North Korea Announces Something Important But Does Not Say What It Is
The Korean Central News Agency reports: Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un Ascends Mt Paektu on Horseback
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He, atop Mt Paektu on the horseback, recollected with deep emotion the road of arduous struggle he covered for the great cause of building the most powerful country with faith and will as firm as Mt Paektu and days of fast-paced changes and took a bird's-eye view of mountains that looked like the high steep mountains of the revolution he has to pass in high spirits.Reflected in the dignified mien of Kim Jong Un atop majestic Mt Paektu was the majesty of the illustrious commander looking far into the road of advance of a powerful socialist country that will achieve prosperity with its own efforts, meeting all headwinds with the storm of Mt Paektu.
The venerable announcer Ri Chun-hee, now 76 years old, was recalled from retirement to read the statement (vid) on North Korea's state TV.
The horseback visit of the mystical mount Paektu is a sign that North Korea will soon "strike the world with wonder again" - i.e. reveal something important and new.
It is not likely that this will be a new nuclear test or intercontinental ballistic missile launch. The ride on the mountain is too early to be a sign for that. After the last negotiations with the U.S. failed, North Korea announced that it had given the U.S. time until the end of the year to come up with a new offer. North Korea usually stands by its words. Anything nuclear has therefore to wait until next year.
A civil space launch of some satellite within the next few weeks would fit to this propaganda event.
But may be I am wrong and Kim Jong Un will do something special to shake up Trump a bit, and to receive at least some relief from sanctions.
What else but nuke tests and ICBM launches could achieve that?
Posted by b on October 17, 2019 at 18:15 UTC | Permalink
there’s crazy and then there’s Dear Leader galloping across the countryside on horseback crazy
Posted by: Danny | Oct 17 2019 18:24 utc | 2
@2
None of that even approaches "President Mozzarella galloping on horseback over the city walls of burning ancient Rome"-crazy
Posted by: Lurk | Oct 17 2019 18:31 utc | 4
""The United States is engaged in an extensive modernisation of its entire nuclear force – from storage to delivery systems and warheads. The programme is slated to take until 2046 to complete and will cost an estimated USD1.2 trillion - USD494 billion of which to be allocated between 2017 and 2026 (Congressional Budget Office, 2019)."
This is why we can't have nice things, like decent healthcare or education. Nuclear weapon upgrades are a much more efficient way to shovel tax money to the investor class.
Posted by: NoOneYouKnow | Oct 17 2019 18:34 utc | 5
It's telling that I know so little of North Korea that I have little idea of its accomplishments or potentials. I suspect I'm not the only one.
Striking the world with wonder. It could be a geopolitical-geoeconomic coup, maybe in the realm of One Road. Reunification with South Korea would certainly count, but doesn't seem possible in one fell swoop. How's their oil situation? What about a huge find of self-sufficiency in hydrocarbons?
Good guess with a space launch, b.
A technology breakthrough on an order of magnitude, or a cure for cancer - something beneficial to the world in the realm of peace. Those things would strike me with wonder.
I do enjoy Kim. I see him as a great leader of his country and I'm glad he's in the world. Standing by, ready to be struck.
Posted by: Grieved | Oct 17 2019 18:54 utc | 6
HIs horse loves him. That is something you cannot buy and you cannot force. To y'all who enjoy pitching dirt on him, he
and his daddy rebuilt the country from the absolute rubble left by 'murka. Of course they have weapons. Any sensible country would after watching the 'murkan modus operandi. Just ask Gaddafi if he regrets giving up his arsenal to please Bushboy... no wait. He dead. hahahahaha
Posted by: Miss Lacy | Oct 17 2019 18:55 utc | 7
b - you are not helping with the usa's fixation on north korea, lol.. i wish the usa would study history and the role they played in the korean war to get a better perspective of why they are viewed the way they are by many... canada played an ugly role in this too...
Posted by: james | Oct 17 2019 18:57 utc | 8
Pity the poor horse.
Grieved: If Korea reunified itself, what happens to all those punishing sanctions?
Posted by: CDWaller | Oct 17 2019 19:01 utc | 9
The Russian dozen or so comments on the twitter link that I sampled were rather condescending and didn't attempt to delve into any deeper message being conveyed. The following are parts b omitted from the KCNA report:
"Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea, chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and supreme commander of the armed forces of the DPRK, rode a white horse to the top of Mt Paektu in the first snow.
