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Back in September, I commented on the resumption of Russia-North Korea joint naval maneuvers. Not be to be left out, according to the Tokyo Shimbun, China has indicated that it will extend its policy of interdicting North Korean refugees from the land to the sea the Chinese and North Korean navies would also begin joint naval search and rescue drills.
The US and South Korea are upping the ante with joint exercises involving US Navy and Marine forces in the vicinity of the disputed Northern Limit Line, the scene of two military actions in the past two years. We got the head’s up from our favorite former USAF Staff Sergeant, the ICG’s Dan Pinkston. Another seasoned observer who shall remain nameless agrees with Dan that we are entering a dangerous period, in particular that “next summer could be kinetic”--apart from the temptation to attempt to influence South Korea’s upcoming presidential election, “if North Korea successfully 'opens the doors to a strong and prosperous nation', step two will be to placate the hardliners upset about North Korea’s restraint in the face of South Korean political provocations.“
And just in case the North Koreans did not get the memo, US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin were quite blunt on the issue of joint retaliation to provocations in their joint press conference last week.
