"unless of course it wasn't sunk by a North Korean submarine?"
There ARE those, including China, who imply it wasnt sunk by North Korea at all.
"How is the most isolated and impoverished country in the world able to get the materials, expertise and money it takes to construct and run such a complex...without outside help from "significant others"?"
That article from Atimes I quoted from earlier in this thread tells us NK is far more advanced in all ways than we think. And yes, no doubt China assists with technical expertise......Impoverished NK may be, but not technically or militarily.
I agree that the war games in the Yellow Sea will be seen as provocative by both China and NK. China has expressed displeasure on war games in that area before. But then the US knows this & obviously intends to provoke. I dont think (read "hope")this will lead to a military reaction by China, but you can bet there will be payback in some form or another..... If China does get involved militarily, Pakistan will be obliged to act under their mutual defence treaty. Hey, did you read recently where a Chinese submarine suddenly surfaced in the middle of a US fleet during war games, completely undetected? The US Navy was rather embarrassed. There was a message there....
