North Korea nuclear program accelerating

[The Barbarian]

North Korea making ‘rapid’ improvements to nuclear reactor despite Trump-Kim agreement

The satellite photos, obtained by North Korea analysis outlet 38 North, indicate that the isolated regime is making numerous improvements to its Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center “at a rapid pace.”
The report comes just over two weeks after President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed an agreement that called for a denuclearized Korean peninsula.

is upgrading its only known nuclear research facility, satellite imagery has shown, despite ongoing negotiations with multiple world leaders and a pledge to abandon its weapons program.

The satellite photos, obtained by North Korea analysis outlet 38 North, indicate that the isolated regime is making numerous improvements to its Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center “at a rapid pace.”

The report comes just over two weeks after President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed an agreement that called for a denuclearized Korean peninsula.

38 North is a U.S.-based project that looks to gather the insight of several long-time observers of North Korea. The site, which is perhaps best known for its monitoring of Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program, is affiliated with experts at both the Stimson Center and non-profit Foreign Policy Research Institute.
...
Earlier this month, Kim Jong Un committed to “complete denuclearization” in meetings with Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae In. However, critics of the deal said the agreement lacked specific details of exactly how and when that would happen while offering too much to North Korea in return.

 

[Rusha]

Like this couldn't have been predicted ...

 

[The Barbarian]

Well, there goes the Nobel Peace Prize. He's still in the running for the Neville Chamberlain Peace In Our Time Prize, though.

 

[The Barbarian]

Among Trump's accomplishments:
Turning John Bolton into a starry-eyed Pollyanna:
A PLAN TO DISARM NORTH KOREA IN A YEAR, via The Associated Press: “The United States has a plan that would lead to the dismantling of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs in a year, President Donald Trump’s national security adviser said Sunday, although U.S. intelligence reported signs that Pyongyang doesn’t intend to fully give up its arsenal.

“John Bolton said top U.S. diplomat Mike Pompeo will be discussing that plan with North Korea in the near future. Bolton added that it would be to the North’s advantage to cooperate to see sanctions lifted quickly and aid from South Korea and Japan start to flow.
https://www.politico.com/newsletter...ays-north-korea-could-disarm-in-a-year-269194


Numerous news reports came out over the weekend with evidence from US intelligence agencies that North Korea is increasing the production of nuclear fuel at secret sites, expanding its missile capabilities, and has no intention of dismantling its nuclear arsenal.

Yet it seems like the Trump administration is either unaware of or is simply ignoring what US intelligence agencies are saying. On CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday, National Security Adviser John Bolton said the US could dismantle North Korea’s nuclear program in a year’s time.

That seems unlikely because Pyongyang’s arsenal is quite advanced — and, as all these recent news reports suggest, the country is only improving that weapons stockpile.

The question now is whether the Trump administration will continue to believe North Korea is on the verge of dismantling its hard-won nuclear program or whether they’ll return to a more confrontational approach to Pyongyang.
https://www.vox.com/world/2018/7/2/17525376/north-korea-trump-nuclear-satellite-facility

 

[Foxfire]

North Korea backing away from denuclearization. :think:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa-pompeo-resolve/north-korea-says-resolve-for-denuclearisation-may-falter-after-talks-with-u-s-kcna-idUSKBN1JX0LM

 

[Danoh]

North Korea backing away from denuclearization. :think:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa-pompeo-resolve/north-korea-says-resolve-for-denuclearisation-may-falter-after-talks-with-u-s-kcna-idUSKBN1JX0LM

Exactly as I'd observed: that the North Koreans and the Chinese would be playing Trump for the fraud of a negotiator he has been throughout his entire life-long farce of throwing borrowed money at a problem and then claiming some supposed great negotiating on his part.

The man is a life-long fraud the NK and the C both used to too easily play out Sun Tzu's masterpiece on "The Art of War" with.

They played him through his vanity, right into where they can now blame him for the failure of what they'd had no intention on honoring all along, once more.

Speaking of fraud, I'm surprised little mention has been made of the fact that Justice Kennedy's corrupt son was a major loan officer with Deutsche Bank in Trump's pocket, back during Trump's various corrupt money laundering schemes through them.

 

[Catholic Crusader]

16 years of Clinton and Obama gave us this tragedy, and all the half-witted imbeciles in this thread are mad because Trump could not fix it in one day. Further proof that anti-Trump freaks are losers.

 

[The Barbarian]

Wait, did't Trump say we no longer had to worry about North Korea's nuclear weapons?

President Donald Trump declared Wednesday that the North Korean regime no longer poses a nuclear threat following his summit with Kim Jong Un, even though the meeting produced no verifiable proof that the rogue regime will discontinue its nuclear program.
In a series of tweets, Trump sought to take political credit for the summit but risked undermining the US strategy in the region.
"Just landed - a long trip, but everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office," Trump tweeted as he arrived back in Washington. "There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea."

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/13/politics/trump-north-korea-nuclear-threat/index.html

POMPEO EMBARRASSED
Trump’s North Korea Policy Just Collapsed
Pyongyang, by humiliating Secretary of State Pompeo, exposed the fallacy at the heart of American policy.
On Saturday North Korea’s foreign ministry called just-completed talks with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “regrettable.” They were, the ministry said, “very concerning” because they could lead to a “dangerous phase that might rattle our willingness for denuclearization that had been firm.”

The ministry also complained about America’s “gangster-like mindset.”

The statement embarrassed Pompeo, who just hours before issued a sunny assessment of the two-day discussions. There had been, he said, “progress on almost all of the central issues.”