"He was accompanied by senior officials of the WPK Central Committee.
"His horseback march in Mt Paektu is a great event of weighty importance in the history of the Korean revolution....
"All the officials who accompanied him to the top of the mountain felt overflowing emotion and joy and convinced that there will be a great operation to strike the world with wonder again and advance the Korean revolution a step forward."
So, "the officials" weren't told the reason for the exercise and were left to guess? Clearly the audience is supposed to guess, but are provided with some context upon which to base their guess--the "great operation," signifying some sort of event that will "strike the world with wonder" and result in advancing "the Korean revolution a step forward."
What sort of an event would serve to advance the revolution that will awe the world? Somehow I don't feel it's a weapon or war related. Some breakthrough in rapprochement with RoK? We'll just have to wait and see.
Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 17 2019 19:04 utc | 10
What else but nuke tests and ICBM launches could achieve that? Capitalism.
Posted by: par4 | Oct 17 2019 19:08 utc | 11
“North Korea usually stands by its words.”
Primitives.
Maybe a submarine launched missile? That’d be new, right? – and there have been pictures of them working on that new sub. A satellite launch would be much nicer, though.
Posted by: David G | Oct 17 2019 19:12 utc | 12
Kim Jong Un on horseback in the mountains reminds me a lot of the Turkmen president Burdimukhamedov, and his path through the mountains from Nysa to Asgabat, that he created in order to improve the health of his officials, evidently weakened by too many cigarettes and vodka. They even showed us a photo in the national monument of him doing it on a bike, without question photoshopped.
By the way, Burdimukhamedov <
Posted by: Laguerre | Oct 17 2019 19:14 utc | 13
Sorry, I'm not doing very well today.
*By the way, Burdimukhamedov was his predecessor's dentist, which no doubt explains his interest in health, but I hate to think what he did to do away with his predecessor.
In any case, all this goes back to Putin and his self-presentation as fighting bears bare-chested, and all the rest he does. It seems that masculine achievement is important for them. I wonder whether it really has an effect.
Posted by: Laguerre | Oct 17 2019 19:22 utc | 14
David G @12--
DPRK successfully launched an SLBM on 2 Oct.
Posted by: karlof1 | Oct 17 2019 19:41 utc | 15
don't we all love the bomb?
right?
winning. So much winning.
Posted by: Sabine | Oct 17 2019 19:52 utc | 16
Come on y'all, this one is easy. There's a Trump Resort coming to North Korea. Or maybe two, one on the coast and one in the mountains!
Posted by: Jeff C-C | Oct 17 2019 19:55 utc | 18
David G @17
Cars, by whatever term you use to refer to them, hardly seem something to strike anyone with wonder, nor are they very socialist. Of course, Americans do have a car fetish and are frequently struck dumb by shiny new sheet metal and plastic so who knows, maybe KJU's intended audience is American?
Posted by: William Gruff | Oct 17 2019 20:04 utc | 19
Seems B caugth the ideological, mythical implications of this, opposed to not only the MSM, but also most commentators here.
If one knows about the historical, philosophical background, it sure it EXTREMLY important and of HIGHEST and even HOLYEST implications.
This is MAJOR.
It marks a new era for NK. Though what that new era entails.. Nobody beside Kim and his closest aids know now.
We will see. But the implications of this can not be overrated!
Posted by: DontBelieveEitherPr. | Oct 17 2019 20:18 utc | 20
Thermonukes would be pretty badass, given the development times for those was 5-10 years after fission nukes, not impossible for a 21st century state actor imo.
Posted by: Ilya | Oct 17 2019 20:27 utc | 21
The North Koreans' test in 2017 was of a 250 kT thermonuclear (hydrogen) fusion device, presumably variable yield and compact enough to be mounted on their current generation of missiles. That's old news and certainly not what Kim Jong Un intends to reveal.
Surprise reunification? Is it even possible that secret talks have been going on that the CIA doesn't know about?
Posted by: William Gruff | Oct 17 2019 20:35 utc | 22
Well whatever it is Trump better hope it is yuge news arrives very soon to distract his base as his CoC Mick Mulvaney just testified in Congress today that Trump did indeed offer Zelensky a quid pro quo deal wrt to Biden dirt.
Posted by: donkeytale | Oct 17 2019 20:37 utc | 23
Every fat kid on the planet rides with him in spirit. That's a great picture.
I expect a drone attack on Saudi oil facilities would wake people up.
