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Pyongyang removes all workers from Kaesong (Last Link of Cooperation Between North and South)
Hotair ^ | 04/08/2013 | Ed Morrissey

Posted on 04/08/2013 7:46:07 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

Looks like North Korea wasn’t bluffing about cutting off one of their only channels to hard currency and global trade. This morning, a high-ranking official of the DPRK announced that all 51,000 workers at the Kaesong industrial complex would leave, shutting down the last link of cooperation between North and South:

North Korea said Monday it will recall 51,000 North Korean workers and suspend operations at a factory complex it has jointly run with South Korea, moving closer to severing its last economic link with its rival as tensions escalate.

The statement from Kim Yang Gon, secretary of a key decision-making body, the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, did not say what would happen to the 475 South Korean managers still at the Kaesong industrial complex. …

“The zone is now in the grip of a serious crisis,” Kim said, according to state media. He said it “has been reduced to a theater of confrontation with fellow countrymen and military provocation, quite contrary to its original nature and mission.”

“It is a tragedy that the industrial zone which should serve purposes of national reconciliation, unity, peace and reunification has been reduced to a theater of confrontation between compatriots and war against the North,” Kim said in remarks carried by the Korean Central News Agency.

South Korea’s finance minister, Hyun Oh-seok, said Monday that it is “quite ridiculous” for North Korea to be closing the border at Kaesong. “North Korea has nothing to gain from this kind of things,” he said at a news briefing.

That’s why this may be a canary-in-the-coal-mine moment. Pyongyang’s other forms of sabre-rattling usually meant that the DPRK had grown desperate for hard currency, fuel, and food aid. Except for one brief three-day period in 2009, the regime has left Kaesong out of the propaganda fight and kept its access to legitimate hard currency open. Now, except for trade with China, clandestine arms sales, and counterfeiting operations, the DPRK has left itself with no options except Western aid or total military victory. That position cannot be rational unless Pyongyang really wants a war, or thinks it can win a nuclear-war bluff.

That prospect has Japan feeling more and more nervous, especially after a specific threat from Pyongyang:

Though it remains a highly unlikely scenario, Japanese officials have long feared that if North Korea ever decides to play its nuclear card it has not only the means but several potential motives for launching an attack on Tokyo or major U.S. military installations on Japan’s main island. And while a conventional missile attack is far more likely, Tokyo is taking North Korea’s nuclear rhetoric seriously.

On Monday, amid reports North Korea is preparing a missile launch or another nuclear test, Japanese officials said they have stepped up measures to ensure the nation’s safety. Japanese media reported over the weekend that the defense minister has put destroyers with missile interception systems on alert to shoot down any missile or missile debris that appears to be headed for Japanese territory. …

North Korea, meanwhile, issued a new threat against Japan.

“We once again warn Japan against blindly toeing the U.S. policy,” said an editorial Monday in the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of its ruling party. “It will have to pay a dear price for its imprudent behavior.”

Even this might be a strategy to keep Japan out of a war with South Korea, and perhaps deny the US access to our assets in case war breaks out on the peninsula:

Also, a threat against Japan could be used to drive a wedge between Tokyo and Washington. Pyongyang could, for example, fire one or more Rodong missiles toward Tokyo but have them fall short to frighten Japan’s leaders into making concessions, stay out of a conflict on the peninsula or oppose moves by the U.S. forces in Japan to assist the South Koreans, lest Tokyo suffer a real attack.

“Given North Korea’s past adventurism, this scenario is within the range of its rational choices,” Michishita wrote.

