On this episode of China Uncensored,
is it Korean War II?
No, of course not.
The first Korean war technically never ended.
Hi, welcome to China Uncensored.
I’m your host Chris Chappell.
North Korea is trolling China.
Maybe even more than I do.
North Korea, a.k.a. the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,
a.k.a.
The True Korea
just launched a test of 4 missiles—
three of which landed within 200 miles
of the Japanese coast.
Shooting missiles into the water!
That’s cause for celebration!
And believe me,
you don’t want to be the guy that breaks off a hug
prematurely with Kim Jong Un.
The North Korean missile launch
was designed to be as provocative as possible.
It comes as the US and South Korea
engage in annual military drills,
known as Foal Eagle.
A foal is a young horse.
You know, foal eagle.
Previous drills were named Puppy Toucan,
Porcupette Swan,
and of course, Goose Gosling.
Kim Jong-un,
North Korean leader and winner of his fraternity's
most outstanding brother award,
said earlier this year that he was in
“the final state in preparations”
for the first test of an intercontinental missile
that could strike the US.
Not on Donald Trump’s watch!
But it’s also a sign that for China,
North Korean relations are going south.
First, it comes during the not-to-be-politically-overshadowed
National People’s Congress.
It’s one of the biggest political events of the year,
as you can see from these extremely engaged delegates.
Hostess for the event are literally jumping for joy!
It’s an annual tradition.
I mean, what young woman wouldn’t be excited
to serve tea to an old horny toad?
But there’s another unintended consequence
of North Korea’s missile test
that has the Chinese regime up in arms.
"We should quickly finish the deployment of THAAD
and acquire a defense system against North Korea's
nuclear missiles."
Yes, THAAD!
China hates THAAD.
No, THAAD isn't the name of Xi Jinping's
least favorite fraternity brother.
THAAD stands for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense,
a missile defense system the United States
wants to build in South Korea.
What's that Shelley?
I see.
As of now,
it's a missile defense system that the US is
already building in South Korea.
Now you would think,
North Korea has promised to turn Seoul
into a sea of flames,
why would China be upset about South Korea
having a missile defense system?
Is it because it would be a provocative act
that might further escalate tensions
on the Korean Peninsula?
Well, partly.
But having a US-built missile defense and radar system
so close to China
might really cramp the Chinese regime's style—
if they ever decide to launch missiles anywhere.
And so they’ve been doing everything they can
to get South Korea to back down.
I mean, not that China is worried or anything.
As my favorite state-run media says,
the Chinese military could always blind or destroy THAAD
if it had to.
Yes, peaceful means are always preferred.
Otherwise we will crush you.
But what if we could crush you...peacefully?
You see, China is South Korea’s biggest trading partner.
A quarter of all Korean exports go to China,
almost double the United States.
So China could put a lot of economic pressure on South Korea
if it starts doing things the Chinese regime doesn’t like.
Not that they would, of course.
That’s just silly.
I mean,
just let one of the drones from China’s Foreign Ministry
reassure you!
"We welcome foreign companies,
including South Korean companies,
to invest and operate in China.”
See, nothing to worry about.
“At the same time,
these companies must operate in accordance
with the law and compliance."
Oh no, never mind, they’re in trouble.
One in particular is in a Lotte trouble.
THAAD is going to be constructed on a golf course
in the country’s southeast
owned by South Korean mega conglomerate, Lotte.
When I was in South Korea last year,
I saw the Lotte name everywhere.
It’s involved in candy manufacturing,
fast food, retail, heavy chemicals,
IT, construction, entertainment,
and hotels, to name a few.
And the Chinese regime has been striking hard
at its operations in China
to retaliate against Lotte.
First, my favorite state run media,
the Global Times made a threat:
“Since China cannot change Lotte’s decision,
Chinese society is also firmly determined
to let Lotte pay the price for its support
of the deployment of THAAD.”
Now, nearly two dozen Lotte retail stores in China
have been shut down.
And Lotte isn’t alone.
The Chinese regime knows how to wage economic warfare
to get what it wants.
“We saw on Friday some of those shares,
including Hotel Shilla,
which gets 70% of its duty free sales from Chinese tourists,
tumbled more than 10%.
So it's a pretty significant impact,
especially for the parts of the South Korean economy
catered to Chinese tourists.”
So the Chinese regime is restricting tourism.
And launching cyberattacks.
Over in Japan,
an increasingly aggressive North Korea
has not gone unnoticed either.
"This launch has clearly indicated
that North Korea poses a new level of threat."
And that new level of threat
is part of the reason why Japan
has also been considering building a THAAD system
in Japan.
And the Chinese regime would love to see a
better defended and more
militarily active Japan.
So North Korea’s repeated missile and nuclear tests,
and China’s inability to rein them in,
are ruining the Chinese regime’s ability
to apply pressure on its neighbors.
Just a few weeks ago,
China announced it would stop buying coal from North Korea
til the end of the year.
Coal exports are considered a lifeline to North Korea,
one of the key things propping up the regime.
90% of North Korean trade comes from China,
and coal is its biggest export.
But as these most recent missile tests show,
that didn’t stop North Korea’s aggression.
It’s strange, you know.
North Korea and China used to be like...
well, Mao Zedong said they were
“as close as lips and teeth.”
But now it seems like someone might have bitten their lip.
Who’s to blame?
Well, the old horny toad.
Former leader Jiang Zemin fully supported North Korea.
And Jiang’s toadie, Zhou Yongkang,
continued to maintain the close relationship.
And he was even there for both Daddy Kim and Baby Kim.
But with China’s factional power struggle,
Jiang Zemin and Zhou Yongkang are on their way out,
and Xi Jinping is taking charge.
That’s changing China’s relationship with North Korea.
But sadly,
Xi can’t just put the genie back in the bottle.
So what do you think of the Chinese regime
pressuring South Korea to reject
its new missile defense system?
Leave your comments below.
And speaking of economic pressure,
consider supporting China Uncensored on Patreon.
Viewer support is what makes this show possible.
Once again, I’m Chris Chappell.
See you next time.
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