Posted by: Bemildred | Oct 17 2019 20:41 utc | 24
The announcement must be something that will make North Korea look weak, at least in the eyes of hardliners. Why else would Kim Jong Un need to looks strong?
Riding to the mountain implies judgment and wisdom. What will be announced will have taken a lot of consideration.
I have not been following the intra-Korean negotiations, but I suspect North Korea will announce some major concessions or progress in the talks.
What is needed is a peace deal between North and South Korea. The US need not be involved in it, but the deal must be made binding by a resolution of the UN Security Council. This resolution must restore full South Korean sovereignty and override UN Security Council Resolution 82 from 1950. Three outstanding issues will be resolved later.
- North Korea will recognize South Korean sovereignty. It will no longer consider it a US occupation zone. North Korea also recognizes South Korea's sovereign right to keep foreign troops on its soil on its own free will.
- Korean denuclearization will be negotiated between North Korea and the United States. A key demand will be for US troops to leave South Korea.
- It is understood that Korean reunification can happen only after all foreign troops have left the Korean Peninsula
Posted by: Petri Krohn | Oct 17 2019 20:58 utc | 25
Beautifully inspiring imagery, reminds me of the pics of Putin riding a bear barechested ;P
What would shake the world far more than thermonukes would be solid steps towards reunification, demilitarising parts of the DMZ, opening transport and communication lines with the south.
Posted by: ziogolem | Oct 17 2019 21:02 utc | 26
What else but nuke tests and ICBM launches could achieve that?
An inertia drive or a tractor beam would be nice.
A quantum laser canon would be good too. It could fire in several directions simultaneously and would only make a noise if there was no-one around to hear it :-)
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Oct 17 2019 21:17 utc | 27
Reunification would certainly set off a much bigger bang, come to think of it! I wonder if there could be a bargain where the North gets the South's economic help whilst the South gets the North's nuclear shield. A good trade if ever there was one.
Japan would get a little sobby being the only East Asian nation to be nuke free, but really with their tech level they are weeks away from functioning tech anyways, so it's not like they are a soft target.
Posted by: Ilya G Poimandres | Oct 17 2019 21:18 utc | 28
Posted by: Petri Krohn | Oct 17 2019 20:58 utc | 25
Riding to the mountain implies judgment and wisdom. What will be announced will have taken a lot of consideration.
I was wrong. Riding to Mt. Paektu implies judgment, wisdom, and seeking advice from ancestors.
Paektu Mountain is the mythical birthplace of Kim Jong Un's father Kim Jong-il.
What will be announced will have taken a gigantic amount of consideration. Something like unconditional surrender to the Great Satan.
...or maybe Kim Jong Un is just getting married.
Posted by: Petri Krohn | Oct 17 2019 21:26 utc | 30
Petri Krohn @ 25, 30:
I second your comment about Mount Paektu being the place where Kim Jong Un communes with his ancestors. In addition to being the presumed birthplace of his father (actually born in the Soviet Union), the mountain is also where Kim Il Sung established a guerrilla base to fight the Japanese during WWII.
I think Kim Jong Un just wanted assurance from his forebears that his bride-to-be is the right woman to be by his side.
Posted by: Jen | Oct 17 2019 21:53 utc | 31
To be clear, PRNK "nuke tests and ICBM launches" is deliberate disinformation. PRNK has neither one.
The 'nukes' have been traced to 225 or 235 former Soviet low-yield tactical nukes that were 'misplaced' in Ukraine when the Iron Curtain fell, (like those six US nukes that were 'accidentally' transported, while mounted on wing pods on a B-17 and flown over CONUS airspace, to New Orleans and a waiting offshore CIA black ship. Only five of the nukes were recovered.)
But back to PRNK. The illegal dual-Israieli Coup Junta (illegal by their own admission) were taking funds from IMF-WB, then afterward from McCain-Kerry, to privatize everything that wasn't nailed down. This included those 'misplaced' 225 or 235 low-yield nuclear warheads, and all of their rocket boosters! Remember Ukraine is, or was, one of the premier rocket booster builders in the world.
Let's do a timeline, shall we? Ukraine falls to the IL-Nazim. CIA funnels funds for Operation PRNK Psyop, via Ukraine, via McCain-Kerry. Ukraine ships old Soviet tactical nukes to Kim. PRNK starts their 'nuclear weapons testing' (sic) program, timed to every Pentagon budget increase request. Again, Ukraine ships rocket boosters to PRNK. PRNK mates their 2-stage Taipo-Dong to the Ukraine booster. PRNK starts a 'missile development' (sic) program, timed to every Pentagon budget increase request.
