by Jim W. Dean, VT Editor … with New Eastern Outlook, Moscow
[ Note: The North Korean story is beginning to show signs of the classic exploited event. Trump is hyping the threat about a nuclear missile strike on the US, which is ludicrous. If such a thing happened, the Pentagon command should be executed the day after and the top defense missile defense contractor execs the next.
After the endless billions spent to justify a missile defense against phony threats, starting with Iran, which was revealed when the P5+1 deal was consummated without Israel ever confirming its multi-decade tirade about Iran’s secret weapons program, Russia quickly replaced Iran as the next threat patsy, but North Korea? Are you kidding me?
Sure, it is a threat to the US troops stationed there, as they are close to the front lines, but we lived with that for a long time during the Cold War with Berlin and the Soviet Union separated from the West by just a wall. But North Korea has offered to stop its missile testing if the US and South Korea would stop their large-scale, joint military maneuvers, which NK rightfully considered a provocation, and where a nuclear deterrent was its best defense.
This offer was lightly reported in the West, and so was the following offer to enter into talks without any conditions. That seemed like a pretty good thing to accept to me. But no, the US wants NK to agree to stop testing first, when that would be giving up its best hold card.
As I cover in the interview, I suspect now that this show is being dragged out, while advanced US weapons are moved in closer to both China and Russia. I am sure they feel that way.
Remember that when the new South Korean president took power, the military did not bother to tell him that another THAAD battery was in S. Korea, in storage. That kind of gives you a clue that the US and S. Korean militaries are running this show.
But that said, China did cut off all supplies for the high-octane rocket fuel used in most of the NK missile testing, as they do not manufacture any. I think that Trump was angry that China had not stopped it sooner, which might have led to the US’ big arms sale to Taiwan.
It is not as though China has done nothing to pressure N Korea. It earlier had canceled a major coal contract, an important export earner for NK. The silver lining in all this is we are still in the sanctions stage, which is a hell of a lot better than both North and South Korea blasting away at each other with 40,000 US troops in the cross fire… JD ]
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The US president has called for new sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear program, saying patience with the country has come to an end.
Trump was speaking during a joint press conference with South Korean president Moon Jae-in. The US president said the two countries’ aim is to protect their citizens from common threats. The South Korean leader for his part called the North’s nuclear threat the gravest challenge to Washington and Seoul.
Moon said a fundamental solution is needed for what he called the North’s nuclear problem, adding that only strong security can bring about genuine peace to the region. North Korea blames the US military presence in the region for the tensions on the peninsula, saying its missile and nuclear programs are aimed at defending itself against possible US aggression.
Washington and Seoul hold regular military drills and the United States has deployed a nuclear capable submarine to the region.
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Jim W. Dean is VT Editor Emeritus. He was an active editor on VT from 2010-2022. He was involved in operations, development, and writing, plus an active schedule of TV and radio interviews. He now writes and posts periodically for VT.
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