, not on the surface, I don't know if even a nuclear missile could take them out immediately, and if they are not taken out immediately they could destroy a good part of the city and potentially kill millions of people.
Plus there are is another issue not mentioned in this article. If the NK regime ever collapses, there are going to be millions of poor, unskilled and brainwashed refugees heading into China, which no doubt China would like to avoid. North Korea is so massively behind the South in development that reintegrating them would be extremely difficult and expensive, very much harder than East and West Germany. If North Koreans were immediately given the same rights as South Koreans, there would be a massive drop in living standards for the latter, but what is the alternative? Keeping them as second class citizens for an indefinite amount of time?
Since China does seem to be losing patience with the latest Kim, the best case scenario might be for them to stage a coup and put someone saner in charge. Someone who doesn't threaten nuclear war and will develop the country a little, make it more like China.
Not an unprovoked attack- but the next missile podgy fires will have to be shot down if technically possible over Japan or wherever, as that missile is a clear warlike threat - and if it goes mushroom up in space showing it was Nuclear armed - then the world has a clear right to take North Korea out. I guess first salvoes all into southern N Korea to reduce chances of them taking out Seoul.
Sep 05th, 2017 - 03:54 pm - Link - Report abuse +1But yes - if China can simply take out podgy and his cronies and replace him with a more “normal” dictator - good idea!
They tracked the most recent missile and knew it wasn't going to land anywhere near Japan, and I sincerely doubt that Kim Jong-un has enough spare nuclear warheads to waste any. But you're still suggesting starting a nuclear war; NK has real nuclear missiles they can launch as soon as they see anything incoming, and in that case they would be headed for Japan, not over the country's head. Apart from the massive destruction, you're left with all the fallout to deal with afterwards too, and China is *highly* unlikely to agree to let the US drop nuclear bombs on a country next door.
Sep 06th, 2017 - 09:37 am - Link - Report abuse 0Much better for China to deal with the problem, if they haven't already let Kim get too far out of control.
Jaw jaw... Better than war...
Sep 06th, 2017 - 01:52 pm - Link - Report abuse 0This publication does not post its story attributions which is a pity since whomever wrote this article is a complete idiot who has obviously never been involved with building anything.
Sep 06th, 2017 - 02:35 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I take the North Koreans at their word. They have stated repeatedly that they want a nuclear deterrence as soon as possible. They are running the necessary engineering projects to achieve that end. The timing of any event in an engineering project is determined by the project, not whether this or that world leader is hosting something.
This article represents the sort of analysis that belongs in a kindergarten.
@Gevera
Sep 06th, 2017 - 04:07 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I wish Mercopress would attribute their stories too. This one appears to be by BBC China Correspondent Stephen McDonell:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41141099
However, I think you are wrong. Kim Jong-un seems at least as interested in threats and grandstanding as in having an effective nuclear weapon, so it would hardly be out of character for him to time the tests in order to make a point.
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