North And South Korea Declare End To War, Proclaim “New Era Of Peace”

This report was originally published by Tyler Durden at Zero Hedge

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed Friday to finally end a seven-decade war this year, and signed a declaration to pursue the “complete denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula, although they did not announce any concrete steps to dismantle the North’s nuclear programs.

The two leaders embraced after signing the deal during a historic meeting on their shared border, the first time a North Korean leader has set foot on the southern side. They announced plans to formally declare a resolution to the war and replace 1953 armistice that ended open hostilities into a peace treaty by year’s end.

“We solemnly declare to our 80m Koreans and the world that there will no more war on the Korean peninsula and a new era of peace has begun,” North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean president Moon Jae-in said in a joint statement. “It is our urgent historic assignment to put an end to this current abnormal state of ceasefire and establish a peace regime.”

“We have agreed to share a firm determination to open a new era in which all Korean people enjoy prosperity and happiness on a peaceful land without wars,” Kim said, in his first remarks in front of the global press since taking power in 2011.

The two sides “confirmed the common goal of realizing, through complete denuclearization, a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.”

The two agreed to work towards advancing the reunification of the divided nations and further improving inter-Korean relations. In order to reduce tension, the two sides agreed to hold military talks in May and set up a joint liaison office in Kaesong, the border town in the North.

“South and North Korea agreed to actively seek the support and cooperation of the international community for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” according to the statement. It didn’t elaborate on what that would entail.

“The commitment to ‘complete denuclearization’ is ambiguous, and subject to different interpretations,” said Youngshik Bong, a researcher at Yonsei University’s Institute for North Korean Studies in Seoul. “It can be interpreted as North Korea getting rid of all warheads, or North Korean demands on the U.S. military in South Korea.”

They have also agreed to end any hostile activities that can lead to military clashes, including cross-border propaganda broadcasts and leaflet distribution. They will also enable Red Cross talks to discuss reunions of families separated by the Korean war.

Kim on Friday walked across the military demarcation line dividing the two nations with an aim to end decades of conflict on the peninsula, becoming the first North Korean leader to set foot on South Korean soil.

As Bloomberg notes, the agreement follows a rapid thaw of tensions on the peninsula after a flurry of North Korean missile tests and a hydrogen bomb detonation last year. Kim plans to meet U.S. President Donald Trump soon, which would be the first summit between a North Korean leader and a sitting American president.

The question now is whether the commitment will lead to lasting change. Previous agreements have collapsed over inspections, weapons tests and disputes over economic aid.

Much of the agreement mirrors previous deals between North Korea and Moon’s liberal predecessors. It appeared aimed at restoring cooperation that had deteriorated over the past decade.

Kim’s official Korean Central News Agency issued a tersely worded commentary after the announcement urging the U.S. to respond “with sincerity.” “What is needed for the U.S. is to learn how to observe good manners and how to respect the party concerned, not resorting to high-handed practices and arrogance,” the piece said.

Reaction in markets was limited given the South Korean stock market had closed for the week when the deal was announcement landed.

The meeting paves the way for Mr Kim to meet US President Donald Trump later this year.

“I felt a flood of emotion as I walked the 200 meters here,” Kim told Moon as talks began.

“I came here with a mindset that we will fire a flare at the starting point of a new history for peace and prosperity. Let’s get everything off our minds out here and get good results.”

This is what Kim Jong-un told Moon Jae-in, as relayed by South Korea’s presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan.

“Kim Jong-un said that he came here to put an end to the history of conflict, discuss and remove obstacles between us with the South Korean president. He said let’s meet more often and we should be determined not to go back to square one. Kim also said let’s live up to all the expectations and create a better world.”

“The two leaders had a sincere and frank dialogue over the denuclearisation and the establishment of permanent peace of the Korean peninsula and development of inter-Korea ties.”

#BREAKING: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un makes history with a brief walk into South Korea for an ice-breaking #KoreaSummit pic.twitter.com/hsa4IM7O2v

— Jeffs (@jeffs_araujo35) April 27, 2018

After they planted the tree, Mr Kim told Mr Moon:

“Just like a pine tree, I hope that we can always be green, even in winter time.”

“Yes, it will be like that,” Mr Moon replied.

“Eyes and ears from all over the world are focused on Panmunjom,” Moon said. “I feel the weight on our shoulders is heavy.”

