"greatest immediate threat to the US", "potential for war" is steadily increasing, and "in China's interest" to clobber North Korea - war historian McMaster continues to threaten the lives of Far East Asians

[lo yeeOn]

North Korea:
In the statement, North Korea described itself as responsible a
"nuclear power", saying its strategic weapons were developed to
defend itself from "the U.S. imperialists' nuclear blackmail policy
and nuclear threat".

----------

1) McMaster: Potential for war with North Korea 'increasing every day'
By Ryan Browne and Barbara Starr, CNN Updated 9:13 PM ET, Sat December
2, 2017
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/02/politics/mcmaster-potential-war-north-korea/index.html

White House national security adviser HR McMaster said Saturday that
North Korea represents "the greatest immediate threat to the United
States" and that the potential for war with the communist nation is
growing each day.

"I think it's increasing every day, which means that we are in a race,
really, we are in a race to be able to solve this problem," McMaster
told an audience at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley,
California when asked if North Korea's launch of an intercontinental
ballistic missile Tuesday had increased the chance of war.

President Donald Trump remains committed to the complete
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, McMaster said, adding that
there are nonmilitary ways to deal with the issue, such as calling on
China to impose greater economic sanctions against Pyongyang. McMaster
noted that Beijing's "tremendous coercive economic power" over North
Korea.

"There are ways to address this problem short of armed conflict, but
it is a race because he's getting closer and closer, and there's not
much time left," McMaster said, referring to North Korean leader Kim
Jong Un. With every missile launch or nuclear test, Kim has improved
his country's capabilities, McMaster said.

"We're asking China not to do us or anybody else a favor," he said.
"We're asking China to act in China's interest, as they should, and we
believe increasingly that it's in China's urgent interest to do more."

-----

2) Tokyo and Seoul will fall first if there is war on Korean Peninsula
- Lavrov https://www.rt.com/news/411765-lavrov-korea-japan-us/

Published time: 3 Dec, 2017 02:50 Edited time: 3 Dec, 2017 02:50

Japan and South Korea, whom the US is trying to involve in
provocations against North Korea, will become the first victims if
conflict breaks out in the region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov has warned.

"While condemning Pyongyang's nuclear missile adventurism, we cannot
but condemn the provocative behavior of our American colleagues,"
Lavrov said in an interview with Belarusian broadcaster STV.
"Unfortunately, they are trying to drag the Japanese and South Koreans
in the same direction, who ... will be the first victims in the event
of war on the Korean Peninsula."

Earlier this week, North Korea carried out its first missile test in
two months, firing an ICBM that allegedly can reach the US mainland.
The US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, reacted to the test by
urging more sanctions against Pyongyang and threatening that "if war
comes... the North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed."

Lavrov reiterated that in September, the US made it clear that the
next military exercises with South Korea were not to come until
spring. Russia appreciated that and made efforts to work with
Pyongyang to turn the lull into more lasting stability.

"There was a hint that in this situation, that this natural pause in
the US-South Korean exercises could have been used by Pyongyang to
avoid disturbing peace, as well, and conditions could be created for
starting a dialogue," the foreign minister said. Instead, the US
suddenly announced it would be holding the drills in October, then
November, then December. That, according to Lavrov, was probably what
provoked Pyongyang.

"There's a feeling that [the US was] intentionally provoking [North
Korea's] Kim Jong-un to break that pause, to fall for their
provocation," he said.

. . .

Russia and China have proposed a roadmap for settling the Korean
crisis through a transition to negotiations, which implies rejection
of any actions that fuel tensions. The proposal called for North Korea
to curb its nuclear and missile tests, in return for the US giving up
on joint military drills with South Korea in the region, but it was
rejected by Washington. A group of Russian MPs, who visited Pyongyang
earlier this week, said that the North Korean side expressed readiness
to engage in talks, but demanded that Moscow play a mediating role.

