ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist®.com: Putin Punishes Georgia</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style3 { height: 68px; } .MsoNormal {} h1 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style4 { font-size: large; font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; } .style6 { height: 69px; } h2 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style7 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> &nbsp;<table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr> <td width="133" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"> <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="7" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="482" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140" class="style6"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="1" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" class="style6"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="300" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="624" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style3"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#8226; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#8226; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#8226; <a href="teflon.html"> THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#8226; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> REACTIONS</a> &#8226; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="2"> <td width="133" height="2"></td> <td width="489" height="2576" colspan="3" rowspan="2" align="left" xpos="133" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <p class="style4">North Korea Threatens &quot;All-Out War&quot;</p> <p><b><font face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica">by John M. Curtis</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b><a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b> (310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright May 25, 2010<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <p class="MsoNormal"> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="style7">T</span>ensions escalated on the Korean Peninsula after North Korea s deadly torpedo attack March 26 in the Yellow Sea on the South Korean warship Cheonan, killing 46 sailors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Conclusive evidence from an international forensic team identified fragments from a North Korean torpedo, prompting South Korean s 68-year-old President<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Lee Myung-Bak to promise retaliatory measures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>North Korea, which has denied the charges, promptly broke off diplomatic relations, threatening to evict South Korean officials from Kaesong s joint industrial park, located just six miles north of the demilitarized zone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>South Korea believes the attack was approved by North Korea s ailing, eccentric 68-year old Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Il.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Promising  all-out war should the South retaliate militarily, South Korean s have been reluctant to mess with the North since signing a truce July 27, 1953.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>With 28,500 U.S. troops along the border, South Korea has a lot to lose reengaging the North in armed conflict.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Battled to standoff in 1953, a fragile armistice maintains the peace, allowing South Korea to develop into one of Asia s most prosperous economies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>With a Gross Domestic Product of $993 billion, just under Mexico, South Korea has a lot to lose in war with the North.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>North Korea s economy ranks among the poorest the world, less than one-tenth as prosperous Seoul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, attending an economic in Bejing, called for calm with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, refusing to take sides in the conflict.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Before the Cheonan incident, North Korea engaged in about $1.6 billion in trade with Seoul and Beijing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Beijing still represents North Korea s strongest trading partner, having strong economic ties since before the Korean War.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>South Korea restarted its psychological warfare program blasting loud Western music and sending propaganda leaflets across the border.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Slashing trade and blocking North Korean cargo ships from crossing South Korean waters, Myung-Bak began retaliatory measures designed to punish Kim Jong-Il.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Myung-Bak demands an unequivocal public apology and restitution from the North.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Promising to cut off all channels until Myung-Bak leaves office in 2013, Kim Jong-Il threatened  all-out counterattacks, ratcheting up tensions along the 38th parallel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>South Korea s monitoring agency reported that Kim ordered a high alert to his 1.2 million-man land army.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Calling her talks in Beijing  very productive and very detailed, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sought calm with Chinese officials, asking both sides to avoid incendiary rhetoric.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>U.S. forces are already spread too thin in Iraq and Afghanistan to open up another front on the Korean Peninsula.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> No one is more concerned about peace and stability in this region as the Chinese, Clinton told reporters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> While her trip to Beijing with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was focused on currency exchanges and trade, Clinton expressed concern about rising tensions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Clinton walks a tightrope, supporting Beiijing, while, at the same time, backing ally South Korean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Hillary knows the history of the Chinese supplying the North Koreans proxy forces and armaments, fighting the U.S.and South Korean forces to a Mexican standoff in the summer of 1953, eventually signing a truce July 27.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Retaliating on its nuclear testing, North Korea officially ended its armistice with South Korean May 27, 2009.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Chinese officials take no sides and urge both parties to show restraint.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>China wants no part of a regional war along its Southwetern border with North Korea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Trading extensively with the West and North Korea, China sees armed conflict as counterproductive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Chinese State Counselor Dai Binggup called on  relevant parties to  calmly and properly handle the issue and avoid escalation of tension, taking no sides in the conflict.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Clinton has already publicly committed herself to helping South Korea drag North Korea before the U.N. Security Council for more sanctions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>North Korean state media has geared up for potential war with the South, calling on the North s soldiers and reservists to prepare for war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>North Korea s March 26 downing of a South Korean ship follows past skirmishes in 1999 and 2002, where they battled the South s forces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Seoul-based North Korean Intellectuals indicated that Kim has put his military on high alert for possible war.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>South Korean officials don t know how far to push the reclusive Kim Jong-Il before there s no turning back from war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Kim knows that Hillary fully supports South Korea in taking concrete steps to retaliate against the North.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Western sources indicate that North Korean Gen. O. Kuk Ryol, a close Kim confident, ordered his 1.2 million-man army to ready itself for combat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>With so little to lose and so much to gain, Kim Jong-Il has no trepidation for the more prosperous South.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>South Korean s reluctance for armed conflict stems directly from its prosperous business success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>While no one knows for sure whether Kim will attack, his pattern over the years has been to bluff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>His nuclear program, like his ongoing threats, is designed to keep enemies at bay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Kim crossed the line killing 46 South Korean sailors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Now he must deal with more consequences than blasting Led Zeppelin. </p> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>John M. Curtis </b>writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He&#x2019;s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a> and <a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a>.</p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td width="133" height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="133" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> Homecobolos> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">©1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"> Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>