As The BBC notes, the inter-Korean summit has basically taken everyone by surprise and proven many an expert prediction very wrong (and gravely disappointed many anti-Trump-ites).

From this…

To this…

In 3 months.

No Wall, No War, No hate
Today, We are all KOREANS #interkoreansummit #남북정상회담 #KoreaSummit pic.twitter.com/iziTIIEGmW

— JaeKwon Son 손재권 (@gjack) April 27, 2018

Here’s one of the pundits contemplating the “known and unknown unknowns” this is teaching us…

Along the way, I"ve gotten many things wrong. Known and unknown unknowns abound. The capacity to be surprised & questions one"s assumptions is a struggle, and the most important one. But blanket skepticism does not guarantee you are getting things right; & fatalism is a dead-end.

— John Delury (@JohnDelury) April 27, 2018

Previous attempts to negotiate aid-for-disarmament deals have failed.

But in January, the North embarked on direct talks with Seoul, attended the Winter Olympics in South Korea and in April the two leaders met for a historic inter-Korean summit.

Pyongyang also offered direct talks with the US – an offer Mr Trump accepted – and ordered a halt to nuclear and missile tests.

Talks between the two would be unprecedented, but the details, agenda and timing of the summit are yet to be confirmed.

Of course, as Bloomberg reports, any progress on dismantling the Kim’s weapons program would likely be slow and fraught, and involve visits by international inspectors. Prior efforts involving Kim’s late father when he was leader collapsed in acrimony, with North Korea blaming the U.S. for failure to adhere to the agreements.

“It’s off to a good start, but there must be a concrete commitment by Kim on denuclearization,” said Youngshik Bong, a researcher at Yonsei University’s Institute for North Korean Studies in Seoul. “Otherwise it will end up as a fancy show.”

The Mainstream Media Won’t Talk About North Korea Agreeing To Denuclearize

The mainstream media has simply ignored the fact that North Korea has agreed to denuclearize the Korean peninsula. First South Korean, then Chinese officials have in recent weeks reported North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has told them he is “committed to denuclearization” on the Korean peninsula

But where has the mainstream media been? They’ve been entirely focused on an agenda to strip basic human rights away from the public and an alleged affair between the president and a porn star twelve years ago.   So why don’t they want to report on the actual big news? Agenda, propaganda, brainwashing, narratives for the elites.

“It is our consistent stand to be committed to denuclearization on the peninsula, in accordance with the will of late President Kim Il Sung and late General Secretary Kim Jong Il,” Kim Jong Un said, according to  Chinese state media outlet Xinhua. Kim is currently in China for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “The issue of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula can be resolved if South Korea and the United States respond to our efforts with goodwill,” Kim told Chinese officials during a visit this week, according to Xinhua.

According to Reuters, Kim’s declared commitment to denuclearization, however, is neither new nor in line with the “bash Trump” and “turn all Americans into poverty-stricken slaves” narrative that is constantly being forced down our throats. However, President Trump has pressed North Korea to act since taking office in January 2017. And what’s more, he’s pushed China to do more about its belligerent neighbor, and taken some actions seen as overkill, like enacting tariffs on Chinese goods. But Trump’s efforts appear to have paid off, at least as of right now.

Received message last night from XI JINPING of China that his meeting with KIM JONG UN went very well and that KIM looks forward to his meeting with me. In the meantime, and unfortunately, maximum sanctions and pressure must be maintained at all cost!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2018

This is a huge story, and one the American public should know about.  There’s probably little to no reason to fear North Korea any longer, yet perhaps that’s why this has all been ignored.  Fear, after all, is how the mainstream media brainwashes everyone they can in order to push an agenda.

Obviously, Trump’s success (of any kind) won’t help the mainstream media and their narrative. North Korea also probably shouldn’t be trusted after years of haughty derision and terroristic rhetoric about their nuclear program. But the point is that progress is being made and denuclearization could actually occur on Trump’s watch and the media can’t be bothered to report on it.

China Deploys 300,000 Soldiers To N. Korean Border In “Preparation For Potential War”

This report was originally published by Tyler Durden at Zero Hedge

While the specter of a nuclear war with North Korea has faded in recent weeks, China is not taking chances, and ahead of the Winter Olympics in South Korea, the Chinese government has deployed 300,000 troops and multiple mobile strike groups to its highly-guarded border with North Korea, a move which signals that Beijing is quietly gearing for a potential crisis between Kim Jong Un and the United States in the coming months.