--------

3) North Korea's nuclear/ballistic-missile programs for self-defense

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles/north-korea-says-new-icbm-puts-u-s-mainland-within-range-of-nuclear-weapons-idUSKBN1DS2MB

SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea said it had successfully
tested a powerful new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that
put all of the U.S. mainland within range, declaring it had achieved
its long-held goal of becoming a nuclear power.

Wednesday's missile test, North Korea's first since mid-September,
came a week after U.S. President Donald Trump put North Korea back on
a U.S. list of countries it says support terrorism, allowing it to
impose more sanctions.

North Korea has conducted dozens of ballistic missile tests under its
leader, Kim Jong Un, in defiance of international sanctions. In
September, it conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test.

North Korea said the new powerful missile reached an altitude of
around 4,475 km (2,780 miles) - more than 10 times the height of the
international space station - and flew 950 km (600 miles) during its
53 minute flight.

. . .

"After watching the successful launch of the new type ICBM Hwasong-15,
Kim Jong Un declared with pride that now we have finally realized the
great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force, the cause
of building a rocket power", according to a statement read by a
television presenter.

In the statement, North Korea described itself as responsible a
"nuclear power", saying its strategic weapons were developed to defend
itself from "the U.S. imperialists' nuclear blackmail policy and
nuclear threat".

"We don't have to like it, but we're going to have to learn to live
with North Korea's ability to target the United States with nuclear
weapons," said Jeffrey Lewis, head of the East Asia Nonproliferation
Program at the Middlebury Institute of Strategic Studies.

. . .

Trump spoke by phone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South
Korean President Moon Jae-In, with all three leaders reaffirming their
commitment to combat the North Korean threat.

[lo yeeOn]

Your rocket-man is the one asking for the this disaster by his
accelerating tests.
If he really cares he should open his eyes and check his starving nation
and see what he can about it instead of these flying rockets.
History has shown that leaders like him led to their nations to full
destruction.

If he really cares? How do you know that he doesn't care about his
people? First and foremost, do you think that he's been somehow
acting alone?

No. Whatever coming out of DPRK represents the thinking of North
Korea's ruling elite - which consists of many, many people.

And if by "starving nation", you mean North Koreans are presently
eating grass or willing to do so so as to single-mindedly devote their
meager national resources to prevent themselves from falling victims
to the world hegemon like Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan did, who can
blame them? They are mammals and want to live too. So, why can't
they choose life instead of being destroyed like the people of those
countries mentioned above?

If you are interested in getting yourself informed, you will find out
that NK does care about its people. And it wouldn't make any sense
otherwise since the country is being so badly oppressed by the
powerful countries on earth. If you are a ruler and you want to
survive, you want your people to support you. A ruler can try
propaganda, but propaganda alone won't work unless he gives them a
reason to support him.

So, I went and googled the string "north korea economy has been
improving recently", and there are these many results
About 20,500,000 results (0.92 seconds)

and on the top of these results are:
Search Results

As Economy Grows, North Korea's Grip on Society Is Tested - The ...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/30/world/.../north-korea-economy-marketplace.html

Apr 30, 2017 - Even as President Trump bets on tougher sanctions,
especially by China, to stop the North from developing
nuclear-tipped missiles capable of striking the United States, the
country's improving economic health has made it easier for it to
withstand such pressure and to acquire funds for its nuclear
program.

North Korea's economy is improving
https://www.nknews.org/.../north-koreas-economy-is-improving-but-this-may-not-sav...

Aug 14, 2017 - Recently, the Bank of Korea, South Korea's central
bank, changed its long-held position on the North Korean economic
growth. For years, the Bank of ... But if one compares the current
situation to that of the 1990s, or even the early 2000s, living
standards have improved dramatically. And contrary to what is ...

North Korea's secret weapon: A growing economy | Toronto Sun
www.torontosun.com/2017/09/17/north-koreas-secret-weapon-a-growing-economy

Sep 17, 2017 - With the United Nations imposing yet another round of
sanctions on North Korea for its nuclear provocations, it's worth
asking why such penalties have been failing for more than a decade.
One reason is that the North Korean economy is improving more than
is understood commonly and that will make ...

