by thomasglee » Sun Apr 22, 2018 10:32 pm
John wrote:thomasglee wrote:
> Think about it; they supposedly destroyed their nuclear making
> capabilities (did blow up their cooling tower) yet were able to
> quickly produce nukes to be tested. You're right, he is not
> cowed. If anything, he is emboldened. We (our leaders) keep
> treating the norKs like they are backward idiots. Kim was
> educated in Europe as was much of their leadership. They are sly.
> As the Koreans would call them, they are 족제비 (weasels).
There's another angle to this that I haven't heard anyone mention.
When you say, "He is not cowed," you're referring to the child
dictator, but when you say they "did blow up their cooling tower"
you're referring to the father.
The father made fools of the West multiple times, particularly in
2008. The child is walking in his father's footsteps, and wants to
make fools of the West as well, to prove that he's as good a dictator
as his father was. If the child fails to make a fool of Trump and the
West, it has a national DPRK meaning, but it also has a very personal
meaning, in that he will have failed to live up to his father skills.
That means that not only must he keep his nuclear arsenal, but he must
also do it in a way to make a fool of Trump. If he can't do that,
then his whole charm offensive in the last four months will have
failed as well, and he will lose a great deal of stature.
Yes, you're right. He has to save face while proving he is legitimate. That's an important matter in Korean society. Another issue that most people do not realize is that Kim Jong Un was not born by Kim Jong Il's "official" wife. He was born through a concubine. That's the reason why he had to have Kim Jong Nam killed in Malaysia. If Kim Jong Nam had ever returned to challenge Kim Jong Un, he would have been able to claim that (Jong Nam) was the true legitimate son and the eldest, which in Korean society would have trumped all.
[quote="John"][quote="thomasglee"]
> Think about it; they supposedly destroyed their nuclear making
> capabilities (did blow up their cooling tower) yet were able to
> quickly produce nukes to be tested. You're right, he is not
> cowed. If anything, he is emboldened. We (our leaders) keep
> treating the norKs like they are backward idiots. Kim was
> educated in Europe as was much of their leadership. They are sly.
> As the Koreans would call them, they are 족제비 (weasels).[/quote]
There's another angle to this that I haven't heard anyone mention.
When you say, "He is not cowed," you're referring to the child
dictator, but when you say they "did blow up their cooling tower"
you're referring to the father.
The father made fools of the West multiple times, particularly in
2008. The child is walking in his father's footsteps, and wants to
make fools of the West as well, to prove that he's as good a dictator
as his father was. If the child fails to make a fool of Trump and the
West, it has a national DPRK meaning, but it also has a very personal
meaning, in that he will have failed to live up to his father skills.
That means that not only must he keep his nuclear arsenal, but he must
also do it in a way to make a fool of Trump. If he can't do that,
then his whole charm offensive in the last four months will have
failed as well, and he will lose a great deal of stature.[/quote]
Yes, you're right. He has to save face while proving he is legitimate. That's an important matter in Korean society. Another issue that most people do not realize is that Kim Jong Un was not born by Kim Jong Il's "official" wife. He was born through a concubine. That's the reason why he had to have Kim Jong Nam killed in Malaysia. If Kim Jong Nam had ever returned to challenge Kim Jong Un, he would have been able to claim that (Jong Nam) was the true legitimate son and the eldest, which in Korean society would have trumped all.