US Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in South Korea
Kerry was kicking off four days of talks in East Asia amid speculation that the North's unpredictable regime would launch a mid-range missile designed to reach as far as the US territory of Guam. Kerry also planned to visit China and Japan. Kerry's trip was planned well in advance of the latest danger to destabilize the Korean peninsula: North Korea's apparent preparations for another missile test in defiance of United Nations resolutions. The crisis clearly has overtaken the rest of his Asian agenda.
William Boardman: US Has A Paranoid Policy Towards North Korea
Jason Ditz: Americans Obsessed with North Korea, Overstate Threat
Peter Symonds: Obama issues new threat to North Korea - Far from attempting to lower temperatures on the Korean Peninsula, the Obama administration has been deliberately stoking the crisis. Over the past month, the Pentagon has flown nuclear-capable B-52 and B-2 strategic bombers to South Korea to send a message to Pyongyang, and its ally Beijing, that the US is capable of destroying North Korea’s military and industrial infrastructure. The North Korean regime has in turn played directly into Washington’s hands with its own belligerent rhetoric and empty threats.