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Who’s Afraid of Kim Jong Un?

jordanlee1234

At 6:06 am a North Korean missile flew over northern Japan. The Japanese government has urged people to take precautions at this time.

Yoshihide Suga, the Japanese Cabinet Secretary, has said that this represents an ‘unprecedented threat’ to his nation. Similarly, strong condemnation has come from South Korea and many of the ASEAN nations.

August has seen building tension between the USA and North Korea over Guam. It is a well-known trope that during the summer months the North Korean regime likes to flex its military muscles. Somehow the recent provocations by the hermit state seem more belligerent and desperate.

Rather worryingly, China has not yet publicly chastised the North Korean regime for its actions. The PRC’s news outlet Xinhua places emphasis on South Korean aggression. It is common knowledge that behind closed doors the CCP cannot stand Kim Jong Un. They see the DPRK as a relic of the Maoist era as well as a dangerous liability to their regional hegemony. Their acceptance of harsh UN sanctions on North Korea earlier this month reveal the extent of their loathing.

Nevertheless, it is still a pipe dream to think that Xi Jinping will take the lead in dismantling the North Korean state.

There is no doubt that an armed conflict with Kim Jong Un would pit the Chinese military against the USA. The implications of such a conflict would be global and utterly devastating.

The causes of war are rarely straightforward. They usually require foreign and domestic factors to converge. The USA is currently headed by an unstable regime that is desperately unpopular and does not hesitate to use bellicose rhetoric.

Kim Jong Un has proven to be equally bombastic by provoking his neighbours and being recalcitrant towards his erstwhile allies.

Although I think there is no desire by any of the major countries involved to go to war. Any potential for a slip-up or miscalculation poses a grave threat indeed. The resources that modern states have at their disposal is truly terrifying. To see the full force of world armies deployed against each other would result in total carnage. Cool heads and sensible diplomacy are going to be essential if we are going to avoid a crisis.

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3 responses to “Who’s Afraid of Kim Jong Un?”

  1. Mr Ed Avatar
    Mr Ed

    “It is common knowledge that behind closed doors the CCP cannot stand Kim Jong Un. They see the DPRK as a relic of the Maoist era as well as a dangerous liability to their regional hegemony. Their acceptance of harsh UN sanctions on North Korea earlier this month reveal the extent of their loathing.“

    But the CCP has never repudiated Mao, has it? They denounced the Gang of Four, but not Mao, not even the anti-sparrow campaign. The Norks are no threat to China, neither militarily nor ideologically, what sort of idiot would dream of swapping life in China for North Korea? Bit like Romania under Ceaucescu, no Soviet citizen would have dreamt of escaping to Romania then, so Ceausescu could do pretty much what he liked and he got things out of the West as fools tried to draw him away from Moscow. There’s a YT dic on his State Visit to Britain in c. 1977 when he got the red caet treatment and a knighthood, and the promised trade deals turned out to be barter for crops. So N Korea can sit there, and keep South Korea and Japan on edge as China ploughs on in its fourth great modernisation, building up its navy and hegemony, and eyes are on N Korea. I may be wrong, but I reckon most likely China sees things this way.

    China long ago gave up exporting revolution, a waste of time and resources, but it still wants power and hegemony, and for the CCP to maintain its own rule.

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    1. Paul Marks Avatar
      Paul Marks

      Correct Mr Ed.

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  2. Paul Marks Avatar
    Paul Marks

    The North Korean Marxist regime is in place and has been able to develop missiles and nuclear weapons, because of the policy of food aid pushed by the Clinton Administration and carried on by Bush and Obama Administrations.

    The policy of vital food aid in return for empty promises has proved to be folly – terrible folly. There is no conspiracy at work here – the Americans did not want the North Korean regime to develop nuclear weapons and missiles, but their policy of government food aid in return for empty promises from the Marxist regime has achieved the opposite effect from the one they wanted.

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