North Korea

Monday, April 15, 2013

Monday, April 15, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Monday, April 15, 2013

China must do more to resolve N. Korean Missile Crisis

Secretary of State John Kerry has called on China to do more to help resolve the North Korean missile crisis, saying the country provided the Pyongyang regime with a “lifeline.”

In an interview with NBC’s TODAY that aired on Monday, Kerry also said any deal with the rogue state would need to be structured so that Pyongyang could not later renege on its terms.

In recent days the North Koreans have readied missiles for launch and some speculated this would happen on Monday, when the nation celebrates the birth of founder Kim Il Sung, current leader Kim Jong Un’s grandfather.

In an interview in Tokyo before flying back to the U.S. on Monday, Kerry said that if the missiles were not fired “that would mean perhaps we’re turning a corner and there’s a possibility of moving in a better direction.”

“Everybody understands the negative side of what happens if there is a shoot. And my hope is that we can move in a different direction here. China, I think, is serious about this,” he said. “They understand the instability this is creating.”

Kerry said it was “very important” for the United States to make clear to North Korea that there would be “consequences for their action” and to reaffirm its security agreements with its allies in the region.

“That done, I think it is very important to the Chinese to focus on the fact that … if they’re not prepared to put the pressure on the North — and they have the greatest ability to have an impact on the North — then this can become more destabilizing,” he said. “And that instability is not in China’s interest, certainly. It’s not in anybody’s interest in the region.”(Source: NBC News)

Friday, April 5, 2013

Friday, April 5, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday, April 5, 2013

North Korea Moves Missile to Coast

Most analysts do not believe that North Korea has a missile powerful enough to deliver a nuclear warhead to the United States mainland or that it is reckless enough to strike the American military in the Pacific. Still, with the North’s bellicose language showing no signs of letting up, the United States said Wednesday that it was speeding the deployment of an advanced missile defense system to Guam in the next few weeks, two years ahead of schedule, in what the Pentagon said was a “precautionary move” to protect American naval and air forces from the threat of a North Korean missile attack.

Testifying before a parliamentary hearing, Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin of South Korea said the missile North Korea had moved to the east coast, possibly “for demonstration or for training,” appeared not to be a KN-08, which analysts say is the closest thing North Korea has to an intercontinental ballistic missile, though its exact range is not known. The new missile was unveiled during a military parade in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, in April last year.

South Korean news media quoted military officials as saying that the missile was a Musudan. Deployed around 2007, the Musudan is a ballistic missile with a range of more than 1,900 miles, according to the South Korean Defense Ministry. Guam is nearly 2,200 miles from North Korea.

Wee Yong-sub, an army colonel and deputy spokesman for the Defense Ministry, would say only that the South Korean and American militaries had been closely monitoring the movements of all North Korean missiles, including the Musudan.

“Chances are not high that they will lead to a full-scale war,” said Mr. Kim, the defense minister, referring to the North Korean threats. “But given the nature of the North Korean regime, it’s possible that they will launch a localized provocation.”

October 7, 2006

My apologies for not posting my lastest cartoon sooner. The above cartoon ran in the Saturday edition of the Hamilton Spectator. It marks the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday by depicting the current crop of local politicians who are vying for council as a bunch of gourds. I’ve kept a cartoon of North Korea’s Kim Jong-Il posted since it is far more topical than a municipal election campaign. What makes elections interesting is the possibilty of upsets, and the entertainment aspect of watching politicans get dumped from their positions. This upcoming election in Hamilton will probably see the return of the same old councillors, several of them now career councillors, reposition themselves to carry on clinging from their perches while they oversee a rusting industrial city continue into decline.

Ironically, the future of Kim Jong-Il’s dictatorship is less certain at this point than the political futures of a number of Hamilton city councillors. If we’re lucky, 30% of eligible voters in Hamilton will cast a ballot next month to determine who’ll make up the next council. Predictably, councillors more adept at campaigning than decision making will reappear with barely a scratch from their opponents.

What’s even more lousy about this election is the possible return of ex-councillors running for the few vacant seats up for grabs. Even in the Mayoral race, the current incumbant’s biggest challenge comes from an ex-councillor who lost in a previous Mayoral race and in a subsequent federal election. Gee, now there’s a guy we sure can rally around to get this city moving again.

I’ve observed quite a few municipal elections in the past few years but nothing comes as uninspired and as dull as this one. What’s so unfortunate is that more than ever before, municipal politicans have become responsible for so much that influences our daily lives, from taxes to where we meet stop signs on our streets yet nobody around me seems to have much hope or energy to demand more from who’s put in charge.