11-05-2018, 12:26 AM
*** 5-Nov-18 World View -- US and South Korea resume some military marine drills, despite North's objections
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** US and South Korea resume some military marine drills, despite North's objections
****
![[Image: g180426b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g180426b.jpg)
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shake hands in front of Freedom House at Panmunjom, in April. (Korea Times)
US and South Korea marine forces will begin on Monday joint military
marine drills around the southeastern port city of Pohang on
Monday. It will involve 500 troops from the South Korean Marine Corps
and the U.S. III Marine Expeditionary Force stationed in Okinawa.
South Korea announced that it will decide next month whether to
suspend next year's exercises.
Early in January of this year, at the time that North Korea was
beginning its "charm offensive" and talking about participating in the
Olympics games in Seoul, North Korea demanded that US-South Korea
military drills be postponed until after the Olympics. The military
drills have been performed for years, and they have always infuriated
both the North Koreans and the Chinese. So, the US and South Korea
acceded to the North Korean demand to postpone the drills until after
March 18, when the Olympics and Paralympics games finally end.
However, the charm offensive continued, with numerous negotiating
sessions involving North Korea, South Korea, and the United States,
including personal meetings between the national leaders. North
Korea's child dictator Kim Jong-un repeatedly insisted that he would
fully "denuclearize." North Korea has even destroyed a nuclear
testing facility that it doesn't need or use to "prove" it was
sincere.
Many analysts, including myself, believe that North Korea has no
intention to denuclearize, and that the purpose of the "charm
offensive" is to apply political pressure to the United States to
agree to and the sanctions with having to make any denuclearization
concessions. I also believe that if Kim Jong-un tried to actually
denuclearize, then he would be shot dead by his own generals.
North Korea has taken steps towards denuclearization, even refusing to
take the simple step of providing a list of all its nuclear
development sites. No reason was given by the US military why it is
resuming the limited military drills, but it may be a warning to North
Korea after 11 months of charm offensive that nothing has been
accomplished.
Kim Jong-un appears to be replaying the same fraudulent script that
his father Kim Jong-il followed in 2008. At that time, the North
demolished a 60-foot-tall cooling tower to prove that it was ending
its nuclear development programs. In reaction, the Bush
administration agreed to remove all sanctions. As soon as they were
removed, North Korea immediately and openly resumed its nuclear and
ballistic missile development. They had completely defrauded the
United States and the world.
On Friday, North Korea issued a statement threatening to resume
nuclear development unless the sanctions are lifted. Specifically,
the statement threatened to resume North Korea's "pyongjin" policy of
simultaneously advancing its nuclear force and economic development.
Some analysts claim that North Korea has already won. A year ago, the
US was threatening military action to halt North Korea's nuclear and
missile development. Now, thanks to the charm offensive, the North
had a year to continue nuclear and missile development in secret,
lacking on the ability to openly test their development with hydrogen
bomb tests and long-range ballistic missile tests. North Korea is
believed to have an arsenal of ballistic missiles ready to be launched
at the US or other targets, and at a time of its choosing it can
simply start openly testing again.
The charm offensive will continue later this week, when Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo will meet with North Korean officials to discuss the
next halluncinatory steps in the denuclearization process. Pompeo's
last meeting didn't accomplish anything. Yonhap News (Seoul) and Reuters and AP
****
**** Disarmament proceeds along North-South Korea border, opposed by US
****
For several months, there has been a separate "peace process" going on
in Korea, not well publicized outside.
South Korea's president Moon Jae-in has had several well-publicized
meetings with Kim Jong-un, and they've agreed to disarm the
demilitarized zone (DMZ) border that separates North and South Korea.
Two weeks ago, the two Koreas announced that firearms and military
posts have been withdrawn from a portion of the DMZ, turning the
"truce village" of Panmunjom into a "peace village."
This was done quickly, after Moon and Kim agreed to it, and it was the
first step in fulfilling the far-reaching agreement of disarming the
DMZ, removing land mines, declaring a no-fly zone over a huge region
near the border, and eventually removing the 25,000 American troops
stationed nearby.
There's no shortage of people calling this a super-wonderful first
step on the road to peaceful reunification of North and South Korea.
However, the US State Dept. is opposing these steps. The North
Koreans have never repudiated their oft-stated intention of invading
South Korea and taking control. Demilitarizing the DMZ has a second
purpose -- removing some of the major obstacles to a North Korean
invasion of South Korea. North Korea could send its 1.1 million man
army across the border into Seoul, wiping out the 23,000 American
soldiers stationed there.
The US State Dept. is particularly objecting to the agreement to
impose a no-fly zone over the border, because it would effectively
prevent close air support drills. The agreement also bars live-fire
drills involving fixed-wing aircraft and air-to-ground guided weapons
in the no-fly area.
If you step back and look at the entire year, Kim Jong-un seems to be
winning on every point. There's widespread cheating by the Chinese
and Russians over the sanctions. North Korea has been free to
continue nuclear development and ballistic missile development, with
no restriction except open testing. And the DMZ is being
demilitarized, leaving Seoul open to invasion by the North at a time
of its choosing.
All of this seems pretty obvious to a lot of people. The only
question is: Why is Moon Jae-in facilitating it? Yonhap News (Seoul) and Stars and Stripes and Reuters (18-Oct) and Korea Herald (19-Sep)
Related Articles:
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, North Korea, South Korea,
Kim Jong-un, Moon Jae-in, Mike Pompeo,
Pohang, Panmunjom, pyongjin policy,
Demilitarized zone, DMZ
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- US and South Korea resume some military marine drills, despite North's objections
- Disarmament proceeds along North-South Korea border, opposed by US
****
**** US and South Korea resume some military marine drills, despite North's objections
****
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shake hands in front of Freedom House at Panmunjom, in April. (Korea Times)
US and South Korea marine forces will begin on Monday joint military
marine drills around the southeastern port city of Pohang on
Monday. It will involve 500 troops from the South Korean Marine Corps
and the U.S. III Marine Expeditionary Force stationed in Okinawa.
