Trump says he's not 'personally bothered' by North Korea missile tests

N. Korea doesn't want to destroy Japan for 'no reason at all'. Japanese Imperialism in the Korean peninsula between 1910 and 1945 strove to control Korea. The Japanese were brutal and murdered and raped villages killing women and children, burning down their villages and torturing them. They committed atrocities unlike many other in history. Japan worked to wipe out Korean culture, language and history.

In 1910, Korea was annexed by the Empire of Japan after years of war, intimidation and political machinations; the country would be considered a part of Japan until 1945. In order to establish control over its new protectorate, the Empire of Japan waged an all-out war on Korean culture.

The hatred of the Japanese by N. Korea never subsided, never left, never wavered. They would destroy Japan in a split second if they weren't afraid of retaliation and total annihilation by the US.

 

Why can't we have normalized relations with them without giving them nukes?

We've had sanctions on them since 1979 and do you know why?

It had nothing to do with nukes, that didn't start until 2006 when the UN did it.

There are plenty of ways the Iranians could normalize relations without even bringing in the nuclear thing if they wanted to.

They don't.

This deal by Obama was simply an attempt by them to get sanctions lifted which would be permanent knowing full well that in 10 years their responsibility to the deal would be over with and they could go back to normal.

Absolutely the only reason they talked in the first place is because the sanctions were hurting them and Obama removed that burden.

How you folks do not see this simply amazes me.

 

I despise Fox News. And I rarely listen to what Trump says except out of morbid curiosity. And on occasion, Trump says or does something that I agree with.

You read and studied the conventional wisdom that was offered up to you by the authority figures of that time. I wonder. Did you ever contemplate the possibility that you were being misled?

Of course I know. The Japanese invaded and occupied the Korean peninsula. And then the US replaced the Japanese after defeating them in WWII. The Soviets occupied the northern half of the peninsula and the US the southern half. Then one day, US military planners simply created a de jure division between the north and south based on the largely arbitrarily chosen 38th parallel. In other words, the only reason "North Korea" even exists is because the US divided the country into northern and southern halves.

Gee, I wonder why North Korea would want nuclear weapons. It's almost as if they're trying to defend themselves from invasions that inflict massive harm on their country.

 

What you read, studied, and lived all happened in the larger context of US imperialism and anti-Soviet hysteria.

 

Nobody is advocating "giving" nukes to Iran.

Because the US wants to destabilize and overthrow the Iranian government.

Iran didn't bring in the nuclear thing, the US and other western powers did.

What does "go back to normal" mean?

They talked because they genuinely want peace with the US, just like North Korea does. It's really that simple.

 

So they no longer want peace?

 

No, I studied history, not what anyone told me happened. You get an 'A' for googling facts, I'll give you that much credit.

N. and S. Korea will most likely never be one united country ever again. There's too many obstacles. N. Korea is still a nominally communist regime while the framework of politics in S. Korea has a democratic framework and 'never the twain shall meet'. N. Korea became a hermit state built on communist ideology, they were isolated from the world and its enemies.

The U.S. has five military bases in S. Korea and approximately 28,000 troops. This obviously costs the U.S. taxpayers a lot of money to maintain these bases. Let's imagine that South and N. Korea agree to make Korea one country again with the stipulation that both Kim Jong-Un and Moon Jae-in be removed as the leaders. Kim Jong-Un would have to be removed and if the people of N. Korea had hopes of a united one-Korea again and the hopes of prosperity for the future, they would agree to his removal. The end result would be peace in that country because it would become one country again as it had been for a thousand years. Once the dictator of N. Korea is rendered powerless, they could hold a general democratic election to elect a new President representing the entire Korean peninsula, or they could elect a new communist government. That would make the Chinese and Russia satisfied. They are still the same people and were one country, and probably should be one country again. North Koreans would flood into South Korea by the millions for jobs and money and would have to be assimilated just as they were in Berlin.

There never was an end to the Korean war, there was never even a treaty, just an armistice. The peace has been in jeopardy since it was signed in 1953. It's far-fetched to imagine such a scenario to be even remotely possible but it would certainly put some stability in that region and resolve any imminent threat of nuclear war.

South Korea is one of the most pro-American nations in the world. South Korea and the United States are important economic partners to each other. Nearly 60 billion dollars of trade volume between the two countries display the significant economic interdependence between the two states. South Korea is much more economically reliant on the United States than the United States is on South Korea. Yes, it's less expensive for the U.S. to maintain a base in S. Korea because they share the cost. But it's also logical that if we didn't have five bases in S. Korea that we would be saving money.

If the U.S. simply pulled troops out of S. Korea, Kim Jong-Un would be quick to invade S. Korea and they would be in war again. S. Korea would put up a good fight, they're well prepared for that event. Our presence in the region certainly has an influence on China and without our presence, China would control all of Korea.

As in all cases when it comes to geopolitical analysis, it helps to look at a map. North Korea is sandwiched between a U.S.-occupied territory to the South and a global superpower, China, to the North. Former Pentagon chief William Perry said that North Korea would never strike first because, very simply, Kim doesn’t want to die. That’s because Kim has certainly applied to the situation what the mainstream narrative would like you to discard — common sense. With just a dash of it, any logical being can look at the events unfolding and see that North Korea poses no threat, to any surrounding nation, period. Trump and Kim Jong-un are reckless and impetuous. They're both unchecked and impulsive and need to be restrained diplomatically by the grown-ups in the room.

