Kim Jong-un

Four days ago, following China’s warning to the US that China would defend North Korea if the US attacked North Korea and sought to change its regime, and following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s follow-up call to US President Trump, in which Xi Jinping told Trump to back off, I said in article for The Duran that I thought Chinese diplomacy was likely to succeed and that the recent war of words between the US and North Korea would soon abate

Donald Trump has essentially confirmed that the tense stand-off with North Korea is over and what’s more is that he has confirmed that it was North Korea which ultimately took control of the situation, de-escalated it of its own volition and that the US simply accepted the fact that in spite of the colourful rhetoric, North Korea had no intention of engaging in anything but defensive activities which now appear not to be necessary in any case.
Trump’s Tweet is reproduced below:

On the day after South Korean President Moon Jae-in made a strong statement indicating his wish to see “no more war” on the Korean peninsula, North Korean media outlet KCNA released a lengthy statement regarding the stand-off with the US. The tone of the statement is confident and patriotic, but crucially it is one which offers the US a would-be ‘escape clause’ from any actual confrontation.

In typical Chinese fashion, after the mailed fist comes the velvet glove.
Having warned the US via an editorial in Global Times yesterday that it will defend North Korea if the US invades North Korea and seeks to overthrow Kim Jong-un’s government, the Chinese government followed this up today with a telephone call to US President Trump by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

North Koreans, including students, workers and retired soldiers, have requested to join or reenlist in the military in light of the government’s earlier vows to retaliate against the United States, after the UN Security Council approved new sanctions against Pyongyang, the North Korea’s Workers’ Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun reported, as quoted by Yonhap news agency.

Donald Trump has again made a statement against North Korea during a question session with reporters. Speaking at a private golf club in the US sate of New Jersey. Addressing North Korea’s leader, Great Marshall Kim Jong-Un personally, President Trump stated

“If he (Kim Jong-Un) does anything with respect to Guam or any place else, he will truly regret it and he will regret it fast”.

When asked to clarify the meaning of his earlier Tweet, Trump said the meaning was “pretty obvious”.

Even as the rhetorical battle between the US and North Korea threatens to spiral out of control, a report by the Associated Press suggests that their diplomats are already quietly talking to each other.

Donald Trump has Tweeted a further threat to North Korea, saying that the US military is “locked and loaded” and ready to attack.

Military solutions are now fully in place,locked and loaded,should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 11, 2017

If the Chinese or anyone else imagined that the sanctions resolution recently passed by the UN Security Council would calm tensions in the Korean Peninsula, they must by now be disabused of that illusion.
Though there have been no tests by North Korea since the UN Security Council vote – whether of ballistic missiles or nuclear weapons – the rhetoric instead of calming down has become heated.  Moreover for once it is Washington rather than Pyongyang that has taken the initiative in the war of words.

North Korea is a country that wants to be thought of for its original state ideology, what North Korea’s founder Kim Il-Sung called Juche. North Korea also wants to be thought of for its ability to unite both the non-Aligned movement and workers movements throughout the world, even though at times the country seems isolated. These sentiments are not novel, North Korea says openly what they think its greatest achievements are in multiple films and news clips.