Wow.
I wonder how many foreigners have been injured in past demonstrations…

North Korea for many years, particularly Jan 2009 onward, has repeatedly stated its nuclear weapons are not for sale as bargaining chips. From the 5th Plenum of the 7th Party Congress in late 2019 onward, Pyongyang has repeatedly stated it is not motivated by seeking sanctions relief.

But that said, what in particular might we be missing: What DT really thinks about KJU's "leader-level commitment to complete denuclearization," or that DT's goal is CVID?

So at the very least we can be confident that the NSC spokesperson is representing the position that the White House wants to project. To question the delta between what any President really thinks and what the WH or NSC person claims s/he thinks makes it impossible to judge any policy or position.

Those quotes have continuity in part with POTUS and cabinet-level official comments so far (Pyongyang's a nuclear power, and sanctions are not working), and track with ROK opposition party calls. Perhaps a way ahead is getting clearer.

I can see Prez Trump being able to address those: "Yes, you are a nuclear power. Stop the sanctions, since they don't work anyways. ROK: defend yourselves. You have the money. Stop exercises, stop ED demonstrations." (4/5)

So the "stop being hostile and respect our sovereignty" language means "recognize us as a nuclear power, stop punishing us for not denuclearizing, and stop threatening us by recommitting to the defense of the ROK (3/)

We can reasonably assume DPRK knows US and ROK have had no hostile intent to invade over the last 7 decades, otherwise, we long ago would have sought military retaliation for repeated lethal/kinetic provocations (2/ )

For now, it looks not so much like Yoon has seized the initiative, but that the opposition will be back-footed and will have to tread carefully or risk losing even more public support than it has over the past few days.

I think this bottom-line still holds, which is also why SecState Blinken's visit next week is important.

Also, it is important not to dismiss Pyongyang's (and Beijing's) developments and agency: the shift from Moon to Yoon policies was as much driven by changes in the geostrategic environment as opposed to be solely personality based. This is not a matter of merely turning the clock back to 2018 . . .

NCG and Extended Deterrence enhancements, trilateral security cooperation with Japan, resumed robust military exercises, economic security cooperation, etc. -- all of these benefitted South Korea's national security, and were not mere Washington-pleasing steps that put at risk ROK interests.

#impeachment #yoon It would be wrong to say democracy failed today. There will be more impeachment proceedings, again in accordance with the democratic rights those who support impeachment have.