North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly has voted to scrap all agreements signed with South Korea on promoting economic cooperation, the North’s official KCNA news agency reported on Thursday, as the two Koreas’ relations continue to deteriorate sharply.
The assembly, which takes formal steps to adopt policy dictated by the ruling Workers’ Party, also voted to abolish laws governing economic ties with Seoul, including the special law on the operation of the Mount Kumgang tourism project.
The tours to the scenic mountain just north of the eastern border were a symbol of an economic cooperation that began during a period of engagement between the two Koreas in early 2000s, drawing nearly 2 million South Korean visitors.
The project was suspended in 2008 after a South Korean tourist who strayed into a restricted zone was shot and killed by North Korean guards.
Ooh, I do!
Honestly, I think this is mostly symbolic - the economic cooperation between the two governments is about as minimal as it gets anyway, and the tourist scheme was already suspended for nearly a decade. Presumably there were no near term plans to resume the scheme, so it’s not going to bring in any more money for the north. Might as well axe the legislation to give your rival the middle finger if it’s not useful otherwise.
I think it would be an enormous strategic error for NK to engage in war any time soon, given China’s military is not in a healthy state, and Russia is busy in Ukraine. A direct conventional conflict with SK would be extremely difficult to win with the difference in technology, even with their enormous military spending.
And nuclear weapons are, frankly, much more effective as a deterrent than as a weapon itself. Firing them on SK will inevitably trigger response fire from the US nuclear weapons stationed on the peninsula.
Yeah using nuclear weapons would be an extremely stupid idea considering it would cause the US to intervene immediately and with extreme force. I don’t think the US would use nukes, probably, but a full scale land, sea, air invasion would happen for sure.
Would we? How is that spending in Ukraine going?
Ukraine is a different story because Putin has NOT used nukes.
I see. So we do nothing when it is easy for us but we will act when it is dangerous for us?
Yes, that sounds like something we would do.
The US is in a perpetual conundrum where if they intervene, they get shit on for acting like the world police, but if they don’t, they get shit on for not helping.
Why do you think that is? Do you think 2003 might have had something to do with that?
They’re still the only country to ever use them. Twice.
That has nothing to do with the current state of the world.
It makes them also the next most likely candidate.