When politics triumphs over common sense, chaos reigns.

The American written and TV media must be strictly regulated in an effort to insure that the news they issue is the truth—not propaganda (see 2/1/2018 post).

This analysis is based totally on what this observer has seen and heard on TV on the North Korean denuclearization issue.

During the time when Kim Jong Un and North Korea were detonating nuclear weapons and firing ballistic missiles over Japan and towards the United States, he and his nation got a lot of international press coverage. Successful tests were celebrated.  As a vassal of Communist China, he accepted China’s necessary support and apparently did not worry about consequences until threatened by United States potential military retaliation and his potential removal.  After President Trump put him on notice that these nuclear and missile tests would no longer be tolerated, on a personal level, Kim Jong Un’s demeanor became grim.

During the Korean War, when North Korea was close to defeat, China entered the war and sent thousands of men to fight. A Korean War veteran once told me that the waves of Chinese used to attack our forces was such that when a Chinese soldier was shot and killed, the next wave of Chinese would attack without any weapons.  The attackers would pick up and use the dead Chinese soldiers’ weapon.  Obviously, human casualties were of no concern to the Chinese at that time.

For over 50 years North Korea has been a Chinese vassal. China does not want to lose the diplomatic pain to the West by having a complacent North Korea.  China has very likely used North Korea to test their weaponry so they could gain the knowledge without notoriety.  If North Korea denuclearizes and eliminates ballistic missile testing, China may have to do all of their own testing.

It is interesting to note that when North Korea agreed to participate in the Winter Olympics with South Korea, the deep chill with the West seemed to start to thaw. Subsequently North Korea agreed to meet with the South Korean President Moon Jae-in.  Kim Jong Un went to the demilitarized zone and met with the South Korean President.  To this observer, Kim Jong Un’s demeanor was one of a man who had become more relaxed and at ease with what he was doing during his visit.  Is an agreement to possibly end the Korean War a way for North Korea to begin to escape from their servitude to China and possibly Russia and rejoin the world’s community of nations?

During the meeting between the North Koreans and then CIA Director Mike Pompeo, could it be that an offer was made to keep Kim Jong Un in power with his regime rejoining the community of nations and have “normal” trade and diplomatic relations? Would a North Korea with normal trade and diplomatic relations still need to remain under total Chinese control?  Is it possible that the loss of North Korea to the world might cause problems for China?

After tentatively agreeing to meet with President Trump, Kim Jong Un visited China and their President Xi Jinping. After this meeting, relations with the United States became strained and President Trump cancelled the June 12^th meeting in Singapore.  Could it be that Xi Jinping warned North Korea about getting too friendly with the West?  Please note that according to news reports, within hours of the meeting cancellation the North Korean government requested that the meeting previously planned should be held.  Subsequently, North Korea sent a high ranking emissary to Washington D.C. to deliver a letter to President Trump.

Recently the official Korean Central News Agency has reported that Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s will visit North Korea. Is he going to North Korea to try to get nuclear and missile technology from North Korea?  Is this another attempt by China and Russia to try to keep North Korea in their camp?  Logically, if a country has been under the control of another nation for over 50 years, why would the controlled country want to remain in servitude if their survival is no longer dependent on this control?

At the time this blog is being written, the June 12^th meeting is once more on the schedule.  Since the Libya comment was made public, it is understandable the Kim Jong Un is uneasy about any future deal with the United States.  So it looks like a “trust, but verify” approach will be used by both sides of any agreement and for that reason progress will likely proceed in stages—but quickly and not at diplomatic speed.  President Trump does not appear to be someone who will patiently let the consummation of any agreement be delayed for long and he has a “big stick”.