Why Trump’s ‘fire and fury’ will have no effect, as Kim Jong-un plays chicken with the US
John Power says the North Korean leader’s Guam feint was a predictable act in the regime’s long-running theatre of brinkmanship, milking threats for concessions while doggedly pursuing nuclear ambitions
For Pyongyang, ramping up and then diffusing tensions has for decades been a lucrative game
For Pyongyang, ramping up and then diffusing tensions has for decades been a highly lucrative game it knows it can’t lose. It’s a strategy that has allowed an oppressive regime to justify its existence to its own people, while blackmailing the outside world for money, aid and various concessions.
There’s no better tool for extortion than nuclear missiles, or greater symbol of strength to hold up in defiance of an outside world you want to paint as hostile and dangerous.
It’s not surprising that North Korea is hell-bent on having such weapons, whatever the diplomatic or economic cost imposed by the international community.
Yet, we continue to flatter ourselves about our level of influence over what has proved to be the most resilient and single-minded dictatorship of the post-cold-war era.