The Korean War has generated more than a $TRILLION for the Pentagon-MIC.
But you'll notice two inconvenient truths:
1. PRNKs nuclear test yields never increased above a few tactical kilotons;
2. PRNKs 'ICBMs' all disintegrated in flight, and never made it downrange.
The North Korean government does NOT have a nuke program, and they do NOT have an ICBM program! It's a CIA-Pentagon CHARADE. They have no inertial guidance system, and they have no GPS targeting system. They can't even arc their missiles over into suborbital flight. They disintegrate from aerodynamics! Their longest-range test was FIRED STRAIGHT UP, then seized on by Pentagon-MIC apparatchiks to claim, 'PRNK can now reach the American Heartland!' Yeah, if they actually had a guidance system.
So now that Ukraine is headed by a new government and Trump is pulling out of Syria and Bolton is in exile in Qatar or Hades, those nukes and rocket boosters trades are done. All Kim has left is riding a magnificent white horse up a sacred mountain. No more Ukraine nukes, no more Ukraine missile boosters.
On to Tehran!! Lu,lu,lu,lu,lu!!
Posted by: Jack Martin | Oct 17 2019 22:14 utc | 32
Kim Jong-Un is already married, so it's not a marriage announcement.
Posted by: Robby | Oct 17 2019 22:30 utc | 33
Let me guess. Perhaps as sign of unity and comraderie with the exceptional USA, Kim Jong Un will announce that:
Henceforth, after careful study of 1st-world Scientific Method, North Korea agrees that
[1] truth is legally defined to include Parallel Construction to protect National Security regardless of any other laws;
[2]that National Security remains defined as "if we say so".
Posted by: chu teh | Oct 17 2019 22:34 utc | 34
The marriage announcement seems a good call. Or that the Supreme Leader is to father a son in the near future. More likely however, is the announcement that Kim has just learnt to ride a horse.
Posted by: MadMax2 | Oct 17 2019 22:56 utc | 35
Amusing. reminded me right off the bat of Putin riding his horse, shirtless in Siberia’s southern Tuva region in 2009..... and the media in the US going bonkers and criticizing and mocking him for his "machismo". And now, guess who one of the big winners is in Syria??!!
US presidents have to be content with being photographed playing golf (Nixon, Clinton, Bush jr and sr, Obama, Trump)
and looking for images of the photos of putin horseback, I come across a fox news (which I never read otherwise I can assure you) article about them both
https://www.foxnews.com/world/kim-jong-un-white-horse-sacred-mountain-vladimir-putin
Kim Jong Un channels inner Putin, rides white horse on sacred mountain in equine propaganda shoot
"....KCNA also reported that the visit to Mount Paektu inspired the 35-year-old leader to plan “a great operation” in response to the tough sanctions...."
Posted by: michaelj72 | Oct 17 2019 22:59 utc | 36
I thought he was channeling Clint Eastwood from his Pale Rider flic
Posted by: Bill | Oct 17 2019 23:13 utc | 37
@28 Ilya
My thoughts exactly. Some concrete steps towards reunification with South Korea would shake the tan off Trumps toes.
Posted by: TEP | Oct 17 2019 23:16 utc | 38
Supreme Leader Kim will have to wait until either impeachment trial achieves conviction or the next election for much to change.
His horse riding imagery looks good however. I wonder how many takes before Supreme Leader was satisfied?
Posted by: ab initio | Oct 18 2019 0:23 utc | 39
The RAND consultants have figured out what DPRK can't do.
U.S. analyst calls N.K. pursuit of SLBM-based retaliatory strategy 'not viable'
A U.S. defense analyst on Tuesday dismissed North Korea’s possible pursuit of a nuclear retaliatory strike capability using a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) as unviable for now, noting vulnerabilities of its easily traceable underwater platform.
Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at RAND Corp., made the case amid concerns that Pyongyang’s recent test of a new SLBM could mark a fresh threat to Seoul and Washington, as its submarine could be capable of launching unpredictable, retaliatory strikes.
“The North Korean submarine, which was apparently developed from a Romeo-class submarine, remodeled and refit, is not extremely quiet. So, if they put nuclear weapons on that kind of submarine, it is going to be tracked from the time it leaves port,” he said during a lecture on nuclear forces hosted by a local think tank, the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.
