"According to the report in El Pais, the intended goal of the attack was to obtain information on former North Korean ambassador, Kim Hyok Chol - who was expelled from Spain on September 19, 2017 over ongoing North Korean nuclear tests, by then-Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis.
Kim Hyok Chol, who was declared persona non grata by Spain and was invited to leave the country before the end of the month, is currently one of Kim Jong-un’s highly trusted diplomats, and one of the architects of the failed nuclear summit between US President Donald Trump and Kim Jon[g]-un in Vietnam. The meeting, aimed at securing North Korea’s nuclear disarmament, ended in failure without any agreement on a timetable for disarmament or on future negotiations. -El Pais
Kim Hyok Chol also led the North Korean delegation which negotiated a nuclear disarmament plan with US special envoy Stephen Biegun in exchange for easing sanctions. Russian scholar of Asia and specialist in Korean studies Andrei Lankov noted in NK News last month that he suspects either the CIA (Read as "DERP STATE") or NIS of South Korea - as "both watch the North Korean opposition carefully and have multiple informers and willing collaborators within North Korean refugee groups, and both have a great deal of interest in Pyongyang’s secrets."
Of these two, the CIA ("DERP STATE") seems to be a far more likely candidate. The South Korean government has valid reasons to be nice to Pyongyang, and to do everything possible to keep negotiations between U.S. and North Korea going.
Does anything scream ("DERP STATE") 'CIA' to you, dear reader, about an ex-Marine suspected of an "especially violent" hostage taking incident at the North Korean embassy in Madrid? If so, perhaps it was one of the intelligence community's "six ways from Sunday" of getting back at Trump for attempting to broker a nuclear deal with North Korea."
History Lesson. Four Western leaning, non-UN member states band together to ensure their survival in the late 70s; by 1978 explosions or detoniations are detected South of Africa - those nations were Israel, S. Korea, Taiwan and S. Africa. In the early 90’s the first peaceful transfer of nuclear weapons is accomplished as the De Kirk government steps away from power.
Today we have there Russia proxies, Iran, Syria and N.Korea who engage in their own nuclear development and missile development programs. Aided by Italy, German and France (Russia too), the Iranian government works to become nuclear a power while being present in N.Korea along with the Syrians when the Hermit kingdom tests their missiles.
Trump is going to do what the communists in China and Russia could not do to topple a nation on the pathway to nuclear power. N.Korea is being torn away from the Syrian/Iranian nexus in which these three depend upon one another for covert development of military technologies.
Then of course we have the strange case of european socialism which is buttressed by sweetheart deals with dictators; Belgium in the Congo never left and still exploits that nations resources; France in Libya and Algeria where they exploit natural resources. Those resources include Oil which is pivotal for europe - at below world prices to determinant of the African nations locked in poverty so that european socialism can flourish. Italy, Germany send nuclear equipment and centrifuges, as do Russia to Iran evading embargos. France too illegally trades propping up Iran.
Trump is done the heavy lifting moving American forward on issues left unattended to seriously the past forty years. The American Embassy Jerusalem! Breaking Iran. Blocking the Iranian-Lebanese-Syrian initiative to destroy Israel. Once Iran is out of Syria, and Venezuela, Gaza... and their Iranian proxies in Lebanon, the Saudi’s will deal with their Iranian proxies lobbying rockets into the kingdom from next door. Trump is sealing the fate of Iran.
North Korea for Trump is simply just to isolate Iran at this time; any other progress is a moot point and a bonus if lil’ Kim cooperates.
China is involved in N.Korea too but for the purposes above not a player - again N. Korea is being separated from their long standing alliance with Iran.
Before the next presidential campaign, Commander-in-Chief Trump with have put Iranian regime change into motion and they will lose their 40-year long declared war with America just because Trump has the will power to act on his diplomacy.
The chessboard is realigning.
Bonus History: Why is it that China has never attacked Taipei? Why did the Arabs never fight another combined war with Israel? Why did N.Korea never overwhelm S.Korea in spite of US presence? The simple answer is because after 1978 those mysterious explosions off the coast of S.Africa made the world’s intelligence services assess that those nations had achieved a breakthrough in the development of defensive weapons. Conversely, the nation’s Russia supports as proxies all seem to advocate the elimination of their adversaries in other nations and if their goal of nuclear weapons indicate they would have just as the old Soviet Union a first strike military doctrine predicated upon using them in a combined NBC centric battle planning.