So, who are we who would be so callous as to kill untold numbers of
South Koreans, whom we claim we must defend, and many more North
Koreans, just so as to punish Kim, on the ground that he doesn't care
about his people and will let them starve?

In reality do the Koreans have any choice in this matter when people
across the Pacific Ocean or living as far away as Berlin want to
go to war because they hate Kim so much?

In reality, Kim is in many ways just like an American president in the
sense of a figure head who would agree to execute his country's
foreign policy. If a US president has to preserve a foreign policy
continuum, can you blame North Korea about its effort to preserve its
own?

There is no good reason to kill a lot of people as well as destroying
both the trillion dollar economy in South Korea as well as that of the
North.

Why do you hate Kim so much to want to sacrifice hundreds of thousands
and even millions of living breathing Koreans in the name of expunging
Kim even though the country he leads never invaded a country thousands
of miles away from its own?

You should know that the 1950-53 war was a civil war and the division
of the peninsula into the North and the South was a part of the
abomination that created a divided Germany, and a divided Europe.

You know that Kim's grandfather was a partisan movement leader who had
the respect of many Koreans for having led an army who resisted the
Imperial Japanese army before the big powers came in and divided the
country against their wish, don't you? You should know that it was a
history of bloody geopoltics fought between the superpowers at the
time. You should know that after the Iraq war, Afghan war, and the
NATO destruction of Libya, the Koreans would be stupid beyond words
not to assert their collective right to defend themselves and try to
save themselves from falling like the Middle Eastern people.

A war against North Korea without the consent of the South Koreans is
unacceptable and I have submitted several posts that focused on this
issue. South Koreans, the Chinese, and the Russians, all know that
there is a very simple path to ensuring peace on the peninsula. It is
to remove our military from South Korea and sign a peace treaty with
the other side.

You might say that we need to have soldiers over there to defend
ourselves - forget about South Koreans because you don't believe that
nor they themselves - but you surely must know that having troops in
Hawaii didn't stop the Pearl Harbor bombing. The Japanese bombed
Pearl Harbor for whatever reason, but our troops in Hawaii made no
difference.

In fact, our government claimed that it had to destroyed the lives of
hundreds of thousands lives on Hiroshima and then Nagasaki, instantly,
to get our enemy to surrender. So why haven't we learned from WWII?
What purpose does it serve to sacrifice some American lives on the
Korean peninsula to justify a war to destroy Kim? Isn't it insane?

All the good people, from Pope Francis, to President Jimmy Carter, to
the son of the former South Korean president who espoused "sunshine
policy" and won a Nobel Peace prize for its peaceful approach to North
Korea, have been very busy trying to stop a war from breaking out over
there. Shouldn't you also?

By the way, your last remark

History has shown that leaders like him led to their nations to
full destruction

is fallacious.

History shows that empires fall, without exception. The US empire has
wreaked enough death and destruction for decades already. And the 20
trillion national debt was incurred from the empire's decades-long
misdeeds - never mind they promiscuously call them pax Romana or pax
Americana.

And our stationing of tens of thousands of troops in a place thousands
of miles from home, in a dispute between two halves of the same
nation, for seven decades, is pure imperialism. Disaster for them,
disaster for us. It has nothing to do with dictatorship. In fact,
South Koreans have repeatedly reminded western media that they
themselves also went through a period of dictatorial rule.

No war will liberate anybody. Just the opposite, Libya has recently
gone back to slavery - due to western imposed regime change. Did you
know that?