“If conflict develops, it is going to be sitting at the bottom of the ocean and just destroyed. So, that is not a viable strategy to get to a second-strike capability,” he added. . .here
Posted by: Don Bacon | Oct 18 2019 0:34 utc | 40
Robby @ 33: Aaah, just looked up Kim Jong Un's bio on Wikipedia (with all the possible smears it may have) and yes you are right, he's been married since 2012.
Of course there is every possibility that the South Korean media and the Western media generally are seeing too much in Kim's Mount Paektu ride, and it is only a publicity stunt after all for the benefit of the North Korean audience. Then again, it's probably not beyond the North Koreans to troll the West with stunts they know will send the MSM ... erm, ballistic.
Posted by: Jen | Oct 18 2019 0:37 utc | 41
The basic problem the US has with DPRK is that normalization of relations must precede any arms reduction, as spelled out in the Panmunjon Declaration here, which Trump agreed to (though he's forgotten that, or didn't understand what he agreed to).
Posted by: Don Bacon | Oct 18 2019 0:40 utc | 42
I'd be more impressed if he did it naked.
And with a rose in his teeth.
Posted by: jared | Oct 18 2019 0:55 utc | 43
Only "special" countries like the US are allowed to have nuclear deterrence.
US position on nuclear deterrence:
Credible deterrence will act to influence America's adversaries and their decision makers that the United States has both the capability and resolve to use nuclear weapons, denying the benefits of and imposing costs on any actions by adversarial governments. . .here
Posted by: Don Bacon | Oct 18 2019 0:55 utc | 44
Gordon Chang is on it ----
"Who knows what is going on here?" Chang asked. "But we do know that there is something in the works and we probably are not going to like it."
Posted by: daffyDuct | Oct 18 2019 1:28 utc | 45
"The white steed upon which Kim Jong-Un is seated is reminiscent of the legendary creatures Chollima, a winged horse, and Mallima, a horse with incredible speed and endurance, according to Reuters.
Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Un's grandfather, was also supposedly visited by a white steed during his guerrilla days, according to The Washington Post.
There are postage stamps of Kim Jong Il riding white horses on Mt. Paektu, according to Michael Madden, a North Korea researcher for the Stimson Center, but "no one's had the balls to take a horse up there," he said.
Kim Jong Un resembles his grandfather physically, and has had a number of propaganda photos mirroring his grandfather's. Kim Jong Un's resemblance of his grandfather allows him to "project power and gravitas," Madsen told The Guardian in 2014.
Kim Jong Un isn't the only person hearkening the past in the photo shoot, though; in other photos, his sister, Kim Yo Jong, is riding a horse like the one her father used to ride, and is dressed like her grandmother, Kim Il Sung's first wife Kim Jong Suk, who is considered the mother of North Korea and holds vital importance in the country's mythology.
...
"This is a statement, symbolic of defiance," Pollack told The Washington Post. "The pursuit of sanctions relief is over. Nothing is made explicit here, but it starts to set new expectations about the coming course of policy for 2020.""
...
Madden told Insider that the photo shoot most likely portends a military announcement of some kind, possibly that North Korea and China are announcing a long-term strategic aggreement. "A member of the Chinese Military Commission is in North Korea right now, and [talks are] going very, very, very well," he told Insider.
Madden told Insider that "North Korea in 2020 is either going to launch a rocket, or announce that they have attained the ability to perform sub-critical nuclear tests," and the photos could be in advance of such an announcement.
Whatever the announcement is, it's almost certainly not about making concessions to the US or any of its allies, Madden said.
"North Korea has massively regressed in the past few months," in terms of foreign policy "and I have no idea why," Madden noted.
"
Posted by: daffyDuct | Oct 18 2019 1:39 utc | 46
Bi-lateral peace agreement with South Korea would please me. Would be great fun watching empire heads exploding.
Posted by: ben | Oct 18 2019 2:47 utc | 47
I hope very much it is not because he is seriously ill.
I cannot think of any other matter that would make such
a pilgrimage feel obligatory. But if it is so, he will
want to make every moment he has meaningful for his
people.
The horse is very beautiful. Best wishes to him and to
his nation.
Posted by: juliania | Oct 18 2019 4:51 utc | 48
CDWaller | Oct 17 2019 19:01 utc | 9:
Sanctions would only be lifted if the newly unified Korea is pro-Washington.
