Thread by @BonicMichael

Commentary on:
North Korea has much to consider — when, and if, talks resume
thehill.com/opinion/nation…
“What is clear at this point is that the North Koreans are not ready to talk.”
“The North Koreans never have seemed in a hurry to talk, and often act as if they have all the time

2/"in the world to consider a negotiation.”
[Is that right? Hasn’t Hill read Choe Son Hui’s remarks? The channel for interaction with Washington will once again be DPRK’s Foreign Ministry, the domain of seasoned high-ranking diplomat Ms Choe Son Hui.

https://twitter.com/BonicMichael/status/1389632243698585600?s=20

3/Representing DPRK’s official position towards the US she has said:
-- “We have already declared our stand that no DPRK-U.S. contact and dialogue of any kind can be possible unless the U.S. rolls back its hostile policy towards the DPRK.”
-- “In order for a dialogue to be made,

4/"an atmosphere for both parties to exchange words on an equal basis must be created.”
-- “It will only be a waste of time to sit with the U.S. as it is not ready to feel and accept new change and new times.”
D.C. & many analysts can’t fathom the logic behind these remarks, so

5/they default to C Hill’s surmising. Yet it’s the simple lack of objective analysis, critical thinking & correct perception of DPRK’s official position that leads to shoddy reasoning and its result: errant conclusion.
This is DPRK’s bedrock principle👇, founded on the very real

6/perceived threat the US poses to them in regime change, decapitation strike &/or a preemptive nuclear first strike John Bolton so kindly elaborated on in: “The Legal Case for Striking North Korea First “.
wsj.com/articles/the-l…

7/"DPRK's nuclear weapons are non-negotiable, unless the U.S. is prepared to co-exist with the nuclear DPRK. Because this is the only way to ensure lasting peace on the Korean peninsula and stability and security in the North East Asia." - Choe Son Hui]

8/“After all, there is much on the table for the North Koreans to consider, including peace treaties, mutual recognition, economic assistance and sanctions relief should they return and negotiate an end to their nuclear programs.”
[REALITY CHECK: The DPRK has resolved to NOT end

9/its nuclear programs b/c their deterrent is “a matter of life and death”. The best that US can do, which DPRK I'm sure would go along with, is agreeing to DPRK setting a permanent Maximum Limit to its nuclear & ICBM hardware. I.e. they’ll put the brakes on their programs to

10/to maintain an acceptable limited nuclear deterrent for self-defense & forego an advanced nuclear delivery system that still needs testing. Kim Yo Jong alludes to this when she said in a 7-10-20 Press Statement: "It would be easier and more favourable for the U.S. to rack its

11/brains to make our nukes no threat to the U.S., rather than racking it to dispossess our nukes."

Water Over The Dam: Kim Jong Un's Sister Kim Yo Jong Defines North Korea's Diplomatic Position

So you can understand why, when the US says it's willing to

12/engage in diplomacy towards the “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula”, but the final goal is the CVID of DPRK, this overture at the get-go is a dealbreaker to DPRK b/c it obstinately refuses to even consider being “prepared to co-exist w/

https://twitter.com/BonicMichael/status/1282575600918487041?s=20

13/nuclear DPRK”. Which evinces Choe Son Hui’s words: “It will only be a waste of time to sit with the U.S. as it is not ready to feel and accept new change and new times.” In actuality the US is NOT open to real NEGOTIATING - where both parties are open to the consideration of

14/all potential solutions that might lead to the attainment of one another’s goals, no matter how much "lipstick" is applied to the "pig" of US’s “diplomacy” w/ DPRK (which Hill does a good job at). The US’s attitude is: “This will all end up the way we want it to. What you want

15/"doesn’t count. That’s the way it’s going to be. B/c we are the greatest liberal democracy on Earth while you have an “illegal” nuclear program that “threatens” peace, us & our allies. You’ll either voluntarily give up your “nuclear ambitions” or we’ll be forced to “reign them

16/"in”. It’s your choice.” Washington is so vain that it’s blind to this optic that’s blatantly offensive to DPRK. So when PY says: “We’re not going to sit w/ you”, D.C. interprets this thru Hill’s lens: “What is clear at this point is that the North Koreans are not ready to

17/"talk.”, blithely ignorant of the inaccuracy of its deduction while also showing profound indifference to DPRK’s official stated positions. DPRK is dealing w/ a vain, arrogant, holier-than-thou & self-righteous superpower that, if it wanted to, would launch a preemptive

18/nuclear first strike against it. So DPRK believes that it MUST maintain their deterrent, & if the US can’t handle that, its refusal to meet DPRK halfway could lead to a dreaded nuclear showdown. The US has in fact “stacked the deck” by calling DPRK’s nuclear program “illegal”

19/over a technicality in Article X in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Leaving the treaty:

https://twitter.com/BonicMichael/status/1386583690898120705?s=20

International law is on DPRK’s side. Even Mike Pompeo acknowledged "that North Korea has the right to defend itself". Every sovereign nation, what to

20/speak of UN member nations, have the sovereign right to defend themselves against perceived threats to their sovereignty. The DPRK has that right and it knows it.

https://twitter.com/BonicMichael/status/1390734454893682688?s=20