The surprise location of North Korea’s latest missile test is making the US and China nervous

[Right_in_Virginia]

The surprise location of North Korea’s latest missile test is making the US and China nervous
Quartz, Aug 2, 2017, Steve Mollman

When North Korea launched its second intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) last week, of immediate concern was how far the missile traveled, and where it could have reached had it been sent on a lower trajectory (most of the US, as it turns out). But the launch location mattered, too.

In a first, the missile took off from the northern Chagang province. Geolocation wizards quickly found the precise coordinates.

That location will bother both the US and China. In a straight line on the map, from there it’s only about 50 km (31 miles) to the China border—Pyongyang is actually further away.

From Beijing’s perspective, it’s uncomfortably close. That’s no doubt fine with Pyongyang since it isn’t happy with China anyway. Earlier this year it criticized its neighbor for halting imports of North Korean coal. The location “appears to be a message for China,” Kim Yong-hyun, a professor at Seoul’s Dongguk University, told UPI.

From Washington’s point of view, the site’s proximity to China is obviously a concern. The location “is in mountainous terrain close to the border with China, so it is difficult for the US to hit it with a preemptive strike,” Park Hwee-rhak, a professor at Seoul’s Kookmin University, noted to Nikkei Asian Review.


Read more:  https://qz.com/1043172/the-surprise-location-of-north-koreas-latest-missile-test-is-making-the-us-and-china-nervous/

[Right_in_Virginia]

[EasyAce]

It looks like North Korea is begging for trouble. And sooner or later someone's going to give it
to them but good. Right now, it looks like that someone could be the Chinese, if American
forces aren't in position for a pre-emptive strike, but who knows?

[ABX]

I wonder if the Norks beliece this will provide some sort of protection from retaliation, putting it this close to China?

[Fishrrman]

Any effort by the United States to deal with the lil' fat boy and his band of crazies is going to have to gain the assent and approval of China first.

I wouldn't be surprised if highly secret negotiations about this were underway right now.

[EasyAce]

Any effort by the United States to deal with the lil' fat boy and his band of crazies is going to have to gain the assent and approval of China first.

I wouldn't be surprised if highly secret negotiations about this were underway right now.

Either that, or those negotiations turn up with China agreeing to bomb North Korea's nuclear facilities
and the U.S. agreeing on the sly to feign outrage and dismay for public consumption only.