Daily Mail: BREAKING NEWS: North Korea threatens to CANCEL nuclear summit with Trump because it believes 'provocative military ruckus' of joint U.S.-South Korea drills are rehearsal for invasion
* June 12 Singapore summit between Trump and Kim is suddenly in jeopardy
* North Korean government blames joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises
* Pyongyang sees the drills as a rehearsal for a full-scale invasion
* Kim also canceled meeting with South Korea's president on a few hours' notice
North Korea's government says it is considering calling off a planned nuclear summit between dictator Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Kim's regime said through state-run news agency KCNA that ongoing 'Max Thunder' joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea are actually a 'rehearsal for invasion' of the North.
'The United States will also have to undertake careful deliberations about the fate of the planned North Korea-U.S. summit in light of this provocative military ruckus jointly conducted with the South Korean authorities,' KCNA said.
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WNU Editor: Just when I thought that maybe North Korea was finally finding its way .... even commenting on it earlier today that North Korea was acting out of character by wanting to speed up the process of reconciliation .... they pull this stunt. The U.S. State Department is saying that planning will still go ahead .... Planning for Trump-Kim summit will 'absolutely' go on, State Department says (Politico). I say that there is a problem. No comment yet from the Chinese government, nor from the South Korean government. It is late at night in Seoul and Beijing right now, but I suspect that when President Xi and President Moon go to their respective offices in a few hours, we will be hearing from them very quickly. My gut is also telling me that something more than just military exercises are unnerving the North Koreans right now .... there is something else at play right now.
More News On North Korea Suspending Talks With South Korea While Warning President Trump That The Summit May Be Cancelled
SKorea news agency: NKorea threatens to cancel US summit -- AP
North Korea suspends talks with South, warns on Trump-Kim summit -- Reuters
N. Korea casts doubt on Trump summit -- AFP
N. Korea cancels high-level talks with S. Korea, threatens to nix U.S. summit -- Yonhap News Agency
N Korea cancels talks with South Korea and warns US -- BBC
North Korea warns US as it suspends South Korea talks over military drills -- CNN
North Korea suspends talks with South Korea and threatens to cancel upcoming meeting with US President Trump -- DW
North Korea suspends talks with South, threatens to cancel US summit with Donald Trump -- ABC News Online
N. Korea Tells US to 'Carefully Deliberate the Fate' of Kim-Trump Summit -- VOA
North Korea threatens to cancel US meeting over American military drills with South Korea, report says -- FOX News
13 comments:
That’s fine, we got back our hostages, that’s about the best we could hope for, throw Rodman under the water board, see what he knows.
Somebody besides Kim NoKo land ain't happy.
This whole thing sounded to good to be true from the start. With that said with all of the concessions NK has been making to for the US and the SK to hold off on military drills would not have been much to ask. In fact, such a move probably would have been expected. Given the concessions made by NK of late, it would seem experiential common sense for SK and the US to not hold military drills at this time even without being prompted not to do so. Now as the editor suggests there may be other factors going on than military drills.
A few months ago war seemed imminent. In a war between North Korea and America, millions if not 10s of millions of Americans would die. As such, this is something we would want to try and avoid if at all possible. Then to have come so far to be what appeared to be possibly on the cusp of peace in such a short time. If we can settle on a situation where there are heightened tensions, but where war is not imminent, this would not be the optimal situation but I think most in SK and the US as well as NK and their allies could live with that.
South Korea is a huge cost burden to the US. It isn't just the financial burden or the current troop deployments but the expectation that the US is going to throw everything it has into the advancement of South Korean interests as well as its basic defense at the expense of its own interests and national defense. Furthermore at least 33% of the officers in the SK military view America as the main enemy. For at leas the last 25 years, it has been a major concern of mine that SK will do something contrary to our interests even something stupid getting us drawn into a war with North Korea. This isn't a very good situation.
While perhaps not optimal and I am NOT suggesting this at this time, there is the option of cutting South Korea loose and negotiating separate end to our conflict with North Korea with the North Koreans. When freed of the South Korean burden and yoke, the North Korean problem likely becomes much easier to handle. Again, I'm not suggesting this is what we do at this time as abandoning allies even if they are less than reliable could have long range negative ramifications, however, US leaders should consider this as an option.
Lol
lol USA always Faked it aka Fake Peactalks ,they thought how we gona get out of this kim jong wants peace ,we dont we better do some military drills that piss off kimmy and its worked there was never ever going to be peace talks usa only knows 2 things war and vassals
"Lol?" What's so funny? I seem to have missed it. Perhaps you can enlighten me.
This isn't a long thread so I think it should be easy to analyze each post. In the first post, anonymous points out we got our three hostages back. This is a good thing and as he/she points out perhaps correctly that this is the best we can hope for. I did wonder about this at the time. There was no reason for NK to release these people based upon realpolitik. With all the progress that had been made prior to this it seems unlikely the US is going to endanger the entire process over three people who likely had no business being there in the first place. Furthermore it seemed strange that NK would humiliate themselves in this manner. Again, I am glad our people got to come home. The whole thing seems strange though. Naturally NK would be expecting some type of reciprocation on our part for these actions. As to the part about waterboarding Dennis Rodman, I see no utility in this nor do I see anything funny here.
