The 2nd Korean War

News that the naughtily nautical Kang Nam has plotted a new course -- back to despotic NoKo -- raises a few quizes.

A suspect 'tramp' freighter, tailed on the high seas by a team of American destroyers and submarines and watched by reconnaissance satellites and aircraft.

On board,her cargo could be plutonium pellets, missile parts or semi-ripe melons.

In any event, Great Satan would really like to know exactly what booty she be toting.

Perhaps the end user of the mysterious cargo decided the PR would be counter productive and requested a hold on delivery -- or perhaps there is a deadlier reason.

Great Satan and NoKo have never really cut a peace treaty formally ending the Korean War. This means Great Satan, a combatant in the conflict, as leader of the U.N. Command, is free to use force against Pyongyang.

On legal grounds, Great Satan's Navy has every right to seize the Kang Nam, treat the crew as POWs and confiscate her cargo, even if the ship is carrying nothing more dangerous than "Girls Gone Wild" dVd box sets dubbed in perfect Arabic (with authentic Yemeni dialects).

Because the Navy has the right to torpedo the vessel, which proudly flies the flag of another combatant in the war, it of course has the right to board her.

"Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. Words must mean something," President Barack Obama, reacting to North Korea's test of a long-range missile, said in the first week of April. Unfortunately, the President's words have apparently meant little because Kim Jong Il's belligerent state has, since that time, detonated a nuclear device, handed out harsh sentences to two American reporters, and announced the resumption of plutonium production.

"North Korea has threatened nuclear war several times in recent days and this month sent one of its patrol boats into South Korean waters. American envoys, in response, have issued stern warnings, participated in meetings in the region, and engaged in high-level diplomacy in the corridors of the U.N. None of this, however, has led to the enforcement of rules or the punishment of the North Korean regime.

"North Korea's words, in contrast, have meant something. They have, as noted, ended the armistice. Of course, no one is arguing that the nations participating in the U.N. Command resume a full-scale land war in Asia. Yet recognizing the end of the temporary truce would allow the U.S. to use more effective measures to stop North Korean proliferation of missile and nuclear technologies.

"Yet, as much as the international community would like to avoid a confrontation, the world cannot let Kim Jong Il continue to proliferate weapons. Moreover, it is unlikely that he will carry through on his blustery threats. The North Koreans did not in fact start a war when, at America's request, Spain's special forces intercepted an unflagged North Korean freighter carrying Scud missiles bound for Yemen in December 2002.

44's Admin definitely has a legal justification to seize the Kang Nam. NoKo, after all, has resumed the Korean War.

Art - "2nd Korean War"