Kim Il-Jung's government claims to have tested a nuclear bomb in complete and utter defiance of the international community - one which, this time, includes China (North Korea's principle trading partner). While everyone is loathe to give Kim Il-Jung any more negative attention, as he clearly stokes international fears in order to bolster domestic support and credibility, one wonders what else Kim can do short of actually committing an act of war, before the international community acts.
Kim Il-Jung is a very dangerous person in that rare 21st century society. He commands, apparently without rival, a genuinely totalitarian society in which state power is more or less absolute and militaristic defiance of the international community (especially the US) is ingrained into every citizen's belief system. Propaganda blares from loudspeakers in Pyongyang, constantly informing every citizen of the "Dear Leaders" holiness and their duty to do everything to protect him and the glorious communist state he claims to safeguard. Anyone whose watched any of the very rare footage taken from North Korea is often impressed and dismayed by the terrifyingly robotic hordes of marching soldiers, the discipline and servility with which individual citizens repeat trite slogans, and the utter poverty of the rural areas.
As some of the Chinese businessmen say, who travel to North Korea to conduct their trade - travelling into North Korea is like travelling back in time - to Mao Zedong's communist China.
While some hold out hope that North Korea will eventually collapse under the weight of its own poverty and economic hardship, Kim Il-Jung's military power appears undimmed. How can we counter this threat, without giving Kim the excuse to launch an attack on his neighbours? After all, it is South Korea and Japan that will likely bear the brunt of any military action North Korea might launch. To what extent will nuclear weapons be involved?
Should a preemptive strike with nuclear weapons be launched against North Korea? Can its weapons facilities be destroyed before a retaliatory attack can be launched? Given the earlier failure of its Taepodong missile silos during the summer, this isn't an impossible scenario.
Ultimately, one still has to believe that Mr. Kim's nuclear weapons are the regular person's equivalent of a Lamborghini or Ferrari. He's out to get attention, any way he can. Nobody will believe that you have a fast car if you can't test drive it once in a while, right? He may be a deliriously mad nutcase, but the threat of Mutually Assured Destruction has not gone away. Mr. Kim surely wouldn't give up his "Joy Battalion" (legions of young girls that are called upon to serve the Dear Leader in any way he can think of) just for the temporary delight of blowing up Seoul or Tokyo.
The best thing we can do for Mr. Kim is the same thing we would do with a spoiled child throwing a temper tantrum to get attention: ignore him.






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