Oh Oh...North Korea

[Neil Down]

On our side??

[Tarne]

Nothing is going to happen, sigh. Every time you all jump to it but it won't happen. 

[the stinking enigma]

Theresa may flies to tokyo tonight. She is so brave. 

[the stinking enigma]

3 hours ago, Neil Down said:

On our side??

It's a theory i have been mulling for a while now neil. Admittedly i have no evidence whatsoever to back up my claim but you'll just have to take my word for it. 

[Neil Down]

7 minutes ago, the stinking enigma said:

It's a theory i have been mulling for a while now neil. Admittedly i have no evidence whatsoever to back up my claim but you'll just have to take my word for it. 

Sounds like a good idea 

[the stinking enigma]

That's what i thought

[P.K.]

Their most powerful nuclear test to date. They claim it's a "missile ready" H-bomb but it probably isn't.

Well, not yet anyway.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41139445

[woolley]

On 8/29/2017 at 7:19 PM, the stinking enigma said:

Theresa may flies to tokyo tonight. She is so brave. 

I liked the item on Manx Radio news where it was reported that in meetings with the Japanese PM it had emerged that Theresa May had never partaken in karaoke. The newscaster (I think it was Howard) added wryly: "There's a surprise then." Made me chuckle anyway.

[woolley]

On 8/13/2017 at 2:40 PM, Tarne said:

I did laugh!

If they ever get really uppity just pull the plug out.

[woolley]

1 hour ago, P.K. said:

Their most powerful nuclear test to date. They claim it's a "missile ready" H-bomb but it probably isn't.

Well, not yet anyway.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41139445

If he ever got to that point US would just say to China either you sort him out or we'll take him out, in the sense of missiles on his bases. Meanwhile it's useful to beat the military spending drum.

[the stinking enigma]

Looks like ivanka could be in for some bedroom action over the next few days, trump starting to get a bit frisky over all this. Should the people of NK not be regarded as hostages suffering from stockholm syndrome? Seems a bit harsh to kill them? 

[mojomonkey]

46 minutes ago, the stinking enigma said:

Looks like ivanka could be in for some bedroom action over the next few days, trump starting to get a bit frisky over all this. Should the people of NK not be regarded as hostages suffering from stockholm syndrome? Seems a bit harsh to kill them? 

Ivanka is his daughter?

[Chinahand]

Nice set of seismographs from the Norwegian Geological Survey.  Looks like Fatty's mob are improving over time:

The US were threatening to sanction any country (ie China) which continues to trade with NK.  There is no way that'll get through the UN, so it will be a stand-off between the US and China - which is very unlikely to bring about NK's economic collapse.  Fatty thinks he's safe and will keep on going!

[Max Power]

Another case of 'Hurry up and wait'.

[Freggyragh]

Our media like to portray Kim as some kind of crazy Dr Evil. He is a nasty piece of work, but he isn't crazy. He owes his position to the leaders of the Workers Party of Korea and the Army. To understand the predicament of North Korea you have to know some of the history:

Before WW2 Korea was a colony of Japan. The Japanese invested heavily in the area that became North Korea. Coal mines, steel plants, manufacturingand infrastructure were developed. At the end of the war the Soviets invaded Korea from the North. The US insisted Korea be divided North and South along the 38th parallel so that it maintained control over Seoul and the southern part of the country. It was an unfortunate way to divide a country, with nearly all the industry in the North, and the agriculture and main ports in the South. The US only kept a token force in the South. The Soviets helped the North develop its military and North Korean troops helped Mao oust the American backed nationalists from China. In 1948 the Soviets declared the North as the only legitimate government of Korea and by 1950 the North was ready to invade the South and reunify the country.

The Korean War that followed was a humanitarian tragedy on an epic scale, that ended almost as it started. The industrial North remained cut off from the ports and agriculture of the South, dependent on its communist allies China and the USSR for trade.

Things got difficult during the 60s as Russia and China fell out and went to war with each other. North Korea had to try and maintain good relations with both and become as self reliant as possible. The regime gave this policy of self-reliance a grand title 'juche', but in reality it was borrowing on a huge scale for a planned economy and grandiose military that it couldn't afford. It started defaulting on payments in the 70s and stopped paying anything back by the mid 80s. 

In 1991 the regime's main trading partner, and cheap oil supplier, the USSR, ceased to be. As the regime was still technically in a state of war with the UN options for trade were mostly limited to China and Cuba, and as the country had defaulted on its foreign debts it had no means of raising capital. By 1998 the military had assumed de facto control, the country was experiencing annual famines and the whole country had been effectively into a prison camp. Foreign currency came mostly through black market drugs and weapons sales and the blackmailing of Koreans overseas with relatives still in the country. The country would have collapsed already if it hadn't been for its military  might.

In 1998 the regime unsuccessfully tested a space launch vehicle capable of launching ICBMs. Bill Clinton and the South Koreans tried to reduce tensions by providing aid, developing investment, trade and transport links between the two Koreas and reducing tensions by limiting military excercises. The North responded to this 'Sunshine Policy' well, releasing kidnapped Japanese civilians and American POWs, and generally behaving for the next six years.

However, the Sunshine Policy didn't play at all well with the US or South Korean public. Defectors told of the dire human rights situation in the North and opposition parties argued that the 'Sunshine Policy' was propping up the regime. 

George W Bush then cut US aid to the North, and in 2002 proclaimed it a component of the 'Axis of Evil', just as he was planning 'regime change' for Iraq. 

North Korea responded to Bush's threats by developing a nuclear program, partly to solve its energy crisis, and partly to developed a nuclear deterrent. However, it desisted from any  significant military provocation towards its neighbours until 2005, when it conducted a missile test in the Sea of Japan. The South suspended all aid in 2006, and shortly after the North detonated a nuclear device and attempted to test an ICBM. 

Since then, matters have deteriorated. The Chinese allegedly attempted a coup in 2013, that only raised tensions, the UN has accused the regime of crimes against humanity and the regime finally succeeded in launching an ICBM on July 4th. 

Clearly, the regime wants to extort aid, it wants its debts forgiven and it wants trade and investment deals. Instead, it is having severe embargoes placed upon it. The ideal solution would be regime change, but a war would result in humanitarian disaster the likes of which is hard to imagine. It's a tough situation, but I think we should remember that, bad as it is, it is at least being contained at present, and the regime must know that the fastest way to annihilation is to start a war it can't possibly win.