IT CONTINUES TO APPEAR THAT NO. KOREA WILL INITIATE ANOTHER WAR

…The latest test of North Korean Missiles

 

The young North Korean Dictator Kim has said they have: “tremendous military muscle and a nuclear force.” 

 

I spent a number of years doing business in South Korea, starting back in 1988 when I happened to visit there during the Summer Olympics in Seoul.  The South Koreans out-did themselves in making Seoul a beautiful place for the international visitors during the Olympics.  Other than all the signs written in Korean, the city reminded me of other modern Chinese and Japanese cities such as Shanghai and Tokyo.

 

I also visited the highly depressing demilitarized zone (DMZ) which is only about 30 miles from downtown Seoul.  Most Americans don’t realize that South Korea has a population of ~50 million, and 10 million of those are living within Seoul’s city limits.  Seoul’s metropolitan area has approximately 20 million residents.

 

Now, the DMZ itself is a 2.5 mile wide “No Man’s Land” that divides North Korea from South Korea.  Both sides have large contingencies of military personnel on each side of the zone.

 

The idea that North Korea is very close to offering up a miniaturized atomic weapon that could be delivered by a short range missile, (which the North Korean’s already have), this must be making the South Korean’s very nervous.

 

And this is why the US Navy strike group led by the 1980 USS Carl Vinson nuclear aircraft carrier is making its way from Singapore to the Korean Peninsula.  It will be there “to maintain readiness” as Kim Jong Un’s North Korean regime prepares to mark key anniversaries in the coming weeks.

…The young dictator, Kim Jong Un visiting one of North Korea’s Missile Test Ranges

 

North Korea has stated that they will hold a huge military parade to celebrate the 105th birthday of its founding president, Kim Il Sung.  It will also celebrate the 85th anniversary of the creation of their Korean People’s Army.  This is a standing army in the North of more than 2 million, highly trained military personnel.  This is a total active army that is ready to go on a moment’s notice.

 

As for South Korea, they have an active military of 625,000, and a trained, reserve military of 2.9 million.  The United States Forces Korea (USFK) is very present in South Korea, and that includes the US Navy, Air Force, Marines and Army and acres of US military equipment.  The total of US military personnel is approximately 29,000.

 

Military analysts expect that the recent barrage of missile test launches­ from the North will continue, and activities around the North’s known nuclear test site have raised concerns that Pyongyang may be preparing for a sixth nuclear test.  Recently, North Korea, in a response to the statements by the US Sec. of State, they said that they were not afraid of those military strikes like the United States had launched on Syria.  They said “they could defend themselves with their tremendous military muscle and their nuclear force.” 

 

Now, yes they do have nuclear capabilities.  But as of today, the only way they could deliver their current nuclear bomb would be a very large, slow vehicle or ship that would never be allowed to get close enough to the DMZ or to the harbors of South Korea.

 

This is why the North is working so hard to miniaturize their current technology, and to de-bug their missile technology.

 

A recent, high-level North Korean military officer that defected to the South has said that the young dictator, Kim Jong Un, will do “Whatever it takes to maintain his family’s position as the leader of the North, including the use of a nuclear weapon.”  Because of Kim’s declaration that they will eventually have the nuclear weapons and missiles that could reach as far as the western shores of the US, the US is considering placing nuclear devices and anti-nuclear defense units within South Korea’s borders.

…The USS Nuclear Carl Vinson Aircraft Carrier and its escorts

 

It was in this atmosphere, that the USS Carl Vinson strike group, which includes a carrier air wing and two nuclear guided-missile destroyers, was ordered to travel to the “Western Pacific.” When the group had left Singapore on Saturday, it was originally bound for Australia when they received their new orders.  “Western Pacific” means just off-shore of the two Koreas.

 

“The US Pacific Command ordered the Carl Vinson Strike Group north as a prudent measure to maintain readiness and presence in the Western Pacific,” said Dave Benham, a spokesman for the Pacific Command.   “The number one threat in the region continues to North Korea, due to its reckless, irresponsible and destabilizing program of missile tests and pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability,” he said.

 

The Carl Vinson strike group had previously participated in joint drills with the South Korean military to prepare for a sudden change on the peninsula.  That included considering a collapse of the North Korean regime or an invasion by them. 

 

North Korea has been testing medium-range missiles over recent months, and Kim said in January that North Korea had “entered the final stage of preparation for a test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile”.  That would mean a missile capable of hitting South Korea, Japan or the United States mainland.

 

 

In response, President Trump had tweeted: “It won’t happen!”   But as usual, that statement was never expanded on by the novice president.

...South Korea in exercises with the USFK  

 

In a recent extended phone call, Trump told South Korea’s acting president, Hwang Kyo-ahn, that he had “in-depth discussions about North Korea’s serious nuclear problems and how to respond to them” during his summit meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.  But once again, no explanation from President Trump of those discussions.

 

 

Trump has vowed and tweeted that the US would act alone if China does not rein in North Korea, combined with the US president’s sudden decision to launch airstrikes on Syria, that has some analysts speculating that North Korea could be next.

 

In addition, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a visit to Seoul last month that “all options are on the table,” including military options. US administrations have long ruled out even pinprick strikes on North Korean nuclear sites or missile targets because of the potential for catastrophic Northern response damage to South Korea.

 

The North has since amassed its conventional artillery on its side of the DMZ that bisects the peninsula, giving it the capacity to inflict serious damage on the Greater Seoul region.

 

A statement from North Korea’s Foreign Ministry, published Sunday, said that the US attack on Syria was “absolutely unpardonable as it was an undisguised act of aggression against a sovereign state.”  The statement also said that North Korea will not be “frightened” by the US strike on Syria.

 

The statement said the strikes showed why North Korea needed nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them. “We will bolster up in every way our capability for self-defense to cope with the US evermore reckless moves for a war and defend ourselves with our own force,” it said. 

 

It is sounding more and more like there will eventually, once again, be a useless war on the Korean peninsula .  That is unless the Republic of China and the US can somehow stop the desires of a temperamental, young and ambitious dictator of a small, totalitarian nation.

 

Copyright G.Ater  2017