[tomder55]

and the only military adventurism in the region is yours,

lol , uninhabited islands is an irrelevant classification Yes there are mineral rights ,that's one issue .The greater one is the Chinese plan to control the inner and outer island chains as a defense perimeter . They want the whole region from the shores of Vietnam to the Japanese islands to be in their military sphere of influence. You may think that's irrelevant . I call it a matter of sovereignty .
No aggression ? What a joke !
India protests over China border incursion - FT.com
China plans next generation of carriers as sea disputes broaden - Livemint
Philippines: China Has An Invasion Plan That Is Working
Chinese vessels drive out Japanese boats from disputed islands - The Economic Times

Everywhere I look in the region I see Chinese aggression.

[paraclete]

lol , uninhabited islands is an irrelevent classification Yes there are mineral rights ,that's one issue .The greater one is the Chinese plan to control the inner and outer island chains as a defense perimeter . They want the whole region from the shores of Vietnam to the Japanese islands to be in their military sphere of influence. You may think that's irrelevent . I call it a matter of sovereignty .
No aggression ? What a joke !
India protests over China border incursion - FT.com
China plans next generation of carriers as sea disputes broaden - Livemint
Philippines: China Has An Invasion Plan That Is Working
Chinese vessels drive out Japanese boats from disputed islands - The Economic Times

Everywhere I look in the region I see Chinese aggression.

And the interesting thing is your don't see your own
China blasts US for Asia-Pacific military build-up | World news | guardian.co.uk

[tomder55]

Yeah nice spin. But do you really think Emperor 0 would be shifting assets East if he did not see the threat the Chinese pose on our allies there ? Please ! If he had his druthers ,he'd dismantle most if the US military . But reality hit him right between the eyes .

[paraclete]

yeah nice spin. But do you really think Emperor 0 would be shifting assets East if he did not see the threat the Chinese pose on our allies there ? Please ! If he had his druthers ,he'd dismantle most if the US military . But reality hit him right between the eyes .

I think most of these threats you see are political rhetoric for internal consumption

Let's have a look at NK from a different perspective, for example
What if we're wrong about North Korea? Australian Professor Stewart Lone argues | News.com.au

Not necessarily as you or I might have seen it?

[tomder55]

How bad are human rights in North Korea?
Millions of people in North Korea suffer extreme forms of repression and human rights violations that violate nearly the entire spectrum of their human rights. In January 2013, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said that North Korea had “one of the worst –but least understood and reported - human rights situations in the world”.

Hundreds of thousands of people—including children—are arbitrarily held in political prison camps and other detention facilities where they are subjected to human rights violations like forced labour, denial of food as punishment, torture and public executions.

Many of those held in political prison camps are simply the family members of those deemed unfriendly to the regime, arbitrarily detained as a form of collective punishment.

Hundreds, possibly thousands, of victims of enforced disappearances and abductions by North Korea Include nationals of South Korea, Japan, Lebanon and Thailand.Are human rights improving under the new leadership of Kim Jong-Un?
No.

Unverified reports received by Amnesty International claim that the North Korean government has purged possibly hundreds of officials deemed to be a threat to Kim Jong-un's succession, by having them executed or sent to political prison camps..

In 2011, as North Korea prepared for its leadership succession, prison camps appeared to be growing in size according to satellite imagery obtained by Amnesty International.

In March, analysis of new satellite images by Amnesty International showed that North Korean government is blurring the lines between a political prison camp (kwanliso 14) and the surrounding population, raising fears of widescale increases in restrictions and controls of people living near prison camps.

In October 2012, there were reports that one political prison camp (kwanliso 22 in Hoeryong, North Hamkyung Province) was reportedly closed after Kim Jong-Un came to power, but what has happened to its 20-50,000 inmates is a mystery.

Are North Koreans still starving?
Despite small increases in household food consumption reportedly due to recent improved harvests, food insecurity and chronic malnutrition remain widespread, and millions remain dependent on food aid.

Reports continue of people dying of starvation. Nearly a million North Koreans have starved to death since the 1990s.
The country's famines and food crises have been largely invisible because of political controls, including restrictions on the movement of both North Koreans and staff of international humanitarian agencies, and the near-total suppression of freedom of expression, information and association.

Amnesty International has reported on the devastating human rights impact of North Korea's food and health crisis.

How do people escape North Korea?
Despite tight restrictions on movement and dire consequences for breaching these, tens of thousands of North Koreans take on the grave risks to cross the border without permission into China every year, most in search of food. China considers all undocumented North Koreans to be economic migrants and if caught, forcibly returns them to North Korea where they risk incarceration in the political prison camp system where conditions remain horrific. Inmates face torture and ill-treatment, and denial of food as punishment.

What do North Koreans in the country think about their situation?
We do not know, as there is no independent domestic media, no known independent opposition political parties, no independent civil society, and criticism of the government is punished by incarceration in a political prison camp or detention facility.

Are North Koreans on Twitter?
Only a select few people in the country have internet access, mostly through a closely monitored intranet network. Use of mobile phones is heavily restricted.

What is the international community doing about North Korea's human rights crisis?
The UN Human Rights Council decided in March 2013 to establish a year long Commission of Inquiry to investigate a range of “systematic, widespread and grave” human rights violations including crimes against humanity. In North Korea. Amnesty International welcomed the wide mandate given to the Commission.

The move to establish the Commission has come after years of UN resolutions and condemnations targeting North Korea's human rights record.

The North Korean authorities refuse to recognize or grant access to international human rights monitors, including the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North Korea and international human rights organizations like Amnesty International.

What is Amnesty International's position on the use of nuclear weapons?
Amnesty International opposes the use, possession, production and transfer of nuclear weapons, given their indiscriminate nature. Amnesty International also stresses that the use of chemical and biological weapons in armed conflicts is prohibited by international law (Biological Weapon Convention 1972, Chemical Weapons Convention 1992).

Q&A: North Korea

[paraclete]

Yes Tom we know all that but it is interesting to get a different perspective

[paraclete]

I see Kim Jung un will not be ignored shootting rockets into the sea of Japan perhaps it's a new form of whaling?

[paraclete]

It seems the NK have an endless supply of short range rockets and they want everyone to know it. It's sad when you get ignored even though you are doing your best to be noticed from the naughty corner. I wonder what the fish think of all this?

[tomder55]

If they are testing short range missiles ,that means there is probably some upgrade the Iranians are looking to transfer to Hezbollah .

[paraclete]

Yes could be or it just could be they are trying to intimidate South Korea, perhaps they just want to be sure the design works they might have got an update from Iran, I guess that ols axis of evil thing still works