All these dictators talk a good game but at the end of the day, all they want is self-preservation.

This nutjob sees that he's not dealing with an Obama type he can push around.

There's a new sheriff in town and it's not the spineless guy in South Korea.
Kim, the democrats, and the MSM will try to give any credit to the President of S. Korea because he is a wimp too and none of them want Trump's tough stance to get any of the credit.

Actually, it's because the guy in South Korea is a pushover that Kim's focusing on him. He was on the edge of getting his ass smoked until he wheedled his way into the Olympics. Now he's hoping talks with South Korea will bog America down so that he'll have more time to boost his arsenal and figure out anything he can. This is not a good sign, it's a fairly subtle delaying action that Li'l Kim hopes makes it harder for Trump to pull the trigger.

quote:

Originally posted by Il Cattivo:
Actually, it's because the guy in South Korea is a pushover that Kim's focusing on him. He was on the edge of getting his ass smoked until he wheedled his way into the Olympics. Now he's hoping talks with South Korea will bog America down so that he'll have more time to boost his arsenal and figure out anything he can. This is not a good sign, it's a fairly subtle delaying action that Li'l Kim hopes makes it harder for Trump to pull the trigger.

This.

He'll have a deliverable nuke by the end of the year...unless we stop him.

quote:

Originally posted by Il Cattivo:
This is not a good sign, it's a fairly subtle delaying action that Li'l Kim hopes makes it harder for Trump to pull the trigger.

Good grief, man.

OK, let us now say- after urging NK to the table- that we don't want to negotiate because we know it's a trap. Damn.

NK is INEPT!!!!! They aren't going to attack ANYONE, for ANY reason because they know that would be the end of them.

Oh, it's a trap! It's a trap!! FFS

So, let's not sit down with them, k? Sounds like a great plan.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
This.

He'll have a deliverable nuke by the end of the year...unless we stop him.

Oh, how dramatic. Shades of Ian Fleming.

If he was going to have a deliverable nuke in five years, or before his money runs out, he wouldn't be sitting down. Unless you're talking about loading up one of those crude ones he has in the back of a truck and driving it to the DMZ.

He's bluffed his way by in the past and now he's painted himself into a corner thinking Trump would fold like the others. Wrong.

Now he's going to plan B, his only realistic option.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Oh, how dramatic. Shades of Ian Fleming.

Ian Fleming? No. John Bolton? Yes.

http://insider.foxnews.com/201...inishing-deliverable

I'm talking about the "...unless we stop them."

Love the drama

North Korea will attack no one, because they know- as do you- that if they do such a thing, they are gone. The regime will fall and trials and executions will follow.

We are mistaken to believe that this is about regime preservation. Reunification is the goal. It is almost the only goal. With nukes, the North believes that they can deter the US from intervening.

However this plays out, there's no doubt Rocket Man knows by now he ain't dealing with slacker Obama.

Mad Dog and President Trump.
Maybe Rocket Man is losing sleep, wondering what those two have in mind for him.

Might be enough to get NK to the table, and that would be a good thing.

Trump speaks the language NK understands.

Slacker Obama, on the other hand, was played like a punk bitch by our enemies.

quote:

Originally posted by Fenris:
We are mistaken to believe that this is about regime preservation. Reunification is the goal. It is almost the only goal. With nukes, the North believes that they can deter the US from intervening.

How?

How will the use of nukes help in the whole 'unification' bit? Kim will ONLY support unifocation if he is in charge of the entire peninsula. That will NEVER happen. There is NO WAY the South Koreans will agree to tank their economy (and prosperous way of life) just to bail out the NorKs. And, I'm sure they won't trade their relatively free society for a gulag state, just for the sake of 'unity.'

Besides, the split happened over 60 years ago. Most of the younger generation have no strong family connections with the North anymore. And, the countries have grown apart socially and technologically so much that they are essentially strangers now. Look at the South - a hi tech 21st century prosperous society. The North is stuck in a 1920's level District 12 Hunger Games society. They have very little in common any more. I've read that many South Koreans are VERY adverse to the concept of unification, as it would cripple their economy, much more so than when Germany reunited.

Back to Kim's threats . Say, the NorKs nuke somebody. What then? They can't nuke the South into submission, as thar will drag at LEAST the US and Japan into the conflict, and the world won't be able to stop us from levelimng North Korea and, more importantly, taking out Kim (as stated, a dictators #1 priority is self-preservation). Kim knows he could not survive such a conflict. Also, the NorKs want and need the infrastructure of the South. War will destroy all that.

All this bluster and the threats are intended to cower weak leaders. Fortunately for us, they won't work.

It's all bluster but we didn't have anyone in office here that would call his bluff.
Now we do.

quote:

Originally posted by Hound Dog:...

How?

...

East/West Germany.

At the time (and years leading up to it) the discussion about such a thing was almost always understood that the Russians and East German governments would not allow it to happen, that hundreds of thousand if not million(s) would die and war would be likely between Warsaw Pact and NATO.

But, when enough people have had enough for long enough it is enough to risk what's left of not enough to lose.

Or.

When the pain of remaining the same is greater than the pain of change, change will be made.

The NORKS are not looking to nuke anyone.

It's a strap on, that gives the appearance of strength the the big boys have. And to send the message that "we won't be pushed around".

Like it or don't, it works.

Reunification is a pipe dream.

We'll see. I remember how stunned everyone was when the wall came down in Germany. It was the same old nasty business as usual that seemed it would go on forever-- until it wasn't.

Of course this is different. But let's see what happens.

quote:

Originally posted by justjoe:
Of course this is different.

That's the understatement of the week.

You are probably right, Para. All the odds are in your favor, for sure. If I had to bet, I'd bet on what you say: pipe dream.

But strange things happen. And I think there is something to be said for "When the pain of remaining the same is greater than the pain of change, change will be made." (Sigmonkey)

quote:

Originally posted by justjoe:

But strange things happen. And I think there is something to be said for "When the pain of remaining the same is greater than the pain of change, change will be made." (Sigmonkey)

I don't understand what 'pain of remaining the same' there is here. Is the South REALLY in agony over the split? How many of the people in the 20-50 year range even know anybody in the North anymore? Every year, fewer and fewer people with personal connections (on both sides) remain alive as the older ones die off. Now, I won't pretend to be any expert on Koreans or their culture, so there are most likely factors in play of which I am ignorant. In the meantime, the South continues to thrive and experience an incredible quality of life, while the North gets crappier and crappier over time. I can see why the North wants to reunify - they would get an immediate boost in their standard of living (but not equal to what the South now has, as long as the Kims are in charge). What is in it for the South?

After Germany reunified, a LOT of 'West Germans' were resentful of the East, as they had to bail out the East. It took years and years to get the East up to par with the West, and that all cost money (transferred from the West to the East). The same would happen in Korea. It would take at least a decade to even make good progress towards getting the North up to parity with the South. THAT would be a lot of pain.

And, I don't think the Kims will EVER willingly give up their control of the North, and I don't ever see the South submitting to rule by the NorK regime. Germany did not have anything similar to this political situation in play. Reunifying Korea would be a huge pain in the butt.

He could go the way of this guy.


https://upload.wikimedia.org/w...e_Ceau%C8%99escu.jpg

He thought strong arming the residents would save his hide too. Then the military saw which way the wind was blowing.