According to South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo news, “China is preparing for a potential war on the Korean Peninsula by reinforcing missile defenses near the border with North Korea” citing a report from Radio Free Asia. “Military units in Yanbian were relocated from Heilongjiang Province, thus adding 300,000 troops along the border.”

RFA quoted a North Korean source in China that the Chinese military late last year deployed another missile defense battery at an armored division in Helong, west of Longjing in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture. Now it is deploying missile defense batteries near North Korean reservoirs by the Apnok and Duman rivers.

The reason for the increased missile presence is that Chinese troops in the border area could be swept away if the North tore down the banks of the reservoirs or they were destroyed by missiles or air strikes, the source added.

On Jan. 24, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that the 78th Group Army, the first Chinese military unit that would cross the border into the North in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula, has been armed with newest surface-to-air missiles against South Korean and U.S. aircraft and missiles.

The reported deployment comes just days before the start of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea.

What is peculiar about this escalation is that it comes as Kim Jong Un’s regime has – at least optically – attempted to “thaw” relations with Seoul, wishing the South Korean government a “successful” competition and hoping to “ease military tensions” before the games begin. In a rare case of Korean unity, both North and South Korea plan to march into the Opening Ceremonies under a “united Korean flag” and will combine their female hockey teams.

Meanwhile, Trump has been busy pushing his domestic agenda to engage in Twitter bickering and comparing nuclear button size with Kim Jong-Un, allowing tensions between the two nuclear-armed nations to ease in recent weeks, although if China knows something, this tentative detente will not last long.

WW3 ALERT: US Military Silently Prepares For Nuclear War With North Korea

Officers and troops across the country in the United States military are quietly preparing for a war with the hermit kingdom of North Korea.  As quietly as possible, the increase in military exercises suggests a renewed focus on getting the country’s military prepared for what could be on the horizon with North Korea.

From Ft. Bragg in North Carolina, where last month a mix of 48 Apache gunships and Chinook cargo helicopters took off in an exercise that practiced moving troops and equipment under live artillery fire to assault targets; to the skies above Nevada, where 119 soldiers from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division parachuted out of C-17 military cargo planes under the cover of darkness in an exercise that simulated a foreign invasion, the military is practicing drill that could prepare them for a third world war.  And this would most likely be a nuclear war.

Many have thought that this is all standard for a nation built on military might with a huge military industrial complex and a presence around the globe.  But not all agree.Although Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and General Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, both argue forcefully for using diplomacy to address Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions, they still anticipate a war. A war with North Korea, Mr. Mattis said in August, would be “catastrophic.” Still, about two dozen current and former Pentagon officials and senior commanders said in interviews that the exercises largely reflected the military’s response to orders from Mr. Mattis and service chiefs to be ready for any possible military action on the Korean Peninsula.

Rhetoric between the US and Pyongyang has cooled since the high in September when president Donald Trump and North Korea’s dictator exchanged barbs. Trump vowed to “totally destroy North Korea” if it threatened the United States, and derided the rogue nation’s leader, Kim Jong-un, as “Rocket Man.” In response, Mr. Kim said he would deploy the “highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history” against the United States, and described Mr. Trump as a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard.”

WW3 ALERT: Chinese Troops Told To ‘Ready For War’ And Sent To North Korean Border

Chinese tanks, soldiers, and military trucks have been gathering on the border in preparation for a war. The Chinese military was quickly rushed to the border they share with North Korea after being told to get “ready for war.”

According to the Daily Star, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) forces have been building up military assets in the cover of the night around the Tumen River in Yanji city, Jilin province, which borders North Korea. Chinese commanders are reported to have recently conducted the so-called “war ceremony” – urging their troops to be ready to fight as columns of PLA trucks have been pictured on the move near Yanji City which is close to the triple border between China, Russia, and North Korea.

China is North Korea’s only traditional ally and has been coming under pressure to tackle Kim Jong-un from the US.  Sources cited in Chinese media have claimed that the PLA is “preparing for war on the Korean Peninsula.” China would be expected to use its military forces to help quell a flood of refugees should the United States initiate an attack North Korea and chubby dictator, Kim Jong-Un. Beijing is also expected to quickly move into the rogue state to seize assets, and potentially have China join the war on the side of North Korea once the US begins a so-far theoretical attack.