Posted by: Ian2 | Oct 18 2019 5:46 utc | 49
Into the Inferno is a 2016 documentary about volcanoes by Werner Herzog. He visits four different active volcanoes around the world, Mt. Paektu among them. The film is not so much about the science and facts of volcanoes as it is about the cultural meaning of them for the people who live around them. He apparently got some extraordinary access to film both at Mt. Paektu and in other locations, including Pyongyang. He even interviews soldiers and ordinary civilians.
I have no idea if it is true or accurate (who would?) or "objective" or any of all that; I just found it rather fascinating. It was at least a glimpse into a place we get very little real information about.
Posted by: Prairie Bear | Oct 18 2019 5:48 utc | 50
Surprise reunification? Is it even possible that secret talks have been going on that the CIA doesn't know about?
Posted by: William Gruff | Oct 17 2019 20:35 utc | 22
Madden told Insider that the photo shoot most likely portends a military announcement of some kind, possibly that North Korea and China are announcing a long-term strategic aggreement. "A member of the Chinese Military Commission is in North Korea right now, and [talks are] going very, very, very well," he told Insider.
Posted by: daffyDuct | Oct 18 2019 1:39 utc | 46
If there is secret reunification progress between the two Koreas, and they are about to achieve a breakthrough, military guarantees from Russia and/or China (preferably both jointly) would be an absolute precondition, including military presence of Russia and/or China in Korea, and especially Russian/Chinese integrated air defence systems.
Contrary to Petri Krohn's weird and ludicrously pro-US propositions that "all foreign troops" must leave Korea (if the US forces are gone, that makes it easier for the US to launch a nuclear first strike), any reunification - whether multilateral including (claimed) US agreement or "bilateral" (i.e. without US agreement - actually it must be a multilateral agreement anyway including Russia, China, and preferably other countries) - could only be thinkable in the context of rock solid military guarantees from Russia and China. The only aggressor is the US, nobody but a liar can deny that. The US is a rogue nation, is not agreement-capable, and is an existential and nuclear threat to both North and (in the case of non-subservience to the US) South Korea. That much has already been incontrovertably established.
I have written before that in my opinion seeking reunification involving US agreement is a non-starter, (a) because the US is not agreement-capable and does not respect agreements it has signed, (b) because the US is vehemently opposed to reunification (except under slavery conditions), and (c) because the US is inherently desceptive and dishonest. The only chance reunification has is in quadrilateral talks involving the two Koreas, Russia and China (or a broader basis on the same quadrilateral basis but without the US, and with other parties preferably only as observers). Any involvement of the US whatsoever in the negotiations is utterly undesirable and intrinsically damaging, in my opinion.
It is possible that what has been agreed between China and North Korea could be a military and economic framework under which North Korea can make a concrete and attractive offer to South Korea involving sovereign reunification (presumably involving a one country two systems structure in the intermediate term), large-scale OBOR investment projects in both Koreas, Chinese investment in South Korean heavy industry with guaranteed markets in China, high-speed railway links from China through North Korea to South Korea, guaranteed preferential access for South Korea to Chinese markets, protection from US sanctions, etc. I think China is quite capable of making a bundle offer that would be highly attractive to the vast majority of South Korean society - including the Chaebols, labour workforce, unemployed, small business, etc but perhaps excluding a narrow section of US proxies in the security industry - which would be a win win win package for both Koreas and China, and which would assure the ordinary people of both North and South Korea a bright and prosperous future. Such a deal could have enormous benefits for China as well, both economically and geostrategically. Conversely the economic prospects of South Korea if remaining under US hegemony are bleak, ambiguous and highly tenuous.
China is definitely the best future for South Korea economically, the US structure is a dead-end, as the current situation in South Korea shows only too well. Strong links with China will insulate South Korea from the coming collapse of the US empire.
Posted by: BM | Oct 18 2019 7:39 utc | 51
Yours is the most positive and I think likely explanation of
what we are about to see, BM, and it would be as wonderful for
the Koreans as is that lovely horse.
It ia more consistent with the text b posted, which keeps to
the socialist meme. I cannot really see reunification with
South Korea coming from this, though they may well extend the
hand of friendship and make a conditional offer to the south
in terms of family reunification.
If the proposals from China are broad and generous it would
be also a boost to China's economy. We saw that they were
hesitating to become involved in the middle east - as they
could have been more concerned to help rebuild closer to
home.
