N. Korea 1 S. Korea 0

[Vajra]

More tough guy talk from Jim Kong Il:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_593550.html

North Korea: We're Heading To 'The Brink Of War'

Also, here's an analysis of Kim Jong Il's brain done by HuffPost:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_593590.html

ATLANTA -- North Korea stands accused of sinking a South Korean warship without provocation, killing 46 of its crew. So just what was Kim Jong Il thinking in what must have been a deliberate move to enrage the South and the international community?

The surprise attack probably was intended partly to retaliate for past naval skirmishes in which the South's navy had gotten the better of the North's. In the midst of preparations to elevate one of his sons as successor, the aging and sickly ruler needed to show strength and play to the nationalistic pride and xenophobia of his subjects.

There's also the suspicion Kim was pursuing a scheme to re-draw the long-disputed maritime border by intimidating the South Koreans. Defectors say that South Koreans' fear of another Korean War is considerably greater than that of North Koreans, who have much less to lose.

In the end, comprehension requires knowing Kim's mind. Here are five important aspects of his thinking.

1. He's crazy -- like a fox

One CIA consultant psychiatrist has argued that Kim displays "malignant narcissism," a mental illness. Being described abroad as a madman is a positive to the extent it makes him appear more frightening to his enemies. However, the most careful Kim-watchers see that calculations of rational self-interest guide his actions. That's mainly the self-interest of himself and his family, which he unashamedly elevates above the interests of his long-suffering subjects.

2. It's not the economy, stupid

Kim is aware that capitalism provides incentives for economic growth and that his country's state-run economy has failed. He doesn't dare admit this publicly because his subjects would then see that they would be better off under a system like South Korea's, and that all their sacrifices to preserve the separate Northern regime had gone for naught. Head of propaganda before his elevation to top leader, movie buff Kim is a showman at heart. When it comes to providing incentives for desired behavior, he nearly always comes down on the side of circuses, not bread. His chief public relations concern is impressing North Koreans -- particularly the military men who shore up his regime. He cares little for the opinions of the rest of the world. Economic sanctions aren't of great concern to him unless they impact his personal finances -- at which point he does care, very much.

3. In his nightmares: a bloody end to the dynasty

Kim's great fear is that, like Romanian rulers Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu, he and his family will die at the hands of an enraged populace if the people ever learn of and focus fully on the real reasons for their poverty and hunger. He is determined to continue insulating his people from outside news and ideas. The South's retaliatory decision this week to resume propaganda warfare via broadcasts and balloon drops elicited a prompt threat from Pyongyang to shoot at the facilities involved.

4. He's an unapologetic militarist

With his "military first policy," Kim has put all his eggs in the basket of military confrontation. He needs and wants constant conflict with external enemies to keep his subjects from focusing their disapproval on him and his rule. His existence on the edge takes a toll on his nerves, and he would much prefer to wipe out South Korea once and for all and place his family in secure charge of the entire peninsula if he could do it. That opportunity has yet to present itself. In the meantime he prepares by concentrating on smaller victories -- turning North Korea into a nuclear power, for one.

5. He is determined not to accept defeat

Would Kim, if he felt cornered, choose an Armageddon exit, attempting to use his small but growing arsenal of nuclear bombs against cities in South Korea, Japan, the United States? There's a significant chance he would. His late father, President Kim Il Sung, promoted him to the top military rank of marshal in 1992. North Korean soldiers have been told that, shortly afterward, those two and two other top officials had a conversation in which the elder Kim asked what would happen if war broke out and the North lost. "If we lose, I will destroy the world," Kim Jong Il replied. His father applauded those sentiments, saying, "You're definitely talking the way a marshal should talk."

[Mugekuge]

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.p...t=va&aid=19433

Beijing Suspects False Flag Attack on South Korean Corvette

by Wayne Madsen

http://www.globalresearch.ca/coverSt...ures/19433.jpg Global Research, May 31, 2010
Wayne Madsen Report - 2010-05-28

http://www.globalresearch.ca/site_im...mailfriend.gif Email this article to a friend
http://www.globalresearch.ca/site_im...ntfriendly.gif Print this article



http://cdn.stumble-upon.com/images/32x32_su_round.gif
WMR's intelligence sources in Asia suspect that the March attack on the South Korean Navy anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvette, the Cheonan, was a false flag attack designed to appear as coming from North Korea.

One of the main purposes for increasing tensions on the Korean peninsula was to apply pressure on Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to reverse course on moving the U.S. Marine Corps base off Okinawa. Hatoyama has admitted that the tensions over the sinking of the Cheonan played a large part in his decision to allow the U.S. Marines to remain on Okinawa. Hatoyama's decision has resulted in a split in the ruling center-left coalition government, a development welcome in Washington, with Mizuho Fukushima, the Social Democratic Party leader threatening to bolt the coalition over the Okinawa reversal.

The Cheonan was sunk near Baengnyeong Island, a westernmost spot that is far from the South Korean coast, but opposite the North Korean coast. The island is heavily militarized and within artillery fire range of North Korean coastal defenses, which lie across a narrow channel.

The Cheonan, an ASW corvette, was decked out with state-of-the-art sonar, plus it was operating in waters with extensive hydrophone sonar arrays and acoustic underwater sensors. There is no South Korean sonar or audio evidence of a torpedo, submarine or mini-sub in the area. Since there is next to no shipping in the channel, the sea was silent at the time of the sinking.

