Trump aware of 'urgency' of North Korea nuclear threat: South Korea

[Sunriser13]

Source: Reuters

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's "clear warning" to North Korea shows he is aware of the urgency of the threat posed by its nuclear program and will not waver from a policy of sanctions against the isolated country, South Korea said on Tuesday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said on Sunday his nuclear-capable country was close to test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), raising the prospect of putting parts of the United States in range.

Trump dismissed the claim, saying on Twitter: "It won't happen."

South Korea's foreign ministry said Trump's comment, his first mention of the North Korean nuclear issue since the U.S. election in November, could be interpreted as a "clear warning" to the North.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-trump-idUSKBN14M18H

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Is North Korea being taken seriously enough? Kim is unhinged, Trump is unhinged, and I dread the first Twitterstorm.

It's truly rather scary. If NK does indeed have ICBMs, we are definitely within range; the coming years could possibly see attacks on our ground.

[riversedge]

1. OMG-countries are taking his tweets as serious public foreign policy. OMG!!

[Sunriser13]

2. And he's not even freakin' President yet!!

[Docreed2003]

4. It's a "Brave new world"...so to speak...

He's the president elect and he's either too foolish or too arrogant to realize that his words have power and influence, and frankly I could argue that issue both ways. Meanwhile, the electorate is so caught up in the Kardashians, NFL and fantasy football, Facebook, and whatever other media distractions, not to mention societal distractions like putting food on the table and paying bills, that they're too distracted to notice or care. Aldous Huxley was a prophet in that respect, and now we're living in Huxley's nightmare and being ruled by Ayn Randian syncophants. Huxley was correct when he said, in reference to Orwells "1984", that in his dystopia future there would be no need to burn books because people would be too distracted to read them anyway. People are distracted, and some too uneducated, to even bother. That is our reality and that is the fight we face.

[RKP5637]

5. US, AKA, United Stupidity, the land of Idiocracy! n/t

[Docreed2003]

8. Indeed.

And we, the "collective we", allowed this to happen through decades of attacks on public schools, education reform, and the legitimizing of bullshit like the "Noah's Ark theme park" where you can see dinosaurs on the ark. And we did it via compromise, in the hopes that we could find common ground with those on the right. That was a fools errand. The far right has been indoctrinated since birth to not accept compromise from the left. They learned it in Sunday School as children and I can attest to that being a child of the early 80's in a southern Baptist church. They have no desire for compromise because in their warped minds "God" is on their side. This is why when I hear politicians talk about the need for "bipartisanship", I scream "That ship sailed a long time ago". There is no common ground. We must forgo that fight and fight instead for common good. If we can fight for the common good, no matter what obstacles we face, then we will be on the right side of history.

[elleng]

12. Yes.

[Docreed2003]

15. Thank you Ellen!!

[RKP5637]

13. Well said, Agree! What has really torqued me over the years with the democratic party is the

inability of the democrats to stand their ground for the battles won decades ago. Now, what FDR accomplished is slipping away. The democrats idea of success, today, is moving more rightward with their concept of bipartisanship and compromise. It is seen as a sign of weakness by the republicans and exploited to the fullest. I said something like this a few days ago and my post was removed as right wing. That, IMO, exemplifies why the democratic party is where it is today.

[Docreed2003]

14. I think you're spot on...

The willingness of the Democratic Party to move rightward at the expense of our ideals has contributed greatly to our current predicament. Compromising with lunatics under the guise of bipartisanship will only lead to disappointment and decay of the FDR/JFK/Obama legacy. Compromise isn't an option because these nutjobs know neither the concept of compromise nor will they ever accept anything reasonable. The wicked combo of evangelical GOP voters with Randian ideologues will continue to be a formidable foe to Democrats until they stand up to them and say "Enough". I hope our current party has the fortitude to do so.

[Sunriser13]

10. "1984" wasn't meant to be an instruction manual.

One begins wondering if Orwell is the Nostradamus of our time, in a sense. While "Animal Farm" was a satire on the Russian revolution, there are shades of today's politics in its pages, too.

"All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others".

[Docreed2003]

11. True...

Unfortunately we are living now in an Orwellian/Huxlian nightmare. Orwell was prescient because of the belief that the state would control the narrative. Huxley was more spot on, in my mind, because he believed that not only would the state control the narrative, but they would succeed because people would be too distracted to notice or care. Well we're there...

[C_U_L8R]

3. Trump doesn't know what he's doing

And he's too stupid and in love with himself to see that truth. He's fucking clueless.

[matt819]

6. Interesting SK response

Undoubtedly President Obama is also aware of the NK threat, and, also undoubtedly, has taken steps to address it.

trump, on the other hand, turns to twitter. And the South Koreans are pleased as punch, because if the twitter war turns into a real war, the onus is entirely on the US. Sure, the South Koreans are directly affected, but their hands are clean. They have the probably unlimited umbrella protection of the US military and get to assume control of North Korea. Okay, maybe we're talking WWIII here, but you then have China and US embroiled in a military conflict. As I posted the other day, this will allow trump to destroy the sole Chinese aircraft carrier. Who wins? Putin.

Thanks comrade agent trump.

[shawn703]

7. If NK can hit the USA with an ICBM

Trump's thinking is they would probably go after a major city on the Left Coast. They didn't vote for him and continue to badmouth him, so he can kill two birds with one stone by nuking NK and doing away with one of those pesky sanctuary cities.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

9. As Trump and North Koreas Kim spar, China poses as the responsible actor

WaPo analysis piece.

As Trump and North Korea’s Kim spar, China poses as the responsible actor

By Simon Denyer January 3 at 6:27 AM

BEIJING – President-elect Donald Trump and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un have been trading threats this week, while China poses as the mature, reasonable kid on the block.

Kim kicked things off in a New Year’s address Sunday by saying his country was close to test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which if successful, could ultimately put a nuclear warhead within range of parts of the United States.

Trump, who had once suggested inviting Kim over for a hamburger to convince him to give up his nuclear weapons program, took to his usual medium to respond.
....

Jin Xin contributed to this report.

Simon Denyer is The Post’s bureau chief in China. He served previously as bureau chief in India and as a Reuters bureau chief in Washington, India and Pakistan.  Follow @simondenyer