"the real measure of whether this (war) was perceived by the marketplace is that people would be pouring out of Seoul. They aren't leaving Seoul yet so they aren't taking Donald Trump seriously." This is precisely what a very wise friend of mine said weeks ago. 'Once you see people in S. Korea fleeing Seoul or hoarding food and other supplies then you should worry.'

 

Kim is not impulsive. He knows exactly what he wants and plays the Dotard like a violin.

 

All of this is meaningless. The negotiations have resulted in nothing important on either side. I have always said and will repeat that the U.S. has two choices. Either it can ignore that Kim has nukes and missiles or it can go to war with him. Negotiating with him will result in nothing. What you consider a "huge win" is meaningless in my view.

 

He isn't making much music. But Kim is not impulsive. No doubt about that.

 

You have oversimplified a generations-long problem, and it's not that simple. Do you realize that either of your options are not logical? #1 the US cannot ignore the fact that Kim Jong Un wants to develop a missile with the capacity to carry a nuclear warhead, that's something that cannot happen. #2 is your worst idea of the two because I think China, Russia and S. Korea wouldn't be too pleased if we 'went to war' with N. Korea. Another war with N. Korea would not be like the first, it would be a nuclear conflict and China doesn't want the flood of Koreans escaping into China not to mention the fact that nuclear clouds would be over them too. N. Korea is an ally of China and China is not going to allow the US to interfere with that.

Every time Trump toughened his tone on N. Korea, China called him to a summit. Why? Because China wanted to send a clear message to Washington that "you can't negotiate with Kim without our help." North Korea would not even survive without Beijing's help, let alone stand up to the might of the US.

Trump's only strategy is to use sanctions to impose pressure on N. Korea. But these tactics rely on China's cooperation since more than 90% of N. Korea's trade goes right through China. The N. Korea issue is one reason why China has leverage over the US in trade talks. When it comes to any agreements, there just isn't any right now and there will be no agreement on anything unless there's an agreement on everything.

There's only one logical resolution and that's if Washington and Beijing can reach a historic deal on trade, the same kind of deal will be possible with N. Korea. If China doesn't get that deal with Trump then it's likely China will not allow N. Korea to strike any significant deal with the U.S. It's a fairly straightforward solution, trade and nuclear weapons are two sides of the same coin.

 

Kim himself got already more than his grand father and father got, official recognition by the US. With his nukes the country is untouchable.
It takes just 1 nuke to take out Seoul.
That is his safety and he will not give it up.
He has met now with Putin, meets regularly with XI and talks with the South.
He plays it really well.
He knows, too, what happened to the Iran deal. He may cut a deal with Trump, but the next President might pull out of it.
Its called unreliable.
The guy is thinking in terms of a generation, his and his son's and not from one Presidential election to an other.
The US has to accept the status quo, the nukes and now make the best out of it.

 

In the US it seems Trump is only popular and acceptable to democrats when he is advocating war.

 

Not true. Democrats accused Trump of advocating war with NK which they said would be a mistake. Democrats only get angry at Trump if he doesn't keep the troops where the Obama administration sent them like Syria.

 

Young Kim is not impulsive? What makes you believe that?

 

He doesn't do anything rash. He does what he views is in his best interest whether we Westerners think so or not.

 

But it can happen and will happen. The U.S. is powerless to prevent it without military action.

That's an opinion. Personally, I don't think China and Russia care that much about North Korea that they would take on the U.S. militarily. What astounds me is the U.S. appears care that much about it. I don't think North Korea is worth going to war over. Since anything shy of that will not prevent what you fear, then ignoring North Korea is the right approach. All the presidents before Trump understood that.

And you explained in the same paragraph why sanctions on North Korea don't matter at all. You will need to impose them on China. That takes North Korea out of the picture.

It won't matter at all. It won't affect North Korea and China won't play fair. Personally, I would end trade with China altogether. Doing business with ones enemies is usually pretty risky. That wouldn't affect North Korea either but it would solve the China "problem."

Either ignore North Korea go attack it militarily. I vote for ignoring it.

 

Of course Trump is not bothered by it. His boss Vladimir helped NK get nukes.

 

When fear is the driving factor people tend to do impulsive things. The emperors of Rome taught us that lesson.

 

If you believe that you are both paranoid and completely ignorant of the facts. NK's goal is to regain possession of their own country, and to be secure from outside attacks. It is the same goal they have had since the Japanese invaded and took their country over by force. They sided with the allies in WW2 with the understanding that their country would be liberated at the end of the war, instead they were betrayed, and the country was divided and puppet governments installed. The paranoid delusion that certain people are out to get us because they hate us for what we are is stupid and dangerous. People hate us because of what we have done to them. We are a country which is supposed to be in charge of our government and its actions, we must accept the blame for the mistakes that we have made, and stop trying to suppress the rights of others for profit if we ever expect to have true peace on our planet.

 

Yes but Trump shows no fear. What Rome taught us is that government corruption can destroy an empire.