Trump Spits Fire: DPRK Stands Firm!

By New Worker correspondent

Imperialist war-lord Donald Trump continues to spit fire at north Korea whilst his armada stands off the Korean peninsula and his nuclear bombers hover over the occupied south. The Americans want the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to unilaterally and unconditionally abandon its nuclear deterrent, threatening all sorts of nonsense if this doesn’t happen. The US imperialists warn that the “era of strategic patience” is over whilst their emissaries go into top gear across Asia to drum up support amongst their vassals and puppets for renewed American aggression.

Some believe Trump’s brinkmanship is largely to speed up the deployment of the US THAAD missile system in south Korea and influence the puppet regime’s forthcoming elections in favour of the most aggressive and venal sections of the south Korean ruling class. Others fear that it marks a new stage in the US bid to control both sides of the Pacific Rim and extend their hegemony throughout Asia.

Two American B-1 Lancer supersonic bombers conducted joint exercises with south Korean war-planes on Monday, before staging a separate drill with fighter jets from the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier that heads the naval strike group in waters near the Korean coast.

The DPRK called the exercises an "extremely reckless move” that was pushing the region towards nuclear war; and the Korean People’s Army staged its own show of force with live-fire exercises along the coast that involved 300 heavy artillery pieces, the largest drill in the army’s history.

This week Trump said he was prepared to meet DPRK leader Kim Jong Un "under the right circumstances”. "If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely, I would be honoured to do it," Trump said – but his officials later said that such a meeting is unlikely in the near future.

   Meanwhile People’s China is urging urged all parties to take on their responsibilities and find a breakthrough to resume peace talks at an early date.

Trump is publicly urging China to pressurise the DPRK into halting its missile and nuclear defence programmes following apparently successful talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in April.

No-one knows what was agreed behind closed doors at the Trump mansion in Florida last month, or whether the halt to imports of north Korean coal reflects a new rapprochement between Washington and Beijing.

Overall trade between the DPRK and China has risen this year despite sanctions, which in any case do not apply to all north Korean exports. What is true is that China broke ranks with the Russians at the UN Security Council last month by refusing to join the Kremlin in vetoing a US-led motion that sought to sanction Syria for the poison gas attack in a rebel-controlled area last month.

Although the Democratic Korean government has said nothing directly about the Chinese stance, the DPRK’s national media ran a commentary last week denouncing a “neighbouring country” for “dancing to the tune of others”.

It said: “Not a single word about the US act of pushing the situation on the Korean peninsula to the brink of a war after introducing hugest-ever strategic assets into the waters off the Korean peninsula is made, but such rhetoric as ‘necessary step’ and ‘reaction at decisive level’ is openly heard from a country around the DPRK to intimidate it over its measures for self-defence.”

This country: “is talking rubbish that the DPRK has to reconsider the importance of relations with it and that it can help preserve security of the DPRK and offer necessary support and aid for its economic prosperity, claiming the latter will not be able to survive the strict ‘economic sanctions’ by someone.

“Its official media claimed on 18^th April that the DPRK's pursuance of a nuclear and missile programme made the US, which had been its rival in the past, its supporter now. The question is what the DPRK should call that country and how the DPRK should deal with it in the future…

“If this country keeps applying economic sanctions on the DPRK while dancing to the tune of someone after misjudging the will of the DPRK, it may be applauded by the enemies of the DPRK but it should get itself ready to face the catastrophic consequences in the relations with the DPRK. The DPRK will defend its dignity and build a paradise for the people with its own efforts, rallied close around the respected Supreme Leader.”