World Responds to Sixth Nuclear Test Conducted By North Korea

So what is South Korean President Moon Jae-in going to do after this latest provocation?  Just last month he said a red line for him would be if North Korea developed a nuclear weapon that could be outfitted on an ICBM and that is what the Kim regime is claiming they have done:

North Korea said Sunday that it has successfully conducted a test of a hydrogen bomb that can be loaded into its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in what could be the most powerful detonation.

In an “important” announcement, North Korea said that it carried out the sixth nuclear test at 12:00 p.m. (Pyongyang Time), calling it a “perfect” success.

The announcement came hours after an artificial earthquake with a 5.7 magnitude was detected near North Korea’s nuclear site in the northeastern area.  [Yonhap]

Here is what Moon Jae-in’s response is to crossing a “red line”, more sanctions:

South Korea strongly condemned North Korea’s latest nuclear test Sunday, vowing to push for fresh and the most powerful sanctions by the U.N. Security Council to completely isolate the communist state.

“President Moon Jae-in said the country will never allow North Korea to continue advancing its nuclear and missile technologies,” Moon’s key security adviser Chung Eui-yong said at a press briefing on the outcome of the National Security Council (NSC) meeting held earlier in the day.  [Yonhap]

The Japanese Prime Minister’s word are in line with Moon’s in regards to taking North Korea to the UN Security Council:

The nuclear test was confirmed by the Japanese government, which said the North had conducted the blast, but criticism of the test was rife around the globe.

In Tokyo, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe slammed the test as “absolutely unacceptable” and vowed a tough response at the United Nations.  [Japan Times]

Some how I doubt the Kim regime is impressed by threats of taking them to the UN Security Council.  I guess we will see if the nuclear test will be enough to get the ROK government to move the blockade preventing the installment of the remaining four THAAD launchers in Seongju.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reportedly inspecting the loading of a hydrogen bomb onto a new intercontinental ballistic missile, according to North Korea’s state media, a claim that some outside experts doubt but one that intensifies already high levels of concern on the Korean Peninsula. [AP/YONHAP]
It appears this and other issues are reaching a boiling point with President Trump who heavily criticized President Moon over Twitter:

It appears that President Trump is about to put significant pressure on South Korea over the US-ROK Free Trade Agreement despite the nuclear test:

On trade, the president’s top economic advisers remain deeply divided over a possible withdrawal from the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement, as negotiators from both countries struggle to rewrite the five-year-old deal.

In recent days, a frustrated Mr. Trump has pushed his staff to take bold action against a host of governments, including the one in Seoul, that he has accused of unfair trade practices. But many of his more moderate advisers, including the chairman of the National Economic Council, Gary D. Cohn, believe that such a move could prompt a trade war that could hurt the United States economy.

An industry publication, Inside U.S. Trade, first reported late Friday that the administration was considering withdrawing from the treaty as early as next week.

“Discussions are ongoing, but we have no announcements at this time,” a White House spokeswoman said in an email.

But Mr. Trump, asked during a trip to the Gulf Coast on Saturday whether he was talking with his advisers about the trade deal, said: “I am. It’s very much on my mind.”

The idea of potentially withdrawing seems to have been prompted by the breakdown in negotiations between South Korean officials and the United States Trade Representative, Robert E. Lighthizer, an American official with knowledge of the situation said.  [New York Times]

I think a country that should be concerned about US economic retaliation is China if President Trump follows through on a threat to cut all trade with nations doing business with North Korea:

In recent days, the president has said more sanctions, coupled with implied and explicit threats of military action, would motivate Pyongyang to change its behavior.

The Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, said on Sunday that he planned to draft a new sanctions package that would cut economic ties with anyone who did business with North Korea.

“There’s a lot we can do to cut them off economically, much more than we’ve done,” Mr. Mnuchin said, speaking on “Fox News Sunday.” He called Pyongyang’s actions “unacceptable” and stressed the need for stronger steps.

Mr. Trump went so far on Sunday as to threaten to stop “all trade with any country doing business with North Korea,” an extremely unlikely prospect that, if carried out, would have cataclysmic consequences for the global economy. China is just one of the dozens of countries that trade with the North.  [New York Times]

With 90% of trade into North Korea going through China it is pretty obvious the only way for sanctions to work is to focus on China.  However, the consequences of an embargo on Chinese made products would have significant repercussions on the US economy until manufacturers could reestablish product lines in other countries.  Because of this it seems the sanctions on China need to be incremental to give manufacturers enough time to move out of China.

Here is what China had to say about the nuclear test:

China urged North Korea to stop its “wrong” actions, after the reclusive said it had a successful test of hydrogen bomb that can be mounted onto its inter-continental ballistic missiles on Sunday.

In a statement on its website, China’s Foreign Ministry said China resolutely opposed and strongly condemned North Korea’s actions, and urged the country to respect U.N. Security Council resolutions.

