North Korea says it's launched a third hypersonic missile, this time reaching Mach 10 North Korean state-sponsored media has said it launched a third hypersonic missile on Tuesday, hitting a target at sea 1,000km (621 miles) away. According to news agency KCNA, President Kim Jong Un attended the test-fire. "Toward daybreak, the Juche weapon representing the power of the DPRK roared to soar into sky, brightening …
Interesting that NK has the talent and resources to get something to Mach 10, when I hear it's not an easy feat (all the heating is a huge pain, I understand).
Just a thought :
Would it benefit China to get NK to be "it's test lab" by getting NK to test out new toys that China itself created, but does not want to be seen testing? China may have to send "observers" to NK to make sure whatever toys they send to NK to test does not get reverse engineered, just like China itself is doing with US, Russia, Japan, etc. This may end up giving China "hidden capabilities" that are not known to exist in China by the rest of the world.
In return NK may get some lesser toys or food or hard currency or prestige of having some "cool toys", etc.
The thting is, North Korea and China don't actually get along. China sees NK as a necessary evil, as a unified Korea on it's border is a worse scenario. It really is not happy about a hard-to-control state with nukes, and now possibly hypersonic non-ballistic delivery devices that can hit most of China, being next door.
Quite honestly?
I'd bet a large sum of money that many (perhaps most) American voters would agree to lose LA if it were guaranteed that DC would also be vapo(u)rized, along with all current national politicians, sycophants, hangers-on and lobbyists. Many would also throw in NYC as a freebee.
Regardless, it'll never happen, for better or for worse.
When the borders are closed and to try to leave is to be killed (and China happily sends back anyone trying to leave through their border, in order to be shot in NK). People in NK have to make the most of what they can in NK.
If someone has a modicium of Talent, then they have the choice of working for the regime or starving to death working some frozen field. So they go to work for the regime.
If you work for the regime, you get to live in a bit of comfort (compared to those starving to death in the frozen fields), but if you fail in your appointed task you will be shot. That provides a significant motivation to work really hard and find solutions.
If you're working for the regime's weapons programs, then you have the best comfort, the best funding the regime can provide, and the absolute knowledge that if you fail, you, and likely all of your family, will pay the consequences.
Based on just that level of motivation, NK dont really need China's help for any of this stuff. Maybe for some specific materials, training and hardware, but most of it they can do themselves.
If the rest of the world, wanted to really see the Kim Regime fall (so basically everyone other than China), then the best thing they could do would be to work out a way to create a relatively safe and porous border across and out of NK. The first people across it would be those that make up the scientific and engineering brains of the regime...
"If the rest of the world, wanted to really see the Kim Regime fall (so basically everyone other than China), then the best thing they could do would be to work out a way to create a relatively safe and porous border across and out of NK."
An interesting concept. Sadly, they have a pretty solid and almost impassable border with South Korea, who would be ultra suspicious of anyone coming over anyway, a huge border with China who, as you say, have no interest in this and will send "illegal immigrants" back, and a short land border with Russia. I doubt Putin has any interest in the idea either. Which only leaves the existing sea borders, and that doesn't seem to be an option as few if any are trying to get out that way either.
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