Newsfront
U.S. May Face Chinese Troops Across Tense Korean Border
Kim Jong Il’s demise could well lead to more influence from neighboring China.
W BY JOHN FUND
hen north korea’s Kim Jong Il died in December, most Amer- icans were only aware
of him as a cartoon villain — a kind of real-life Dr. Evil with a bouffant hair- do, oversized sunglasses, and a ward- robe of drab boiler suits. He was even lampooned in a 2004 puppet movie, Team America: World Police. But the legacy he left behind was
anything but humorous. The day after his death, the country’s saber-rattling military tested a short-range mis- sile. The country’s nuclear weapons program continues, with fears that miniaturized versions of completed weapons may soon be available for purchase by rogue countries ranging from Syria to Iran. Kim Jong Un, who became the country’s leader upon his father’s death, is only approaching 30 and is known to be both ruthless and petulant. Given the depravity
and brutal nature of the North Korean regime, it is astonishing that the
10 NEWSMAX | FEBRUARY 2012
ON GUARD U.S. and South Korean soldiers stand guard at a border town between North and South Korea. The South remains on alert as the North transitions power.
world has failed to do more to under- mine it. The U.S. continues to send the North food aid, even though much or most of it is stolen by the military without reaching its intended recipients. In the United Na-
Former Congressman PETE HOEKSTRA: North Korea will continue to be belligerent.
SEE VIDEO AT:
newsmax.com/SeeTV
tions, 16 nations actually opposed a recent resolu- tion condemning human rights violations in the Hermit Kingdom. Anoth- er 51 nations abstained from signing. As human rights reporter Claudia Rosett points out, “Those abstentions came after
the resolution was revised to include praise for North Korea’s ‘collabora- tion’ with assorted U.N. agencies.” Kim Jong Un’s inexperience will
likely mean power will increasingly flow to the North Korean military, which already exercises great influ- ence. Former U.S. diplomat Christo- pher Hill, who spent years fruitlessly negotiating with the North Koreans to end their nuclear arms program, believes the country is heading toward being ruled by a de facto military junta with Kim Jong Un as the front man. This likely means a much greater
role for China in the country’s affairs. “Beijing has, for decades, been buying
SOLDIERS/CHUNG SUNG-JUN/GETTY IMAGES
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92