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  1. #76
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    Machinations. I suppose it might have looked bad if he'd had them blown up by mortars this close to the summit.
    Later maybe.

    North Korea sacks top three military officials, as nuclear summit nears
    US officials believe there was dissent over Kim Jong-un’s approach to foreign diplomacy




    North Korea’s top three military officials have been removed from their posts, a senior US official said on Sunday, a shakeup that could signal the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, is working to silence dissent ahead of a summit with Donald Trump in Singapore next week.


    The US official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, was commenting on a report by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency that all three of the North’s top military officials were believed to have been replaced.


    Trump on Friday revived the proposed 12 June summit after cancelling it a week earlier. The US is seeking a negotiated end to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.


    US officials believe there was some dissent in the military about Kim’s approaches to South Korea and the US. Kim likely wants to ensure any deal struck in his meeting with Trump will not face opposition at home.


    Since coming to power in 2011, Kim has conducted several purges in an effort to consolidate power. The young leader was just 27 years old when he took power in a society that reveres older cadres.


    Mintaro Oba, a former US diplomat who focused on North Korea policy, said Kim might be using the upcoming summit “as leverage to get rid of internal hardliners”. It was also possible the “summit created such a risk to his internal power he felt he had to protect himself by moving people around”.


    “It’s worth considering whether this round of summit diplomacy has given Kim Jong-un an opportunity to get a more favourable group of people at the top,” Oba said.


    Kim had his uncle and potential rival for control, Jang Song-thaek, tried and executed in 2013. Kim’s older half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, was assassinated last year in an operation widely believed to have been directed from Pyongyang.


    The US official did not identify the three military officials. Yonhap identified them as defence chief Pak Yong-sik; chief of the Korean People’s Army’s (KPA) general staff, Ri Myong-su and Kim Jong-gak, the director of the KPA’s General Political Bureau.


    Trump wants North Korea to “denuclearise,” meaning to get rid of its nuclear arsenal, in return for relief from economic sanctions. North Korea’s leadership is believed to regard nuclear weapons as crucial to its survival.


    Citing an unnamed intelligence official, Yonhap said No Kwang-chol, first vice minister of the Ministry of People’s armed forces, had replaced Pak Yong-sik, while Ri Myong-su was replaced by his deputy, Ri Yong-gil. It said army general Kim Su-gil’s replacement of Kim Jong-gak was confirmed in a North Korean state media report last month.


    The White House, State Department, CIA and Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not immediately respond to requests for official comment.


    Lower-level US-North Korean talks to prepare for the summit are continuing but have made only “halting progress,” according to a second US official briefed on the discussions.


    That official said US negotiators’ efforts to press for definitions of immediate, comprehensive, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation by North Korea had run into opposition from the White House.


    In a remarkable shift in tone eight days after cancelling the summit, citing Pyongyang’s “open hostility,” Trump welcomed North Korea’s former intelligence chief Kim Yong-chol to the White House on Friday, afterward exchanging smiles and handshakes.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...r-summit-nears
    “If we stop testing right now we’d have very few cases, if any.” Donald J Trump.

  2. #77
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cujo View Post
    US officials believe there was dissent over Kim Jong-un’s approach to foreign diplomacy
    They wanted a BK instead of a McDonalds maybe

  3. #78
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by uncle junior View Post
    It's about playing by accepted rules. ameristani leaders don't get along well with the other kids in the block and want to do things their own way
    FIFY.

  4. #79
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cujo View Post
    North Korea sacks top three military officials
    Only three? They have to improve themselves to be on par with the Big Brother (You Are Fired)...

  5. #80
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cujo View Post
    Citing an unnamed intelligence official, Yonhap said No Kwang-chol, first vice minister of the Ministry of People’s armed forces, had replaced Pak Yong-sik, while Ri Myong-su was replaced by his deputy, Ri Yong-gil. It said army general Kim Su-gil’s replacement of Kim Jong-gak was confirmed in a North Korean state media report last month.
    The HISO soldiers, sacked and replaced, never heard of that before. It may set a trend for another "Commander in Chief" to follow, he does seem to like appointing new "advisors" on a regular basis.

    Were the three sacked soldiers in front of the AA gun before or after breakfast?
    A tray full of GOLD is not worth a moment in time.

  6. #81
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    In todays news;

    From Fox

    Kim Jong Un terrified someone will kill him at Singapore summit: report

    https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/world...ydc?li=BBqdg4K

    From the Guardian

    US: Kim 'begged' for summit after Trump cancellation

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-korea-summit-

    This is basically a lie from Giuliani

    A snip :

    Giuliani said Trump had no choice but to call off the meeting after the North Koreans insulted vice-president Mike Pence and national security adviser John Bolton and threatened “nuclear annihilation” of the US. “President Trump didn’t take that. What he did was he called off the summit,” Giuliani said.

