Trump strategy on NKorea: ‘Maximum pressure and engagement’

[DEFCON Warning System]

The Trump administration has settled on its North Korea strategy after a two-month review: “Maximum pressure and engagement.”

U.S. officials said Friday the president’s advisers weighed a range of ideas for how to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear program, including military options and trying to overthrow the isolated communist dictatorship’s leadership. At the other end of the spectrum, they looked at the notion of accepting North Korea as a nuclear state.

In the end, however, they settled on a policy that appears to represent continuity.

The administration’s emphasis, the officials said, will be on increasing pressure on Pyongyang with the help of China, North Korea’s dominant trade and military partner. The officials weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the results of the policy review and requested anonymity.

The new strategy will be deployed at a time of escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula. U.S., South Korean and other officials are closely monitoring the North amid indications it could conduct another missile test or nuclear explosion to coincide with an important national anniversary this weekend.

Full article at the Associated Press

 

[Train]

So...we can all just breath a sigh of relief now?

 

[Librarylady]

It seems unlikely to me that we'd have all of this build up and all of these ships in place only to let nk proceed with their missile test as usual. I have the feeling that something else is going to happen (or be manufactured to happen) to give us an excuse to go in if the test goes through.

 

[apollonights]

It seems unlikely to me that we'd have all of this build up and all of these ships in place only to let nk proceed with their missile test as usual. I have the feeling that something else is going to happen (or be manufactured to happen) to give us an excuse to go in if the test goes through.

Exactly. So basically they've done all this and for nothing? Like all the US forces in the area mean nothing if you aren't willing to kinetically stop the regime from doing anything. If anything this will just make the US look weak after raising all this noise about stopping the regime and then doing effectively nothing.

 

[apollonights]

It seems unlikely to me that we'd have all of this build up and all of these ships in place only to let nk proceed with their missile test as usual. I have the feeling that something else is going to happen (or be manufactured to happen) to give us an excuse to go in if the test goes through.

Exactly. So basically they've done all this and for nothing? Like all the US forces in the area mean nothing if you aren't willing to kinetically stop the regime from doing anything. If anything this will just make the US look weak after raising all this noise about stopping the regime and then doing effectively nothing.

 

[TruthandJustice]

They will likely not strike the Korean mainland due to the nuclear test but they may shoot down a test missile. Still this is risky. Korea would respond to this. The best thing to do since we are already knee deep in this mess, is to keep a modest fleet stationed out there as a thorn in their side and ratchet up the exercises even more. Have it so every time lil Kim looks through his binoculars, he sees our fleet. If we can bait him to strike first, then we would have a much stronger case on our side. If they agree to stop shooting missiles in the direction of Japan or our other allies and freeze (not give up) their buildup, then we would move our fleet away.

 

[Train]

they may shoot down a test missile.

Well, I guess they didn't. If they didn't shoot down the missile then there is a low chance of them responding with a war to a nuke test. Could still happen though.

 

[RiffRaff]

they may shoot down a test missile.

Well, I guess they didn't. If they didn't shoot down the missile then there is a low chance of them responding with a war to a nuke test. Could still happen though.

If the reports of the missile exploding only seconds into flight are correct, then we didn't have a chance to shoot it down.

 

[mardiri]

Just have a feeling something going down today.noko knows this is Easter for us,