Our best course of action is to let SK take care of itself. It can
figure out its own dangers and how to deal with them, and it is 40 times
as rich as NK.

lo yeeOn

--------

Give Up on Stopping North Korea - It's too late for prevention. Focus
on deterrence.
by Eli Lake November 30, 2017, 12:25 PM PST
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-11-30/give-up-on-stopping-north-korea

[Nikki Haley's latest UNSC speech] would have been a great speech in
1997. That was when signatories to the nuclear non-proliferation
treaty were loath to violate it. It was before North Korea had tested
its first nuclear device. It was before the U.S. cut a deal with Iran
to overlook its past nuclear transgressions in exchange for a
temporary freeze on its nuclear program and a free pass to test
missiles.

In 2017, though, Haley's warnings and the cruder ones from her boss,
President Donald Trump, are disconnected from reality. And here it's
important to remember why the president and his envoys are making
threats in the first place. All of this is in the service of a
discredited policy to not allow North Korea to obtain a nuclear
weapon. The idea has been to threaten, coddle and tempt Kim Jong Un to
start negotiations that would lead to him abandoning them.

Well, this is never going to happen. America and her allies have been
trying this for about a quarter century and the North Koreans burn us
every time. Now North Korea only needs to perfect a nuclear warhead
that can survive re-entry into the atmosphere to have a credible
nuclear threat against the U.S. As Michael Auslin, a fellow in
contemporary Asia at the Hoover Institution, told me this week:
"That's only a matter of time. It's a technical issue at this
point. They are going to get it."

So it's time for a new approach: Give up. America should never
"accept" North Korea as a nuclear weapon state. But it can end the
pointless cycles of pressure and negotiation. The North Koreans have
used all that posturing to buy time to perfect their nukes, and the
Chinese have artfully used that dance to distract us from countering
China's own predations.

And yes, I know "give up" sounds dangerously un-American. Let's put it
another way: Focus on a battle we have not yet lost.

Instead of wasting the resources of an already depleted State
Department on preparing for more talks with representatives of an
Asian prison state, America's diplomats and strategic planners can
focus on improving our deterrence against North Korea. American
diplomacy and military bandwidth can be devoted to countering China's
militarization of the South China Sea and its broader economic and
political strategy to turn our Pacific and east Asian allies into
vassals of Beijing. In the future, Trump and his diplomats won't have
to spend their meetings with Chinese counterparts pleading with them
to get their client state to behave. That's China's problem
now. America is developing even better technology to shoot North
Korean missiles out of the sky before they land.

Then there's credibility. It's true that America would have taken a
hit with a "give up" strategy a few years ago. But today North Korea
is almost there. Despite Trump's occasional tweeted threats, it's hard
to believe he will order a pre-emptive strike. Even if he did, it
would probably not be all that effective. The fact that North Korea
tested its missile this week on a mobile launcher makes it that much
more difficult to take out these sites. This says nothing of the risk
that the North would retaliate with conventional artillery shells by
destroying the capital of South Korea, Seoul.

Besides, nuclear weapons are expensive. Countries already integrated
into the global system face penalties and pressure that outlaws like
North Korea really don't. "By acknowledging the reality of North Korea
as a nuclear power, it doesn't automatically mean Zimbabwe wants a
nuclear weapon," Auslin told me. "Those who want nuclear weapons are
already trying get them."

To give up on prevention is to focus on treatment. We need more
creative options to deal with the North Korean menace. No longer will
American diplomats have to worry about how Pyonyang's tyrant will
react to senior officials speaking the truth about his debased
regime. Kim Jong Un wants nukes so his regime can survive. Nuclear
negotiations meant assuring him that America has no interest in seeing
his people live in dignity and freedom. America will not have this
problem anymore.

Think of the opportunities. The president could elevate and call
attention to brave North Korean dissidents. He could encourage them to
begin planning for a transition to Korean democracy. Imagine a White
House conference: "Planning for a Korea Without the Kim Regime." Who
knows? With a little luck maybe a constellation of dissidents could
form a government in exile. Giving up on stopping a North Korean nuke
means getting America on the right side of Korean history.

Finally there is the benefit of stability. Kim will no longer have the
ability to throw the region and the world into crisis every time he
tests a nuclear device or a missile. America should still try to
sabotage his program through cyber viruses and more conventional
means. But in the short term, Kim will lose his ability to get the
world to focus on his threats whenever he wishes.

