North Korea test-fires a new type of anti-aircraft guided weapon system, with its leader Kim Jong-un watching at an observation post in this compilation photo released by Pyongyang’s state media on May 28, 2017. (KCNA-Yonhap)
Humanitarian missions to NK slowed to a trickle under Lee MB & Park GH. Led by For Min Kang, however, Moon seems to want this back on track. pic.twitter.com/Qnc2CXm7IB
It appears as the US increases its force posture in the area that the North Koreans are trying to signal that they have no intentions of giving up their weapons program no matter how much pressure is put on them:
North Korea launches a mid-range ballistic missile in this undated file photo. (KCNA-Yonhap)
North Korea fired a ballistic missile from its eastern coast early Monday morning, dealing another blow to efforts by South Korea’s new government to improve inter-Korean ties.
The missile, presumed to be a Scud type, was launched eastward from the vicinity of Wonsan, Gangwon Province, at around 5:39 a.m., according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
“The flight distance is around 450 kilometers,” it said.
The North’s latest action was immediately reported to President Moon Jae-in, who ordered related government officials to convene a National Security Council meeting, said the JCS.
The session started at 7:30 a.m., presided over by Moon’s national security adviser Chung Eui-yong.
The U.S. Pacific Command also confirmed the launch occurred near Wonsan Airfield, saying the missile was tracked for six minutes until it landed in the East Sea. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but some speculation is stating that the North Koreans may be testing an anti-ship variant of the SCUD missile in response to American aircraft carriers in the area.
I wonder if someone is just trying to rile people up by putting up this flag?:
SHOCKED neighbours have been speculating about whether Kim Jong-un has opened a base within a suburban house in the north east of England.
Hoisted on a 20 foot pole in the garden of a house in Ingleby Barwick, Teesside, is the red, white and blue North Korean flag stamped with its distinctive communist red star. (……)
One neighbour Michelle Ungurs-Wood, 35, has lived in the street for five years and said it was “bizarre”.
She said: “It doesn’t really bother me but I would like to know why they have put it up.
“I didn’t even know which flag it was I had to Google it, it surprised me to find it was North Korea.
“They might just be doing it to be controversial.”
She said the pole itself had been up since the World Cup, saying it had previously held a British flag. [The Sun]
It is amazing to me that people continue to think that Pyongyang will negotiate away their nuclear weapons without the viable threat of military action against them. They might as well as advocate for North Korea having nuclear weapons because that is what over two decades of negotiations has led to:
A group of 64 U.S. Democratic lawmakers warned President Donald Trump in a letter Tuesday that he would need congressional approval for any pre-emptive strike on North Korea and encouraged “direct” engagement with the isolationist regime.
“Few decisions are more needing of debate than a move to launch attacks, or declare war, on a nuclear-armed state such as North Korea,” stated the letter addressed to Trump. It went onto warn that an “inconsistent or unpredictable policy runs the risk of unimaginable conflict” with such a volatile country as North Korea.
The letter was signed by a group of congressmen in the House of Representatives led by Reps. John Conyers of Michigan, Barbara Lee of California and Jim McGovern of Massachusetts.
The lawmakers called for more information about what steps the administration is taking “to advance the prospects for direct negotiations that could lower the potential for catastrophic war and ultimately lead to the denuclearization of the peninsula.”
They continued, “In the event that your plans do include an ill-advised military component, we stand ready to exercise our constitutional duty to approve, or reject, any such military action.”
This comes amid concerns in Congress over the Trump administration’s erratic policy toward the North, as the U.S. president has declared “all option are on the table,” leaving a door open to military action including a pre-emptive strike. Trump has also said that he is open to talks with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un under the right conditions.
The congressmen underscored that while the U.S. Constitution and the War Powers Resolution of 1973 provide the president the authority to act in cases of emergencies, “both require an affirmative authorization from Congress before our nation engages in military action abroad against a state that has not attacked the U.S. or our assets abroad.”
The letter stressed the past three U.S. administrations under presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton ruled out the possibility of military action against Pyongyang and “ultimately determined there was no military option that would not run the unacceptable risk of counter-reaction from Pyongyang.”
Such retaliation from the North, it pointed out, could endanger as many as a third of the South Korean population, nearly 30,000 U.S. troops in the region as well as over 100,000 U.S. citizens living in Korea.
The congressmen encouraged Trump to adhere to a diplomatic approach, expressing support for U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s recent statement that his preferred method for resolution is “direct talks with North Korea,” persuading the North that they do not need nuclear weapons to secure the existence of the regime. They also backed Tillerson’s remarks reassuring Pyongyang that Washington did not seek a regime change in the North or its collapse.
“President Trump’s irresponsible statements on North Korea endanger our troops, our regional allies such as South Korea and Japan, and global security more broadly,” said Conyers, dean of the House of Representatives and one of two remaining Korean War veterans serving in the U.S. Congress, in a press release. “As someone who has watched this conflict evolve since I was sent to Korea as a young Army lieutenant, it is a reckless, inexperienced move to threaten military action that could end in devastation instead of pursuing vigorous diplomacy.” [Joong Ang Ilbo]
Well respected geopolitical analyst George Friedman believes that the US military is currently posturing itself for war with North Korea:
The US is preparing to attack North Korea, according to Geopolitical Futures founder George Friedman — setting the stage for a difficult, messy war with potentially catastrophic consequences.
Speaking Monday to a rapt audience at the 2017 Strategic Investment Conference in Orlando, Friedman said that while it was unlikely the US would take action before President Donald Trump returns home at the weekend, North Korea’s actions appeared to have “offered the US no alternative” to a clash.
According to Geopolitical Futures analysis, evidence is mounting that the enmity between the two is escalating to a point where war is inevitable.
Friedman said that on May 20, the USS Carl Vinson supercarrier and USS Ronald Reagan were both within striking distance of North Korea.
Additionally, more than 100 F-16 aircraft are conducting daily exercises in the area, a tactic that foreshadowed the beginning of Desert Storm in 1991.
F-35 aircraft have also been deployed to the area, and US government representatives are expected to brief Guam on civil defense, terrorism, and Korea on May 31.
All of these strategic moves telegraph one outcome — conflict. [Business Insider]
You can read more at the link, but I think posturing for war does not necessarily mean war is imminent. The Trump administration may have the US military posturing for war to show the Kim regime they are serious about beginning negotiations to end their nuclear program. If they don’t negotiate military force may be an option. The problem is that the Kim regime likely does not believe that military force will be used because of the artillery threat to Seoul in response.
