What to do about North Korea?

tapzilla2k

China could probably remove Kim Jong Un if they really wanted to, but they won't as long he plays the game his Grandfather and Father did to keep the Chinese on side. Indeed if he really is ready to lob nuclear weapons at the US, China might well step in at that point and quietly remove Kim Jong Un. Any Nuclear strike by the US will likely have an impact on trade in that part of the world for a while i.e. people won't want irradiated products. Ah perhaps this is the Donalds plan to make America Great Again - Irradiate China and shift production to the US.

Cliff

China has had a policy of non interference for a very long time. They have carried on with business in the places were there have been the most awful dictators. So they will be reluctant to make any dramatic changes.
Can we honestly say that the west has made things any better by toppling dictators?

Of course having Donald Trump as President, adds to the unpredictability of the whole scenario. But, it was said that the previous US administration warned that N. Korea would be the biggest headache for the future administration, whether that was Clinton or Trump.

Suave

Hi,

It has been China that has provided NK on the main with nuclear & missile delivery tech & know how - certainly not anyone else apart from Pakistan. Remember it was mainly China that helped Pakistan develop Nuclear weapons although there were other players involved. NK simply does not have the technical infrastructure, know how, facilities, science or money to be able to do it on it's own.

China's main aim is to keep a very strong & belligerent NK to embolden it's stance both economically, defensively & geopolitically in the area whilst all the time gaining more power & control both in the region & globally to dictate it's terms. It also forces the USA/West to engage in massive defence expenditure for the region & any future conflict against China will have to most probably go through NK. Now imagine having to go through a nuclear capable NK & then a upcoming super power of nuclear delivery in terms of China.

China does this as it is pretty much totally eclipsed in the South China sea by a very large number of US bases & knows in any conflict, it will lose control of the sea routes on which it depends which is why it has been so fervent in trying to develop the mainly land based "One Route" policy to circumvent the sea route threats at almost any & all costs.

China sees a strong NK has an emerald of a bargaining tool with & against the West - especially the USA. The US has responded by allowing Communist China to become the second most powerful economy in the world.

Imho, the only way to get rid of NK without conflict is to completely alienate China & abandon it economically - to sustain a population of 1.3  billion without Western markets will bring her to her knees but it will never happen - the West has it's own vested interests with China even if that means NK sticking around for a very, very long time.

Furthermore, the two Koreas have now evolved in such diametrically opposite directions, that nearly all modern day South Koreans simply do not desire or want any re-unification - they see North Koreans as a completely alien species & totally incompatible as a people & society. They also realise, that any reunification will set the state back decades & come at an almost unimaginable economic cost that they simply do not wish to bear after making SK one of the world's top economies. Reunification will basically mean the economic destruction of SK probably leading to another civil war.

The cost to the US of guarding a border against a very poor NK, although massive, will pale into comparison against guarding a Korea bordered by China. This is why, despite, all the rhetoric & propaganda, they all probably very strongly prefer to keep NK around for a very long time - as long as they think they can control the rabid maniacs. It is far more preferable than an open conflict with China which will lead to a global economic crisis as well as a war that could go way out of control.

Bl4ckGryph0n

It's your right to have an opinion. Saying it is inept is very disrespectful to the many man and women working for them and the fantastic projects they do. But hey as undoubtedly you've been on many a UN mission you'll know better. I'm looking forward to you sharing your insights with us.

Marv

I think best Korea gets a hard time from the Western Media. Always making them out to be bad. Reminds me of how the Russians were painted as the Red Menace back in the day.

Mankind's been trying to kill each other off since the beginning of time. Now, we finally have the power to finish the job. Ain't nothing gonna matter once those nukes start flying, we'll all be dust.

raduv1

Even with its faults I think the world would agree that diplomacy is the better option over sabre rattling.

TheAdmiralCS

Stay on topic please.

BB3Lions

1

Its just a huge game of chess.

Ruperts slippers

This interactive game, although not NK, gives a little insight into the questions and situations to be resolved. Saving Setrus - Open University

raduv1

Ok call me a thicko on this front . My understanding is NK sabre rattling is a direct result of UN sanctions  ( working ? ) ratified by China and Russia ? This is a positive move and having an effect , NK wouldn't be going bat sh*te crazy otherwise would they ?

As such should we not do a deal with China and maybe Russia for regime change in NK as it's in their best interest for stable economy on their part.

Just seems an easy fix for all parties if the regime was sanctioned by China and worked with the new SK govement.  

I'm being really nieve here ain't I!