North Korea Has Lost Its Damn Mind

North Korean leaders have never been known for rational thinking or a reasonable foreign policy. They are a pariah nation, and have been for quite a while. After starving their own people so they can build a huge army, they went and built a nuclear weapon. Now they are trying to develop a missile capable of delivering that weapon (and ignoring the fact that there are several nations that could obliterate them in a few minutes if they ever used that weapon).

They have been able to get away with this because they have one friend, a powerful friend -- China. China saved them from the United Nations in the Korean War, and since then, China has helped to feed them and defend them as they alienated the rest of the world. Previous North Korean rulers knew this and maintained good relations with their giant neighbor. But it looks like their current ruler, Kim Jong Un (pictured above), has completely lost his mind (if he ever had one). He seems to have decided that his country doesn't need any friends -- not even China.

Recently, three Chinese fishing boats were boarded and seized by North Koreans (and word has it that the seizure was done by a North Korean naval ship with uniformed sailors aboard. The boats are currently being held in North Korea and ransoms have been demanded from the Chinese owners of the boats (ranging from $140,000 to $190,000 for each boat), or the boats and fisherman will be "disposed" of.

The Chinese government has been pretty silent about the incident, but released the following statement once it was known, "China is maintaining close contact with North Korea through the relevant channels and we hope this problem will be appropriately solved as soon as possible. We have also stated to North Korea that it should insure the legitimate rights of Chinese ship personnel."

But the Chinese government has a problem. Their people have found out about the aggressive action taken by North Korea, and they don't like it even a little bit. The internet is buzzing about this issue, and Chinese anger grows with each passing day. Even though they try hard, not even the repressive Chinese government can completely control the internet.

It looks like the North Koreans are playing "Russian roulette" with their giant neighbor. No country can ignore the anger of its own people when it reaches a certain level (which is where this seems to be heading) -- not even a brutally repressive regime like China. They may find themselves forced to take some kind of action (stop sending food aid, stop defending North Korea in the United Nations, seize a North Korean navy ship, etc.).

I doubt that there will be outright war over this one issue, but the idiotic leadership of North Korea had better come to it senses. They only have one friend and they badly need that friend. They'd better let go of that tiger's tail before it turns around and bites them.