North Korea “has ignored the international community’s widespread opposition, again carrying out a nuclear test. China’s government expresses resolute opposition and strong condemnation toward this,” the ministry said in the statement.  [Korea Times]

Judging by this statement it doesn’t appear China is prepared to do much against North Korea in response to the nuclear test.  The coming days should be interesting to see how the Trump administration responds.  It is pretty clear increased sanctions are going to happen, but will there be any military response as well?

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Flyingsword
Flyingsword
6 years ago

Moon will probably use it as an excuse surrender to nK. He wants to see the country unified under the red banner.

Doug
Doug
6 years ago

Didn’t Moon propose a soccer game with the Kim regime and then afterwards they could have serious dialogue where Kim could see the light and suspend all his nuclear ambitions.

Smokes
Smokes
6 years ago

So far with respects to Asia we’ve been led by the three stooges and their whiney niece.

Trump’s bent the knee to China on this from the start and has backed it up with nothing but smelly old man smoke.

Mattis scares exactly no one with his bullshit talk. You know who really keeps people up at night? Kim Jong Un and not just up but doing shit like building WMD.

Tillerson’s doubled-down on the admin’s ignorance of how things work in Korea by saying dumb stuff like “North Korea’s showing restraint”.

Haley goes to the UN and reads canned garbage and asks for more useless non-action.

I would love for any of them to prove me wrong in the upcoming days but it appears no one’s going to do anything until the DPRK straight up issues ransom demands to the world at the tip of a nuclear armed ICBM. And even then….

johnnyboy
johnnyboy
6 years ago

The more brazen Kim gets, the closer Asia Pacific nations and the UN come to embracing the US and any proposed solutions.

This could go any number of ways but it is becoming increasingly difficult for China or Russia to oppose sanctions that may actually do some serious damage to North Korea.

Smokes, give it a little longer to see how things play out.

ChickenHead
ChickenHead
6 years ago

It is coming, Smokes.

It just needs some time to let China, Russia, and South Korea do nothing… so when they clutch their pearls at the cruise missile strike, Trump can say, “We told you this was coming if you refused to solve the problem in your own back yard. Nukes aimed at America was our problem but we solved it. Refugees and shelling of your cities is your problem. See how America First works?”

That may not happen… but it still works out if everyone thinks it could happen.

I find my problems get solved more quickly when I make them everyone’s problems. This is a perfect situation to do this.

“Let’s solve this problem together or I will make it a bigger problem for you to solve alone.”

Bonus: A damaged South Korea will be importing more than exporting… solving America’s trade imbalance.

Bonus: China occupied with an unstable North Korea will be less focused on other mischief.

Bonus: Iran might tone down some of the Death to America yapping.

Liz
Liz
6 years ago

I think the DPRK has probably convinced itself they can survive a nuclear attack (with all the underground kit they have going on).

Liz
Liz
6 years ago

I think the first step to showing the DPRK we are serious would be removing all military dependents and non-essential civilian personnel from the ROK.
We should do that post haste. No need to make promises or threats…no “we really mean it this time!” Just an announcement that everyone is leaving. And let them decide what that means for them.

Smokes
Smokes
6 years ago

NEO isn’t free and is an extreme disruption to those affected.

Now of course the “NEOese” are supposed to know that there was the chance this could happen and this is “part of the life” but our politicians are very weak and I just don’t see them carrying out a real full-scale NEO as a logistical show of force.

F’ing with the military community is a sure way to lose votes.

Rock
Rock
6 years ago

rump and Mattis are blowing smoke. There are tens of thousands of military dependents and other US citizens in Korea, but our State Department has not ordered the evacuation of noncombatants. State has not even authorized a voluntary “authorized departure” of noncombatants. Plus, the Army has not stopped sending dependents with service members on normal transfers. If you see one of those things happen, then you will know things are really getting serious….

Liz
Liz
6 years ago

I don’t think this will be resolved without “extreme disruption for those effected” nor expense, Smokes. Seems the best first step of some bad options.
They took the families out of Turkey. That wasn’t the number we’re talking about here, but the number here doesn’t amount to a drop in a bucket of voter base anyway. And I’m going to assume a good portion are smart enough to know why it’s necessary.

ChickenHead
ChickenHead
6 years ago

“If you see one of those things happen, then you will know things are really getting serious….”

What good is a tripwire if you roll it up and evacuate it?

Targeted strikes on NK nuclear facilities, rocket factories, research centers, and a few government offices when the boss is in… then NK has to decide how to retaliate.

Kill some fat loud dependent wives and their sour little snotlings? Thanks for the moral highground, North Korea. Now the REAL bombing can begin.

A dependent should have about zero faith that their safety is worth more than a good opportunity for a surprise attack.

Andy
Andy
6 years ago

If a war broke out today, I do wonder how many ME civilian personnel (not just US civs/DOD etc, but also local national Korean workers) wouldn’t show up for work as they would be trying to get their families to safety instead.

Denny
Denny
6 years ago

China and Russia provided NK with the ICBM technology in the first place. Their trucks and equipment have been caught at NK missile sites.

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