This brings us back to China, whose military recently shifted to the Korean border. CNN points out that while the DPRK and the PRC have been BFFs for decades, China’s economic engagement with the world — especially the US, Japan, and South Korea — may have them rethinking their support for the Kim dynasty. The new top man in Beijing just said publicly that no country “should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gain,” a remark that lacks any of the usual niceties of Asian subtlety. That has the US detecting a shift in China’s attitude toward the DPRK that we’d like to exploit, and should have Pyongyang hitting reverse:

At some point, China will be forced to ask itself this question: Does it prefer having a loose cannon in Pyongyang who might provoke a war on purpose or by accident, thus guaranteeing US and Japanese interference on its doorstep for the next several decades, or a reunification that rids itself of Mao’s loose ends and gets the US and Japan off its back porch for good? They may never have asked themselves that question but for Lil’ Kim’s provocations, but now they have no way to avoid the decision.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Foreign Affairs; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: kaesong; kimjongun; nksk; nkwar; northkorea; pyongyang
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1 posted on 04/08/2013 7:46:07 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

I guess Kim’s not ronery any more.


2 posted on 04/08/2013 7:47:33 AM PDT by 22202NOVA (DoD civilian, retired Army and proud of my service.)
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To: SeekAndFind

3 posted on 04/08/2013 7:49:49 AM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet - Mater tua caligas exercitus gerit ;-{)
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To: SeekAndFind

Looks like he’s following Obama’s playbook, cause as much unemployment and pain for the little people to get his way. With Obama it was the sequestor (need money to give to poor starving people)and with Kim it’s the same thing.


4 posted on 04/08/2013 8:01:15 AM PDT by Rusty0604
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April Is Keep FR Alive Month!


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5 posted on 04/08/2013 8:05:21 AM PDT by DJ MacWoW (My faith and politics cannot be separated)
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To: SeekAndFind

“Hey Kim. This is you Comrade in the revolution Barack. I know you are new and need to show the world you are tough, I also could use a minor conflict to shore up my Commander in Chief cred. Need to start thinking “legacy” you know! So I have a plan. You start a bunch of threats and rabble rousing, which will culminate in you sinking a South Korean ship or firing a few shells on to one of our bases. Then I’ll fire some cruises missiles at one of your abandoned bases...oh you’ll make sure some political dissidents are at those bases, great killing two birds with one stone, I like it! Lol! Wish I could do that with the conservatives in this country! Then we will both go on TV with our respective compliant state run medias and take credit for a grand victory. It’s a win-win!”


6 posted on 04/08/2013 8:07:37 AM PDT by apillar
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To: SeekAndFind

This action, more so than any of the rhetoric from ‘lil Kim, is troubling. I’ve long thought that when the move is made to shut down this industrial region, it will be the true sign on imminent action. This is not going to end well.

Contrary to what a lot of people choose to make light of and joke about, DPRK can cause substantial problems in the region. The conventional armaments and biological / chemical munitions possessed by DPRK is on a scale that is not something to make light of.


7 posted on 04/08/2013 8:11:39 AM PDT by RobertClark (My shrink just killed himself - he blamed me in his note!)
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To: SeekAndFind
CNN points out that while the DPRK and the PRC have been BFFs for decades ...

Just in case we needed any more evidence that CNN was run by simpletons.

8 posted on 04/08/2013 8:12:38 AM PDT by Pan_Yan
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To: apillar

“Hey Kim. This is you Comrade in the revolution Barack. I know you are new and need to show the world you are tough, I also could use a minor conflict to shore up my Commander in Chief cred. Need to start thinking “legacy” you know! So I have a plan. You start a bunch of threats and rabble rousing, which will culminate in you sinking a South Korean ship or firing a few shells on to one of our bases. Then I’ll fire some cruises missiles at one of your abandoned bases...oh you’ll make sure some political dissidents are at those bases, great killing two birds with one stone, I like it! Lol! Wish I could do that with the conservatives in this country! Then we will both go on TV with our respective compliant state run medias and take credit for a grand victory. It’s a win-win!”

***************

Don’t forget about diverting our attention from the economy, Benghazi, gun control etc. Rodman, the go-between did what he was told to do. Who would suspect a moron envoy passing info from obama to Lil Kim.


9 posted on 04/08/2013 8:13:34 AM PDT by mardi59 (IMPEACH OBAMA NOW!!!!!)
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To: apillar
Then I’ll fire some cruises missiles at one of your abandoned bases...oh you’ll make sure some political dissidents are at those bases, great killing two birds with one stone, I like it!

