North Korea’s Foreign Minister, the guy who claimed it was inevitable that North Korean nuclear missiles would hit the United States, is just wrapping up an impromptu press conference in New York City. This is notable for two reasons. First, it is the first time a North Korean diplomat has held a hastily called press conference in the United States. Second, it was originally scheduled for 10am but was pushed back an hour probably due to making sure this was exactly the message Rocket Man wanted to deliver.
Past 10am and #NorthKorea's foreign minister still not out…angsty, angsty reporters pic.twitter.com/psRZInVTrt
— Minyoung Park (@minyoungpark) September 25, 2017
Part 1 of #NorthKorea Foreign Minister speaking to press pic.twitter.com/cWi4LvZ5lF
— Minyoung Park (@minyoungpark) September 25, 2017
Part 2 of #NorthKorea Foreign Minister speaking to press pic.twitter.com/7GxR4u0jTv
— Minyoung Park (@minyoungpark) September 25, 2017
This is the announcement:
What does this mean? Probably not much in the way of war but it can probably be taken as a warning that North Korea is going to take some kind of military action against a US or ROK target outside the physical territory of the ROK. Most likely a vessel or aircraft. A limited incursion on the DMZ or North Korean artillery strike into the ROK is not out of the question. Then the issue will be the US response. Will we go tit for tat? Or will we consider it casus belli?
Couple of extra points.
In 2010, Pyongyang said it regarded a South Korean policy of a preemptive strike as a "declaration of war." https://t.co/DabfUoRs09
— Isaac Stone Fish (@isaacstonefish) September 25, 2017
To be clear, "declaration of war"-thing likely means little, such proclamations are uttered regularly. Korean War also not formally ended.
— Benjamin Silberstein 벤자민 실버스타인 (@benjaminkatzeff) September 25, 2017
I’d say yes and no. Yes, they’ve said similar things before. No, they’ve never said them in the US. They’ve never threatened US military aircraft. This is clearly Kim aiming a brush back pitch at Trump but I can’t imagine it going unanswered.
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