Pyongyang

Authored by Dave Majumdar via The National Interest,

"It is time to think about the unthinkable..."

The standoff between the United States and North Korea continues to escalate with neither side willing to back down.

With each passing day, the possibility of open warfare breaking out seems to increase as each side ups the ante. Indeed, President Donald Trump has ratcheted up his rhetoric in recent days—seemingly threatening to launch a nuclear first strike against North Korea.

Authored by Pepe Escobar via The Asia Times,

Alarm bells ringing as rampant speculation breaks out over Pyongyang’s ‘possible’ miniaturized nuclear warheads.

Beware the dogs of war.

The same intel “folks” who brought to you babies pulled from incubators by “evil” Iraqis as well as non-existent WMDs are now peddling the notion that North Korea has produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead able to fit its recently tested ICBM.

While President Trump is more than willing to tweet or comment ad hoc his feelings about any of several crucial geopolitical hotspots, the Chinese prefer the more subtle approach. With their India border tensions, officials pen 'threatening' articles; but with North Korea, it appears the government prefers a well known mouthpiece - The China Global Times - to send a message to America - simply put, back off the rhetoric before this goes pear-shaped because North Korea has nothing to lose...

One day after Kim Jong Un's regime balked at this weekend's UN sanctions, promising retaliation and threatening to attack the US with a nuclear weapon, Japan's government has released a new 500-page report in which it warns that the threat from North Korean nuclear weapons has reached a “new stage” and that Pyongyang’s weapons program had “advanced considerably,” to the point where it was possible that the regime had acquired the ability to miniaturize nuclear warheads.

Two days after President Donald Trump tweeted he was "very disappointed" in China
following Pyongyang's latest missile test adding that "we will no longer allow this to continue", Beijing has hit back at Trump on Monday, saying the problem did not
arise in China and that all sides need to work for a solution, according to a statement sent to Reuters by China's Foreign Ministry.