Perhaps the foreign ministry statement was just another example of Pyongyang’s negotiating tactics, but it nonetheless signaled the collapse of President Donald Trump’s North Korea policy.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-north-korea-policy-just-collapsed

 

[Catholic Crusader]

Wait, did't Trump say we no longer had to worry about North Korea's nuclear weapons?......

You are obviously clueless about how Trump puts things out in the news for the other side to consumed. You are ignorant art an alarming level. We are a couple of weeks into this undertaking. It will work, but no thanks to hate-mongers and liars like you

 

[The Barbarian]

Wait, did't Trump say we no longer had to worry about North Korea's nuclear weapons?

President Donald Trump declared Wednesday that the North Korean regime no longer poses a nuclear threat following his summit with Kim Jong Un, even though the meeting produced no verifiable proof that the rogue regime will discontinue its nuclear program.
In a series of tweets, Trump sought to take political credit for the summit but risked undermining the US strategy in the region.
"Just landed - a long trip, but everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office," Trump tweeted as he arrived back in Washington. "There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea."
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/13/polit...eat/index.html

You are obviously clueless about how Trump puts things out in the news for the other side to consumed.

So when he said that to the American people, he was just lying to us? I don't think so. He got snockered by the North Koreans, who got him to abandon joint U.S./South Korea military exercises, with nothing to show for it. He actually thought he could get an agreement. Kim laughed at him and simply ignored his requests.

You are ignorant art an alarming level. We are a couple of weeks into this undertaking. It will work,

It just fell apart. Kim got what he wanted, and did nothing, as Trump had been warned before.

 

[annabenedetti]

Tony Schwartz, Trump's ghostwriter, nails it down:

"Statement from North Korea today slamming U.S. makes clear that Trump got totally snookered and duped by Kim Jung Un. Trump gave a mass murderer worldwide legitimacy in return for nothing. North Koreans realized the easiest person to con is a narcissist. It only takes flattery."

 

[drbrumley]

OMG, the other side didn't give in completely and immediately to what we want, it's all a failure!!! You aren't very familiar with the concept of "negotiations" are you? Hint: Obama-era Iran accords, much less complex, took 15 months. Some Cold War deals with USSR took years.

 

[rexlunae]

You are obviously clueless about how Trump puts things out in the news for the other side to consumed. You are ignorant art an alarming level. We are a couple of weeks into this undertaking. It will work, but no thanks to hate-mongers and liars like you

Trump said that we didn't have to worry about North Korea. He was lying. Of course, he will never admit that, and you will always have an excuse for his lies, but it's quite obvious.

 

[rexlunae]

OMG, the other side didn't give in completely and immediately to what we want, it's all a failure!!!

What part of what Trump did over there looked like a negotiation to you? Trump just tried to declare victory without accomplishing anything, and his all-to-eager to agree base just went right along with it. All that he has done is empower North Korea and Putin.

We called off our joint exercises with the South Koreans for this? You think they'll be back on now?

You aren't very familiar with the concept of "negotiations" are you? Hint: Obama-era Iran accords, much less complex, took 15 months. Some Cold War deals with USSR took years.

Is it generally a good negotiating tactic to give away everything without demanding anything in return?

Here's what North Korea got:
1. Kim gets a face-to-face with Trump, lending him enormous legitimacy.
2. Trump cancels the joint military exercises with South Korea, a huge give-away that Kim and Putin have been seeking for a long time.

And here's what we got:
Trump's vague assurance that North Korea would denuclearize. Which, of course, everyone who pays any attention to the situation knows they would never, ever do. At least, not for free.

You want to talk about the complexity of these deals? Obama's team hammered out an agreement over months. The JCPOA was 18 pages in the core document, and included 5 annexes of 6-15 pages. It specified what specific requirements were placed on Iran, what the UN would do, and what the E3+3 would do, and how verification would occur for the duration of the agreement. It's not a perfect deal, but we got something out of it.

Trump signed a single sheet of paper. And no American knew what it said when he did. It gave us nothing but an empty promise that no one could exactly explain.

This man is either working for the Russians, or he's so lazy and stupid and eager for a W that he might as well be.

 

[rexlunae]

Tony Schwartz, Trump's ghostwriter, nails it down:

"Statement from North Korea today slamming U.S. makes clear that Trump got totally snookered and duped by Kim Jung Un. Trump gave a mass murderer worldwide legitimacy in return for nothing. North Koreans realized the easiest person to con is a narcissist. It only takes flattery."

I don't think Trump was duped. I think his base was. He never cared about the outcome in Singapore. Putin said to normalize Kim, and find an excuse to end our joint drills with the South Koreans, and that's what he did.

 

[Kit the Coyote]

OMG, the other side didn't give in completely and immediately to what we want, it's all a failure!!! You aren't very familiar with the concept of "negotiations" are you? Hint: Obama-era Iran accords, much less complex, took 15 months. Some Cold War deals with USSR took years.

This is typically why smart presidents don't involve themselves directly in negotiations until the ambassadors and negotiation teams have hammered out a solid agreement. Usually not having a summit until there is an actual treaty ready to sign.

 

[annabenedetti]

I don't think Trump was duped. I think his base was. He never cared about the outcome in Singapore. Putin said to normalize Kim, and find an excuse to end our joint drills with the South Koreans, and that's what he did.

I don't know. In his unhinged mind, he thinks he's king and he can just snap his fingers and make things happen. In his mind: why not? Delusions of grandeur.

Anyway, yeah. His base was duped, but willingly duped. Because MAGA.

 

[drbrumley]

We called off our joint exercises with the South Koreans for this? You think they'll be back on now?

Glad we did and no.

 

[rexlunae]

Glad we did and no.

So, you support unilateral concessions to the North Koreans?

 

[drbrumley]

So, you support unilateral concessions to the North Koreans?

What makes you think that's the case?