Again--the North Korean threat looms large.
As many of our readers know, China Confidential was first to report that North Korea plans to detonate another nuclear device. We have since repeatedly said that the Stalinist/Kimist state could conduct its second nuclear test as early as July 4 in order to overshadow U.S. Independence Day.We were right again in 2009. The North conducted nuclear and missile tests to mar the May 25 Memorial Day holiday; and Foreign Confidential thus became the only media outlet in the world to have accurately predicted the precise dates of Pyongyang's first two nuclear detonations.
In fact, North Korea could be aiming for a different U. S. holiday. Pyongyang could be moving to test a nuclear weapon this month. An underground explosion on or around Monday, May 25 is possible. The last Monday in May is Memorial Day and the unofficial start of the summer vacation season in the United States.
China Confidential analysts also expect the Stalinist/Kimist state to test-fire more missiles, especially medium-range ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons and striking both Japan and South Korea.
China Confidential accurately predicted on October 5, 2006 that North Korea would conduct its first-ever nuclear weapon test on Oct. 9, 2006.
Foreign Confidential also reported that Iranian nuclear experts assisted the second North Korean nuclear test.
North Korea, which has since tested three more nuclear devices--including two in 2016, along with more than 20 ballistic missiles in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions--now threatens to test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) ahead of President Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday, January 20.
If history is a guide, the North will launch its ICBM on inauguration day, or one or two days ahead of it, in order to overshadow the U. S. transfer of political power and create an unprecedented national security crisis for the outgoing and incoming administrations.
And, if history is a guide, too, a delegation from Iran--North Korea's nuclear/missile proliferation partner--will attend the illicit launch.
The North believes it can hide behind China--which is committed to maintaining the Kimist regime as a buffer against the U. S.--and, if push comes to shove, strike the U. S. asymmetrically. The North sees the nearly 30,000 U. S. troops stationed in South Korea--and U. S. coastal cities--as exceptionally vulnerable targets. The troops can quickly be overrun by the North's more than one million-strong military, in Pyongyang's view, and there is no known U. S. coastal city defense against missiles fired from ships.
Foreign Confidential analysts suspect the North has a fleet of seemingly civilian cargo vessels flying flags of convenience carrying containerized launch systems armed with conventional--and, possibly, also nuclear--ballistic missiles.
