That pesky little hermit country of North Korea

Editor's note: This is excellent news for the Pentagon's weapon manufacturers and Lloyd Austin with his connections to Raytheon (now RTX Corporation) who couldn't be any happier about North Korea launching a "new intercontinental ballistic missile." It's almost as if the Pentagon through its private intelligence networks makes a phone call to North Korea's Kim Jong Un Chum Chum and asks him to send up another "threatening missile" to justify more billions defending South Korea. Does anyone ever consider where North Korea sources its microprocessors and parts from to build these missiles? Western intelligence agencies don't know where the parts originate? Russia and North Korea now have a military alliance while the US has a weapons buyer in South Korea. Then the US vassal state in Japan gets paranoid about North Korea launching missiles causing the Japanese to consider buying more US weapons. This is called "profitable escalation."
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US ready to back South Korea with nuclear weapons – Pentagon

Washington and Seoul have "an unequivocal nuclear based alliance," US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said

October 31, 2024 | By RT

The US is ready to support South Korea with both its nuclear and non-nuclear military capabilities, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stated on Wednesday.

The statement comes as tensions on the Korean Peninsula are on the rise – and just before North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile on Thursday.

Washington and Seoul will be ramping up their defense cooperation and large-scale military exercises, Austin said in a Pentagon press briefing Wednesday alongside South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun.

"I assured Minister Kim today that the United States remains fully committed to the defense of the ROK and our extended deterrence commitment remains ironclad," Austin said. "That commitment is backed by the full range of America's conventional missile defense, nuclear and advanced non-nuclear capabilities."

He added that the US and South Korea will be returning "to large scale exercises" and "strengthening [their] combined readiness and our interoperability."

Read more Russian parliament ratifies security treaty with North Korea

North Korea has blamed Seoul and Washington's combined military drills for the rising tensions in the region, as it views the exercises as rehearsals for a potential invasion. Earlier this month, Pyongyang destroyed roads and railways connecting the two Koreas, cutting potential ground routes into North Korea.

On Thursday, Seoul reported a possible ICBM launch by Pyongyang towards the East Sea. North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un confirmed that Pyongyang conducted an ICBM test in response to their adversaries' “dangerous nuclear alliance."

"The Democratic People's Republic of Korea affirms that it will never change its course of strengthening its nuclear arsenal," state-run news agency KCNA cited Kim as saying. He stressed that the test was an "appropriate" response to "the enemies' dangerous nuclear alliance-strengthening maneuvers and various adventurous military activities" threatening Pyongyang's safety.

The US also accuses North Korea of aiding Russia in the Ukraine conflict. According to the Pentagon, Pyongyang has sent 10,000 troops to Russia for training and potential deployment against Kiev. Russian President Vladimir Putin has neither confirmed nor denied the claims made by Ukraine and its backers about the North Korean troops.

READ MORE: US claims 10,000 North Korean troops in Russia

Asked last week about the claims, he noted that Moscow and Pyongyang have signed a bilateral treaty which provides for military cooperation – and whether this entails more than joint drills and training is up to Russia and North Korea and no one else.

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This is impressive despite western sanctions that only crippled the US economy:

IMF upgrades Russia to world’s fourth-largest economy

Russian Economy Zooms Ahead, Outpaces US and EU Growth. "Unprecedented Grow of Small and Medium- Sized Enterprises"

Why sanctions on Russia are literally backfiring

And the story North Korean soldiers have been moved into Russia to fight in Ukraine is likely more western media bullshit. Another plausible reason to drop billions (see How Jewish Is the War Against Russia?) more into Ukraine:

Significant shift is significant bullsh*t