It's something the Trump administration should think about. And maybe
the next time Kim decides to provoke, the U.S. response can be
measured and boring. The Pentagon should trot out some deputy
assistant under secretary to say the U.S. frowns upon the latest move,
but that North Korea knows full well what will happen if it ever
attacks America or her allies. Meanwhile Trump could tweet something
about his upcoming White House conference: "Imagining a World Without
North Korea." It sure beats empty threats in the service of dead-end
talks.

[lo yeeOn]

Last week John Bolton, the former US ambassador to the UN and a
notable hawk from the George W Bush era, visited London and the
House of Commons. His mission, whether official or not: to relay
that CIA chiefs have told Donald Trump that he has a "three-month
window" in which to act to halt the North's ICBM programme, after
which the North Koreans will have the capability to hit US cities,
including Washington, with a nuclear payload.

This apparent March deadline, for what can only be considered a
pre-emptive strike, was also mentioned to a former European
parliamentarian by a senior US commander a few days ago at Panmunjom
on Korea's demilitarised zone, which separates the North from the
South.

Post by lo yeeOn

Post by lo yeeOn
In the statement, North Korea described itself as responsible a
"nuclear power", saying its strategic weapons were developed to
defend itself from "the U.S. imperialists' nuclear blackmail policy
and nuclear threat".
----------
1) McMaster: Potential for war with North Korea 'increasing every day'
By Ryan Browne and Barbara Starr, CNN Updated 9:13 PM ET, Sat December
2, 2017

http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/02/politics/mcmaster-potential-war-north-korea/index.html

Post by lo yeeOn
White House national security adviser HR McMaster said Saturday that
North Korea represents "the greatest immediate threat to the United
States" and that the potential for war with the communist nation is
growing each day.
"I think it's increasing every day, which means that we are in a race,
really, we are in a race to be able to solve this problem," McMaster
told an audience at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley,
California when asked if North Korea's launch of an intercontinental
ballistic missile Tuesday had increased the chance of war.
President Donald Trump remains committed to the complete
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, McMaster said, adding that
there are nonmilitary ways to deal with the issue, such as calling on
China to impose greater economic sanctions against Pyongyang. McMaster
noted that Beijing's "tremendous coercive economic power" over North
Korea.
"There are ways to address this problem short of armed conflict, but
it is a race because he's getting closer and closer, and there's not
much time left," McMaster said, referring to North Korean leader Kim
Jong Un. With every missile launch or nuclear test, Kim has improved
his country's capabilities, McMaster said.
"We're asking China not to do us or anybody else a favor," he said.
"We're asking China to act in China's interest, as they should, and we
believe increasingly that it's in China's urgent interest to do more."
-----
2) Tokyo and Seoul will fall first if there is war on Korean Peninsula
- Lavrov https://www.rt.com/news/411765-lavrov-korea-japan-us/
Published time: 3 Dec, 2017 02:50 Edited time: 3 Dec, 2017 02:50
Japan and South Korea, whom the US is trying to involve in
provocations against North Korea, will become the first victims if
conflict breaks out in the region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov has warned.
"While condemning Pyongyang's nuclear missile adventurism, we cannot
but condemn the provocative behavior of our American colleagues,"
Lavrov said in an interview with Belarusian broadcaster STV.
"Unfortunately, they are trying to drag the Japanese and South Koreans
in the same direction, who ... will be the first victims in the event
of war on the Korean Peninsula."
Earlier this week, North Korea carried out its first missile test in
two months, firing an ICBM that allegedly can reach the US mainland.
The US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, reacted to the test by
urging more sanctions against Pyongyang and threatening that "if war
comes... the North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed."
Lavrov reiterated that in September, the US made it clear that the
next military exercises with South Korea were not to come until
spring. Russia appreciated that and made efforts to work with
Pyongyang to turn the lull into more lasting stability.
"There was a hint that in this situation, that this natural pause in
the US-South Korean exercises could have been used by Pyongyang to
avoid disturbing peace, as well, and conditions could be created for
starting a dialogue," the foreign minister said. Instead, the US
suddenly announced it would be holding the drills in October, then
November, then December. That, according to Lavrov, was probably what
provoked Pyongyang.
"There's a feeling that [the US was] intentionally provoking [North
Korea's] Kim Jong-un to break that pause, to fall for their
provocation," he said.
. . .
Russia and China have proposed a roadmap for settling the Korean
crisis through a transition to negotiations, which implies rejection
of any actions that fuel tensions. The proposal called for North Korea
to curb its nuclear and missile tests, in return for the US giving up
on joint military drills with South Korea in the region, but it was
rejected by Washington. A group of Russian MPs, who visited Pyongyang
earlier this week, said that the North Korean side expressed readiness
to engage in talks, but demanded that Moscow play a mediating role.
--------
3) North Korea's nuclear/ballistic-missile programs for self-defense

