Reuters is reporting this afternoon that that U.S. and China reached a deal that “significantly expands” U.N. sanctions on North Korea for its third nuclear test, eliciting a renewed threat by Pyongyang to scrap an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War. North Korea also said it would sever a military “hotline” with the United States if South Korea and Washington pressed on with two-month-long war games. China’s U.N. ambassador, Li Baodong, told Reuters the 15-nation Security Council was aiming for a Thursday vote on a draft sanctions resolution, which was agreed to by Washington and Beijing after three weeks of negotiations. The landmark move, in which China finally seems to have agreed to taking action rather than merely disapproval, still has to unfold. But it is different and reveals the growing concern in China that North Korea might somehow trigger a war. In any such conflict, North Korea would be beaten but the death toll and social impact of the regime’s collapse is troubling to most parties. North Korea’s response to the news is revealing as well. It has not threatened a cataclysm as it frequently does, nor does it dare say a word against China. China, U.S. agree on new action against N. Korea
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Reuters is reporting this afternoon that that U.S. and China reached a deal that “significantly expands” U.N. sanctions on North Korea for its third nuclear test, eliciting a renewed threat by Pyongyang to scrap an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War. North Korea also said it would sever a military “hotline” with the United States if South Korea and Washington pressed on with two-month-long war games. China’s U.N. ambassador, Li Baodong, told Reuters the 15-nation Security Council was aiming for a Thursday vote on a draft sanctions resolution, which was agreed to by Washington and Beijing after three weeks of negotiations. The landmark move, in which China finally seems to have agreed to taking action rather than merely disapproval, still has to unfold. But it is different and reveals the growing concern in China that North Korea might somehow trigger a war. In any such conflict, North Korea would be beaten but the death toll and social impact of the regime’s collapse is troubling to most parties. North Korea’s response to the news is revealing as well. It has not threatened a cataclysm as it frequently does, nor does it dare say a word against China. 