Pirate's Cove

Here’s one that isn’t really making the news much, because it would make Donald Trump look good, and the totally non-partisan, utterly un-biased media can’t have people knowing things like this

(Breitbart) North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Saturday that the communist regime would hold a ceremony on a date between May 23 and 25 to permanently shut down the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site, and journalists from five countries, including the United States, were invited to attend.

The announcement appeared on the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) website, and appeared to be a gesture of goodwill towards the international community, which has pressured North Korea for years to dismantle its illegal nuclear weapons program. The ceremony will occur less than a month before a planned in-person meeting between dictator Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump, scheduled for June 12.

The press release from the Foreign Ministry did not specifically name the Punggye-ri site, describing it only as the “northern nuclear test ground of the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea].” There is no evidence, however, that North Korea possesses any other nuclear test sites, active or otherwise.

“A ceremony for dismantling the nuclear test ground is now scheduled between May 23 and 25, depending on weather condition,” KCNA announced. “Dismantlement of the nuclear test ground will be done in the following sequence: making all tunnels of the test ground collapse by explosion; completely blocking entries; removing all observation facilities, research institutes and structures of guard units on the ground.”

The North Korean Foreign Ministry affirms that, following the ceremony, the site will be “completely closed.” It adds that international journalists will be welcomed into the country “to conduct on-the-spot coverage in order to show in a transparent manner the dismantlement of the northern nuclear test ground.” Journalists applying to cover the event will be limited to citizens of China, Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and South Korea, due to the remote and diminutive nature of the site.

One has to wonder how many U.S. journalists will go to North Korea to witness this, and report back on it honestly. How many will give him credit for what’s going on with North Korea. And, yes, they should give some credit to the presidents of South Korea and Japan. But, you just cannot dismiss Trump’s policies for helping make this all happen.

Now, could it be a trick? Of course. This is North Korea. And we can’t forget that Kim is still are despicable, brutal, violent dictator running a regime that acts in the same way. Perhaps this could be a step forward in reforming the system. Regardless, a denuclearized North Korea is a great thing.

But, the press is already trying to poo poo the dismantlement thing, as we see in one of the few articles on the subject

Dismantling North Korea nukes could be costly and take years to complete

If President Trump is successful in convincing Kim Jong Un to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear weapons program the effort would be unprecedented in its size and complexity, analysts say.

“This would be the biggest undertaking by the international community when it comes to denuclearization or disarmament,” said Olli Heinonen, an arms control expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a national security think-tank.

If Trump and Kim reach an agreement, the process could take years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars, Heinonen said.

Perhaps I’m reading too much into this, but, it sure seems like the USA Today is trying to put a negative spin on this, does it not? You have to know that the article would be completely different, vastly more positive if this was happening under Obama, or a President Hillary Clinton. Speaking of Obama

John Bolton, Trump’s national security adviser, said that the dismantling of Libya’s nuclear program in 2003 might serve as a model.

“One thing that Libya did that led us to overcome our skepticism was that they allowed American and British observers into all their nuclear related sites,” Bolton told CBS News recently. “It wasn’t a question of relying on international mechanisms. We saw them in ways we had never seen before.” (snip)

Several years later Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was removed from power by rebels backed by NATO air support. Ironically, Gadhafi’s fate is one of the reasons Kim has clung so steadfastly to his nuclear weapons.

Kim sees the survival of his regime as linked to the country’s nuclear program.

Hmph. They forgot to mention who screwed up Libya, and caused NK to cling so steadfastly.

Regardless, give Trump credit where credit is due.