South Korean broadcaster MBC released these photos on Feb. 17, 2016, featuring U.S. talk show host Conan O’Brien shooting a cameo appearance for Korean drama “One More Happy Ending” a day earlier. O’Brien is on a five-day trip to Seoul from Feb. 15 to set up a collaboration project with JYP Entertainment chief Park Jin-young. (Yonhap)
The US has used another show force against the Kim regime by doing a fly over of South Korea with its F-22 stealth fighter aircraft:
Four U.S. F-22 stealth fighters flew low over South Korea on Wednesday in a clear show of force against North Korea, a day after South Korea’s president warned of the North’s collapse amid a festering standoff over its nuclear and missile ambitions.
The high-tech planes capable of sneaking past radar undetected were seen by an Associated Press photographer before they landed at Osan Air Base near Seoul. They were escorted by other U.S. and South Korean fighter jets.
Pyongyang will likely view the arrival of the planes flown from a U.S. base in Japan as a threat as they are an apparent display of U.S. airpower aimed at showing what the United States can do to defend its ally South Korea from potential aggression from North Korea. [Associated Press]
You can read more at the link, but in the last few weeks in response to the North Korean provocations the US has deployed an additional Patriot battery to South Korea and did a fly by with a B-52 from Guam as well.
I guess the US has to go through the motions of telling the Chinese that the THAAD missile defense system is of no threat to them. However, I have to guess that US officials know that the Chinese already know it is not a threat and instead are in my opinion using the issue to try and create a wedge between the US and the ROK:
The United States and China have been in discussions about the possible deployment of an advanced American missile defense system in South Korea, a diplomatic source with knowledge of the matter said Monday.
The discussions are aimed at seeking China’s understanding that the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in South Korea is not aimed at undermining China’s security interests, the source said on the condition of anonymity.
While the U.S. is trying to explain technical details on why the THAAD is not targeting China, the Chinese side has not actively listened to the explanation from the U.S. side, the source said.
“The Chinese side has been opposed to the THAAD with incorrect information and the discussions are aimed at changing China’s view about the issue,” the source said. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link.
Informative piece from @Michael_NKLW on the fall (execution or otherwise) of Ri Yong Gil https://t.co/eQKzn0FyGm pic.twitter.com/D9yApaZ4qn
— Anna Fifield (@annafifield) February 16, 2016
A U-2 spy plane takes off from Osan U.S. Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, on Feb. 14, 2016. (Yonhap)
Dennis Halpin at NK News has a long article about how the Chinese could turn to Kim Jong-un’s half brother, Kim Jong-nam to lead North Korea if they tire of Jong-un’s antics. It is a good read about Kim Jong-nam if you don’t know much about him, but it seems installing him with a palace coup would be tough to do in North Korea:
Kim Jong Nam, despite a globetrotting playboy image which has seen him periodically surface in Southeast Asian watering holes in Indonesia and Malaysia, has voiced criticisms of his younger brother similar to those espoused by his own student son. Kim Jong Nam reportedly emailed a Japanese journalist in 2012 a prediction that “the Kim Jong Un regime will not last long.” He has also voiced support for economic restructuring, stating that “without reforms, North Korea will collapse,” which would be music to the ears of the leadership in Beijing. Kim Jong Nam’s close familial ties to his purged uncle, Jang Song Thaek, who was widely seen as Beijing’s point man in Pyongyang, would also likely earn him kudos among the Chinese leadership facing a quandary of what to do about North Korea. The question is how to preserve a reliable buffer state against American influence in South Korea while curbing Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs which increasingly threaten regional stability. Kim Jong Nam, despite his bad boy image, would likely prove far more pliant than his disagreeable and defiant little brother. [NK News]
You can read the rest at the link, but I look at Kim Jong-nam more likely taking power if a regime collapse scenario was to happen and the Chinese intervened and needed to get a new leader quickly in place. Kim Jong-nam could then open up the country following the Chinese model becuase Kim Jong-nam does not have any human rights violation, crimes against humanity, or any other excess baggage hanging over his head if he decides to open up the country and the reality of the North Korean gulags becomes public. He can blame it all on the old regime and vow that he is working on fixing the problems the old regime created. This may be enough to get world leaders to except him and work to drop sanctions and offer financial assistance in exchange for ending their nuclear program.
Those are just some quick thoughts I have, does anyone else see any other scenario that Kim Jong-nam could take power?
This just shows the level of concern the Chinese government has for their own people. An irresponsible regime in North Korea is blowing up nuclear weapons right across the border from China and the Chinese government is more outraged by a missile defense system that has no strategic impact on them or would harm their citizens:
Speaking on Saturday (Feb 13) at the Munich Security Conference, Fu said that while her country is displeased with the recent nuclear test by North Korea – formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – citizens are even more concerned by the US response.
“The Chinese public is also angry about the DPRK nuclear issue, but they’re even more angry about THAAD,” Fu said, referring to the Thermal High Altitude Area Defence anti-ballistic missile system the US says it deployed to protect against North Korea.
“It covers more territory in China than in North and South Korea together.” [The Strait Times]
What Ms. Fu is saying is intentionally misleading. The THAAD radar may have a range that looks into China, but the interceptors do not because the system is designed to intercept short to medium range ballistic missiles. It has no capability against ICBMs. I wish someone would challenge the Chinese government to prove the THAAD can intercept ICBMs. If the THAAD could intercept ICBMs then why does the US have the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system fielded in Alaska and California to defend against limited ICBM attacks?
It is pretty clear the Chinese government knows this, but in my opinion they are just trying to drive a wedge between the US and the ROK. If they can pressure the ROK to stop the THAAD deployment they hope this will create animosity between the US and the ROK while demonstrating China’s increased influence. That is all that this is about and the THAAD issue is just an excuse to do this.
"North Korea core security issue of our time."Speaking with US Sen. Bob Corker, China's Fu Ying, Sing Defence Min Ng pic.twitter.com/rMukeIuu0i
— Office of Kevin Rudd, 26th PM of Australia (@MrKRudd) February 14, 2016
New! People lamenting “We will be done if Chinese sanction reinforced!” – #NorthKorea #DPRK https://t.co/QW5ziEDVq5 pic.twitter.com/Xy2iOwZWQf
— RimjingangNK (@RimjingangNK) February 16, 2016
Former South Korean figure skater Kim Yu-na (L) strikes a pose with Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, during the figure skating competition at the Winter Youth Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, on Feb. 13, 2016. Kim is an ambassador for the Youth Olympics. (Photo courtesy of the IOC) (Yonhap)