Thanks, BM.
Posted by: juliania | Oct 18 2019 14:25 utc | 52
I am going to agree with the commenters that think that there will be a reunification of Korea
South Korea is being dumped by the side of the road by empire who is choosing Japan over SK who holds more US T-bills
It is always about the money system being controlled by the God of Mammon cult
Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 18 2019 20:21 utc | 53
What about capitalism (with North Korean characteristics)?
Did Kim Jong un ride up the mountain prior to testing the first nuclear devices? I don't recall hearing about it. So I'm disinclined to think this will be just another stage in weapons development. The symbolism here seems to suggest a once-in-a-lifetime event to me.
Posted by: Mike | Oct 18 2019 22:16 utc | 54
Powerful symbolism and imagery here! I am guessing this involves more than a weapon's test. A few guesses...
1) Satellite launch. Kind of like a weapons test, it would show NK can hit anywhere in the world with a thermonuclear MIRV type device without literally testing a weapon. Those new, small thermonuclear warheads look to me to be designed for a MIRV type missile...but...lot risk for rocket failure, which would be considered a bad omen after the horse ride on mountain, so I don' think that is it.
2) Reunification. Could well be, but I think the South Korean fascist security apparatus is still too strong for this to happen, a couple things would need to unfold IMO before this is possible.
3) So, I am going to echo a couple commentators and say it is some sort of alliance with China. Perhaps China is about to allow North Korea to fully integrate with them economically while giving NK security guarantees and military assistance. Both countries are well aware USA is agreement incapable, so further negotiations are completely pointless. To hell with sanctions, China doesn't need American business any longer, they have outgrown the west, so why not ignore western wishes and immediately link North Korea to the BRI. A few years after, the conditions for unification would be ripe.
Posted by: Haassaan | Oct 19 2019 1:49 utc | 55
In support of my contention that reunification is a high priority for Korea I am posting this comment with a link from Reuters
South Korean students climb into U.S. envoy's residence in protest against troop presence
The take away quotes
"
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean police detained 19 students on Friday after several climbed over the wall into the grounds
of the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Seoul in protest against the U.S. troop presence in the country.
In a separate video, apparently broadcast from inside the compound, they accused the United States of demanding
a 500% increase in the cost of keeping some 28,500 troops in South Korea, holding a banner saying “Leave this soil, Harris”.
“Stop interfering with our domestic affairs,” they shouted, followed by other chants “Get out”, and “We don’t need U.S. troops”,
before being marched out of the residence by police.
"
How can South Korea put up with a 500% increase in the cost of being a colony of dying empire?
Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 19 2019 5:23 utc | 56
Maybe it's nothing political or military but something personal. Does Kim Jong-un already have children?
Posted by: M | Oct 19 2019 5:34 utc | 57
@NoOneYouKnow #5
Sorry, but you're wrong.
The problem with US Health care is...US Health care.
The US is spending at least $1.5 trillion per year, very possibly $2.0+ trillion per year, more on health care because Americans pay twice as much per capita than any other nation. This includes such poor socialist countries like Switzerland and Luxembourg.
The nuclear weapons upgrade is $1 trillion plus ... over 10 years or more.
Freeing up money from defense spending is a fine goal, but continuing the (deadly) black farce that is the US health care system should be the primary focus of all Americans.
Posted by: c1ue | Oct 19 2019 16:12 utc | 58
North Korea is a "World Show" with poor people. What we can do? Just watch or not watch TV. When country can't do anything, they show his leader horses, cars, aircrafts and his sporting and fishing. You know what im talking about...
Posted by: CarDetailLab | Oct 19 2019 20:20 utc | 59
Watch out Tulsi. The media is scouring RT, Sputnik News, Moscow TV and everywhere else for favorable quotes about an American politician who wants good relations with Russia.
Posted by: Paulb | Oct 19 2019 23:20 utc | 60
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Here is an article that looks at a recent accidental public release of the locations of the American nuclear weapons in Europe:
https://viableopposition.blogspot.com/2019/07/american-nuclear-weapons-in-europe.html
Given that, during the Second World War, Russia lost approximately 9.75 million military personnel and 13.2 million civilians compared to the United States losses of 416,800 military personnel and 1700 civilians, is it any wonder that the Russians fear the presence of American nuclear weapons in Europe?
Posted by: Sally Snyder | Oct 17 2019 18:18 utc | 1