Well, whom the Gods wish to destroy ……

But is Kim-Jong Il (leader of North Korea) insane or just clever?

Or of course both?

There is after all no rationale or logic to the NK gulag, merely the survival of its gruesome regime.

For this the brainwashed people’s attention needs to be constantly diverted away from the utterly-bleak moral, intellectual,  spiritual and physical deprivation of their lives to some external enemy. And of course if no such enemy exists, then it is necessary to invent or – in this case – provoke one.

I would not be surprised if some sort of hostilities broke out, if not from calculation then from miscalculation, as NK is playing a dangerous game.

Could this at last be the turning point we who identify with the NK prisoners have long waited for? The sanctions will definitely  hurt an already tottering NK economy (if you can call it that).  Even the North Koreans, past-masters at brinkmanship, had one day to overplay their hand, as there are hints that they may have now done.

And should hostilities occur, while no doubt they could initially do a great deal of damage to Seoul I wonder if – like all such shoddy regimes – it could all fall apart like a pack of cards?

It is not only the NK people who are habitually starved – NK soldiers are also reported to be  undernourished and low on morale. And what have the people to fight for? Merely to support the regime’s continued existence on a diet of fine foods, fast cars and other imported luxuries while they starve?   

But as ever, all depends on China, which materially and politically supports NK, which is in effect no more than a vast prison camp led by a bloody, murderous gang of utter scum who must surely one day have their Nuremberg (or perhaps Mussolini/Ceausescu) moment.

This alone begs the question of why the free world so constantly sucks up to China and more importantly sustains its economy by buying its artificially-cheap products.

Yes, the land of the free and home of the brave is the major trading partner of a dictatorship that could put an end to the North Korean people’s suffering, but chooses not to. Not only that, any poor soul managing to escape from their NK prison is sent back by the Chinese. You couldn’t make it up …..

The total triumph of greed for cheaper washing-machines and thousands of tons of shoddy plastic artefacts versus support for an entire and utterly oppressed people?

As for the Chinese, one can imagine them inwardly seething at its ally’s (Christ, what a shameful fact) lunacy. For China can in this case no longer sit on the fence. The unprovoked murder of 46 innocent South Koreans has put them on the spot. Ban Ki Moon himself is making angry noises.

Can China REALLY afford a situation where it is NK & China against the entire rest of the world? The next few days will tell, but if – as one fears – China as usual delays and obfuscates, then where will Obama and Clinton sit? The fence is exceedingly uncomfortable, after all.

Some final points. It is often said (principally I believe by China itself) that it fears an NK collapse and mass immigration into China by its people. Surely this is silly? There might WELL be a big exodus in the case of all-out fighting, but I believe this would be brief and, of course, after it is all over the South would take over and – as in Germany – do whatever was necessary to reunite and help all the people. And the idea that NK refugees would feel they had better prospects in China rather than a reunified and free Korea is bizarre.

No, China is still trapped by its post-revolutionary insanity and inhumanity. Oh God, please free them from the chains of their past and from their obsession with not losing face ……

An optimist (are there any left?) might see these latest events as the death throes of the world’s most horrible regime. A pessimist will consider the latest posturings as just another scene in the longest-running political tragedy of our generation. I am in this case an optimist, but of course one who has usually been disappointed.

POSTSCRIPT: I notice that a NK football team just drew 2-2 in an international “friendly” with  Greece. Can anyone explain why the West banned sport with South Africa over apartheid but seems to rejoice in allowing sport with North Korea?

The apartheid regime was nasty; no problems with the boycott for me. But there is no comparison in the awfulness of NK with the old SA regime, nasty though it was. Do the Greek footballers have ANY idea of the barbarity of the NK regime? How can Greece – home of democracy – PLAY with representatives of mass-murderers? A serious reality check is in order here.

By Chris Snuggs