... will again condemn nuclear tests as it unanimously criticized the recent missile launches. However, current events reveal contradictions between key players. Chinese and Russian companies have already been subjected to US sanctions for their ties with North Korea. The Americans want to force China and Russia to show great energy in pressure on North Korea and consider sanctions against them as one of the key measures. The further escalation from Pyongyang risks causing unintended consequences - escalation ...
RIAC Poll
Escalation on the Korean peninsula may lead to a full-scale armed conflict.
What solution could settle the crisis at this point?
... signals regarding its willingness to seek a solution using political and diplomatic means. At the same time, the situation remains extremely complex, and a new escalation could happen at any moment.
The Northeast Asian drama involves three main actors: North Korea, the United States, and China. What are the motives behind the key characters in this drama, which more often than not smacks of farce?
North Korea is driven by the basic instinct of survival in the face of actual and imaginary threats on ...
We are Crazy, so Waltz Me Around Again Willy!
A few weeks ago, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson proclaimed the ending of the doctrine of strategic patience with rogue regimes like nuclear North Korea. At the U.N., however, he seemed to be suggesting we can seek a resolution of the crisis through economic pressure and diplomacy. In response, the North Korean regime fired a ballistic missile. It exploded but the response tells all about ...
... to the East with alarm? How will you reverse this trend with one master stroke, and temporarily staunch the decline of Pax Americana? A rapid socio-economic meltdown across Asia might produce this hypothetical outcome, and this is where the current North Korean “crisis” may provide an opening gambit. Amidst “rising tensions” in the Korean Peninsula – while South Koreans are concerned with noodles, not nukes – the United States has pre-emptively decided what is best for the region. But ...
... debate among observers wondering what was behind Xi's silence.
"Xi can't fail to be impressed by Trump's resolve. Xi will have to reassess what the Trump presidency means for Chinese interests in East Asia, particularly North Korea and the South China Sea," Australian military analyst Alan Dupont suggested, as cited by the New York Times.
Malaysian geopolitical analyst Mathew Maavak commented on the matter in his recent interview with Sputnik.
"I think ...
... the US-South Korea THAAD agreement, if not its full repeal.
American THAAD is hardly capable of ensuring the defense of the most important objects and populated areas on Korean territory. Aiming to protect an extremely expensive object from a possible North Korean long-range artillery attack, multiple rocket launcher systems and many shorter-range rockets, it was decided to deploy THAAD at a considerable distance from demilitarized zone.
www.mda.mil
Alexander Yermakov:
Have Rockets, Will Quarrel
China’s ...
... game-changer in the region.
The Missile Defence Issue
The announcement that South Korea had agreed, under pressure from the United Stated, to deploy the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in the south of the country to counter the “North Korean missile threat”
was made
in July, when a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Park Geun-hye had already been fixed. Moscow chose not to cancel the meeting on these grounds, especially since it was important for Russia to demonstrate ...
... the number of missiles to five per launcher. Although it looks promising, there is currently no active funding for the development of THAAD ER.
www.mda.mil
THAAD launch
The Right Place at the Right Time?
After the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime, North Korea and Iran automatically became the main opponents of THAAD, as the two countries were actively
pursuing missile programmes
themselves. The Iranian threat prompted the
United Arab Emirates
and
Oman
to purchase the missiles in 2011 in 2013,...
...
aircraft carrier and the
North Carolina
nuclear submarine). The exercise’s code names were Key Resolve and Foal Eagle.
The purpose of the exercise was the traditional coordination training of South Korean and American troops in case of war with North Korea, drilling tactical moves, and using new equipment.
It should be noted that it was a scheduled exercise. That is, it has been held annually,
since 2002
between February and April, and before that, in October-November. The Republic of Korea ...
