1 April 2009
FISTS STILL NOT UNCLENCHED, APPARENTLY: North Korea threatens to shoot down U.S. spy planes, and the threat is classic KCNA:
“If the brigandish U.S. imperialists dare to infiltrate spy planes into our airspace to interfere with our peaceful satellite launch preparations, our revolutionary armed forces will mercilessly shoot them down,” the ministry quoted the radio as saying. [AP, Jae Soon Chang]
JAPAN’S REACTION TO NORTH KOREA’S MISSILE THREAT IS “JUSTIFIED:” Not an especially surprising statement, until you see who said it. That’s going to make for some very uncomfortable silence around the dinner table next Chusok.
REPRESENTATIVE ED ROYCE was already a favorite of mine before I knew he had a blog. I can’t say I’m astonished that Royce opposes Chris Hill’s nomination to be Ambassador to Iraq; nor am I astonished that Royce is just the latest member of Congress who thinks Hill misled him:
During this hearing in October 2007, Ambassador Hill told me “clearly, we cannot be reaching a nuclear agreement with North Korea if at the same time they are proliferating. It is not acceptable.” Fast forward one year and that is exactly what happened. On October 11, 2008, North Korea, at Hill’s urging, was dropped from the terrorism list as part of the nuclear negotiations. But just weeks before the terrorism list removal it has now come to light that North Korea was caught in a proliferation attempt to Iran. In August, India responded to a U.S. request to block a North Korean plane from using its airspace to deliver cargo to Iran (WSJ: “North Korean Plane was Grounded at U.S. Request”). The plane was suspected of “carrying nuclear materials, long-range missile components or other potentially lethal cargo.” Apparently no big deal to the State Department. Senators would do well to dig into this episode before the full Senate vote. [Rep. Ed Royce, Foreign Intrigue]
Incidentally, this New Republic blog post claims that the full Senate will confirm Hill later today. A good authority tells me it’s not so. Stay tuned.
AN INTERESTING EXCHANGE from yesterday’s State Department press briefing:
QUESTION: Were you able to get an answer to the question I asked yesterday about [U.N. Security Council Resolution] 1718 and what exactly happens if there is a launch?
MR. DUGUID: Do you know how many lawyers are now working on your question? (Laughter.) You don’t have it.
QUESTION: No, I don’t.
MR. DUGUID: The entire department. The best way to phrase what I have heard so far to this is that 1718 and preceding resolutions have no specific tripwires, if you will, but that both the UN Security Council and the Sanctions Committee can meet and decide on action at any time underneath these resolutions. 1718 commits North Korea to refrain from engaging in ballistic missile activity. North Koreans have committed to this. That is the essence of 1718.
I could save them a lot of time.
THE LATEST GOOD FRIENDS BULLETIN is here.
WORDS YOU’LL SELDOM READ HERE: Huzzah for the European Union, which has just given a big bag of money to defector-run radio stations that broadcast into North Korea.
KOREATOWN FOR KOREANS? Says one resident of her new Bangladeshi immigrant neighbors, “Koreatown is already established. . . . Why can’t they find another place?” This sort of sentiment seems a bit misplaced coming from a Korean in Los Angeles.
Looks like Kim Jong-nam just uninvited himself from the next Chuseok.
“have no specific tripwires”
And thus he highlights why the UN fails time and time and time again…
When the issue of the 6 party talks came up, and especially later on when people were criticizing Bush for his “do nothing” approach to NK policy and unwillingness to meet 1-on-1 with Pyongyang, I thought his holding out for the multilateral talks (while tightening sanctions on the North until it agreed to come to the talks) was how it should be done – if the world worked the way it should.
Meaning — for any accord to have a prayer of working with the North – it must spell out specific reactions that will come about if/when breaks its part of the deal.
If the US wanted to get somewhere with the North, it needed especially to tie China down to specific “tripwires”.
Without that, and a willingness to apply the negative measures when/if the time came, all the talks were just whistling in the wind. NK has shown that time and again.
But, the China and Russia (and SK under Roh) were firmly planted in opposition to the application of measures that would threaten the regime’s survival — and the United States wouldn’t have the guts or desire to twist China’s arm to live up to any agreement that included penalties for noncompliance.
Kim Jong Nam’s comment also pretty much confirms that he hasn’t even been in the running to succeed his father.
Also, KCNA’s language never ceases to amuse, although when I stumbled across a Voice of Korea broadcast I was forced to turn it off after being nauseated by hearing the phrase “People’s Revolutionary Government” at least 20 times within a span of 5 minutes.
Time to dust off the ol’ SR-71’s. This would actually be a perfect time to strike. The missile is fueling right not, and a strike by a B-2 could be written off as a “fueling accident”, but of course the possibility of retaliation will keep any attempts at bay.
I bet anyone that our dear leader doesn’t make it to next chusok as a functioning human being that doesn’t shit all over himself and can take care of himself.
there was one pic of him recently at some pool checking shit out and the condition of him reminded me of my dad right before he passed. in fact I remember saying to myself that I was surprised nk would release such a pic cause he looked like such shit.
I thought his porcine majesty looked pretty emaciated in recent pics as well. As frail as he is, his tenuous grip on power in the DPRK may be even more frail. Hence, the TaepoDong II launch…
No April Fool’s joke?
Then again, you’re blogging about North Korea, it’s like April Fool’s 365 times a year!