Chicago Tribune (August 9)
“Many Americans had reassured themselves that North Korea was still years away from threatening the U.S. mainland with a nuclear missile. That illusion ended Tuesday.” U.S. intelligence reports appear to indicate that “North Korea now has produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can fit inside intercontinental ballistic missiles” and has an estimated arsenal including as many as 60 nuclear weapons. North Korea is now clearly a “threat to the U.S., to the world.”
Tags: Arsenal, ICBMs, Intelligence, Mainland, North Korea, Nuclear missile, Threat, U.S., Warhead
The Economist (August 5)
“It is odd that North Korea causes so much trouble. It is not exactly a superpower. Its economy is only a fiftieth as big as that of its democratic capitalist cousin, South Korea. Americans spend twice its total GDP on their pets.” And yet everyone is wondering what to do with this rogue. “There are no good options to curb Kim Jong Un.” But a first strike or “blundering into war would be the worst… The world must keep calm and contain Mr Kim.”
Tags: Blundering, Capitalist, Contain, Democratic, Economy, First strike, GDP, Kim Jong Un, North Korea, Pets, Rogue, South Korea, Superpower, Trouble, U.S.
LA Times (August 3)
“In reality, a grand bargain with China” is unrealistic for North Korea. It would be difficult for China to shut down Kim Jong Un. Moreover, a grand bargain would “destroy America’s global influence, making it impossible for Washington to maintain stability in strategic areas, particularly in Asia and Europe. Indeed, merely proposing an agreement of this sort would make the U.S. into a paper tiger and compromise American credibility in Asia and around the world.”
Tags: Asia, China, Europe, Grand bargain, Influence, Kim Jong Un, North Korea, Stability, Strategic
The Atlantic (July/August Issue)
Although Donald Trump called Kim “a madman with nuclear weapons,” North Korea’s leader “appears to be neither suicidal nor crazy.” In fact, “he has acted with brutal efficiency to consolidate that power; the assassination of his half brother is only the most recent example. As tyrants go, he’s shown appalling natural ability…. his moves have been nothing if not deliberate and even cruelly rational.” With only bad options for dealing with the North, this is “perhaps the most reassuring thing.”
Tags: Ability, Assassination, Brutal efficiency, Deliberate, Kim, Madman, North Korea, Nuclear weapons, Power, Rational, Reassuring, Trump, Tyrant
The Economist (July 8)
“Despite lots of martial talk from Mr Trump, a pre-emptive strike against North Korea is a terrifying option. It would risk setting off a war on the Korean peninsula that could claim millions of lives.” The best options are still deterrence and containment, “But if deterrence is to be effective, America’s threats must be credible. So Mr Trump must stop making promises he is not ready or able to honour—promises like stopping North Korea from developing an ICBM.”
Tags: Containment, Credible, Deterrence, ICBM, North Korea, Pre-emptive strike, Promises, Risk, Terrifying, Threats, Trump, U.S.
Korea Herald (June 7)
The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system “reminds us of the need for self-reliant defense. President Moon should know that he is in a much weaker position” than previous presidents “because the North now has bigger rockets and nuclear bombs. Kim will demand more than his father did if he ever comes to dialogue with us thanks to the ‘Sunshine Policy’ of the new government.”
Tags: Defense, Kim, Moon, North Korea, Nuclear bombs, Rockets, South Korea, Sunshine policy, THAAD, Weaker
South China Morning Post (May 26)
“China will not support using more sanctions to further pressure North Korea into halting its nuclear weapons programme.” Amid North Korea’s “continuous testing of ballistic missiles,” China’s reluctance “is setting up a clash with US President Donald Trump over economic issues that the US cannot win.”
Tags: Ballistic missiles, China, Clash, North Korea, Nuclear weapons, Pressure, Sanctions, Testing, U.S.
LA Times (May 21)
Although Mike Pence “would be the most conservative president of modern times,” he would clearly be better than Trump. “Pence would be an improvement on grounds of simple competence. He would make the country safer. Under a President Pence, Americans would have less cause to fear that a blundering president might lead us into war with North Korea or Iran.”
Tags: Blundering, Competence, Conservative, Iran, North Korea, Pence, President, Trump, War
Boston Globe (May 8)
Trump is making a tense situation on the Korean Peninsula perilous. His “sole success is adding himself to the things South Koreans most fear. Indeed, his erratic behavior has affected South Korea’s presidential election Tuesday, helping elevate the candidate least favorable to the United States. As Trump oscillates, risks burgeon.”
Tags: Election, Erratic, North Korea, Risks, South Korea, Success, Trump, U.S.
USA Today (May 4)
Kim Jong Un “governs the cruelest and most tyrannical regime in the world, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea…. And President Trump would be honored to meet him.” Trump also called the tyrant “a pretty smart cookie” since “at a very young age, he was able to assume power.” Kim Jong Un is a disgrace. To host him “in the nation’s capitol would be unacceptable, because it would give him undeserved approbation and put his rogue nation on an equal footing with our allies.”
Tags: Allies, Cruelest, Kim Jong Un, North Korea, Regime, Rogue, Trump, Tyrannical
