North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has extended a hand for talks with South Korea, but Korea watchers are wary of the North’s intentions.
North Korea shocked the world Monday, not with a wild threat, but with an offer to engage the South in dialogue. Two days later, the North and South re-opened a dormant hotline for cross-border calls, the first in nearly two years. South Korea has responded positively, but many observers suspect Seoul may be walking into a trap.
Kim made similar friendly overtures in last year’s New Year’s address, telling Seoul that “positive measures should be taken to improve inter-Korean relations, avoid acute military confrontation, and remove the danger of war between the North and the South.” The North then proceeded to raise regional tensions through repeated military provocations, including both ballistic missile and nuclear weapons tests.
Send Rocket Mn To Hell On A Racket.
“There is reason to be somewhat suspicious of North Korea,” Lisa Collins, a Korea expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, explained to The Daily Caller News Foundation. “North Korea is always looking to maximize its national interests in any way that it can.”
She explained that there are several possible reasons behind North Korea’s sudden interest in dialogue. One, the rogue state may attempt to use “this opportunity as a way to weaken the U.S.-South Korean alliance.” Two, the North may “finally be at the point where it wants to improve relations with South Korea,” and it may even want to use talks with the South as “a springboard to enter into talks with the U.S.” Three, the North may be looking to secure concessions from the South, which could include “more aid, canceling military exercises, and encouraging the U.S. to withdraw its troops from the Korean Peninsula.”
That the North will demand certain concessions is very likely given that Kim stressed that the South “should discontinue all the nuclear war drills they stage with outside forces” and “refrain from any acts of bringing in nuclear armaments and aggressive forces from the United States” in his speech Monday.
In his New Year’s address, the young despot expressed an interest in sending a North Korean team to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, thus appealing to the desires of the liberal South Korean government.
“[South Korean President Moon Jae-in] wants to host a peaceful 2018 Winter Olympic games, as well as open direct dialogue with his neighbor,” Scott Snyder, a senior fellow for Korea studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote in a recent op-ed. These interests make the South susceptible to a North Korean ploy.
“The regime is looking for the weakest link by which to break the maximum pressure campaign, and it seems to judge, not irrationally, that the weakest link is the South Korean government” given its predisposition to using engagement to peacefully resolve this crisis on the Korean Peninsula, Dr. Nicholas Eberstadt, an Asian security expert at the American Enterprise Institute, told TheDCNF recently.
“This is just like a regular exercise in garden variety burglary,” he explained. “This is like a hotel burglar testing every door to see what opens. The door that looks the most promising to the North Korean regime is the blue house in Seoul, so the regime is testing and probing.”
“They want to see how far they can get,” he remarked.
North Korea’s behavior is certainly not out of character and is even common practice for the rogue state, according to another expert.
“I think that what we are seeing is consistent with past tactical shifts in North Korean politics,” Dean Cheng, a research fellow on East Asian political and security affairs, explained to TheDCNF. “We often see periods of mild reconciliation followed by periods of aggressive action.”
He stressed that North Korea’s long-term intentions — specifically reunifying the Korean Peninsula on North Korea’s terms — never change. North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, saber rattling, and occasional overtures for peace are “part of this larger effort to drive a wedge between the U.S. and South Korea, make the American support for South Korea appear less credible, and to press South Korea into modestly conciliatory gestures.”
When Kim delivered his New Year’s address, not only did he announce that the North is “open to dialogue” with the South, but he also order the mass production and rapid deployment of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missiles. The Moon administration has overlooked this order, focusing most of its attention on the opportunity for talks.
“Everyone always sees what they want to see,” Cheng pointed out. “If you really want to believe that we can cut a deal with North Korea,” as some of the South Korean president’s liberal predecessors did, “then you are going to look for those glimmers of hope. I don’t see much cause for optimism, but I am not Moon Jae-in.”
“As [the position of the South Korean government] is an ideological viewpoint, which is to say it is faith based, it is impervious to empirical reality,” Eberstadt explained to TheDCNF, adding, “We are seeing the triumph of hope over experience in dealing with the North Koreans.”
Within the U.S. government, as well as the armed services, views of the talks between North and South Korea are noticeably varied.
