Like old men everywhere I am constantly warning of troubles to come but the good news is that my forecasting skills are, shall we say?, negligible verging on downright incompetent - yes, that sums it up nicely! Perhaps it is my daily 'intrep' from those shadowy chaps at NightWatch that is giving me increasingly bad vibes from the 'People's Democratic Loony-bin' that is North Korea. Under the leadership, if that is quite the word, of 'Kim Bill-ee-Bun-ter', the fat teenager who allegedly runs the asylum, North Korea has poked its greatest supporter, the Chinese, not in one but in both eyes by firing off an ICBM and then letting off an A-bomb. The Chinese appear helpless to control this teen-age hooligan and therefore those who might be seriously damaged by his yobbish behaviour, the South Koreans, are beginning to look hard at defending themselves:
South Korea: Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Army Major General Kim Yong-hyun warned on 6 March, "If North Korea carries out provocations that threaten the lives and safety of South Koreans, our military will carry out strong and resolute retaliations."
The South Korean statement advised that if provoked by North Korea, the South would attack the North's 'command leadership.'
Meanwhile, Japanese obsevers have noted that the North Korean authorities have begun camouflaging civilian lorries, buses and cars, an activity that could indicate the possibility of war. However, the North Koreans are adept at ratcheting up tension in order to win concessions and this might just be another example of it. However, Kim Jong Un is a very young man whose domestic position is not entirely secure and one wonders if he has the skill to ride the one-wheeled bike without falling off - and taking a few million people with him!
