Simple Question of International Import

[malasadas.livejournal.com]

What are the odds that this gets a LOT worse by the traditional spring time offensive season when a young general's fancy turns to invasion?

Brief timeline:

North Korea is accused of torpedoing a South Korean warship.

South Korea fires at North Korean fishing boats crossing the maritime border North Korea refuses to recognize.

North Korea is revealed to have highly modern facilities for nuclear material enrichment.

Not to mention, North Korea is facing the challenge of passing along the regime to a third generation of the Kim family.

North Korea is known for rattling its sabre and demanding to have attention paid to it when it is being ignored, but this is looking like a very different than recent years -- South Korea really has to retaliate...and half of South Korea's population lives in the Seoul metropolitan area within artillery range of the DMZ.

So a question -- is North Korea suicidal or are they betting that this behavior can get them some more winter grain shipments?

Comments

[existentme.livejournal.com]

The latter, I would think is a much better bet!

[taurus-1.livejournal.com]

DPRK is not suicidal in any way. All they want is to unite all Koreans under true democratic JUCHE idea. USA prevents them from integration by settling and protecting a puppet South Korea government of Lee Myung-bak and Co. This is undoutebly a South Korea provacation (see Reuters: "South Korea has been conducting military exercises this week but it was not clear whether there had been any drills near the island that could have triggered the incident.").

[malasadas.livejournal.com]

.

[malasadas.livejournal.com]

Oh, wait -- you're Russian.

Never mind the confusion. Cue the sarcastic macros.

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Interesting perspective.

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

I don't know about the Juche idea but the way they're hoping to impose introduce it to all Koreans doesn't seem very democratic to me, how do you think? Sure, DPRK has "Democratic" in its name, but so does DR Congo, so...

[luvdovz.livejournal.com]

I lol-d hard.

[ddstory.livejournal.com]

Actually no.

North Koreans acknowledged that juche might not be appropriate for other countries, but they claim it provides a moral and philosophical basis that is highly appropriate for Korean society, given the history and culture of that country. North Korea does not seek to impose juche on any other country, but they also wish to be left alone to implement it in the DPRK without outside or foreign influence. The fact that they lack outside influence makes the concept of juche extremely incompatible with globalisation, seeing as its main driving force would be foreign trade. (http://socyberty.com/issues/north-korea-and-anti-globalization/)

I think you fail.

[pattyoplenty.livejournal.com]

While I agree that the North wants Korea to all be one (which it probably should) the North wants it on their terms and have Kim Jong Il(and successors) be the leader of Korea as a whole. That's never gonna fly with the South for obvious reasons. If the Kim family were taken out of power, then it could become a reality...but I don't see them giving up the dictatorship there when the Kim family is living quite well, and everyone else is living in extreme poverty with no way to better themeselves.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

North Korea being the victim? Bullshit, they maintain a gigantic army and 1950s-style police state despite that destroying the state and sat passively by while their own people starved. Yeah, they don't *need* South Korea to provoke them any more than a hungry hyena needs a gazelle to provoke it.

[chron-job.livejournal.com]

> This is undoutebly a South Korea provacation (see Reuters:

So, firing into the ocean is a provocation for firing on people?

[http://users.livejournal.com/-wanderer-/]

lol.... (I think?)

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

North Korea won't do anything because that would be going against China's interests and they know that China, unlike the US, has no scruples about killing every single one of them. No one will be wringing their hands about civilian casualties and international opinion in Beijing.

[ninboydean.livejournal.com]

Yeah, those Chinese are just subhuman. Only the specifically Western expression of political violence and genocide actually has within it a core of respect for human dignity.

[harry-beast.livejournal.com]

Would this not suggest that China has approved, or at the very least, acquiesced, to the current situation? This latest incident comes at a time when the United States and China are butting heads over currency policies and after the Democrats have suffered election reversals. This issue will distract and embarrass the United States and its allies in the region, possibly resulting in a new, humiliating round of appeasement toward North Korea. As long as the situation doesn't get out of hand, China stands to gain from it.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

My guess is a mixture of both.

[the-rukh.livejournal.com]

I used to think they weren't suicidal and fairly rational, but they may have overstepped this one.

This is going to put pressure on China for their relationship. China has already been dragging their feet diplomatically about doing anything about N. Korea. China does not want to be pressured, which means this is going to strain ties with china really badly. China is the only reason N. Korea still exists.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

They drag their feet for the same reason South Africa won't do anything about Mugabe's Zimbabwe. They know the collapse is inevitable, but like human beings all over the world they prefer to delay the inevitable and ensure when the final collapse does come it's much, much worse. It's not right or decent but then neither is much of anything else in the real world. :-(.

[dv8nation.livejournal.com]

It's dick waving to help pave the way for the current NK leader's son to take over.

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

Most sensible comment on this entire thread.

[existentme.livejournal.com]

Definitely seems like it at least plays a role.

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

That's what I'm thinking.

[http://users.livejournal.com/-wanderer-/]

Yeah, that was exactly what I thought. They pulled crazy shenanigans to build up Kim Jong Il's cult of personality in the 90s, IFRC.

The latter.

[squidb0i.livejournal.com]

Plus paving the way for Kim-the-third.

Besides, if DPRK gets too out of hand the Chinese will help the rest of the world turn them into pink mist.
Question being, at what point does China (and thus everyone else) step in? My guess is after it's too damn late.

[harry-beast.livejournal.com]

North Korea's eventual intention is to conquer and enslave South Korea. For the moment, however, I think that they are just throwing a tantrum to collect more blackmail from the rest of the world.

[rasilio.livejournal.com]

Yes and my eventual intention is to have a 3some with Scarlett Johanson and Jessica Alba any I have a hell of a lot more chance of realizing my intentions that NK does.