While President Donald Trump initially said news of talks could be good or bad, he solidified his position on the matter Thursday, asserting that “talks are a good thing!” The Department of State expressed skepticism earlier, with department spokeswoman Heather Nauert stating, “We are very skeptical of Kim Jong Un’s sincerity in sitting down and having talks.”
Gen. Vincent Brooks, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, argued Thursday that the U.S. and its allies should not have any illusions about North Korea’s peaceful overture. “We can be generally pleased by the recent overtures that happened. But, we must keep our expectations at the appropriate level,” he said, adding that North Korea may presently be trying to divide the countries united against it. “We can not ignore that reality.”
Say a prayer for our military families. Lord, keep them safe.
US families urged to leave military bases near Seoul amid fears North Korea WAR ‘close’
FAMILIES of US military should leave South Korea because war between America and Pyongyang is “getting close”, according to a senior US Senator and ex-Air Force Colonel.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has warned that the rising tensions between the the US and Kim Jong-un’s corrupt regime means preparations for war need to be taken.
The member of the Senate Armed Services Committee warned the US was “running out of time” to prepare itself for war when speaking on CBS yesterday.
He said: “I want the Pentagon to stop sending dependents and I think it’s now time to start moving American dependents out of South Korea.
“We’re getting close to a military conflict because North Korea is marching toward marrying up the technology of an ICBM with a nuclear weapon on top that can not only get to America, but deliver the weapon.
“We’re running out of time.”
Fears of war between the two countries hit a new high last week after the rogue state announced they had successfully tested a missile capable of targeting any part of the US equipped with a nuclear weapon.
The launch ended over 60 days of silence from North Korea’s missile programme after regular missile tests paused in September.
According to South Korea’s military, the latest missile flew some 596 miles (960km) to an altitude of around 2,796 miles (4,500km).
Following the launch Hawaii began immediate test to prepare for a nuclear strike.
Authorities on the island began to test a wailing siren, which represents an emergency, for a minute on Friday.
It was the first nuclear attack warning siren tested in the state since the Cold War.
Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency administrator Vern Miyagi said: “Hawaii is a likely target because we’re closer to North Korea than most of the continental United States…
“As we track the news and see tests, both missile launches, and nuclear tests, it’s the elephant in the room.”
Mr Graham’s calls for families to be evacuated from South Korea comes after White House national security adviser HR McMaster warned on Saturday that the issue of North Korea was close to reaching a climax.
Speaking at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California he said: “I think it’s increasing every day, which means that we are in a race, really, we are in a race to be able to solve this problem.”
Addressing the UN in September he referred to Kim Jong-un as “rocket man on a mission” and has said that seeking a diplomatic solution is a “waste of time”.
Addressing South Korea’s National Assembly in October the US President also said America would “not be intimidated” by Kim Jong-un’s rhetoric.
He warned in his speech that he had the “three largest aircraft carriers in the world are appropriately positioned” to face Pyongyang.
Asad “Friendship? No, I am going to blow your fat ass up”
North Korea: Friendship with Syria ‘Will Be Strengthened and Developed’
The government of North Korea sent a “message of greeting to Bashar al-Assad” on Thursday meant to congratulate Assad for “the 70th anniversary of the [Baath Arab Socialist] Party’s founding.” North Korean state media published the congratulatory note on Friday, following the Trump administration’s decision to conduct airstrikes on a key Assad military base.
“Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea, Thursday sent a message of greeting to Bashar Al-Assad, president of the Syrian Arab Republic who doubles as regional secretary of the Baath Arab Socialist Party,” the North Korean state newspaper Rodong Sinmun reported on Friday.
“Today the Party is resolutely struggling to courageously shatter the vicious challenge and aggressive moves of the hostile forces at home and abroad and defend the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity under the leadership of Bashar Al-Assad,” Kim, the dictator of North Korea, is said to have written to Assad.
The South Korean news agency Yonhap noted that observers see the note as “showing friendly ties between Pyongyang and Damascus” in a particularly volatile political moment for Assad, as President Donald Trump approves of using American military strength to punish the Assad regime for an alleged chemical weapons attack in Idlib province, which left hundreds of Syrian civilians dead or injured.
