North Korea Missile Threat: A Ploy to Distract the World May Be Getting Out of Hand

From: Gerard Direct

On Friday, Kim Jong-Un’s regime warned British and Russian diplomats to consider evacuating their embassies as Pyongyang moved two mid-range missiles into position to a secret location in a further move to threaten South Korean, Japanese, and American Pacific bases. The British Foreign Office released a new statement which said, “We are consulting international partners about these developments. No decisions have been taken, and we have no immediate plans to withdraw our Embassy”. The statement urged north Korea to “to work constructively with the international community”.

But Kim Jong-Un is on a tear and seems to be having a wonderful time threatening his neighbors with war. It is our theory that his early moves were intended to distract the world from North Korea’s strong ally, Iran, with whom it has worked on nuclear development. North Korean scientists and technical experts were particularly active in the conversion of large nuclear warheads to fit them on Iran’s Shahab missiles. North Korea has also, through Iran, provided the technology and equipment for Hezbollah’s massive tunnel-building in Southern Lebanon. Although the linkage between North Korea, Iran, and Hezbollah is largely ignored, it ought not to be taken lightly.

If there was a collaboration between Pyongyang and Teheran to create a distraction, it may have backfired. What may have started out as a ploy to give Iran some space in which to complete its nuclear weapons program, may end up in an armed conflict that will spin out of control, as Kim rides his rockets into war just for the sheer thrill of it.

Kim may be too young and inexperienced, and he may be certifiably insane, but he is now, at least for the moment, one of the most powerful men in the world, as he holds everyone’s attention with his threats to bomb South Korea and US assets in the region. He may just be having far too much fun to realize or care about the consequences of his appetite for power. Neither Iran nor China will be happy with their protegee, but they may not be able to stop the monster they have created. It will take only one mistake, one misfire, one wrong command from one rattled commander, and a war will begin before anyone can stop it.

The next few days may tell us a great deal about how this will all turn out. One way or another, the outcome may come quickly, if Kim decides to unleash his arsenal, intentionally or otherwise. US Secretary of State John Kerry presented the US position earlier this week when he announced, “The United States will not accept the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) as a nuclear state”. I guess he forgot that North Korea has been in possession of nuclear weapons for quite some time.

How will Kerry conduct himself when he visits China, South Korea, and Japan next week? His visit will come at a critical time and the outcome will be measured by to what extent he will be able to defuse the situation now threatening to get out of hand.