As speculation mounts that Kim Jong-un and Trump could meet this month, analysts say Pyongyang will continue to see nuclear weapons as a matter of survival

North Korea’s launch last week of a missile from a naval destroyer elicited an uncharacteristically prosaic analysis from the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un. The launch was proof, he said, that arming ships with nuclear weapons was “making satisfactory progress”.

But the test, and Kim’s mildly upbeat appraisal, were designed to reverberate well beyond the deck of the 5,000-tonne destroyer-class vessel the Choe Hyon – the biggest warship in the North Korean fleet.

His pointed reference to nuclear weapons was made as the US and Israel continued their air bombardment of Iran – a regime Donald Trump had warned, without offering evidence, was only weeks away from having a nuclear weapon.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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    4 hours ago

    Anyone who didn’t learn that lesson from Ukraine is a fucking idiot

    They had nukes, and gave them away after assurances if Russia invaded they’d be defended.

    Instead we left them out to dry and started another war instead

    • StarryPhoenix97@lemmy.world
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      32 minutes ago

      We did send them aid. And then the administration changed. My point is, I agree. You should never trust someone else with your own protection. Ukraine got a major economic boon from disarming. And soft protection but donating to the local police force doesn’t really help in when someone decides to walk into your house anyway.

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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        18 minutes ago

        We did send them aid.

        We pledged armies…

        30 years ago Ukraine was the 3rd largest nuclear superpower in the world.

        They didn’t trade that for a couple crates of old ARs and malfunctioning body armor

        Ukraine got a major economic boon from disarming.

        Completely wiped out by the multiple Russian invasions…

        They traded real security for comfort, and comfort always can be taken away.

        It’s almost impossible to get real.security, look at Iran.

        Like, there’s no rational reason for a sovereign country not to be developing their own nukes these days. And that’s dangerous

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      45 minutes ago

      They had nukes

      They had nukes under a Moscow-aligned government. They surrendered those nukes to win trade concessions from their Western partners.

      Had they keep their weapons, they’d have had a much larger contingent of Russian military personal in the country for the next 30 years.

      Instead we left them out to dry

      We’ve sent them hundreds of billions of dollars in military hardware, mercenary staff, and logistical support.

      They’re losing the war because NATO underestimated the offensive capability of the Russian military, especially over an enormous front line. Not because they lack raw firepower.

      What do you think would have happened after Russia crossed into the Donbas over cross border shelling? Would Zelensky have responded by… nuking half the Oblast? Or are you suggesting everyone should start flinging nukes at each other’s capital cities?

      • StarryPhoenix97@lemmy.world
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        30 minutes ago

        I still think they’re loosing because Elon musk is a piece of shit. He hobbled their counter offensive that might have given them the breathing room to end the war.