World leaders must be holding their breath with great concern at the erratic signals coming from North Korea. There seems to be a leadership change taking place and perhaps this is the reason for the hermit kingdoms strange actions.
It seems that North Korea does not fear starting a major war with the west, despite the fact that if it does it faces nuclear destruction.. It has a small number of nuclear bombs and the missiles to deliver them, but faced with the might of the western powers these are puny.
It was sheer brinkmanship to torpedo the Cheonan, a South Korean Corvette and to shell the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, causing loss of life. With that sort of attitude to aggression it is quite possible that Kim Jong Il could launch an attack on Seoul - the South Korean capital.
Either Kim is fantastically clever at weighing up the risks and rolling the dice, or else he is a madman with a self destruction urge. The key to moderating his actions seems to be China, but so far the Chinese leadership has stood aloof .
If push comes to shove and North Korean action leaves no option other than war - the response from China may well decide if we live in a peaceful world or one suffering a nuclear winter.
The scenario has never been so doubtful since the bad old days of the cold war !
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