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles/north-korea-says-new-icbm-puts-u-s-mainland-within-range-of-nuclear-weapons-idUSKBN1DS2MB

Post by lo yeeOn
SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea said it had successfully
tested a powerful new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that
put all of the U.S. mainland within range, declaring it had achieved
its long-held goal of becoming a nuclear power.
Wednesday's missile test, North Korea's first since mid-September,
came a week after U.S. President Donald Trump put North Korea back on
a U.S. list of countries it says support terrorism, allowing it to
impose more sanctions.
North Korea has conducted dozens of ballistic missile tests under its
leader, Kim Jong Un, in defiance of international sanctions. In
September, it conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test.
North Korea said the new powerful missile reached an altitude of
around 4,475 km (2,780 miles) - more than 10 times the height of the
international space station - and flew 950 km (600 miles) during its
53 minute flight.
. . .
"After watching the successful launch of the new type ICBM Hwasong-15,
Kim Jong Un declared with pride that now we have finally realized the
great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force, the cause
of building a rocket power", according to a statement read by a
television presenter.
In the statement, North Korea described itself as responsible a
"nuclear power", saying its strategic weapons were developed to defend
itself from "the U.S. imperialists' nuclear blackmail policy and
nuclear threat".
"We don't have to like it, but we're going to have to learn to live
with North Korea's ability to target the United States with nuclear
weapons," said Jeffrey Lewis, head of the East Asia Nonproliferation
Program at the Middlebury Institute of Strategic Studies.
. . .
Trump spoke by phone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South
Korean President Moon Jae-In, with all three leaders reaffirming their
commitment to combat the North Korean threat.

We should end this state. The sooner the better.
Max

We, Max? Who are we? You and your pals HR MacMaster, John Bolton,
and Lindsey Graham? (You sure talk like them.) Not making enough
mess already? The Iraq War is still in limbo after 14 years. I will
bet that when the South Koreans will start suing the United States for
compensations, it wouldn't be a laughing matter.

lo yeeOn

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/04/three-months-avert-us-strike-north-korea-nuclear-missile-kim-jong-un

Last week John Bolton, the former US ambassador to the UN and a
notable hawk from the George W Bush era, visited London and the House
of Commons. His mission, whether official or not: to relay that CIA
chiefs have told Donald Trump that he has a "three-month window" in
which to act to halt the North's ICBM programme, after which the North
Koreans will have the capability to hit US cities, including
Washington, with a nuclear payload.

This apparent March deadline, for what can only be considered a
pre-emptive strike, was also mentioned to a former European
parliamentarian by a senior US commander a few days ago at Panmunjom
on Korea's demilitarised zone, which separates the North from the
South. With speculation rife that the CIA director Mike Pompeo may
replace Rex Tillerson as US secretary of state, the stand-off seems
likely to intensify, because Pompeo reportedly takes an even harder
line towards North Korea.