L'Ombre de l'Olivier

The Shadow of the Olive Tree

being the maunderings of an Englishman on the Côte d'Azur

07 July 2006 Blog Home : July 2006 : Permalink

Actions and Reactions

You have to love the DPRK.

• They make preparations for missile launches and are told by Japan that "if they launch bad things will happen"
• They launch the missile anyway
• Japan imposes sanctions
• The DPRK demands that the sanctions be lifted "or else"

Are these guys just playing to the peanut gallery? or were they really surprised that Japan would actually do what it said it would do? Although they do try and act as threatening as they can:

"This may force us to take stronger physical actions," Kyodo news agency quoted Song Il-ho, North Korea's ambassador in charge of diplomatic normalisation talks with Japan, as saying.

Asked by Japanese reporters in Pyongyang to elaborate, he said: "I leave that to your imagination."

Of course the fact that more serious analysts are saying negative things about the N Korean missile program may have something to do with it.

The major fallout from North Korea's series of missile launches and the malfunction of its long-range rocket is that its missile program now looks somewhat inept, weapons experts said yesterday.

"The Taepodong-2 was not ready for prime time," said David Kay, a veteran weapons inspector, referring to Pyongyang's controversial attempt to launch a long-range missile. "The ridicule for the failure is entirely on" the North Korean government.

Ouch. And which rather makes one wonder what precisely the N Korean "stronger physical actions" are going to be. If it weren't for the fact that the DPRK leadership can kill millions (mostly of its own people) the situation would be funny. It's like watching that blustering BSer in the pub who claims he can do Karate stub his toe and then hop around bawling his eyes out.

Lots and lots of excellent additional coverage at the Marmot's Hole, including a post pointing out that even S Korea seems ever so slightly miffed at the behaviour of their northern brethren. Although possibly not miffed enough IMHO or in that of the Marmot's proprietor for that matter:

About next week’s intra-Korean ministerial talks scheduled to be held in Busan, however, Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok appeared to favor convening the meeting:

“The South Korean government wonders what it would mean if we refuse to talk to North Korea.”

It would probably mean you have a set of balls, Mr. Minister.  Heaven forbid the North Koreans should think that.

 

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I despise l'Escroc and Vile Pin