In other words, it’s a day that ends in “Y.” Nevertheless, the belligerent single party, communist state warned of yet another nuclear strike that would destroy her enemies. We’re still waiting for them to follow through on those threats (via the Guardian):
North Korea has threatened to turn Washington and Seoul into “flames and ashes”, warning of an indiscriminate “pre-emptive nuclear strike of justice” in reaction to the start of US-South Korean military drills.Such threats have been a staple of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, since he took power after his father’s death in December 2011. But they tend to increase when Washington and Seoul stage what they describe as annual defensive springtime war games.
Pyongyang says the drills, which were set to start on Monday and run to the end of April, are rehearsals for invading.
North Korea’s powerful National Defense Commission threatened strikes against targets in South Korea, US bases in the Pacific and the US mainland, saying its enemies “are working with bloodshot eyes to infringe upon the dignity, sovereignty and vital rights” of the country.
“If we push the buttons to annihilate the enemies even right now, all bases of provocations will be reduced to seas in flames and ashes in a moment,” the statement said.
A pre-emptive, large-scale military strike that would end the authoritarian rule of the Kim dynasty is highly unlikely.
Highly unlikely is truly an understatement. We’ve almost lost count on how many times Kim Jong Un has threatened to wage nuclear war against the United States. In February 2015, he warned about “disastrous final doom” that’s awaiting the United States (what is this Mortal Kombat?); August of 2015 he threatened to attack us; and October 2015 he threatened war with the “U.S. imperialists.” Nothing happened. You’re more likely to be accosted by a deranged homeless man than feel the wrath of Kim Jong Un. Since we’re in the year of Trump, the man is a total loser, presiding over an economy that cannot sustain itself, with social deficits that are probably in the biblically awful range, and let’s not forget about the horrific human rights abuses. It’s the world’s biggest prison. Now, when North Koreans do strike, it’s mostly relegated to small-scale, local attacks against South Korea (via BBC):
While many observers dismiss the rhetoric as bluster, others warn of "the tyranny of low expectations" when it comes to understanding North Korea, because there have been a number of serious regional confrontations."If you follow North Korean media you constantly see bellicose language directed against the US and South Korea and occasionally Japan is thrown in there, and it's hard to know what to take seriously. But then when you look at occasions where something really did happen, such as the artillery attack on a South Korean island in 2010, you see there were very clear warnings," Professor John Delury at South Korea's Yonsei university told the BBC.
Should we be vigilant with North Korea? Of course, but let’s not equate this to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Yet, there is cause for more concern given the Obama administration’s rather disastrous record on foreign policy. It truly is all-talk, no-action. Not a characteristic you want you enemy, like North Korea, to know when it comes to the bargaining table.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member