Nuclear weapons are probably the most important thing to the Kim Family Regime. In the regime's calculus they are key to deterring outside attack, the provide the foundation for blackmail diplomacy, and the can be the source of hard currency. In my opinion there is almost no hope of coercing or co-opting the Kim Family Regime to give up their nuclear program (and missile as well). As long as there is a Kim Family Regime we will have a problem with a nuclear capability on the Peninsula. Excerpt:
North Korea's nuclear weapons are a "treasure" not to be traded for "billions of dollars," the statement said. They "are neither a political bargaining chip nor a thing for economic dealings to be presented to the place of dialogue or be put on the table of negotiations aimed at forcing (Pyongyang) to disarm itself," it said.
North Korea's "nuclear armed forces represent the nation's life, which can never be abandoned as long as the imperialists and nuclear threats exist on earth," the statement said.V/R
Dave
North Korea: Nuclear weapons are a 'treasure'
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Foster Klug, Associated Press
11:31a.m. EDT March 31, 2013
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North Korea has called the U.S. nuclear arsenal a threat to its existence since the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula still technically at war. Pyongyang justifies its own nuclear pursuit in large part on that perceived U.S. threat.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- North Korea's 'nuclear armed forces' represent 'nation's life,' statement says
- Kim Jong Un presided over meeting that called for stronger nuclear arsenal
- North Korea issued a warning Saturday that Korean Peninsula was in 'state of war'
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A top North Korean decision-making body issued a pointed warning Sunday, saying that nuclear weapons are "the nation's life" and will not be traded even for "billions of dollars."
The comments came in a statement released after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un presided over the plenary meeting of the central committee of the ruling Workers' Party. The meeting, which set a "new strategic line" calling for building both a stronger economy and nuclear arsenal, comes amid a series of near-daily threats from Pyongyang in recent weeks, including a vow to launch nuclear strikes on the United States and a warning Saturday that the Korean Peninsula was in a "state of war."
Pyongyang is angry over annual U.S.-South Korean military drills and a new round of U.N. sanctions that followed its Feb. 12 nuclear test, the country's third. Analysts see a full-scale North Korean attack as unlikely and say the threats are more likely efforts to provoke softer policies toward Pyongyang from a new government in Seoul, to win diplomatic talks with Washington that could get the North more aid, and to solidify the young North Korean leader's image and military credentials at home.
North Korea made reference to those outside views in the statement it released through the official Korean Central News Agency following the plenary meeting.
(Continued at the link below)
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