North Korea is in the Trump administration's cross-hairs with attack drones sent to their border, the THAAD anti-missile defense system deployed to the same area, along with sending a Naval Strike Force which the Japanese have also joined as a show of strength. Nevermind the administration's gesture of diplomacy with china who was told to do something about their neighbor. Another indication of military action against the North was when NBC News reported, days before Trump would meet with Chinese president Xi Jinping, that the National Security Council had come up with options for military action against Pyongyang.
One of the options on the table is considered quite extreme where the U.S. would give South Korea nuclear weapons in order for them to better retaliate against the North. But there are many among the leadership who do not support that move as reported by Blasting News stated, which include many within the Air Force. The NBC News article explained that “as an alternative, it's [the Air Force] been practicing long-range strikes with strategic bombers – sending them to the region for exercises and deploying them in Guam and on the peninsula as a show of force.”
Covert action on both sides
Of the three options provided in the article, the third would be to infiltrate North Korea with U.S. and South Korean special forces to sabotage infrastructure, taking out bridges to stop the movement of missiles.
A former NATO commander named Stavridis said that this would be the best strategy overall which would still enable President Trump's willingness to take military action. The article states that the CIA would generally guide this kind of operation and that would also include cyber warfare. It goes on further to say that South Korea created a special operations unit last year called Spartan 3000, which would operate behind the front lines inside North Korea.
Yonhap News originally reported on the unit, saying that they would be on standby for deployment throughout the Korean Peninsula within 24 hours. Their purpose is to take out missile sites, which they could do within the first 24 hours of deployment as opposed to by 24 to 48 hours, which was the original time they had to meet.
North Korea have also reportedly been conducting their own training exercises with leader Kim Jong-un seen applauding those in the contest who were able to shoot and hit their targets every time.
North Korea war parade
Originally reported by the Korean Central News Agency, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was monitoring a contest which showed the capacity of his own special military forces as they dropped out of planes and fired at targets. The Korean People's Army (KPA) was created on April 25 85-years ago which means that there will be an upcoming anniversary celebration and the expectation that they will try another missile test or underground nuclear test. This was the same expectation for the recent celebration for the nation's founder Kim Il-sung on Saturday, who would now be 105-years-old
The international community, as well as the Trump administration, are clearly waiting for this.
One report by the New York Times confirms a possible upcoming underground nuclear test, saying that satellite images show recent preparations and that this detonation would be the most powerful one to date. After the recent celebration, it was reported that the DPRK did try to test a ballistic missile but it exploded before it could leave the launch pad which also happened to a previous missile test conducted during the previous weeks.
Reports on the military parade during the recent celebration say that experts paid attention to the missiles paraded on the screen and said that there appeared to be new missiles, clearly, an indication that they had been persistent with their missile program. Many of those experts believe that some of them could reach the U.S.
It's also been reported that DPRK's Defense Minister made a statement about U.S. hostility and that they were also prepared to take action to defend themselves.
China's involvement
China has put pressure on North Korea by returning shipments of coal imports and stopping some flights. It's been reported that China has been frustrated by North Korea for years now and many feel that the international community can no longer wait to know how far they've gone to develop nuclear weapons. Former administrations have put pressure on China and North Korea without any success but if war were to break out, China knows they would have to deal with a refugee crisis. As the NBC News article pointed out, China would need to be involved in reining in North Korea.
Former acting director and deputy director of the CIA Mike Morell was on Charlie Rose on Friday where he said that the Chinese government needed to be involved to either change Kim Jong-un's mind to better negotiate or to continue to put more pressure on them on behalf of the U.S. At the same time, they might be playing a game with the U.S. because if they put too much pressure on Pyongyang, it could result in an unstable country with nuclear weapons as opposed to just a country with nuclear weapons. Further confirmation of this is with Xi Jinping's country being a lifeline to Kim Jong-un providing food and energy for textiles and raw materials. In general, even though the U.S. said they would go it alone without them, China is necessary to prevent complete chaos.
