Gain: Not having to break the pact the two made about mutual, eternal friendship and military support, an eternal pact up for reconsiderations around 2021.

Other than that, Dim Kim is unwise to ignore the possibility that there are military plans for decomissioning renegade allied, stored in a file cabinet somewhere in a Beijing basement.

I would think there are gains and losses. Just some cheap labor, maybe not having South Korea on their border. They don't have to support XX million refugees that have minimal education, health, etc.

What does China lose...??

News article for today
 

(Yonhap Interview) NK defector-painter

By Kim Soo-yeon

SEOUL, April 16 (Yonhap) -- North Korean defector-artist Oh Sung-cheol drew colorful propaganda posters praising former North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il in the mid-1990s for a decade while serving in the repressive regime's military.

In North Korea, painting such posters did not require artistic creativity much as he followed instructions by the ruling Workers' Party of Korea in a country where artwork is used for propaganda campaigns for the leadership.

"I was not an artist in North Korea as I drew what I was ordered," the 39-year-old painter said in a recent interview with Yonhap News Agency. "I did not have an experience of doing soul searching in the North."

Oh is among a handful of North Korean defector-painters who are seeking to portray their experience on both sides of the tense inter-Korean border and thoughts about the North Korean regime.

He said in North Korea, he did not have the luxury of thinking about what his dream would be, never realizing that drawing pictures would become his life-long mission for soul searching.

Strong aspiration for painting came at the height of hardship when he had to live in a dim basement at a South Korean consulate in China while awaiting a flight to Seoul for three years after escaping North Korea. He came to South Korea in 2012.

"I would have died if I had not drawn pictures at that time," Oh said. "I did not belong to any of the two Koreas. My biggest wish was to walk on grass (freely) back then."

The two Koreas have technically remained in a state of war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

In South Korea, Oh is working as a painter after studying fine arts in Hannam University in Daejeon, some 164 kilometers south of Seoul. But life as an artist here is not as easy as he previously expected, he said.

"I had the experience of being hurt in South and North Korea. I would like to ask questions to people about how wounds could be healed through my work," he said.

His quest for what life should be is illustrated as an image of spoon in his artwork. A spoon is the main tool needed to feed oneself, symbolizing human beings' basic desire, he says.

Depending on what is being placed on the spoon, values which an individual puts priority on differ, he added. A crooked spoon means people's greed for power and money.

"Where does human beings' desire come from? I think that how desire is expressed boils down to a matter of making a living," he said.

Oh's work "Throw and Ask" shows a spoon on top of a collection of images of the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's main newspaper. Pink butterflies coming out of the spoon represent hope and ideals.

"Rodong Sinmun epitomizes the tyranny of North Korea. But I think ideology and the political system pale in comparison to the issue of bread and butter," he said. "People would say they seek happiness and freedom when asked about their ideal values."

Oh said that he would like to send a message of co-existence through paintings at a time when internal division and discord are also running deep in South Korea.

"Drawing propaganda posters speaks for North Korea's leadership. Here, I don't want to repeat such a job that aims to represent a certain group," he said. "I would like to talk about co-existence by excluding ideology and the political spectrum."

Touching on inter-Korean unification, he called for efforts to embrace North Korean defectors as members of society.

"There is no sincere discussion about how North Korean defectors see South Korean society," he said. "The two Koreas should be unified someday. I believe more South Koreans could accept them as main players for unification."

The artist said he rejected an "assigned" identity of being a North Korean defector, expressing hope that his works could be recognized as they are without the social stigma of defector being attached. "I think that drawing pictures is a process of healing my wounds," he said. "I would like to throw questions to people to encourage them to think about what values they should pursue."


---It popped up on a newsfeed. Yonhap is like the Associated Press that we know of.

I see it is being reported that “Fatty Kim the Third” tried and failed with a missile launch soon after Trump gave the order for a Carrier Battle Group to the South Korea area.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39612095

Reminds me of this oldie :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1ExEwjb1xE

You shouldn't laugh at them just because allegedly failed launch coincided with high tensions, space boosters (and thus ICBMs) are 60s tech, DPRK has it.