And please do me this favor, my Comrade... make sure they're dressed in military uniforms, so I can gain the credit I need to be seen as the Great Leader (oops.. strike that, your esteemed and beloved grandfather owns that one).. Glorious Leader that I believe I am.

In shared revolutionary fervor, Comrade Barack

10 posted on 04/08/2013 8:20:45 AM PDT by ScottinVA (Gun control: Steady firm grip, target within sights, squeeze the trigger slowly...)
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To: SeekAndFind
Since skerry is running around in Asia; payolla is still being rounded up. skerry has to ask china for another loan. Expect skerry to go to one of missile sites in NK to make the payoff from America, with more borrowed chinese money, and toast lil’ kim just like maddie-not-so-bright did with lil’ kim’s father. Of course china could say no, then the call will go out to ben at the fed to print more money. And someone said there was not a plan.
11 posted on 04/08/2013 8:21:54 AM PDT by no-to-illegals (Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)
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To: SeekAndFind
they're just bluffing, they don't have the guts to fire anything.
12 posted on 04/08/2013 8:23:51 AM PDT by Drawn7979
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To: RobertClark
I’ve long thought that when the move is made to shut down this industrial region, it will be the true sign on imminent action. This is not going to end well.

And since they're still trading with their neighbors Communist China, this should get real interesting...

One thing I do know, is this government knows attempting to draft hundreds of thousands of Americans to run off to protect Japan, South Korea and or Taiwan in some ground war in Asia, ain't going to happen.

13 posted on 04/08/2013 8:36:59 AM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: Drawn7979
they're just bluffing, they don't have the guts to fire anything.

Just 3 years ago, the South Koreans had to pull their warship from the bottom of the ocean, after it was sunk by a north Korean submarine.

14 posted on 04/08/2013 8:39:24 AM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: JoeProBono

Those are some truly funky chapeaux on the clappers.


15 posted on 04/08/2013 8:39:56 AM PDT by left that other site (Worry is the darkroom that developes negatives.)
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To: Drawn7979

“they’re just bluffing, they don’t have the guts to fire anything.”

Your probably right, but what if NK launchs something that doesn’t go very far and the ChiComs or other evil outfit DOES launch something a few seconds later that DOES make it to some large population area and kills bigtime.

Our media may very well say it was launched from NK regardless of the source or the truth. Only those in the military will know the truth most likely.


16 posted on 04/08/2013 8:40:13 AM PDT by George from New England (escaped CT in 2006, now living north of Tampa)
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To: Drawn7979

they're just bluffing, they don't have the guts to fire anything.

3 years ago, raised from the bottom of the ocean, a South Korean 15,000 ton warship sunk by a North Korean submarine.

17 posted on 04/08/2013 8:43:25 AM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: JoeProBono

True dat.


18 posted on 04/08/2013 9:01:04 AM PDT by OKSooner
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To: Pan_Yan
"...the DPRK and the PRC have been BFFs for decades ..."

Just in case we needed any more evidence that CNN was run by simpletons.

I saw that too, and thought the same thing. I'm surprised the author didn't mention Kim Jong Un's "dope" weapons.

19 posted on 04/08/2013 9:03:38 AM PDT by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: dragnet2

They are trading with PRC, yes, but there is a growing rift in that relationship. The new leadership in China is frustrated by the petulant behavior of Kim. China is massing troops at its border with DPRK, not to support them, but rather to stem the flow of refugees and to seal the border when hostilities commence. PRC cannot and will not deal with the mass influx of peasants fleeing DPRK - contrary to wide belief, they have enough internal problems to deal with.

What strikes me as odd, however, is the current timing. I would not put it past China to test the waters with the U.S. and the incompetence of our current leaders (Hagel, Obama, Kerry, et al) - China has the most to gain here by expanding their ring of influence and getting rid of Mao’s unresolved issue.


20 posted on 04/08/2013 9:11:57 AM PDT by RobertClark (My shrink just killed himself - he blamed me in his note!)
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