North Korean Missile Test

[Dill]

(12-01-2017, 02:18 AM)Bengalzona Wrote: Both are neighbors amd both have relations with NK. I wouldn't put it past Putin. I loves to stick thorns in our side every chance he gets. I say the smart money would be on Russia. As close as China is to NK, I'm pretty sure they aren't real pleased with them having these types of weapons.

China DEFINITELY does not want a nuclearized NK on its borders. Same for Russia I think. China has a mutual defense pact with NK, which obligates them to defend NK in the event the US initiates an attack--but not if NK starts it.  That accounts for some of brinksmanship we see from that side.

There is an interesting article in Foreign Policy which suggests that China should station 30,000 troops in NK. That would deter US and SK "aggression" for sure.

On the face of it, this seems like a great and workable solution. I just question whether the overly paranoid NK leaders would go for it. Seems a violation of "Juche," plus lil Kim is so close to a real weapon now, there may be no workable incentive to back off.

http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/11/28/china-should-send-30000-troops-into-north-korea-symmetrical-reassurance/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Flash%20points%2011/28&utm_term=Flashpoints

 On present evidence, it remains doubtful that even the sharpest diplomatic and economic measures will dissuade Kim from his nuclear and missile ambitions.

Perhaps it is time to explore a different initiative: Could China reassure North Korea as the United States reassures South Korea? As Beijing has grown anxious over North Korea’s behavior, it has qualified its 1961 defense agreement with Pyongyang by emphasizing that it would assist against attack — but it would not support the Kim regime if it began a war. That is a constructive stance, but it may well be read by Pyongyang as a wobble that justifies the longstanding policy of self-reliance. The young Korean dictator may have little knowledge of China’s tremendous sacrifices in the war of 1950 to 1953 — almost 3 million soldiers engaged, more than 380,000 were wounded, and 180,000 were killed. Their casualties far exceeded the killed and wounded suffered by the United States; they approach the estimated losses by the North Koreans themselves.

Unwelcome as China’s intervention was to America and other nations defending South Korea, those numbers lend credibility to Beijing’s security guarantee. That guarantee would be most credible, however, if coupled with actual deployment of Chinese forces on North Korean territory.

 A symmetrical policy of reassurance could involve possibly 30,000 Chinese military personnel stationed there, a total comparable to U.S. forces south of the 38th parallel.