Re-threats

Last week Kim Jung Un of North Korea pulled back from his threats to send missiles to Guam.  Today, he issued new threats of war.  This time Kim is "upset" over the joint US-South Korean military exercises scheduled for this week.  Kim says that he will destroy the US and South Korea with his missiles and nukes given the provocation.  Those aren't his exact words, but who cares.  It is the meaning of his threat.  Truthfully, the whole thing is getting old fast.  There's a rhythm to the NK dance.  First, the South Koreans or the USA does something of a military nature.  It need not be anything different than events that have taken place for decades -- like this week's annual joint military exercises.  Next, the NK's announce that the whole thing is a dangerous provocation showing that the USA and South Korea are moving towards war.  Then Kim announces that North Korea will not tolerate this act but will smash the "aggressors" with the overwhelming military might of the NK state.  The normal fourth step is that the USA or South Korea announces that the event will go ahead as scheduled.  That brings us to the traditional fifth step:  nothing else happens.

The problem with this dance is that we don't always get each of the five steps that are expected.  In the past, we have seen North Korea shell South Korean troops on an off shore island.  We've seen the North Korean forces sink a South Korean patrol vessel.  Usually, whatever the NKs do is targeted at the troops of the South, not at US forces.  Most likely, the NKs understand that a direct attack on Americans might provoke a full scale American response, and they don't want that.  Now that the NKs have nuclear weapons, however, they may change their viewpoint.

One thing is certain:  Kim and his cronies are a danger to the peace of the world.