Notes from Seoul Man April 6 2013
I am pleased to see that POTUS and WH team seem to be handling this so-called crisis better than expected. They have made public statements re-affirming the alliance between USG and SK without going into the macabre and unnecessary details of war contingency plans or single strike missiles from silos etc.
I see that ROK soldiers are setting up roadblocks and more check points at the DMZ, so far so good business as usual. On the SK side, people are mostly happy and some are slightly amused by the childish blabber of the swiss boarding school reject, Kim Jong Un. The media really must stop this NUCLEAR THREAT FEAR nonsense, where are these reporters?? I don't see them and as you know I have been here almost a week. I want to know what they are seeing that is so different, so scary.
I have talked to some pretty impressive SK tech experts, they claim they have penetrated NK in a big way. This is cyber warfare now. This is not about guns, bombs or other weapons that we like to sell for big profits….that's for the last century. Our military should get there collective butts into the information age and fast.
On another note, American business leaders should keep their mouths shut when tensions are high like they are in this region of the world. For example, Dan Akerson of General Motors, was reported to have started making contingency plans for manufacturing in South Korea, this kind of talk gets a lot of people riled up over here. Memo to CEO Akerson: keep quiet, make all the contingency plans you want but shut up! Statecraft should be happening here and we don't need your public statements adding fuel to the fire, intended or not, just shut up! This talk from Akerson makes a lot of people agitated and angry including members of USG SOF. I heard the whole download from our military personnel who are busting their butt here trying to keep the peace in Korea and this (ex Navy should know better) guy Akerson talking about leaving, stirring it up. Same goes for American-Korean business consultant Tom Coyner- who is quoted making statements that support companies leaving Korea….public statements, media quotes like this make the situation worse. Our expert, quiet diplomats are working effectively to avoid a crisis but our media keeps sensationalizing the threats, the fears, the terror….c'mon, knock it off.
more tomorrow.
The best about it... nobody's a winner if it goes critical.
ReplyDeleteThat suggests a careful appraisal with lattitude for face-saving can reach a stable situation.
Perhaps, this is about communication.
Perhaps, President Obama has not engaged the new North Korean leader... so the North Korean leader is engaging him, albeit, in a crude... and...can I say it, barbaric manner.
Would U. S. interests be served by direct diplomacy with North Korea?
If that is all North Korea wants, then why is that so hard to give, provided heated & bellicose rhetoric ceases & desists.
Has President Obama ever spoken on the phone to the North Korean leader?
If so, then when?
Perhaps this would be too much.
But the point is to have contact at some level.
Discussions that don't bog down into the mire of accusations and counter-accusations.
hope they are reading this, its really much simpler than we are making it. I agree, Hagel is doing the right things so far.
DeleteI know it would be hard to do, in terms of domestic politics, but toning down provocative, military maneuvers would likely be helpfull.
ReplyDeleteYes, North Korea is belligerent, but a great power, the sole superpower, does not have to make sabre-rattling gestures to convey its power in the region.
A successful short-term diplomatic resolution would build United States credibility.
The U. S. needs to repair & build diplomatic credibility. Part of Great Power credibility is the ability to peacefully resolve geo-political crises as they arise.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is correct to postpone the scheduled ballistic missile test.
When Propaganda is on the table, hands and all, you know the agenda then is, Anything Goes and All Are Welcomed. As the chess pieces move, the hidden agenda is never forgotten which is to sow discord in order to profit from the discord. The Bookie's Mantra.
ReplyDeleteThere isn't one Amerikan [there is?] who believes in the tripe offered other than to swallow it with the hottest chilly possible and once that fire is raging, pouring fuel onto it is then the rationale. And whilst the distraction is being bandied about by The Mass Media, that Tentacle of The Bookie whose duty is to reap Organisation from Disorganisation, such is Its choseness, every opportunity to upping the ante is looked into. Like how to git zer fat bhoy to become the honcho turncoat. He won't if only because The Chinese won't let him. Not when after 700 odd years of colonisation they are still urinating in the open after a bout of inebriation. As for "Hagelling", fergit eet. He still hasn't re-located his genitalia after the round of invigorated shagging by Choseness - except when he meekly chants the mantra pounded into him - "Er, when will it be Israel's turn for milking the fat bhoy". Listen toots, finish your Kimchi first. Hokay? Amerikans. Don't want them but can’t do without them.
As for those who have yet to master counting beyond their toes other than to throw zeroes at their affliction, everything and EVERTHING begins and ends with Amerikana Propaganda. The rest are merely sucked into the maelstrom, pretending that that bodily gasoeus emission is a storm. They have to especially when the Emperor is, once again, trying out his new garment collekshion from his boyfriend.