North Korea Stands Down

There is welcome news tonight that Kim Jong Un may just have blinked. North Korean state media is reporting that plans to launch a missile strike at Guam have been canceled.

This comes just days after President Trump said the U.S. was “locked and loaded” for anything Pyongyang had to dish out. The President came under blistering attack from the so-called mainstream media for his harsh words of warning to North Korea. But in the end, Mr. Trump may have won the day – at least for now.

According to Jonathan Cheng of the Wall Street Journal, the North Korean report also said that Kim could always change his mind, “if the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions.” The North Korean article did not specify what those actions might have been that set Mr. Kim on this latest escalation of tough talk and multiple experimental missile launches. It has been argued by some, including Liberty Nation’s Andrew Moran that the U.S. sanctions may be what’s gotten under the North Korean leader’s skin.

The decision to halt the missile launch at the U.S. territory in the South Pacific came after Kim Jong Un visited the command post where plans were being made to commence with the strike. According to the Korean state media, Mr. Kim warned the U.S. “to stop at once arrogant provocations against the DPRK and unilateral demands and not provoke it any longer.” He also warned that a strike is still possible and opined that it would be a “most delightful historic moment” in order to “wring the windpipes of the Yankees and point daggers at their necks.”

But at this point, it’s all just sound and fury. For now, it does seem that much like with Nikita Khrushchev and John F. Kennedy in the Cuban Missile Crisis more than half a century ago – Mr. Kim just blinked.

And that, dear readers, is welcome news indeed.