The New York Times lauds North Korea’s “restraint” in responding to recent South Korean live fire drills near the border:
A day after North Korea backed off threats of violent retaliation for South Korean artillery drills, analysts and policy makers in Seoul said Tuesday that the North’s unexpected restraint might signal, at least for now, that the North Koreans were shifting away from recent military provocations.
North Korea had vowed retaliation if South Korea went ahead with its planned live-fire drills on Yeonpyeong Island, where a North Korean artillery barrage last month killed two South Korean soldiers and two civilians. But when the South defied those threats and held a 94-minute drill on Monday, the North’s official news agency reversed itself by saying it was “not worth reacting” to the exercises.
Political analysts could only speculate about the sudden change in tone by North Korea, one of the world’s most closed and secretive societies. They said that a visit to North Korea by an unofficial American envoy, Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, that came at the same time might have helped. Indeed, the North seemed to offer Mr. Richardson an olive branch with its willingness to allow United Nations inspectors back in to monitor its nuclear program.
“I do commend the South Korean government for their restraint, for their legitimacy in pursuing this military drill,” Mr. Richardson told reporters in Beijing on Tuesday. “And I commend the North Korean leadership for not retaliating.”
I think it’s far more likely that, as a inveterate provocateur, North Korea is merely choosing the time and place for its next act of irresponsibility.
The Norks may act unpredictably, but they do so with a predictable reliability. They’re also savvy enough to know that, while they could make Seoul burn, any real outbreak of hostilities on the Korean peninsula means the inevitable and catastrophic destruction of their own regime.
Which, in the end, is all they really care about.
This whole thing makes me kind of wonder why my Dad’s generation fought a war there almost 60 years ago. Maybe we should tell the North Koreans to settle down or we’ll come and get the Pueblo back. Just sayin…
I am unable to understand why we don’t use one missile on the Pueblo (or SF action).
Allowing the Norks to keep it is unconscionable.
It did feel a bit like we were ready to get something last week… some commentors are speculating the Norks will hold until after the pending Chinese visit to DC.
While we may view it as being irrational, the Norks are really quite rational: the Kim family regime and his inner circle fear what will happen when the regime collapses. Any previous threats and actions have always been rewarded, but this time everyone else is fed up. It should be noted that, a couple of weeks ago, the Russians cancelled all leaves, and fueled and armed the vehicles, then put the army corps on alert. This was an army corps near North Korea; the rest of the army was standing down. Nothing happened, and yet…
The KFR will continue to bully and threaten to get what it wants. The end result will not be pleasant.
“North Korea is merely choosing the time and place for its next act of irresponsibility.”
Not irresponsible at all. Like kids in the US and Europe, they’ve been conditioned (by us, in large part) to realise that throwing a temper tantrum and performing small acts of vandalism gets you almost anything you want.
This is no surprise. As everyone knows, the Koreans are the “Irish” of Asia. [Jtg runs away, dodging and jinking]
My comment above is awaiting moderation.
Oh, c’mon, Cap’n! I made one intemperate drunken comment, and every one after that goes to moderation!
OK, I give up.
I think we need to be all in or get out. That doesn’t mean provoke a war, but it DOES mean that we just don’t stand by when they start shelling South Korea.
The Big Zero not standing by while a communist state starts killing people in a western state?
Only when he actively supports that communist state…