South Korea announced that it will decide next month whether to
suspend next year's exercises.
Early in January of this year, at the time that North Korea was
beginning its "charm offensive" and talking about participating in the
Olympics games in Seoul, North Korea demanded that US-South Korea
military drills be postponed until after the Olympics. The military
drills have been performed for years, and they have always infuriated
both the North Koreans and the Chinese. So, the US and South Korea
acceded to the North Korean demand to postpone the drills until after
March 18, when the Olympics and Paralympics games finally end.
However, the charm offensive continued, with numerous negotiating
sessions involving North Korea, South Korea, and the United States,
including personal meetings between the national leaders. North
Korea's child dictator Kim Jong-un repeatedly insisted that he would
fully "denuclearize." North Korea has even destroyed a nuclear
testing facility that it doesn't need or use to "prove" it was
sincere.
Many analysts, including myself, believe that North Korea has no
intention to denuclearize, and that the purpose of the "charm
offensive" is to apply political pressure to the United States to
agree to and the sanctions with having to make any denuclearization
concessions. I also believe that if Kim Jong-un tried to actually
denuclearize, then he would be shot dead by his own generals.
North Korea has taken steps towards denuclearization, even refusing to
take the simple step of providing a list of all its nuclear
development sites. No reason was given by the US military why it is
resuming the limited military drills, but it may be a warning to North
Korea after 11 months of charm offensive that nothing has been
accomplished.
Kim Jong-un appears to be replaying the same fraudulent script that
his father Kim Jong-il followed in 2008. At that time, the North
demolished a 60-foot-tall cooling tower to prove that it was ending
its nuclear development programs. In reaction, the Bush
administration agreed to remove all sanctions. As soon as they were
removed, North Korea immediately and openly resumed its nuclear and
ballistic missile development. They had completely defrauded the
United States and the world.
On Friday, North Korea issued a statement threatening to resume
nuclear development unless the sanctions are lifted. Specifically,
the statement threatened to resume North Korea's "pyongjin" policy of
simultaneously advancing its nuclear force and economic development.
Some analysts claim that North Korea has already won. A year ago, the
US was threatening military action to halt North Korea's nuclear and
missile development. Now, thanks to the charm offensive, the North
had a year to continue nuclear and missile development in secret,
lacking on the ability to openly test their development with hydrogen
bomb tests and long-range ballistic missile tests. North Korea is
believed to have an arsenal of ballistic missiles ready to be launched
at the US or other targets, and at a time of its choosing it can
simply start openly testing again.
The charm offensive will continue later this week, when Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo will meet with North Korean officials to discuss the
next halluncinatory steps in the denuclearization process. Pompeo's
last meeting didn't accomplish anything. Yonhap News (Seoul) and Reuters and AP
****
**** Disarmament proceeds along North-South Korea border, opposed by US
****
For several months, there has been a separate "peace process" going on
in Korea, not well publicized outside.
South Korea's president Moon Jae-in has had several well-publicized
meetings with Kim Jong-un, and they've agreed to disarm the
demilitarized zone (DMZ) border that separates North and South Korea.
Two weeks ago, the two Koreas announced that firearms and military
posts have been withdrawn from a portion of the DMZ, turning the
"truce village" of Panmunjom into a "peace village."
This was done quickly, after Moon and Kim agreed to it, and it was the
first step in fulfilling the far-reaching agreement of disarming the
DMZ, removing land mines, declaring a no-fly zone over a huge region
near the border, and eventually removing the 25,000 American troops
stationed nearby.
There's no shortage of people calling this a super-wonderful first
step on the road to peaceful reunification of North and South Korea.
However, the US State Dept. is opposing these steps. The North
Koreans have never repudiated their oft-stated intention of invading
South Korea and taking control. Demilitarizing the DMZ has a second
purpose -- removing some of the major obstacles to a North Korean
invasion of South Korea. North Korea could send its 1.1 million man
army across the border into Seoul, wiping out the 23,000 American
soldiers stationed there.
The US State Dept. is particularly objecting to the agreement to
impose a no-fly zone over the border, because it would effectively
prevent close air support drills. The agreement also bars live-fire
drills involving fixed-wing aircraft and air-to-ground guided weapons
in the no-fly area.
If you step back and look at the entire year, Kim Jong-un seems to be
winning on every point. There's widespread cheating by the Chinese
and Russians over the sanctions. North Korea has been free to
continue nuclear development and ballistic missile development, with
no restriction except open testing. And the DMZ is being
demilitarized, leaving Seoul open to invasion by the North at a time
of its choosing.
All of this seems pretty obvious to a lot of people. The only
question is: Why is Moon Jae-in facilitating it? Yonhap News (Seoul) and Stars and Stripes and Reuters (18-Oct) and Korea Herald (19-Sep)
Related Articles:
- N. Korea's Kim Jong-un met Pompeo in a new Rolls-Royce Phantom, violating sanctions (13-Oct-2018)
- China, Russia demand that that some North Korea sanctions be lifted (29-Sep-2018)
- US imposes new North Korea sanctions on Chinese and Russian shipping companies (17-Aug-2018)
- NY Times publishes a generational analysis of South Korea (30-Jan-2018)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, North Korea, South Korea,
Kim Jong-un, Moon Jae-in, Mike Pompeo,
Pohang, Panmunjom, pyongjin policy,
Demilitarized zone, DMZ
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
