On 7/31/2017 at 6:35 PM, tonray said:

The US should back off and allow South Korea and Japan to develop their nuclear ambitions. The last thing China wants is a nuclear armed Japan/South Korea on their doorstep. Fight fire with fire. 

Now where have I heard that idea before? Oh Yea, it was Donald Trump speaking during the presidential race and everyone including Japan and S. Korea freaked out saying what a bad idea it was. 

China simply isn't going to be much help.  They never were. The U.S. has some great trade cards to play, but there'd be blowback and Trump doesn't seem prepared to play them.  I personally think that's a better idea than the military options this is coming down to, but if we're so afraid of a trade war with China then we'd better start cozying up to the idea of some kind of a shooting war with fatboy.  

 

N. Korea has sunk a S. Korean naval vessel (ROKS Cheonan, resulting in the deaths of 46 seamen), boarded and seized a U.S. naval vessel in international waters (USS Pueblo, 1968) torturing the crew and continuing to hold the ship, shelled S. Korean territory, crossed the DMZ and attempted to seize the S. Korean "Blue House" (executive mansion in Seoul) killing 26, and of course most recently murdered a U.S. civilian.  Acts of War are a habit and a precedent with the NORKs; absolutely no reason in the world to think armed conflict can be avoided indefinitely.  It can't, and the ante will just keep going up.

 

 

I find this interesting:

http://www.acronym.org.uk/old/dd/dd79/79gbjr.htm

Quote

Even after the IAEA Board of Governors had referred North Korea's noncompliance to the Security Council, and North Korea had subsequently given notice of its withdrawal from the NPT in 1993, the Security Council was divided. China could not be persuaded to agree with the other P-5 permanent members of the UN Security Council (France, Russia, United Kingdom, and United States) that the Council should take action to restrain North Korea.

China was a problem back then and seems to be the same now.  This has been going on since 1993?  Wow!

Maybe they're quietly "back-dooring" the problem a few at a time:

https://newsletter.thaivisa.com/l/NeCpH832n892ZP2SNyOyvS8w/Ued763iol763Gmdt4QBI7D0Elw/3oi1wh763Rqy763IC43zyBDoKg