North Korea Launches a Missile

[The Don]

Apparently there's now a more substantial positive response from the South:

Who is/are 21centurywire ?

I think I've heard of them in other threads because they tend to push a global warming denial perspective but I'm not familiar with their reliability as a source of unbiased news.

The quoted text has a whiff of conspiracy theory about it (tensions in the Korean peninsula are down to the U.S. and are nothing to do with the P.R.K who are only seeking peace), but of course I've been indoctrinated by Pre$$titutes.

 

[Childlike Empress]

Who is/are 21centurywire ?

I think I've heard of them in other threads because they tend to push a global warming denial perspective but I'm not familiar with their reliability as a source of unbiased news.

The quoted text has a whiff of conspiracy theory about it (tensions in the Korean peninsula are down to the U.S. and are nothing to do with the P.R.K who are only seeking peace), but of course I've been indoctrinated by Pre$$titutes.

There's always the possibility to put larger amounts of text into a search engine. If you don't believe that Yonhap agency reported these things about the South's willingness to talk, check out the quote and you will see that your favorite pre$$titutes report the same. You're welcome, and you even get an independent assessment with it for free.

 

[The Don]

There's always the possibility to put larger amounts of text into a search engine. If you don't believe that Yonhap agency reported these things about the South's willingness to talk, check out the quote and you will see that your favorite pre$$titutes report the same. You're welcome, and you even get an independent assessment with it for free.

I was speaking about this bit of the report:

It’s no surprise then that every time the North and South begin to seriously pursue peace, the US will interfere, or create a ‘tension event’ which will temporarily kill-off peace talks

... is that from Yonhap or is that 21centurywire editorial ?

 

[Darth Rotor]

The Don, your skepticism is warranted.

Somewhat on topic: I am ever hopeful that progress will be made to a north/south accord moving off of the "it's a cease fire since 1953" status quo. I also expect that a merger will be a bit tougher than E/W Germany was.

More on topic: have the chicken little faction finally realized that their fears of a nuclear war were premature? Remember, folks, Mr Kim's primary strategic interest is to remain in a position of political power. He can't do that if the nukes fly in his direction, so he won't do something that he calculates will create that condition.

 

[alfaniner]

More on topic: have the chicken little faction finally realized that their fears of a nuclear war were premature?

Personally, I'm not that concerned about Kim starting it.

 

[The Don]

Somewhat on topic: I am ever hopeful that progress will be made to a north/south accord moving off of the "it's a cease fire since 1953" status quo. I also expect that a merger will be a bit tougher than E/W Germany was.

IMO it will be - to say the least.

Not only has it been far longer than Germany was split but the degree of divergence between North and South Korea is even greater than that between East and West Germany, economically, politically and socially. German reunification has been very expensive and nearly 30 years on, the former East Germany still seems to lag well behind the former West Germany from an economic perspective.

Even if Korean reunification becomes politically possible, I'm not sure that South Korea can afford to foot the bill and I can't see the U.S. being prepared to help pay or be too happy if China offer to ante-up.....

 

[Childlike Empress]

Talks have started.

[...] One North Korea watcher in Seoul said that the metric deciding the success or failure of today’s talks would be whether the North is cleared to participate in the Games and whether a follow-up meeting would be agreed to.

“This is an ice-breaking moment in inter-Korean relations,” said Choi Kang, vice president of think tank the Asan Institute. “At the end of the day, if they agree to come to the Winter Olympics, that is the best result I can think of; it is necessary to have a continuation of these kinds of talks.”

South Korea’s Moon spoke to Donald Trump about the upcoming talks in a telephone discussion last week, gaining the US president’s approval to halt scheduled winter military exercises as a goodwill gesture ahead of the Winter Games. [...]

 

[dudalb]

The current North Korean is going to have to collapse before peaceful reunification becomes a realistic possibility.

 

[Childlike Empress]

Progress:

According to a joint statement released after the [third round of] talks ended late on Wednesday evening, the two nations agreed to field a joint women’s ice hockey team. Also, athletes from both Koreas will march on in the opening ceremony under a single flag.

They will march under the reunification flag.

 

[Childlike Empress]

Also: Trump’s surprise turnaround on North Korea

[...] Trump also views the resumption of inter-Korean talks as a vindication of his earlier tough stance on North Korea. South Korean President Moon Jae-in has diplomatically given “huge credit” to Trump for the Kim’s offer to talk with Seoul, enforcing the view that Trump’s strategic ambiguity when it comes to North Korea is paying dividends.

Trump has dismissed criticism that he was handing Kim a propaganda victory when he endorsed the inter-Korean talks and delayed the military exercises. “I don’t think anybody thinks I’m bending. I think that people think that, if anything, I’m being too tough,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal last week, adding “I think it would be totally inappropriate” to hold the exercises during the Olympics.

Asked by the WSJ if he thought North Korea was trying to drive a wedge between Washington and Seoul, Trump replied: “I will let you know. But if I were them I would try. But the difference is I’m president; other people aren’t. And I know more about wedges than any human being that’s ever lived.”

In discussing his earlier combative stance against Kim, Trump explained: “You’ll see that a lot with me… and then all of a sudden I’m somebody’s my best friend… I’m a very flexible person.” [...]

 

[angrysoba]

The current North Korean is going to have to collapse before peaceful reunification becomes a realistic possibility.

Their ability to survive and dictate the agenda is remarkable. Now having played and won a game of nuclear chicken they are discussing what prizes they should get.

 

[theprestige]

Their ability to survive and dictate the agenda is remarkable. Now having played and won a game of nuclear chicken they are discussing what prizes they should get.

Apparently the only prize they can get is the very rapprochement South Korea has been pressing on them for decades.

The irony is that they could have had that prize for free years ago, without any of the nuclear shenanigans they embarked upon.

Now they're getting exactly what they could have had anyway, only now with the risk that Donald Trump will nuke them if they stuff it up.

 

[angrysoba]

Apparently the only prize they can get is the very rapprochement South Korea has been pressing on them for decades.

The irony is that they could have had that prize for free years ago, without any of the nuclear shenanigans they embarked upon.

Now they're getting exactly what they could have had anyway, only now with the risk that Donald Trump will nuke them if they stuff it up.

No. The goal of the West ought to be regime change. Rapprochement was a carrot to end the nuclear weapons program, not an end goal. Now the North don’t need to be tempted away from their own nuclear goal because they have already achieved one. Rapprochement is just a bonus for them.

The next step is some kind of Federal system in which the North’s regime stays in power and gets goodies from the South delivered free of charge.

 

[alfaniner]

I think they've been holding off testing because they're preparing not one, not two, but three missiles to go at once. Targets: Hawaii, Los Angeles, and The Super Bowl.

 

[Childlike Empress]

Puke-inducing:

Author of “Cover Up at Guantanamo,” Jeffery Kaye joins Scott to discuss his article “The Long-suppressed Korean War Report on U.S. Use of Biological Weapons Released At Last.” Kaye details the use of different biological weapons during the Korean War, including newly confirmed claims that have been suppressed for decades. Kaye then describes the lengths he had to travel to see the evidence of U.S. biological warfare firsthand in his attempt to corroborate different sources. Lastly Scott and Kaye discuss the long history of the U.S. threatening potential whistleblowers of U.S. war crimes and the constant drum beat to war on the part of the establishment.

 

[Venom]

How many more propaganda balloons will need to be flown into North Korea to change the regime from the inside?

 

[theprestige]

How many more propaganda balloons will need to be flown into North Korea to change the regime from the inside?

Is that a rhetorical question?