North Korea on Wednesday closed access to the Kaesong Industrial Park, a joint factory zone with South Korea.
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Bad news: North Korea on Wednesday closed access to the Kaesong Industrial Park, a joint factory zone with South Korea.
Experts on the Korean situation had noted that we shouldn’t take seriously the harsh language coming out of North Korea as long as Kaesong was in operation. Thus, this news is very bad indeed.
Please consider donating to Behind the Black, by giving either a one-time contribution or a regular subscription, as outlined in the tip jar to the right or below. Your support will allow me to continue covering science and culture as I have for the past twenty years, independent and free from any outside influence.
Bad news: North Korea on Wednesday closed access to the Kaesong Industrial Park, a joint factory zone with South Korea.
Experts on the Korean situation had noted that we shouldn’t take seriously the harsh language coming out of North Korea as long as Kaesong was in operation. Thus, this news is very bad indeed.
At least we know that the North Koreans are reading the papers / internet news thats reporting on what they think and what their strategy indicators are, keeping the Kaesong industrial park open. In the end, IMO, they must establish K.J. UN as a war hero and accredited leader, and they are trying to wriggle out of the increased economic sanction pressures. Its unlikely that they get both.
Either all of this will die down after our war games with SK end or the draft will be coming back and cutting the troop strength of the Army and Marines will prove to be folley.
Cutting the troop strength of the Army and Marines relative to what, exactly? Both are far smaller than they were during the Vietnam War era and also significantly smaller than they were even as recently as Desert Storm. But both are also more militarily experienced and capable than their older, larger versions.
No draft is coming back. We were recently fighting on two fronts at once in Iraq and Afghanistan. Only Afghanistan remains an active war zone now. If necessary, we can easily muster what’s needed to settle the DPRK’s hash. North Korea has a smaller population than Afghanistan and that population is also less well-nourished. Even the Nork military is on short rations. The current U.S. military can handle the DPRK without too much exertion. If Piglet Jong Un is foolish enough to actually start something, I don’t think the response is going to involve many American boots on the ground anyway. Much more likely is a very punitive air campaign to ruin pretty much everything dangerous above the 38th parallel. The U.S. can do this as the Air Force, except for drone sorties, is not very busy in Afghanistan. Ditto the Navy. Plenty of spare capacity.
Will Piglet actually bite? Beats me. But the track record established by previous insular, arrogant megalomaniacs is not encouraging. The German Kaiser, Hitler, Piglet’s own grandfather and Saddam Hussein – to cite four examples – all started ruinous wars they thought they could win quickly and didn’t do so. Baseless overconfidence seems to be baked into dictatorial DNA.