Quote:
The South’s defence minister Kim Tae-Young said the South had fired 80 shots in response to the North's shelling. “We were carrying out naval, air force and army training exercises and they [the North] seem to have opened fire in objection," a military official added.
Same ol', same ol'. South Korea invents reasons why it's somehow not Kim's fault he's burning their house down.
China and South Korea will both do anything possible to maintain the status quo for fear of what could happen if the situation changed. No matter how powerful China gets or how erratic North Korea behaves, this equation will not change. All parties involved are simply waiting for the North Korea regime to collapse from the inside, even if it takes decades. Their reasoning is fundamentally sound.
This isn't Franz Ferdinand 2.0.
This was a calculated move by North Korea to maintain tensions while they work on passing power to the son. If tensions lowered, individuals in North Korea would be more able to maneuver for power, and outsiders could use the de-escalation to intervene in their internal political situation. The North Koreans' thoughts would turn to the benefits of peace, and that would spell doom for the regime. North Korea knows that lasting peace will be fatal to their regime, so they keep this seesaw of escalation and meaningless negotiation going.
