North Korea Sudden 180 Degree Turn - What Happened?

[Bouncer]

Just months ago we were seeing missile launches and serious threats. Now it's all roses. The turnaround is extraordinary.

So what happened? Did Trump's tactics work? Should he be given more credit? Is Kim legitimately scared of Trump because he's so unpredictable?

Is it the blockade and sanctions that have forced Kim's hand?

Did China tell Kim he is on his own and he better fall in line?

Is this all just a ploy for Kim to BS the world so he can get some money and aid flowing back in?

Has testing completed because they have a finalized ICBM and simply no longer need to test?

[funniirishman]

I think its important to remember that the fat man sitting in North Korea isn't his father. He's a young, European educated, economically progressive guy that was the leader of an entire country when he hit 30...if you look at his last five years..he's consolidated his power, eliminated his opposition, put his nation on everybody's mind by placing them on the world stage-villain or not, and has forced the industrialized nations to the bargaining table---because being prepared to go to war, doesn't mean you want to go to war.

If you ask me, this is exactly what he wanted to do-put himself in the best negotiating position possible. He grew up in Europe, has been watching China also embrace capitialism, and wants a piece of that pie..but had to have a position to negotiate from...without it hes just another 3rd world country with minimal resources getting a bigger handout then they already were. And who else to work a deal with than Donald Trump. He was largely ignored by the previous admin...so he kept uping the stakes until he had everyone's attention.

I would anticipate seeing slow progressive reforms that attempt to ease N. Korea into the modern world stage..I say ease because this dudes dad kept them in the fucking Twilight Zone for 30 plus years..you open those door all at once and people are gonna be pissed. He's also not giving up power, so democracy isn't happening..I believe he will shore up capitalist ties with China and the U.S, and chill with S. Korea so he can build his economy.

[Bouncer]

pretty big gamble though don't you think? some of those missiles came pretty damn close to Japan. I think the world would have backed Japan if they had decided to strike in self defense.

[Disarm]

It's a big gamble, but it will take years for them to fit in. Not to mention to be trusted and will probably have to pay out more before countries import to them or export more from them. They never had a chance anyways in a war.

[funniirishman]

Not really a gamble-at least in my mind, simply because they are a nuclear power...posturing isn't more than posturing...we blew up around a hundred Russian citizens a few months ago...and not a blip on the world radar..its all perspective.

But hell I could be wrong, he could be bat shit crazy and send em all toward the West Coast tomorrow..but I think there is a lot at play behind the scenes in N. Korea.

I think it's important to remember also that the media sells controversy..its simply what they do..and the narrative they were spinning on the world stage is to do just that...sell controversy...rarely are we seeing the whole picture with mainstream media.

[Bouncer]

yea i definitely don't think he is just some nut. i think he is calculated in his actions. i think everything he does is to hold onto his power. i'm just not sure i can go along with your theory that this was the plan from the start. by all accounts the sanctions and the money he put into launching those missiles has absolutely destroyed his country financially. far worse then it was before. i can't see anyone saying "let me bankrupt my country to get some recognition". i think there are lots of factors at play here. i don't think it's as simple as you make it out to be in terms of "all part of his plan". i don't think this all went to plan. i think Kim hit some major problems along the way. i don't think he has the ability to continue the missile program. i believe he would still be doing that if he had the money to do so.

by the way furnishman, i got your pm, not ignoring you bro. when i got your pm i had 50 others from idiots asking "where can i get some roids bro". yours just kinda got lost in all that and in deleting all the junk pm's i deleted yours by mistake. good to see you back brother.

[funniirishman]

Well he's broke..that's the biggest problem. Despite his GDP growing-that's with sanctions, his country economy is only about 20 billion--crazy when you think that Gates and Bezos combined--are about 200 billion. And it only grew about 4% but that's with sanctions and only importing/exporting with China. He's sitting on trillllions of dollars in minerals and can't put together a tractor to mine the shit. So, if he was educated in economics in Europe like they say..then with a new U.S. president, and new S. Korean president, now is the perfect time to take a step.

But I think its a slippery slope because he also wants to keep power, and that regime has oppressed and blinded its populace for about 50 years and going strong.

Buddy of mine, former SEAL, said the easiest way to overthrow N. Korea? Drop a million Iphones out of a plane over N. Korea set up with satellite internet.

Either way its going to be interesting to see what happens. Art of the Deal and all that.....

[Bouncer]

art of deal written by someone else and most likely not even read from front to back by trump. :D

[Bouncer]

North Korea’s main nuclear test site has partially collapsed under the stress of multiple explosions, possibly rendering it unsafe for further testing and leaving it vulnerable to radiation leaks, a study by Chinese geologists has shown.

The findings could cast doubt on North Korea’s sincerity in announcing last weekend that it would stop testing nuclear weapons at the site ahead of Friday’s summit between the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, and the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in.

The test site at Punggye-ri, in a mountainous area in North Korea’s north-east, has been the location for all six of the regime’s nuclear tests since 2006.

The findings, by scientists at the University of Science and Technology of China, suggest the partial collapse of the mountain that contains the testing tunnels, as well as the risk of radiation leaks, have potentially rendered the site unusable.

The study was published soon after Kim said his country would stop testing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, and close down Punggye-ri before his meeting with Moon just south of the countries’ heavily armed border.

Nuclear explosions release enormous amounts of heat and energy, and the North’s largest test, in September last year, was believed early on to have rendered the site - a network of tunnels beneath Mount Mantap - unstable.

The Chinese scientists collected collected data for their study following the most powerful of the North’s six nuclear tests, on 3 September.

The controlled explosion, which caused an initial magnitude-6.3 tremor, is believed to have triggered four more earthquakes over the following weeks. The study concluded that eight-and-a-half minutes after the test, there was “a near-vertical on-site collapse towards the nuclear test centre”.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...f-action-china

[funniirishman]

Yup, they have been saying that it collapsed since last year when he set the sixth test off and a couple months later executed the head of his nuclear program. Not surprising, but honestly do you really need to test anything at this point over 100 kiloton (Hiroshima was 15 kilotons)? I don't think nuclear capability is a question anymore..the missle program however,-the delivery system, that's what's being negotiated over now.

[Bouncer]

Shit's starting to go south again. lol.

Donald Trump has threatened Kim Jong-un with the same fate as Muammar Gaddafi if the North Korean leader “doesn’t make a deal” on his nuclear weapons programme.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...ong-un-gaddafi

[AvidFisherman]

Give up your WMDs, we won't care how you govern as long as you give up your WMDs... Saddam & Gadfafi.

[Bouncer]

Give up your WMDs, we won't care how you govern as long as you give up your WMDs... Saddam & Gadfafi.

yea seriously. put yourself in Kim's shoes. he's thinking.. "umm both those fuckers are dead". lol. zero incentive for him to comply.

[Scrumhalf]

And now we've got that crazy SOB Bolton as NSA Bolton has never heard of a country he doesn't want to bomb to smithereens and he's been fantasizing about going to war with Iran for years.

Kim may be crazy but he's no fool.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

[Bouncer]

And now we've got that crazy SOB Bolton as NSA Bolton has never heard of a country he doesn't want to bomb to smithereens and he's been fantasizing about going to war with Iran for years.

Kim may be crazy but he's no fool.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

The whacky walrus.