North Korea's leadership hopefully know that their military is so poor that the only uncertainty of starting a war is how badly North Korea would lose that war. But they may believe that they can debut another season of Dead South Koreans Theater and get away with it, daring South Korea to risk the casualties by striking back and possibly causing an escalation of fighting.
The island of Baengnyeong, with 5,000 people living there, is in the cross hairs:
North Korea leader Kim Jong-Un threatened to "wipe out" a South Korean island as Pyongyang came under new economic and diplomatic fire Tuesday from US sanctions and UN charges of gross rights abuses.
And this analysis of the crisis is simply depressing in the assumptions it carries:
Recent Korean history reveals a sobering possibility: It may only be a matter of time before North Korea launches a sudden, deadly attack on the South. And perhaps more unsettling, Seoul has vowed that this time, it will respond with an even stronger blow.
Really? It is perhaps "more unsettling" that South Korea would likely retaliate? It isn't more unsettling that North Korea periodically kills South Koreans and we are supposed to breathe a sigh of relief that they didn't kill more, and just go on with our lives? And perhaps ship off some rice and heating oil to North Korea?
Isn't it more unsettling that a North Korean regime that is expected to carry out a low-level killing campaign against South Korea--and we are to accept it--is far closer to having nuclear weapons in their arsenal?
South Korea will respond to another round of Dead South Koreans Theater. We should back the South Koreans in inflicting a hard blow in return that will be an obvious defeat for North Korea that no amount of Pyongyang propaganda can disguise. Pick a naval facility and destroy every navy vessel and military structure in and around it, and shoot down any North Korean plane that gets within missile range.
Let's make starting a military crisis the most unsettling thing. If we can't do that now, how will we do it when North Korea has nuclear weapons?
UPDATE: Thoughts on North Korea.