North Korea’s ambassador to Moscow also weighed in on Trump’s airstrikes specifically, threatening a “most ruthless blow” against the United States should the United States exercises “even the smallest provocation” against Pyongyang, a sign that North Korea interpreted the attack on Syria as a warning to other rogue states like itself that America was not afraid of military responses to international human rights law violations.
In addition to the litany of human rights offenses the communist regime in Pyongyang has been accused of, Yonhap notes that North Korea keeps close ties to Syria and “has long been suspected of cooperating with Syria over nuclear programs.”
Trump ordered the airstrikes Thursday night while hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago. China is North Korea’s biggest trade partner and a fellow Communist nation many accuse of not doing enough to curb Kim’s erratic and belligerent foreign policy.
Trump praised his discusses with Xi on Friday as “outstanding” and announced that the two world leaders had made “tremendous progress” on a host of issues. “I believe that lots of very potentially bad problems will be going away,” Trump declared.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confirmed with reporters that Trump and Xi had discussed North Korea. “We are hopeful that China will find ways to exercise influence over North Korea’s actions to dismantle their nuclear weapons and their missile technology programs,” he told reporters.
North Korea’s message to Assad on Friday was particularly notable for the timing of Trump’s airstrikes, but it was far from the first time Pyongyang has reached out to Damascus. A month ago, Rodong published a story reporting on a senior North Korean official sending “a message of sympathy to Bashar al-Assad” to express “the firm belief that the Syrian government and people would eradicate the aftereffects of the recent incident as soon as possible and firmly defend the security and stability of the country.”
Kim Jong-un personally sent a “message of greeting” to Assad that month, extending “firm support and solidarity to the Syrian government and people in their just struggle for frustrating the aggression and challenges of the hostile forces.”
PYONGYANG, North Korea — Wailing and clutching at their hearts, tens of thousands of North Koreans lined the snowy streets of Pyongyang on Wednesday as the hearse carrying late leader Kim Jong Il’s wound its way through the capital for a final farewell.
Son and successor Kim Jong Un led the procession, which is part of a two-day state funeral. Top military and party officials, including uncle Jang Song Thaek, were also part of the lead group.
Sobs and wails filled the air along the memorial route, which state media said was about 25 miles long.
At the end of the procession, Kim Jong Un walked along with the limousine with his hand cocked in a salute. He stood head-bowed with top officials as rifles fired 21 times, then saluted again as goose-stepping soldiers carrying flags and rifles marched by.
The funeral procession, which began and ended at Kumsusan Memorial Palace, passed by huge crowds of mourners, most of them standing in the snow with their heads bare. Many screamed, stamped their feet, flailed their arms and wept as soldiers struggled to keep them from spilling onto the road.
“Take a Look at what Kim Jong IL did to his people and you will
come to the conclusion that the only reason these people were crying was out of
fear. They are happy that this Communist Dictator is dead. The media keeps referring
to this evil dictator has the Dear Leader. The only one that this evil man was
dear to is the Devil.” Why did they not let the media in all of the other years
that this Bastard was living? The Propaganda machines are in full effect. (This Commentary By: Elmer Williams)
(These Facts Are From About.Com By: Kallie Szczepanski)
During the 1980s, according to foreign analysts, Kim Jong-il
was involved in at least two acts of state-sponsored terrorism. The first was a
1983 bombing in Rangoon, Burma, which left 17 South Korean government officials
dead. The second, a 1987 bombing of Korean Airlines flight 858, killed all 115
people on board.
These incidents were an early sign that Kim Jong-il would
take a harder-line approach to international relations than his father had. The
younger Kim also demanded absolute obedience and respect from the people, and
was willing to dole out extreme punishments to any who disobeyed.
The Supreme Leader:
On July 8, 1994, Kim Il-sung died of a heart attack at age
82. He was named “Eternal President,” and laid to rest in the Kumsusan Memorial
Palace in Pyongyang.
