… from Press TV, Tehran
[ Editor’s Note: Things are moving right along on deescalating North-South Korea tensions, creating problems for those in the US power structure that want those tensions to continue as it protects the huge US military presence in the region.
If the North Korean threat is removed, and the US refuses to pull back its forward military forces, then the gig will be up on the Mother Goose Story about our being there for defensive purposes.
The North has pre-empted the US by offering to stop missile testing and nuclear development during talks. Watch the US try to torpedo this by demanding they dismantle them first, before the talks start. This is the old diplomatic trick of demanding something you know they cannot possibly agree to so you can then blame them for pulling out of the talks.
So the key to countering this would be the South Koreans stating that will would enter talks anyway and ask the US to no disrupt the talks. If the SKs are smart they will make their own deal, present it to the US, putting it on the spot as trying to block it if they do.
The South Koreans would then have a very strong case for telling the US, “thank you for having your toops here. It is time for them to come home.” We would then watch to see if the US would stage a coup in South Korea to prevent that.
This visit to the US I suspect is to get the US to get aboard the peace train as it would give the talks a lot more positive momentum if the SKs could tell the NKs the US is “generally onboard” the process. This might not be put up publicly at the time.
Nothing would rattle the Deep State more than to see the start of a US military pullback anywhere in the world, regardless of the real benefit to the international stability, for which it does not give a hoot, and never will. It’s just not in their DNA …Jim W. Dean ]
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– First published … March 08, 2018 –
Two high-ranking South Korean officials have traveled to the United States to brief American National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster on their recent landmark visit to North Korea and Pyongyang’s conditional offer to negotiate over its weapons programs.
Head of National Security Office Chung Eui-yong and National Intelligence Service chief Suh Hoon, who paid a two-day historic visit to the North earlier this week, left Incheon International Airport, west of the capital, Seoul, for Washington on Thursday.
A South Korean government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the pair would also speak with other US department heads and later possibly meet either American President Donald Trump or Vice President Mike Pence.
The source added that Chung had already spoken to McMaster on the phone shortly after completing his visit to Pyongyang.
On Tuesday, Chung said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had expressed willingness to abandon nuclear weapons “if military threats toward the North are cleared and the security of its regime is guaranteed.”
North Korea offers to give up its nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees, a South Korean envoy says.
The South Korean officials are expected to discuss that offer with the US officials.
Speaking about the prospect of North Korean engagement, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Wednesday that Washington was “cautiously optimistic that there is some forward progress here.” He added that the White House watches “actions and see if they match words.”
The development came after Pyongyang, in a rare move, participated in the 2018 Winter Olympics held in South Korea, providing an opportunity for the two neighbors to resolve long-running hostilities.
Seoul says the high-profile visit by Chung and Suh to the North was meant to reciprocate the Olympic trip by Kim’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, who became the first member of the North’s ruling family to visit the South since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
North and South Korea have been separated by a heavily-militarized border since the three-year Korean War came to an end in 1953. The conflict ended with an armistice rather than a formal peace treaty and left many families separated at the two sides.
Washington has long included itself in the Korean dispute. It has heavy military presence in the region and uses North Korea’s ballistic and nuclear programs as a pretext to constantly threaten Pyongyang with military action.
That military posture has concerned the North, which says it needs to advance its weapons program to protect itself against potential US military action. The US has also imposed sanctions on Pyongyang, including most recently what it called “the toughest ever.”
The two Koreas have reportedly agreed to hold a summit between top leaders Kim and President Moon Jae-in in the Demilitarized Zone in late April.
Jim W. Dean is VT Editor Emeritus. He was an active editor on VT from 2010-2022. He was involved in operations, development, and writing, plus an active schedule of TV and radio interviews. He now writes and posts periodically for VT.
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