North Korea vows to strengthen nuclear program as US increases pressure

North Korea vows to strengthen nuclear program as US increases pressure

Published May 20, 2017
Fox News

North Korea’s deputy U.N. envoy said on Friday that the country will continue to strengthen its nuclear program as a necessary measure needed to counter U.S. aggression.

Kim In Ryong told reporters that the U.S.’ hostile policy towards North Korea is “the root of all problems” and that putting a definite end to this would be a “prerequisite for solving all problems on the Korean peninsula,” Reuters reports.

North Korea tested a longer-range missile last weekend, which experts say was a significant advance for a weapons program that aims at having a nuclear-tipped missile that can strike America. The test triggered a new U.S.-backed push for a fresh round of U.N. sanctions against the North.

Kim praised the test launch and said that regardless of U.S. sanctions, Pyongyang would never abandon its “nuclear deterrence for self-defense and pre-emptive strike capability.”

At the Pentagon, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said that the recent missile test showed North Korea isn’t complying with pressure from the international community.

He stressed the need for a peaceful resolution, stating that a military solution to the standoff with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program would be "tragic on an unbelievable scale.".

"If this goes to a military solution it is going to be tragic on an unbelievable scale, and so our effort is to work with the U.N., work with China, work with Japan, work with South Korea to try to find a way out of this situation," Mattis said.

All 15 members of the U.N. Security Council this week called the launch a violation of existing sanctions and vowed to take new measures, including additional sanctions.

President Trump is looking to both China and Russia, the two permanent members on the Security Council, to join the U.S.-backed campaign of diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea to get it to denuclearize.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/05...-pressure.html

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President Trump is looking to both China and Russia, the two permanent members on the Security Council, to join the U.S.-backed campaign of diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea to get it to denuclearize.

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The key will be more Russia than China, in my opinion. Trump will weld his new plan with Russia very shortly, so this show can get on down the road. The whole problem with North Korea has been our attitude and disdain towards them. Trump can change than, and he will, more with Russia's help than China's in my opinion. China will not starve these people in North Korea over their weapons. They just won't. Millions of Chinese starved to death during WWII and in years to follow, so did Russians, but the Chinese vowed that would never happen again, so they will not do that to another country, which is what is really being asked of them with trade sanctions.

North Korea has watched China improve itself, primarily through great trade deals with the US, so they'll see China as our "front" or "puppet". Russia on the other-hand not only has the respect of North Korea, Russia has succeeded basically without any trade deals with the US, Russia has done it on their own.

North Korea can't do what Russia did, but it thinks it can, so Russia is the one to explain the differences and why that isn't really possible. With Russia at our side or at least covering our backs along with China, Trump can pave a new solid relationship with North Korea, and we should, it's in everyone's best interest to do so, especially ours and the people of North Korea.