In the second post anonymous points out that someone besides Kim isn't happy. This seems rather obvious and nothing stands out in any way shape or form as being funny.
Now we come to my post. First of all I point out that peace between NK and America seemed to good to be true from the start. I further add with the concessions NK has been making of late that holding off of military drills would not only be prudent but the parties shouldn't have even needed to be prompted to do this. That is IF this is the issue. As the editor points out there may be other factors.
I go on to point out that not so long ago war seemed all but imminent. In 9/2017, I fully anticipated war to occur within six months. Perhaps the numbers of Americans I estimate would die in such a conflict is understated, perhaps it is overstated, but what should be clear is the casualties America would suffer both civilian and military in such a war will be massive even if we assume China and Russia don't get involved. This is NOT something we take lightly.
Additionally I correctly point out the huge cost burden that South Korea. Perhaps the benefits to this "alliance" are worth the costs but an accounting is needed on this. The fact that a large number of SK military officers view us as the main enemy is another problem that should not be underestimated.
Finally, while not the option we would want to pursue at this time, without the yoke and burden of South Korea the case could be made that it would become much easier to negotiate an end to our conflict with North Korea. Maybe the analysis is off. Maybe we need South Korea for some reason that doesn't seem apparent. Maybe they are providing value to us that doesn't seem apparent.
I find nothing humorous in any of this and I think I covered the basis on all of the posts. Perhaps you can enlighten me on what I am missing here.
Anon, (last post by anon),
Maybe I am getting the humor that some might see in this. Where I would respectfully disagree is "usa knows only two things war and vassals." From my perspective as an American, at least in the case of South Korea, the opposite seems to be the case. America seems be serving as South Korea's vassal.
Many in the USA have allot invested in these talks and want them to succeed. As such, I think there may be more going on than simply this or someone made a foolish mistake. If it is a foolish mistake, I would expect whoever authorized this to be fired both on the US and SK sides. A reduction in rank might be in order as well. Then I would expect the peace talks to get back on track. I have noticed that POTUS defers allot to the generals. This could have been an error in this case.
Calm down. Stop yapping about success before the meeting.
12 June is too far out there.
I agree. Some people got to excited to quickly. With that said for the US and South Korea to conduct military drills right now seems like a colossally bad idea. Hopefully this isn't the case.
Kim reportedly told moon he was ok with exercises and even understood the logic behind it.
I think.This is a case of the South appeasement not passing on the full dialogue to the u.s.
No conditions or concessions from u.s, Trump is in the position of strength Kim's economy is on its knees.
Time to dictate terms, Kim's time is up.
Fazman,
While I can appreciate your optimism, very respectfully in modern warfare with the destructiveness of modern weapons the size of a nation's economy isn't nearly as important as it perhaps once was. Also, South Korea has very powerful allies.
Assuming Kim's economy is "on its knees," this is only because the Chinese and the Russians have chosen to cooperate with us on sanctions. If that cooperation should be withdrawn, we could be right back where we were and pethaps worse.
Very respectfully it's easy for non Americans to say "time to dictate terms." Their heads aren't on the chopping block should things go wrong and of course their will have to "conditions and concessions"from the US if there is going to be peace. Frankly I'm astounded that the US hasn't really had to make any concessions yet.
"This is the case of South Korean appeasement..." if I were POTUS and I were to learn that SK is conducting negotiations without keeping us in the loop in real time, I would be VERY upset. That might well be grounds to rethink this "alliance." It's vitally important that we know what's going on so we can properly plan.
With that said what you may see as "appeasement," appears to me to be "prudence." Aftrr all in the event of war it's going to be South Koreans and Americans who are going to bear the brunt of a North Korean reprisal. Those in other countries will not. As such, caution is warranted.
There seems to be no upside to US/SK military drills right now coupled with huge downside risks. Frankly this should be so obvious that the leaders should not have even needed to be prompted not to do this right now.
To date, Trump diplomacy has been brilliant. This appears to be an error on the part of American and South Korean leaders. I predict the military drills will be placed on hold and we can and will get back to diplomacy.
Trump is dictating terms,and he Wil be the one walking away?
Now North Korean leaders are apparently saying talks may be suspended if they are pressured to give up their nuclear weapons. Weren't we told by the media they had already in principle agreed to do this? Why the sudden change? I suspected people were getting to excited to quickly.
This time about 8 months ago war seemed inevitable. Actually if we can get back to a situation of high tension but war doesn't seem inevitable as has been the case throughout most of this conflict much worse outcomes are possible. As such, we could probably live with that.
"Trump is dictating terms." This is a negotiation, one does not "dictate." If there is a pkus side to "walking away" now, at least it doesn't appear we've actually given up anything. So far China hasn't responded. Where we go from here will likely be largely contingent on their response. Will they along with the Russians agree to keep the sanctions in place?
If US/Sk military drills have caused this change in behaviour on the part of NK, this is what a former coach of mine would have referred to as an "unforced error" on our part. There was/is no reason for such a course of action right now.
If talks fail, SK should develop its own nuclear weapons program. US leaders should encourage this. Such a course of action would strengthen SK defense, take some of the pressure off of the US military, and would likely strengthen the alliance beetween South Korea and America.
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