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Another Korean War?

Another Korean War?

Last updated on: April 28, 2017 at 5:45 am by Gene Veith

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Another Korean War? 2017-04-27T07:39:05-04:00 Gene Veith

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President Trump brought all 100 Senators to the White House for a high level military briefing on the situation in North Korea. That, combined with further military buildups in the area and talks with South Korea, underscores the seriousness of the tensions between the United States and North Korea over that country’s nuclear program.

Does this mean war is imminent? Or at least a pre-emptive strike against Kim Jong-Un’s missile program?

Probably not, according to an unnamed White House source. Trump reportedly told the Senators that China is finally co-operating with the United States in bringing pressure to bear against the Communist regime.

But the situation is serious. Within three years, Kim Jong-Un should have the capability to launch an intercontinental nuclear missile against the United States, and Trump is resolved not to let North Korea have that capability.

From Mark Landler, The Drumbeats Don’t Add Up to Imminent War With North Korea – The New York Times:

President Trump summoned all 100 members of the Senate for a briefing by his war cabinet on the mounting tensions with North Korea. An American submarine loaded with Tomahawk missiles surfaced in a port in South Korea. Gas stations in the North shut down amid rumors that the government was stockpiling fuel.

Americans could be forgiven for thinking that war is about to break out. But it is not.

The drumbeat of bellicose threats and military muscle-flexing on both sides overstates the danger of a clash between the United States and North Korea, senior Trump administration officials and experts who have followed the Korean crisis for decades said. While Mr. Trump regards the rogue government in the North as his most pressing international problem, he told the senators he was pursuing a strategy that relied heavily on using China’s economic leverage to curb its neighbor’s provocative behavior.

Recent American military moves — like deploying the submarine Michigan and the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson to the waters off the Korean Peninsula — were aimed less at preparing for a pre-emptive strike, officials said, than at discouraging the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, from conducting further nuclear or ballistic missile tests. . . .

None of this is to say there is no risk of miscalculation that could escalate into hostilities. Mr. Trump’s penchant for provocative statements introduced an element of unpredictability to a relationship in which the uncertainty has historically been on the North Korean side. How Mr. Kim reacts is the major variable in a complicated equation.

North Korea is also steadily adding to its nuclear arsenal and edging closer to testing an intercontinental ballistic missile, tipped with a warhead, that could hit the United States. Intelligence estimates vary on how quickly that could happen, but some say within three years: a timetable that would put a successful test within Mr. Trump’s term in office.

“No previous president has ever been in that situation,” said Victor D. Cha, director of the Asian studies program at Georgetown University, who advised the administration of George W. Bush on North Korea. “I don’t think we’re going to war, but we’re in a different phase.”

[Keep reading. . .]

Photo of the Korean War Memorial, Washington, D.C., by jensjunge, Pixabay, CC0, Public Domain

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