According to Zerohedge, if the media report is accurate, it would suggest that China – fearing the worst – is preparing for a full-blown war on the Korean Penisula. Previously, internal documents leaked from China’s main state-owned telecommunications company shows three villages and cities in the northeastern border province of Jilin, have been designated for refugee camps-if war breaks out. China is afraid a swarm of refugees from North Korea could cross the Tumen River into China.

Zhang Liangui, a professor of international strategic research at the Communist Party’s Central Party School said, “it is highly possible that there is a conflict between North Korea and the United States now. What China does here is to be prepared for any kind of situation happening on the Korean Peninsula.”

While China prepares for a ground war on the Korean Peninsula by moving military assets to border cities along the Tumen River, there is another threat breaking Tuesday morning: North Korea is preparing to test the largest ICBM to date. Coupled with  im Jong-un’s “Happy New Year” threat to the world when he warned the “nuclear button” is on his desk, this could be the beginning stages of a third world war.

US president Donald Trump has warned there would be “no friendly solution” until China stops backing North Korea.

WW3 Alert: US And China Preparing For ‘All Hell To Break Loose’ On Korean Peninsula

The United States and China are preparing for a situation in which all hell breaks loose on the Korean Peninsula.  Both nations are taking unprecedented steps as tensions toward a nuclear war ramp up even more.

The US has stepped up military drills, practiced air raids, and reportedly started preparing to seize North Korea’s nuclear weapons by force, a feat South Korea has declared won’t be all that easy. South Korean officials have been talking up a pause in military drills in hopes that it will lead to a peaceful Winter Olympics in February, but the US has yet to agree to halt said drills.  Instead, the US  brought in a record number of stealth aircraft this month to train up on an air war against North Korea. Immediately after the drill, which featured a marked increase in simulated bomb runs on North Korean targets, the US and South Korea reportedly engaged in drills to infiltrate North Korea and neutralize its weapons of mass destruction.

At a speech at the Atlantic Council last week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the US was preparing plans to seize loose nuclear weapons, should North Korea somehow collapse or become unstable.

President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, also flatly rejected the clearest path to peace by saying the US would never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea. He recommitted the US to using force if necessary.

“We’re not committed to a peaceful resolution — we’re committed to a resolution,” McMaster told the BBC. “We have to be prepared, if necessary, to compel the denuclearization of North Korea without the cooperation of that regime.” –Business Insider

China is also bracing itself for a potential war. Across North Korea’s border in China’s Jilin province, state-run media ran a full-page instructional package on how to survive a nuclear blast. The page doesn’t mention North Korea, but it doesn’t need to. According to Business Insider, there are also a few notable new additions to Jilin. Five new refugee camps built “because the situation on the China-North Korea border has intensified lately,” a leaked document seen by The New York Times said. The camps could accommodate thousands of North Koreans who might pour across the border in a time of war.

Of course, China’s preparations don’t end there either. They also have an offensive approach to the heightened tensions. China’s air force engaged in exercises along “routes and areas it has never flown before” earlier this month, with surveillance aircraft over the Yellow and East seas near the Korean Peninsula, according to the South China Morning Post. “The timing of this high-profile announcement by the PLA is also a warning to Washington and Seoul not to provoke Pyongyang any further,” Li Jie, a military expert based in Beijing, told the Post, using the abbreviation for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). In addition to flexing its military muscle against the US, China has been increasingly assertive in the South China Sea. It has also dispatched military spy planes to encircle Taiwan and provide up-to-date info, which the Macau-based military observer Antony Wong Dong told the Post was “very unusual.”

All of this is in preparation for an “all hell breaks loose” scenario that’s likely to unfold on the Korean Peninsula.

Russian Diplomat’s Warning: ‘Apocalyptic Scenario’ Likely On Korean Peninsula

The tense situation over North Korea’s nuclear program has one top Russian diplomat sounding the alarm. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov said that the world can no longer turn a “blind eye” to alarming speed with which North Korea is advancing their weapons of mass destruction.

