NK fails to realise that Trump is not Obama. I could with accuracy pick Obama's response to any situation but not Trump. I had been hoping (and anticipating) that when Trump did eventually decide to push the button that McMaster would instantly ask Pence to declare Trump insane and thus diffuse the situation.
Kim's continued idiotic provocations have IMHO removed any chance of a second phone call going to Pence.
Whether or not Kim is able to put his H-Bomb onto a long range is a tad irrelevant. He says he can, he is boasting that he can and his recent missile and H-bomb test suggest that he can.
Back to Xi. Kim has basically shat in Xi's face..... and continues to do so.
As I see it, Trump's stated "respect" for Xi suggests that Xi is being given an opportunity to diffuse the situation by whatever means possible ..... with the economies of China, US , ROK and the rest of the world are at stake along with the lives of the Koreans.
Some say that Kim is rational. I would say that shitting in Xi's face while provoking a known sociopath who would like nothing better than to toast the NK regime (and the people around it) is completely insane. NK is coming over as a suicidal Kool Aid culture.
A hypothetical sequence may now go like this.
1. Simultaneous non-nuclear launch against NK , air raid sirens activated in the South and decapitation exercise with a Plan B.
2. If NK then lets loose a nuke on ROK, Pyongyang along with all NK cities and military bases will be nuked.
3. If NK does not respond with a nuke, expect the PLA to very quickly enter NK as ROK troops start to cross the border. Xi would then sue for peace with the ROK Government and install a pro-China regime in the North.
