“The Korean People’s Army will not be bound to the Armistice Agreement any longer." -Official Korean Central News Agency
FN: Kim Jong Il is one crazy bastard. We all know this. BUT, he has never in the past gone so far as to strike down the 1953 Korean War Armistice Agreement. Technically, North and South Korea are still in a state of war. This armistice was the only thing keeping things "civil".
Over the weekend North Korea conducted both a nuclear test and a ballistic missile test. They've done this in the past, so it was quickly considered to be the usual saber rattling. However, throwing away the Armistice Agreement changes everything.
The sudden bellicosity of North Korea is very telling. I suspect that internally things are unraveling quickly in the "Hermit Kingdom". The global economy has imploded. While the North Korean economy is completely useless and isolated it must nonetheless be adversely affected as well. It is likely that things have significantly deteriorated and the regime is attempting to distract its own citizens.
Alternatively, Kim Jong Il has gone from just plain vanilla crazy to bat-shit crazy. U.S. intelligence officials believe he suffered a stroke last August...
North Korea Threatens Armed Strike, End to Armistice (Update1): " North Korea threatened a military response to South Korean participation in a U.S.-led program to seize weapons of mass destruction, and said it will no longer abide by the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War.
“The Korean People’s Army will not be bound to the Armistice Agreement any longer,” the official Korean Central News Agency said in a statement today. Any attempt to inspect North Korean vessels will be countered with “prompt and strong military strikes.” South Korea’s military said it will “deal sternly with any provocation” from the North.
South Korean President Lee Myung Bak ordered his government to take “calm” measures on the threats, his office said in a statement today. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, Takeo Kawamura, echoed those remarks and called on North Korea to “refrain from taking actions that would elevate tensions in Asia.”
The threats are the strongest since North Korea tested a nuclear weapon on May 25, drawing international condemnation and the prospect of increased sanctions against the communist nation. South Korea dispatched a warship to its maritime border and is prepared to deploy aircraft, Yonhap News reported, citing military officials it didn’t identify.
“This rapid-fire provocation indicates a more aggressive shift in the Kim Jong Il regime,” said Ryoo Kihl Jae, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. “Kim is obviously using a strategy of maximum force.”
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If we stick to the notion that the last actions of Kim Jong-Il signals something new, I can think of another plausible reason:
The culprit here seems to be certain inspections of North Korean vessels. Say what ever is on these vessels is of such a nature that North Korea would be ultimately annihilated if it where to reach the surface?
That could be the case, as you say, the financial crisis could hurt the domestic North Korean economy to the breaking point, and hence, Kim could be forced to sell whatever he have of value to whoever wants to buy.
We all know what he has to sell. We also know about many regimes who would like to buy that. Especially, we also know what would happen to certain regimes where such a deal to surface.
To put it bluntly, Kim won't get much money of Israel where to send its nukes on Teheran before the 'cargo' arrived. not to mention what would happen to North Korea if such a deal was to be uncovered. Hence Kim has all the motives in the world for playing tough to avoid any inspection og his vessels.
However, I would like to clearify, this is not my position on the issue, although I do see it as a theoretical possibility.
Kim Jong-Il must know that all "the west's" military is presently capable of is random bombings of peasants from a safe distance - by robot so the evidence from hitting the wrong target can be easier destroyed.
With the situation in North Korea perpetually deteriorating they are probably running out of children to make soldiers from so they might as well go bust some shit up and hope the US goes bust too over the USD 1000+ per barrel Oil a regional war will drive.
I don't pretend to know a lot about the situation, but the way you describe it, it seem North Korea just responds logically to the participation of South Korea of the US led program.
Tord,
I think you're propbably closer to the truth than you realize. Tossing out the 1953 Armistice is a major step the ramifications of which haven't yet sunk in with the rest of the world.
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