War Nerd on North Korea

~ Clarissa

Am I the only American who doesn’t understand why we didn’t zap that North Korean ICBM designed to hit the United States on the launch pad back in 2007?Seems like everybody, liberals and right-wingers, agrees we don’t need to worry about Kim’s silly ol’ ICBMs. Kim’s just acting up, trying to get our attention.

Well, if Kim was trying to get my attention, it worked. I’m funny that way – every time somebody aims a nuke-capable ICBM at me, I overreact like you wouldn’t believe.

Ah, so there are two people on the continent who think this. I was starting to believe something was wrong with me, but War Nerd says exactly what I think:

The name of the town where North Korea tests its missiles says it all about our reaction: No-Dong. That’s what US presidents have been showing for almost forty years, every time North Korea slaps us in the face: no dong whatsoever.

Yes!

The point is, the North Korean military threat is serious. Saddam never posed a threat to the American homeland; Mu’ammar Gadhafi was a paper tiger from the get-go; but North Korea is crazy enough, and tough enough to press that nuclear trigger as soon as it’s operational.

YES!!! I mean, not “yes” to North Korea pressing the trigger, obviously, but “yes” to somebody finally being in agreement with me over this and not making me feel like a weird alarmist.

This book was the best gift ever. It also has an enormous therapeutic value that I will discuss in a later post.

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Published by Clarissa

8 thoughts on “War Nerd on North Korea”

  1. What do you think about the common ‘wisdom’ among most that it is only a matter of time before NK collapses? I remember seeing a National Security Council report from 1997 predicted a united Korean Peninsula before 2015 and yet here we are…

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  3. Hey Clarissa, been a long time. Hope all is well.

    In regards to this north korea issue I think one of the major issues (an in fact really THE major issue) is that north korea is basically a satellite state of china. Not my exact area of expertise but pretty well understood that without financial support (and quasi military threat) from China the regime would collapse. I guess that necessitates us not taking action unless active threat is initiated. You may be very well aware of this, but I guess that point was so widely ackonweldged I thought I was surprised that it wasn’t given as the default reason they aren’t invaded / destroyed.

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      1. As I wrote yesterday in The Diplomat, a growing diplomatic split between Beijing and Pyongyang started becoming evident following North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s decision in December 2013 to purge and execute his uncle and regime number two Jang Song-thaek. Jang was widely known as North Korea’s most experienced interlocutor with Beijing and his death signaled a broader move away from China. Earlier this year, reports emerged that North Korea was including anti-China slogans as part of its state propaganda. Additionally, as its relations with China became worse, Pyongyang expanded its diplomacy with a range of other countries including Japan, Russia, Indonesia, and even the United States.

        Chinese state media have started condemning North Korea more overtly in recent months. In fact, just this week, a subsidiary publication of China’s state-run People’s Daily ran an editorial criticizing the state of human welfare in North Korea, noting that the country exclusively serves the interest of a small privileged elite at the expense of the masses. By the same token, some voices in the Chinese media caution outside observers not too read too closely into trends signaling a growing distance between China and North Korea. For example, one commentator in the China Daily noted yesterday that despite a few blows to China-North Korea relations, “China remains committed both to maintaining its traditional relationship with the DPRK and strengthening its cooperation with the Republic of Korea.”

        A litmus test for the state of China-North Korea relations will be the upcoming U.N. Security Council debate on the state of human rights in North Korea. If China is indeed looking to sideline North Korea, it may refrain from vetoing an ICC referral altogether (letting the Russians bear the burden instead). If Beijing does end up speaking strongly in Pyongyang’s favor and exercises its veto, that would indicate that China-North Korea ties might be just fine. Note that Beijing has voted in favor of U.N. resolutions imposing economic and commercial sanctions Pyongyang in the past, but that was in the case of nuclear tests.

        http://thediplomat.com/2014/12/china-not-invited-to-kim-jong-ils-death-anniversary-commemoration/

        It isn’t North Korea’s alliance with China that is scary. It’s its growing closeness with crazy Russia.

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      2. Interesting. Still read that as China is still a protectorate, but that North Korea may be turning towards Russia. However, Russia is a minor player (certainly compared to China). I understand that Russia is a huge player in Ukraine and other areas like that, but John McCain was right whn he said “Russia is just a gas station masquareading (sp?) as a country”. China has 10x the population, 8x the GDP, and probably long-term 20x the GDP of Russia… Oil and Nukes are the only reason Russia matters at all (and a seat on the P5… maybe we can change that?). Thoughts? I am curious why you are so worried about Russia (I believe you are from Ukraine so I get that I can’t relate to the horrors that Putin is pushing there, but from a realpolitik point of view Russia is a smallish player.. getting smaller all the time).

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