However, Baengnyeong Island hosts a joint US-South Korea military intelligence base and the US Navy SEALS operate out of the base. In addition, four U.S. Navy ships were in the area, part of the joint U.S-South Korean Exercise Foal Eagle, during the sinking of the Cheonan. An investigation of the suspect torpedo's metallic and chemical fingerprints show it to be of German manufacture. There are suspicions that the US Navy SEALS maintains a sampling of European torpedoes for sake of plausible deniability for false flag attacks. Also, Berlin does not sell torpedoes to North Korea, however, Germany does maintain a close joint submarine and submarine weapons development program with Israel.

The presence of the USNS Salvor, one of the participants in Foal Eagle, so close to Baengnyeong Island during the sinking of the South Korean corvette also raises questions.

The Salvor, a civilian Navy salvage ship, which participated in mine laying activities for the Thai Marines in the Gulf of Thailand in 2006, was present near the time of the blast with a complement of 12 deep sea divers.

Beijing, satisfied with North Korea's Kim Jong Il's claim of innocence after a hurried train trip from Pyongyang to Beijing, suspects the U.S. Navy's role in the Cheonan's sinking, with particular suspicion on the role of the Salvor. The suspicions are as follows:

1. The Salvor engaged in a seabed mine-installation operation, in other words, attaching horizontally fired anti-submarine mines on the sea floor in the channel.

2. The Salvor was doing routine inspection and maintenance on seabed mines, and put them into an electronic active mode (hair trigger release) as part of the inspection program.

3. A SEALS diver attached a magnetic mine to the Cheonan, as part of a covert program aimed at influencing public opinion in South Korea, Japan and China.

The Korean peninsula tensions have conveniently overshadowed all other agenda items on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visits to Beijing and Seoul.

Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist and nationally-distributed columnist. He is the editor and publisher of the Wayne Madsen Report(subscription required).


Wayne Madsen is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Global Research Articles by Wayne Madsen

[Effluo]

Hah! False Flag attacks. This one is hard to tell, though with the mounting shit all over the world, what a great way to divert attention. Should be interesting to see where this goes. We'll probably never know if it was actually N. Korea or not.

[Correction]

There are suspicions that the US Navy SEALS maintains a sampling of European torpedoes for sake of plausible deniability for false flag attacks.

Weasel words, this isn't proper journalism. Going to need more sources before the 'false flag' theory holds water.

[Shiro]

So, am I understanding this right? This article is suggesting that the US faked a torpedo attack on an allied SK ship using a covert team to hit it with a mine, covered up everything so as to push the blame on North Korea, so that they could trick Japan into keeping troops in Okinawa?

What?

Not to say its not possible or the parties involved aren't capable of it, but...what? Were the Patriots involved in setting this up? Are the troops in Okinawa actually deploying Gundams and are therefore vital to future operations in that part of the world?

[Pirian]

You're not understanding it correctly.

[Correction]

After reading several other Wayne Madsen columns I'm fairly convinced he's a bit of a crackpot conspiracy theorist.

[Effluo]

Nah man, he's got the inside track. This guy has been held down since his Navy days. Everyone is trying to silence him because they're worried about the truth getting out.

[Not not Mattaru]

Yeah because like, back in the Fall 2009, no one expected Hatoyama to make any real tough decisions that would disrupt the coalition government (i.e. Futenma) until the summer of 2010, most likely after June.

The last thing we need is some crackpot giving China an excuse to not use its leverage.

[Shiro]

You're not understanding it correctly.

Could you elaborate per chance good sir. I'm curious.

[Kerberoz]

Stopped reading at "false flag". Conspiracy tards...

[Atreides]

has china even started their investigation yet? I know they said they were going to be impartial but that was pretty recently, I can't see how they started and completed an investigation so quickly without hearing anything else in the news about it.

[Kuya]

Last time i heard, S. Korea and the US did not reveal what specific evidence they had that proved N. Korea shot down the ship, although most people i've read believe it did. I don't think China is going to be impartial, and i just think everyone's biding time.

[Atreides]

well honestly everyone is most likely just waiting for China's response, since they're the only people NK might listen to. I kinda doubt anything will come of this though, as usual.

[Pirian]

Could you elaborate per chance good sir. I'm curious.

That depends, how well can you suck a dick?

[guartz]

More informative article located here:

http://www.zcommunications.org/honor...e-by-paul-liem

[Shuvo]

North Korea depresses, scares, and creeps me the fuck out. Such a nightmarish state, with such skewed priorities. If this leads to a violent conclusion of the Korean War at least it'll be an end to the Kim "dynasty," but at the same time a shocking testament to how many lives Kim father and son have thrown away for their failed state propaganda.

Lol yeah. I've always thought that when Kim Il Sung took power, he was handed a copy of 1984 and decided to model the state after it. Their are tonnes of similarities to the book, but the most striking is how they stay in a long drawn out state of perpetual "fake war" (mostly peaceful but occasionally punctuated with some light skirmishes) to keep the population distracted from their real problems.

[Kuya]

Other States, and i'm not naming any names, also do that too, except that they are real wars and not fake wars, like in North Korea. The executive powers gained during these real wars, are also quickly given back once these real wars are over.

[Demosthenes11]

the chinese people view NK as crazy uncle jim that everyone hates being around but tolerates it because he is family.

I have a very hard time believing china would back NK in any kind of conflict against western nations. so little to gain, so much to lose

[guartz]

okay, here is a quote from the article:

A former member of the Cheonan investigation team, Shin Sang-cheol, who challenged the team’s findings, was questioned by the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s office, May 28, 2010, for spreading “groundless rumors.” Shin, who does not believe that the Cheonan was torpedoed, told prosecutor’s that the incident was “an accident and that the South had tampered with evidence to blame the North,” according to the Joong Ahn Daily, May 29, 2010. Earlier Park Sun-won, Secretary of National Security under former President Roh Moo-hyun, came under investigation for alleging that the government was concealing information about the incident.