A laughing matter it is not but it is difficult not to take to satire when NK official history includes passages on how the Greatest of Kims hit bulls eye with a heavy machine gun at the age of 7, before he invented the world's first hamburger while personally moving the moon across the skies. It is understandable that claims of having very long range ICBMs are met with suspicion of exaggerations.

At the same time, it is nothing new that "leaked" info on happenings in NK has occationally been fabricated in the south. Something to bear in mind.

If they have the ability to reach low earth orbit - they have the ICBM technology.

That ability can be independently verified by observing the space launches and their payloads in orbit.

If memory serves me right there were 2 such launches in the past.

Those two launches prove that DPRK has ICBM technology. As I have said that technology is nothing surprising, USSR and USA got it in 50s/60s. Any dedicated actor, especially if such actor has resources to procure 60s missile tech (ie R27 series SLBMs) is capable of doing it.

Launching is one important part of an ICBM system. Landing, or in the case of an ICBM targeting, is also important.
If all you want to do is leave one part of the earth and hit anywhere else on the earth, ICBMs are pretty easy.

But if you want to hit something specific...that's a bit more difficult.

Even with nukes, you gotta get close.

Hitting cities with city busters is not hard.

And I doubt DPRK is interested in anything other than counter-value.

The question really is - did they master implosive fissile bombs yet or not. Especially in terms of manufacturing relevant materials

Funny line on the SNL "news" report: "Hours ago, North Korea attempted a missile launch, but as soon as it took off, it immediately exploded. North Korea claimed the failed launch was actually just a tribute to Donald Trump's first 100 days in office."...



<O>

Just from my military career, I don't know that I would use nukes specifically on cities in S. Korea. Unless I just wanted to make a mess of things and never go there. I could see KJU making that decision just before he died, though.

Initial targets would be logistical hubs for in-coming support or just significant bases as they are. With a thought towards KJU's thinking on WMD, I could see semi-persistent chem attacks to significantly degrade capabilities. An air-burst nuke for the EMP effect would do well over Seoul and some places in Japan would be also helpful.

EMP, to my knowledge, is hard to protect from. It requires redundancy and other measures that suck up a budget pretty quickly. I just read a news article that S. Korea's nuke plants are not protected from outside blasts, too.

Even though these may be good ideas for a future event, I don't see China permitting it to get to that point. Not that I see N. Korea really listening to China very much, but, China hasn't come close to squeezing N. Korea. Actually, that is not the easiest thing to do in a controlled way. China has ZERO interest in going into N. Korea or having N. Korea mad at them, too.

Lots of stuff on YouTube it seems. Lots of cyber stuff, too.

I'm convinced, that during the Meeting between Trump and the leader of China. Trump may have said something like.

North Korea is your little brother living in your backyard-Countries around NK are not happy about the way Kim is acting. I Don't want to smack Kim or start a war with NK-I therefore ask you to take care of Kim in a way you find fit.

Or do I have to much imagination ?

Markus

No, I think you are on the button. Being in China's shoes, I wouldn't want missiles pointed at me, though. There are just no benefits for China in getting involved, that I see anyway.

Edit...I don't know if it is a "smackable" situation. I see crush or no crush and that means a lot of refugees and costs.

Difficult to say what was discussed. Maybe we let China know our intentions were to shoot down the rocket had it left the pad. Which may have very well escalated things quite quickly hence their own mobilization of troops to North Korea's border.

I should add I still think China's mobilization of troops has more to do with preventing mass exodus of N.K. refugees than it does invasion. Like a Jonny Carson commercial break there's "more to come"

Prudent to move the troops to the border. Maybe someone will report on what they are actually doing on the border. Nice to see if they disperse along the border or stay together. Also, if facilities are available or expected to be built. Just their whole situation.

The news is a little easier to follow in the western countries in the area, but China is more controlled.

Philippines just mentioned the Mutual Defense Treaty with the U.S. Probably to help them get their laborers out of Japan and Korea. (sigh)

Someone mentioned that having two aircraft carriers in the area (G. Washington and C. Vinson) was about to happen. I thought the GW was laid up until May. By the time she puts to sea, the CV will be close to rotating. Or, to stay would mean something. Maybe it will become the norm to have two.