일촉즉발

20대 청년을 향한 강대구긔 강력한 지도자들의 기고가 연일 온 세상을 뒤덮고 있다, 비록 강대국 G2G7G20엔 끼질 못한 나라일지락도 세계적인 유명세를 가진이들의 권고기고도 이에 못지않다.

언뜻보면 이들 강대국, 세계적 명망가들이 김정일의 위상을 나날이 더 높여주고 있는 느낌이다.

이젠 김정일이 기고만장한다면 이는 이들 강대국과 세계적 인사들의 책임이 없다고 할 수는 없을 것같다. 기고마다 "전쟁일촉즉발""김정은의오만플레이" 등 나쁜것이 주본질인 뉴스의 양태로 번지고 있다.

이미 16살에 프랑스를 거쳐 스의스에서 서구인들 서구를 눈여겨봤고 이들이 하는 짓을 하나하나 다 봐왔다. 시리아 이란 북한 3인방 중에서 또 그간 3대를 내려 오면서 주변 우방으로 있던 나라들 중에서 김정은 그는 자신이 다르다는 것을 확실히 나타낼려고 하고 있다. 제일 좋은 것이야 장거리 핵탄두를 탑재하고 띄우는 것이다. 그러나 띄운 그 이후를 안볼 그도 아닐 터이고 띄운 후를 논하는 군부 실세들도 있을 것이고 반대하는 세력도 또한 있을 것이다. 문제는 지금 김정은이 안고 있는 대내적인 문제 극심한 경제난 해결을 위해 세계를 이용하고픈데, 세계가 딱 이 작전에 걸려던 것 아닐까. 이젠 어떤 빌미로 다음 수를 띄우지 않을까 아님 작은 불장난 국지전으로 미국의MD실체도 확인하고 중국의 진심도 살펴보고 세계의 여론도 저울질 하지 않을까. 띄우면 쏘면 발사하면 손해란 걸 그도 알지 않을까. 이제 달아날 길을 터주는 게 그가 바아쇠에서 손을 거두는 길이 아닐까

Is North Korea on the brink of war?

 

Kim Jong Un on horseback in an undated photo (KNS/Getty Images)

Politicians and pundits painted a pretty bleak picture of the situation in North Korea on the Sunday talk-show circuit, with South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham predicting a "major war" breaking out if Kim Jong Un attacks South Korea.

"The North Koreans need to understand if they attack an American interest or an ally of this country, they're going to pay a heavy price," Graham said on NBC's "Meet The Press" on Sunday. "I could see a major war happening if the North Koreans overplay their hand this time, because the public in South Korea, the United States, and I think the whole region, is fed up with this guy."

"I think we have to convince this new, young, inexperienced leader that he's playing a losing hand," former U.S. Defense Under Secretary Michèle Flournoy said. "The only way out of the box to get the economic development he wants, to get the progress that he wants, is to ratchet back the rhetoric. Come back into compliance with the international obligations."

Since assuming power in late 2011, the provocative Kim has defied U.N. sanctions by continuing to develop North Korea's missile program.

"He's kind of reckless right now," Gen. James Thurman, the top U.S. military commander in South Korea, said on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos" on ABC. "If they decided to, you know, resume hostilities, I think we've got to be ready to go."

Earlier Sunday, U.S. officials said Thurman, who was expected to travel to Washington this week to appear before the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, will instead stay in Seoul as "a prudent measure."

When asked to speculate on the outcome of a war, Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said: "The North loses and the South wins, with our help. That's what happens."

[Related: Rodman says Kim Jong Un wants Obama to ‘call him’]

On "Meet The Press," former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson called Kim's leadership "belligerent," but cautioned against U.S. military action.

"I think the goal should not just be to calm them down, to cool the rhetoric down," Richardson said. "The goal has to be [to] get North Korea back to the negotiating table on nuclear proliferation, on de-nuclearization. They have to do it, because that whole Asian area is a tinderbox."

Fox News host Greta Van Susteren, who has visited North Korea three times, said negotiation is not something on the minds of most North Koreans.

"The whole time we were there, all we saw was preparation for war," Van Susteren said. "If you go inside, they have been at war with us since the early 1950s. They think that every single one of us is spending every Saturday night sitting around planning how to get them while we're busy ordering pizzas and Chinese food carryout, they think that we're getting ready for war."

Graham said the United States needs to keep its eye on Syria, too.

"Crazy people and nuclear weapons who proliferate those weapons throughout the world, who support terrorist organizations, are incredibly dangerous," Graham said. "That's why we need to stop Syria from getting chemical. Chemical weapons need to be controlled in Syria; the ayatollahs in Iran are just as crazy as this guy in North Korea."

He added: "This could be a nightmare in the making with these chemical weapons falling into radical Islamists. The number of radical jihadists on the ground in Syria today is growing every day this war goes on."