North and South Korea Trading Salvos

[leistb]

This hasn't escalated to the level last November as of yet.

[Ought Six]

Firing shells into the sea to scare a neighboring nation seems kinda childish.

[Catbird]

I've been expecting this. Every time that the world thaws and reaches out to work with North Korea, Kim responds with some sort of military action that says, "Now that you've given us what we want - "

It's the same pattern repeating itself over and over - see definition of insanity.

In the past couple of weeks, North Korea has held "high level" talks with the U.S. about denuclearization. In spite of previous rhetoric, these talks were held strictly between the U.S. and the DPRK and did not include any of the other interested parties of the 6 nations. So once again, Kim got what he wanted.

In addition, Russia just agreed to send 50,000 tons of grain to North Korea and has invited Kim to make a state visit. Another diplomatic score for North Korea.

And South Korea just announced that it was sending almost $5 million in humanitarian aid via its' Red Cross to help the North deal with the damage caused by severe flooding. Kim again got what he wanted - not just the aid but also the fact that the South is allowing its' Red Cross to work with the North. That cooperation had been halted after last year's artillery fight.

In a case of interesting timing, yesterday the Asia News ran an article that said:

"The extended hand of the South Korean government to North Korea “is the last chance Pyongyang has to rebuild ties. If they fail this time as well, the conservative administration of President Lee Myung-bak will break off relations once and for all. And that will be the end, or war,” a source living near the border with North Korea told AsiaNews..."

Apparently Kim read the article as well and responded in his usual way. And the game just keeps going on and on and on...

[Mama Alanna]

How many "last chances" should one give to a nutcase dictator?

As they say on another forum, "Don't engage the crazy."

[Catbird]

And the next act in this latest farce comes as no great surprise:

"N. Korea denies shelling in Yellow Sea"

"...The head of the North's representatives to the working-level inter-Korean military talks denied the allegations. In a statement he said there were construction works in the nearby Hwanghae Namdo province using explosives and that the South fabricated the shelling."

[Catbird]

And the real reason that Kim had a snit-fit:

"North Calls for UFG Cancellation"

"...The Ulchi Freedom Guardian joint military exercises are due to begin on August 16th and run until the 25th. They are a constant source of aggravation for the North Korean regime, which last year warned in a Rodong Shinmun piece that UFG represents “the manifestation of a wicked plan to start the second Korean War by destroying peace and intensifying tensions on the Chosun Peninsula...”"