As a result of his father’s “eternal” status, Kim Jong-il
was not officially the President of North Korea. Although he was Kim Il-sung’s
chosen successor, the younger Kim may have been an unpopular choice among the
Party faithful. His take-over of the government was a slow and cautious
process. It was several years after Kim Il-sung’s death before foreign
observers were sure that Kim Jong-il truly would become North Korea’s next
leader.
Domestic Policy:
As North Korea’s leader, Kim distanced himself even from
North Korea’s traditional allies, Russia and the People’s Republic of China. He
also instituted a “Military-First” policy, devoting the majority of the
country’s resources to the armed forces. Those policies, combined with a cycle
of devastating droughts followed by catastrophic floods, caused widespread
famine throughout the 1990s and early 21st century.
Huge shipments of food aid from traditional foes such as
South Korea, Japan, and the United States arrived too late to save an estimated
200,000 to 3.5 million North Korean famine victims.
Foreign Policy:
In 1998, South Korea’s President Kim Dae-jung instituted a
“Sunshine Policy” toward the North. This was meant to improve relations between
the two Koreas, freeze the North’s nuclear program, and foster economic
cooperation, as a first step toward reunification of the peninsula. The Sunshine
Policy suffered a number of setbacks, with most egregious coming on October 9,
2006 — the day North Korea successfully conducted its first underground nuclear
test.
Kim Jong-il puzzled surrounding powers and the U.S. with his
erratic policies on the nuclear issue and other important matters.
Human Rights Abuses:
Kim Jong-il has also faced international pressure over human
rights abuses. The North Korean government runs a series of “re-education
camps” that hold as many as 50,000 citizens of all ages prisoner for political
“crimes” such as failure to adore the Dear Leader.
In addition, Kim was reviled for the kidnapping of Japanese
and South Korean citizens off of beaches by North Korean submarine crews for
use as intelligence community language and culture trainers. Such kidnappings
have all but ceased today, but many of South Korea’s beaches still sport rolls
of concertina wire just above the high-tide line.
Quirks and Spending Habits:
Kim Jong-il was known for his eccentric and extravagant
tastes. He imports $700,000 worth of Hennessy cognac per year, ate lobster,
caviar, and the finest sushi every day, and loved Hollywood movies such as
“Rambo” and the “Friday the 13th” series. Kim also enjoyed racing cars, and had
a fleet of Mercedes Benz S500 luxury sedans. Reportedly, the dictator also
loved roasted donkey meat.
Kim Jong Il was a big fan of guitar legend Eric Clapton, and
once invited the musician to play in Pyongyang. Clapton did not accept the
invitation.
Personal Life and the “Cult of Personality”:
Kim was extremely secretive about his personal life. It is
believed that he married once, had one child from this marriage, and that he
also had three mistresses and two other children.
Kim’s oldest son, Kim Jong-nam, was disgraced by a 2001
arrest in Tokyo for traveling with a forged passport. His position as the
successor to his father was ruined by this incident, although reports suggested
that he was trying to get back into Kim Jong-il’s good graces when the Dear
Leader passed away. The third son, Kim Jong-un, was groomed instead to succeed
Kim Jong-il, whose health began to decline seriously after 2005.
Like any good dictator, Kim Jong-il built an elaborate cult
of personality. Pictures of him and his late father adorned all public
buildings, and criticism of the Kims is punishable by imprisonment in the
concentration camps. Both men’s birthdays are important national holidays. All
media sources are controlled by the State, of course, so praise for the “Dear
Leader” was broadcast constantly over the radio and in newspapers.
Some outside observers believe that this obedience and
adulation arises from actual love and respect either for Kim Jong-il, or for
the memory of his father. Most, however, believe that the citizens of North
Korea are motivated more by fear than by hero worship.
Kim Jong-il’s Death:
Kim Jong-il died during a train trip on December 17, 2011.
This was one of his series of internal trips in order to supervise and advise
the industrial and agricultural producers of North Korea. According to official
news reports, he died of a heart attack due to overwork.
Immediately after his death, his third son Kim Jong-un was
named as the “Great Successor” to his father. It remains to be seen
whether the new leader will be able to rule with the same iron will as his
father and grandfather. In any case, uncertainty in North Korea means
instability in East Asia – and with nuclear weapons in the picture, that is a
frightening thought indeed.