North Korea’s nuclear program could evolve into an “apocalyptic” scenario, Morgulov said.  He was speaking at the opening of the eighth annual Asian Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club, which is being held in Seoul, South Korea, CNBC reports.  “I hope that a common sense, pragmatism, and an instinct of self-preservation would prevail among our partners,” Morgulov added.

The Russian diplomat’s remarks come amid global concerns over North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s refusal to abandon his nuclear ambitions despite mounting international pressure. North Korea has conducted a record number of long-range missile tests this year, and in early September it carried out its sixth and most powerful nuclear test.

Tensions continue to heighten as Kim and President Donald Trump trade numerous threats and insults. Over the summer, Trump warned Pyongyang it would be met with “fire and fury” if it didn’t stop threatening the U.S. In late September while addressing the United Nations for the first time, he threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea if it forced the U.S. to defend itself or its allies. In a speech to South Korea’s National Assembly, president Trump denounced Kim’s regime but also offered the erratic leader a path to peace if he agreed to cease long-range missile tests and move toward denuclearization. North Korea rejected his offer and said the president had “begged” for nuclear war during his Asia trip.

Shortly after returning from his trip, Trump placed North Korea back on the list of state sponsors of terrorism on November 20. Kim has been far from quiet in the ongoing exchange of words as well. He has “sentenced Trump to death” and said that the U.S. president has “lit the wick of war.”

China, which is North Korea’s top trading partner and most important ally, has tried to pressure Pyongyang to change its stance on the development of nuclear weapons. But a recent visit from a senior Chinese envoy to the North Korean capital appears to have been unsuccessful. Correspondingly, China recently shut down the main road connecting it with North Korea, and the state-owned airline Air China suspended flights from Beijing to the reclusive nation.

Morgulov, whose nation, Russia, shares a border with North Korea, appears to be concerned about the rogue country’s handling of weapons of mass destruction.  “We have told North Korea many times that for us [its] nuclear status is unacceptable,” the diplomat said. “We continue this work with the North Korean counterparts presenting to them our position.”

U.S. Flies Two B-1B Bombers Over Korean Peninsula

Date: August 01, 2017

One of two U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers flies a 10-hour mission from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, into Japanese airspace and over the Korean Peninsula. [image: U.S. Air Force/Airman 1st Class Jacob Skovo/Handout via REUTERS.]

By: Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge | 

Less than a month after the US flew two B-1B bombers over the Korean Peninsula to show off “US attack capabilities“, the US Air Force did it again on Sunday, when it the flew two supersonic B-1B bombers over the Korean peninsula in “a show of force” on Sunday after Pyongyang’s Friday test of an ICBM that can reach the continental US. The two B-1Bs flew alongside two Japanese F-2 jet fighters within Japanese airspace before conducting an exercise over South Korea with four South Korean F-15 fighters in response to the latest North Korean missile test, as well as the previous July 4 launch of the “Hwansong-14” rocket, the USAF.

“In a demonstration of ironclad U.S. commitment to our allies, two U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancers assigned to the 9th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, deployed from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, fly a 10-hour mission from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, into Japanese airspace and over the Korean Peninsula” the statement by Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs said.

“North Korea remains the most urgent threat to regional stability,” Pacific Air Forces commander General Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy said in the statement.

“If called upon, we are ready to respond with rapid, lethal, and overwhelming force at a time and place of our choosing”.

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Korean Peninsula Tensions Risk Boiling Over

(image: fox43.com)

On Wednesday, addressing State Department staff, Rex Tillerson stressed “leaning hard” on China to pressure Pyongyang on denuclearizing the Korean peninsula “backed up by very strong (US) resolve…”

“So it’s a pressure campaign…to lean into people” to go along with Washington’s agenda. “We’ve told them we’re watching what you’re doing.” Punishment will be administered to non-compliers by sanctions and other means, he said.

His message was meant mainly for Beijing – on North Korea, trade and South China Sea issues. Friendly bilateral relations depend on playing ball with America was his message.

If Beijing doesn’t come down hard on Pyongyang, Washington could sanction its banks, commerce and industry dealing with the DPRK, he warned, adding:

“(W)e’ve got a lot of work left to do to keep that pressure on.” Major Sino/US differences remain unresolved – notably on North Korea, trade and Beijing’s South China Sea activities.

During his confirmation hearing as Trump’s ambassador to China, former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad said he intends raising tough issues with Beijing.

