Joel S. Wit is a senior fellow at the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University and founded the website 38North. I am neither of those things, but I found his recent opinion piece in the New York Times, “How ‘Crazy’ Are the North Koreans?”, thoroughly off-putting. “I probably shouldn’t say this, but I take my…
Tag: North Korea
Does North Korea have a hydrogen bomb?
I’ve spent a lot of time over the past several years pooh-poohing the dire warnings that periodically emerge from the mouths of American big-shots regarding the peril posed by North Korea, so that state’s claim to have tested a hydrogen bomb doesn’t come as a pleasant surprise. If North Korea in fact doesn’t have a…
Alarmism? Oh, yeah, we got alarmism!
“When the final accounting is done, 2014 will have been the most lethal year for global terrorism in the 45 years [since] such data has been compiled,” intoned National Intelligence Director James Clapper, speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week. Of course, the director may have been lying, something Big Jim does on…
Vanneman v. Gates, the struggle continues
Back on Jan. 11, 2011, I unloaded rather loudly on then SecDef Robert M. Gates, in a post rather testily entitled “Robert M. Gates, totally full of it. Totally,” expressing skepticism with regard to Gates’ statement that in five years North Korea would be able to target the U.S. with an intercontinental ballistic missile, which,…
Fred Kaplan, getting scared again
Unlike the rest of us, Fred Kaplan—Cap’n Fred, as we like to call him—is always on the alert for new dangers. Fred’s latest worry? North Korea! As Fred accurately (for once) notes, we know practically nothing about the new leader, Kim Jong-un, although “meet the new boss, just like the old boss,” wouldn’t be a…
Robert M. Gates, totally full of it. Totally.
“Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates warned on Thursday that North Korea was within five years of being able to target the continental United States with an intercontinental ballistic missile, and said that, combined with its expanding nuclear program, the country “is becoming a direct threat to the United States,” today’s New York Times reports. According…