North Korea

I think with Trump in the White House, Putin in the Kremlin and now North Korea making noises the world has become an infinitely more frightening place.

Let us hope that Trump will not take/ be prevented from taking unilateral action without even consulting his own government. He is so unpredictable it is a real danger.

Oh dear, I agree with the OP and both responses. The world is a more frightening place. I feel rather despairing because frankly, what can we do? I joined the march "not in my name" when Mr B was planning to join his friend across the water, another Mr B in a war the vast majority of people in the UK opposed. It's no joy to be proved right.
I wish I had something more positive to say. I struggle to believe anything coming out of the White House since Mr T moved in. I agree with whitewave, he is so unpredictable and therefore, he is a real danger.
Kim Jung whatsit is obviously a danger, add Mr Putin and China, Iran to the mix and it really does seem scary. Is it too much to hope that Putin, Trump and possibly other key protagonists can meet in a neutral place to try and reach a peace plan?

Fingers crossed ?

Ides of April was yesterday, Anya.
Trump doesn't consult. He tells people what to do.
Fortunately, China seems to be able to calm him down. I hope he carries on wanting to be friends with China.

200 reporters in North Korea. Not sure I'd want to be there. Can't imagine anyone wanting to be there.

You are correct DJ the Ides of the month is only the 15th in March, May, July and October. The other eight months it's the 13th.

So everything will be OK and I might change my name to Cassandra!

Pres. Trump has given the US armed forces the same leeway as Pres. Bush. The US warship will be in a position to shoot down N Korean missiles.

BTW, anyone noticed how the uniforms hang
on the N Korean woefully thin troops? Then, glance at their dictator.

Taking the Chinese premier to his estate was a master stroke. He couldn't have entertained his visitor at the WH in the same way.

All the US warship has to do is shoot down the N.Korean missiles, before they fall in the sea.

.What do you mean by leeway?

The worrying thing is that both the USA and North Korea have very unpredictable leaders.

North Korea is the real danger here.Doing nothing ( in the past) to curb them has what has led to this real danger today.Sometimes taking no action is an action in itself.
The hope is that the Trump administration will lean on China to intervene, and when you think about it, China will not be all that happy for North Korea to be such a powerful next door neighbour( China wants that for itself.)

Just don't worry folks, the "problem of North Korea will be taken care of." (Trump) Well, that's just fine then.

Just read an article about Trump and the fact that he has found out that things are "more complicated" than he had thought prior to taking office - not just N Korea but a raft of other things as well. Hmm.

How on earth did this dim nutter get where he is? He is a loose cannon and we can only sit and wait for the results of his pre-school mindset.

Wonder if Russia has any influence? The have a moral duty to at least to try seeing as they helped North Korea to obtain a nuclear programme in the first place.

I am fascinated by the pictures of all those people sat clapping as Kim walks into the room. It looks like a computer graphic and yet we assume it isn't. But how can you get so many people to behave in exactly the same way? Fear I suppose.

Fear indeed WW for those with the half a brain and brain washing for the rest. It's been inculcated into them since they were babies.

There's no way Kim Yong Un will not hold a nuclear test today. It might be underground or he might launch a test missile. Let's hope he doesn't aim it at anything in particular, like the US fleet.

So US warships are in position to shoot down North Korean nuclear missiles?
Kim Yong Un has tested three missiles so far and two of them have been more powerful than those of Hiroshima.
Hope you are right, Anya - or Cassandra.

When Kim Jong-Un came to power, I had hoped that things in North Korea might change. Sadly this hasn't happened, if anything this boy is more unpredictable than his late father. The people are living in a state of tyranny. Let's hope the US has enough fire power to shoot down any missiles that North Korea might launch.
It's so difficult, how can anyone negotiate with these people, they are so paranoid about the way the rest of the world sees them.

I'm so hoping to be a Cassandra.

Where do you suggest they shoot them down, hilda?
In the right place to irradiate as few people as possible? Where would that be?

hild listening to a commentator on the radio yesterday. Apparently North Korea has so many missiles both ordinary, nuclear and chemical that it seems the USA couldn't possibly contain it, or hope to take the launch areas out. South Korea is in real danger, and I'd hate to be living there at the moment.

Where did the money come from for all these weapons. Who sold them to the North Koreans? Please don't say us!!!!

WW I would think NK have there own weapons manufacturing capability, and might look to China as another source?
In terms of what need to be done, I hesitate to criticise Trump. Sending warships to NK looks like a dangerous idea to me, but then again every option seems wrong. I suppose China may still have some influence with KYU but I'm not convinced. He comes across as seriously unbalanced.

please ignore typos. Predictive text?

No EU or UK weapons sales to North Korea in last three years, whitewave. But we have sold to South Korea - BAE systems fighter jets in 2015.
South Korea also has robot soldiers which fire machine guns hitting targets 4 km away. I doubt it will scare Kim Yong Un.

The one thing I do know they're good at is money laundering. Some Chinese companies have had dodgy dealings with them.

Drugs as well, so that accounts for some of the money. Charmers aren't they?