Asked if he considers China an ally or enemy, he said “it’s a tough question,” stressing its government’s obligation “to play by the rules” – US ones, he failed to explain.

On Monday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said China’s help on North Korea “trumps trade.” On Monday, he infamously called Trump’s April 7 aggression on Syria “after-dinner entertainment,” adding “it didn’t cost the president anything” – other than mostly civilian lives lost and flagrantly breaching international law, he didn’t explain.

Separately on Wednesday, Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) published a commentary titled “Refrain from making reckless remarks undermining the DPRK-China relations,” criticizing Beijing for what it called “a wanton violation of (the DPRK’s) independent and legitimate rights, dignity and supreme interests.”

It defended the nation’s nuclear program as its right to self-defense. It criticized “ignorant (Chinese) politicians and media persons” for their views on this issue.

“(T)he DPRK(’s) strategic interests have been repeatedly violated due to insincerity and betrayal on the part of its partner,” Beijing, it said. Uncharacteristic tough talk about its most important ally!

It said “China should acknowledge in an honest manner that the DPRK has just contributed to protecting peace and security of China, foiling the US scheme for aggression by waging a hard fight in the frontline of the showdown with the US for more than seven decades, and thank the DPRK for it,” adding:

“China had better ponder over the grave consequences to be entailed by its reckless act of chopping down the pillar of the DPRK-China relations.”

Pyongyang justifiably feels threatened by possible US aggression. It relies heavily on China as its most important strategic, political and economic partner.

For its part, Beijing wants war on the Korean peninsula avoided. It wants normal relations with all nations.

It’s treading a delicate balance in dealings with Washington, Pyongyang and other regional countries – a major test for its diplomatic skills.

Can war on the Korean peninsula be avoided? Trump’s rage for belligerent confrontations isn’t reassuring.

Heading for War on the Korean Peninsula?

China, Russia, South Korea and Japan strongly want it avoided for obvious reasons.

Trump’s rage for war risks what no responsible leader would tolerate. Attacking North Korea would be madness, endangering the entire region, especially if nuclear weapons are used.

On May 2, China’s People’s Daily headlined “Responsible actions needed to ensure peace (on the) Korean Peninsula,” saying:

“Given…escalat(ed) tensions…all concerned parties should…return to peaceful negotiations.”

Beijing wants everything possible done to avoid potentially catastrophic war, at the same time saying the DPRK is “reasonable” in wanting its national security protected.

“(B)ut its nuclear and missile ambitions have put itself and the whole region in dire peril,” an intolerable situation vital to change.

US and South Korean “high-handed pressure” is no way to resolve things. “It is almost impossible to ease the crisis on the peninsula if (Seoul and Washington) continue their fantasy to settle the problem…militar(ily)…turn(ing) a blind eye to” legitimate Pyongyang concerns.

China can’t ease tensions alone. It needs lots of help from US-led nations hostile to the DPRK. Resolving things requires respecting the interests and concerns of all parties.

Separately, US Joint Special Operations Command head General Raymond Thomas III said special forces are readying for conflict on the Korean peninsula.

“We are actively pursuing a training path to ensure readiness for the entire range of contingency operations in which (special forces), to include our exquisite capabilities (to counter WMDs), may play a critical role,” he said.

“We are looking comprehensively at our force structure and capabilities on the peninsula and across the region to maximize our support to US (Pacific Command) and (US Forces Korea). This is my war fighting priority for planning and support.”

If Washington intends war on North Korea, special forces would be charged with locating, sabotaging, or destroying strategic DPRK capabilities.

Pyongyang’s nuclear facilities are believed to be located in well-fortified underground locations, no easy task successfully neutralizing them by ground forces.

According to Joint Chiefs spokesman Navy Capt. Greg Hicks, “classified (military strategy) make(s) it more difficult for adversaries to develop counter-strategies…”

“Although previously viewed as a regional threat, North Korea’s relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles, facilitated by a trans-regional network of commercial, military, and political connections, make it a threat with global implications.”

Days earlier, Pacific Command head Admiral Harry Harris said “(w)ith every test, Kim Jong Un moves closer to his stated goal of a preemptive nuclear strike capability against American cities, and he’s not afraid to fail in public.”

Pyongyang poses no threat to any nation unless it’s attacked – what Washington and media scoundrels never explain.