North Korea ups the ante…again
With the launch of a missile for “peaceful” purposes this week, and coming so soon after detonating a hydrogen bomb, North Korea continues to figuratively give the finger to the rest of the world.
On Monday, the country successfully launched a satellite into orbit with the use of a long-range rocket, ostensibly for scientific and peaceful purposes. Nobody but nobody believes this absurd line. The general consensus is that the launch was a mere façade, masking its true purpose of testing a ballistic missile.
While it is not clear how successful the launch really was – there is some indication that the rocket may have broken apart while still within the earth’s atmosphere -- the fact that it was conducted at all is another sign that North Korea will sooner or later find an excuse to use its arsenal against another country.
Despite protests from various countries as well as the United Nations, the leadership of the hermit kingdom continues to flaunt its growing military might coupled with never ending threats against the US and South Korea, in particular.
Indeed, there’s no telling what the country will do next. What is clear is that North Korea remains ready and seemingly willing to wage war against anyone and everyone whom it perceives as their enemy.
Time and again, the world is reminded that North Korea has only one true ally. China is the only country in the world with the means to put the North Korean leadership in its place. This is because the North Korean economy is almost totally dependent on trade with China to remain viable.
What is now overdue is for the US and its allies to exert greater pressure on China. It is not enough for China to go along with the UN Security Council every time it condemns whatever actions North Korea takes. At the end of the day, the harsh statements and condemnations are nothing more than words written on scraps of paper.
It is no wonder then why North Korean leader Kim Jong Un can afford to treat such statements as little more than idle threats. For as long as big brother China continues to prop up their fragile economy, it can be expected that more actions that will anger the free world will be taken by the rogue communist nation.
There is one small sign that China may yet be convinced to take more concrete action against the warlike nation under its wing. Kim Jong Un has been in power for some four odd years, yet he has never had a face-to-face meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. This could be interpreted to mean that China frowns on the acts taken by the North Korean military since Kim assumed power.
Experience tells us that diplomacy does not work where North Korea is concerned. Nor do sanctions called for by the UN. What will almost certainly work is to put the squeeze on the economy of the country, and it is only China that can take this course of action.
The paranoid North Korean leadership is too dangerous for China to allow them to do as they please, especially now that they have attained the capacity to attack any country with their nuclear weapons.