    Giuliani said Kim quickly changed his position, expressed willingness to discuss denuclearisation and asked to have the meeting again. “That’s what I mean by begging for it,” Giuliani said.
    Both of these from the US, so what are they trying to do? simple and transparent really, they are trying to get Kim to call off the meeting because they dont want to be the ones to do it again.

    They know very well Kim will never give up the nukes because serious retaliation is his only defense against a country which has invaded others and murdered the countries leaders.

    The US knows if they attend this meeting they will come away with nothing but loss of face.

  7. #82
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    Have watched this issue ever since moving to Japan in 1992.
    Bush undid the work Clinton did to get them to come out of isolation.
    All they have ever wanted is a resolution that allows them to emerge whilst keeping face.
    Guilliani's idiotic comments could just derail any chances of a sit down talk - which has always been step one in normalising the situation.
    Trump now sees it as a chance to go down in history --- it's all about ego for him, so it may just go ahead.
    Still, I won't believe it will happen until they are sitting in the same room - but i will not be holding my breath...

  8. #83
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    They really ought to gag that plank giulliani.

  9. #84
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    Whys he even commenting on diplomatic matters anyway

  10. #85
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    indeed, he is a complete nutter anyway, no wonder he joined the Trump camp

  11. #86
    Thailand Expat raycarey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by birding View Post
    Kim Jong Un terrified someone will kill him at Singapore summit: report
    if i were a conspiratorial type, i'd say it's trump who should be worried.

  12. #87
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    North Korea ready to walk away from Trump summit.-sjngapore-png

    The body doubles have arrived. Tis a pity about the Merlion pissing down Orange Boys neck. Is must be female.

    I suppose it's better than this one:

    North Korea ready to walk away from Trump summit.-sjngapore2-png
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails North Korea ready to walk away from Trump summit.-sjngapore2-png   North Korea ready to walk away from Trump summit.-sjngapore-png  
    Last edited by OhOh; 09-06-2018 at 12:01 AM.

  13. #88
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    Kim Jong-un arrives in Singapore ahead of landmark summit
    US President Donald Trump scheduled to arrive in Singapore at 12:30 GMT ahead of highly anticipated nuclear talks.



    North Korean leader Kim Jong-un landed in Singapore, the country's foreign minister said, ahead of a landmark summit with US President Donald Trump.

    "Welcomed Chairman Kim Jong Un, who has just arrived in Singapore," Vivian Balakrishnan said on Twitter on Sunday, with a picture of him shaking hands with the North Korean leader who was wearing glasses and a dark Maoist suit.

    Kim arrived in an Air China 747 that touched down at Changi Airport on Sunday, Singapore's Straits Times reported.

    A cargo plane that accompanied Kim on his recent visit to China also departed the North Korean capital and was likely headed for Singapore, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

    Kim is due to meet Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in the city-state later on Sunday, Singapore's foreign ministry said in a statement.

    The aircraft carrying Kim to the summit took a mostly inland route while flying over China, according to a flight tracking website.

    The Flightradar24 website also showed that there were no civilian planes anywhere near Kim's flight, despite it passing through a usually busy area for such aircraft.

    Meanwhile on Saturday, a direct flight from Pyongyang landed in Singapore, raising speculation that a delegation of North Korean officials had joined an advance team headed by Kim's close aide, Kim Chang Son, who was in Singapore to prepare for the talks.

    Trump is scheduled to arrive at Singapore's Paya Lebar Airbase at 12:30 GMT on Sunday and will stay at the Shangri-La Hotel, according to the White House.

    Officials onboard Air Force One include Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Adviser John Bolton, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders.

    Authorities imposed tight security around the summit venue and related luxury hotels, including installing extra pot plants outside one contender for Kim's accommodation to obstruct reporters' views.

    At stake at the summit are North Korea's nuclear weapons and peace on the Korean Peninsula.

    North Korea spent decades developing nuclear weapons, culminating in the test of a thermonuclear device in 2017. It also successfully tested missiles that had enough range to reach the US mainland.

    The tests came amid a campaign of "maximum pressure," led by Washington, that tightened economic sanctions against Pyongyang and raised the possibility of military action.

    In a New Year's address, Kim said his country had completed development of its nuclear programme and would focus on economic development, suggesting a meeting with South Korea.

    After a flurry of contacts between the two Koreas, South Korean officials suggested to Trump in March that Kim would be willing to meet face-to-face.

    The summit comes after weeks of sometimes-contentious discussions and was briefly cancelled amid North Korean outrage over messaging from some US advisers.

    The Trump-Kim summit, which will be held at the Capella Hotel on Tuesday morning, will mark the first time a North Korean leader has met with a sitting US president.

    The talks will focus on reaching an agreement on the denuclearisation of North Korea in exchange for the easing of economic and diplomatic sanctions.

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/...052755681.html

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    My prediction; they sign a peace treaty, kim gets an agreement for a burger stand to open in NK and a general easing of sanctions while keeping his nukes. Trump returns talking up the yuuge deal he made which amounts to nothing more than Kim getting what he wanted.....another lose/win negotiation from dt

  15. #90
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    I predict Kim and Trump fall out at the meeting and an American secret service agent shoots Kim.



    All planned by the Americans, of course.

  16. #91
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    if trump doesn't storm out in the first hour, there will be vague talk about denuclearization....more specific talk about signing a 'peace agreement' between north and south...and no talk at all about the massive amounts of oil and food to be given to the north.

    kim won before he even got off the plane.

  17. #92
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    I don't know who to support, the crazed, obese dictator with the funny haircut prone to absurdly jingoistic rhetoric, or Kim.

  18. #93
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    ^putting my money on the fat one

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    Fatboy wants security guarantees and welfare. Trump can offer these and more, but can't see him agreeing to anything less than denuking together with at least cosmetic reforms for the rest of his term and hopefully a bit longer.

    Then of course, in light of recent events fatboy needs to weigh the value of a POTUS' signature.

  21. #96
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    Perhaps Kim will ask the US to denuke either...
    Or at least to withdraw their military from SK: "Mr.Trump please ask your friend for advice how they withdraw from Germany almost 30 years ago...

  22. #97
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    Trump thinks it's all about him but Kim has his own agenda.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...m-has-plan-too

  23. #98
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    And Mr Trump has warned the United States could add more sanctions if necessary.


    "If they don't denuclearise, that will not be acceptable," Mr Trump said on Thursday.


    "We cannot take sanctions off. The sanctions are extraordinarily powerful. And I could add a lot more but I've chosen not to do that at this time, but that may happen."
    Donald Trump meets Kim Jong-un: What to expect?

    So Trump goes into this with the position that anything less than Kim giving up nukes is unacceptable, a demand complete with threats in the usual Trump style. Well he will be disappointed.

    And Kim what does he want, well so far there have been nothing but guesses from the west media and 'experts'.

    Possibly for the US not to interfere in a peace process between the north and south.

    But if what I read is correct there is a problem with this as the South Korean constitution does not recognise the north as a separate entity only the whole Korean peninsula under Seoul, so before a peace treaty could be signed that would need to be changed.

    There’s also a legal hurdle. The South Korean constitution defines the territory of South Korea as the whole Korean Peninsula and requires that reunification be based on liberal democracy. This means that recognition of North Korea as a legitimate state on the Korean Peninsula clashes with South Korea’s understanding of its territory and its principle of liberal democracy. What’s the bottom line? Achieving peaceful coexistence may require Moon to amend the constitution.
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.a75cd89b5451

  24. #99
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    Quote Originally Posted by birding View Post
    There’s also a legal hurdle. The South Korean constitution defines the territory of South Korea as the whole Korean Peninsula and requires that reunification be based on liberal democracy. This means that recognition of North Korea as a legitimate state on the Korean Peninsula clashes with South Korea’s understanding of its territory and its principle of liberal democracy. What’s the bottom line? Achieving peaceful coexistence may require Moon to amend the constitution.
    pretty much rules out a peace treaty then

  25. #100
    Thailand Expat jabir's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by birding:
    There’s also a legal hurdle. The South Korean constitution defines the territory of South Korea as the whole Korean Peninsula and requires that reunification be based on liberal democracy. This means that recognition of North Korea as a legitimate state on the Korean Peninsula clashes with South Korea’s understanding of its territory and its principle of liberal democracy. What’s the bottom line? Achieving peaceful coexistence may require Moon to amend the constitution.
    Not much of a hurdle, seeing as one country's constitution cannot legally be imposed on what is not just effectively a different country but one that's still at war.

    Anyway, it's been amended about ten times, so another (unlikely) amendment that accepts the de facto situation makes little difference to the big picture, and makes better sense than rejecting reality. Or leave as is and keep quiet about it for now.

    Of course both sides want as much as they can squeeze, that's the purpose of negotiations, but with everything on the table I reckon at this early stage Trump would be delighted to end up swapping regime guarantees and a perpetual tit for verifiable denuking. Maybe this could eventually lead to NOKO reforms and reunification, but that takes time and if past form is any indication it would need to be sealed within Trump's term.

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