Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Bombard North Korea Now. With Drone Delivered Leaflets
Inside-Sources
By InsideSources.com
Published 8 years ago on
August 28, 2017

Share

 

By Donald Kirk

InsideSources.com

 

SEOUL — Donald Trump’s notion of “fire and fury” for North Korea inspires cheers, fears and jeers. Is he threatening the biblical “fire and brimstone,” or does his rhetoric more closely resemble Shakespeare’s “tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”?

 

Yes, there are those who think the American president is an idiot, but you also find some who admire him for getting Kim Jong-un to back down. Kim did call off ordering a missile to hit somewhere off Guam, didn’t he? That’s true enough — though it’s not likely The Fearless, “Respected” Leader has given up on that idea while thousands of U.S. and South Korean troops play annual war games in defiance of a torrent of rhetoric.

 

So what to do? Might a quick hit, a “pre-emptive strike,” maybe even “massive retaliation,” be the way to wipe out the terrorist of the North? As the dust is settling, would not millions of North Koreans rise up in rebellion and install a more reasonable and humane leader? Why, they might even hold an election like those in South Korea!

 

Oh sure. You don’t have to have followed North Korea too closely to know that such a denouement is the stuff of fantasy. More likely, as everyone knows, bombardment of the North would precipitate a conflagration of unpredictably bloody proportions. Nobody but nobody wants Korean War II though some insist on keeping the military option out there, dangling in Kim Jong-un’s face in case he gets ideas of carrying out his threats.

 

Information Not Bombs

But surely there are other ways to bring the North, if not into submission, at least into the realm of reason.

 

Here’s one. How about bombarding North Korea with leaflets instead of bombs? OK, defectors from the North for years have been unleashing balloons over their former homeland, blowing leaflets hither and yon on which are written tales of the excesses and terrors of the Kim dynasty mingled with news, real news, from South Korea and elsewhere. Lately, however, President Moon Jae-in, in quest of negotiations, has told them to knock it off. No reason for upsetting North Korean leaders while calling for dialogue.

 

Anyway, leaflets lofted on balloons have not been too effective. Not so many people have seen them. Instead, drones should fly high over all North Korea day-and-night dropping devices filled with tons of leaflets wafting everywhere. And what about including a few dollar bills and candy bars so folks would have that much more incentive to scramble around looking for them in the face of dire commands not to touch them?

 

This leaflet bombardment need not be a one-day or now-and-then phenomenon. It should go on for weeks, months, infuriating North Korean leaders but getting through to all their hungry, unhappy people. Leaflets should bear different news every day, including exposes of the high living of the ruling elite compared with the desperate circumstances of the typical citizen. Human rights abuses would merit top billing, banner headlines reporting executions, imprisonment, torture and suffering.

 

Use Technology to Seed Rebellion

 

Messages might vary from target to target — some aimed at Pyongyang, others for less fortunate communities elsewhere. Special editions might float down on mass rallies and parades. Think of dropping clouds of leaflets on those great shows of military hardware in the capital.

 

In this high-tech age, it should be possible to bombard specific concentration camps and prisons, remote villages and towns with leaflets tailored for individual conditions. Some might target military bases with articles about the hardships of army life, the poor food, the dangers of duty above the demilitarized zone, the perks of officers accustomed to bullying the men and women who form the backbone of the North’s 1.2 million soldiers, sailors and airmen.

 

North Korea would undoubtedly respond with antiaircraft barrages, perhaps short-range missile shots and Soviet-era MiGs zipping around, but the planes carrying these leaflets would be drones. Nobody would get hurt, on the ground or in the air. Piloted U.S. aircraft would stay away other than for maybe a few high-flying U2 spy planes up there to see how everyone was doing way down below.

 

The greatest fun would be to cascade leaflets on one of Kim Jong-un’s palaces while he was feasting with sycophantic minions. The message would be simple. Sorry, comrade, the party’s over. Everyone toast to that.

 

 

ABOUT THE WRITER

Donald Kirk has been a columnist for Korea Times, South China Morning Post many other newspaper and magazines. He wrote this for InsideSources.com

 

 

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

One Man Dead After Kings River Rescue Attempt in Fresno County

DON'T MISS

Oil Falls on Signs of Progress in US-Iran Talks Amid More Market Stress

DON'T MISS

US Bond Funds Suffer Fifth Weekly Outflow on Tariff-Driven Inflation Fears

DON'T MISS

Trump Warns of Economic Slowdown Unless Fed Cuts Rates

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Will Sell Naming Rights for Clovis and Reedley Libraries

DON'T MISS

Steph Curry Scores 31 Points in the Warriors’ Victory Over the Rockets in Game 1

DON'T MISS

Pope Francis, First Latin American Pontiff, Dies on Easter Monday

DON'T MISS

Chargers in Need of Help at Wide Receiver and Tight End in the NFL Draft

DON'T MISS

Magic Happens When Kids and Adults Learn to Swim. Tragedy Can Strike if They Don’t.

DON'T MISS

Big Fresno Fair Board Will Be Led by an American Sikh for 1st Time

UP NEXT

I Have Never Been More Afraid for My Country’s Future

UP NEXT

Why Is It So Expensive to Build Affordable Homes in CA? It Takes Too Long

UP NEXT

What Some Animals Endure Before We Eat Them

UP NEXT

Zakaria Warns of ‘Crony Capitalism’ in Trump’s Tariff Reversal

UP NEXT

How California Can Reduce High Concession Prices in Its Taxpayer-Funded Stadiums

UP NEXT

Why Palestinian Christians Feel Betrayed by American Christians

UP NEXT

Other States Do Housing Better Than California; a New Study Shows How They Do It

UP NEXT

Trump and Netanyahu Steer Toward an Ugly World, Together

UP NEXT

New Plan to Accelerate CA High-Speed Rail Construction Deserves Attention, Support

UP NEXT

Why Did So Many People Delude Themselves About Trump?

Trump Warns of Economic Slowdown Unless Fed Cuts Rates

29 minutes ago

Fresno County Will Sell Naming Rights for Clovis and Reedley Libraries

30 minutes ago

Steph Curry Scores 31 Points in the Warriors’ Victory Over the Rockets in Game 1

36 minutes ago

Pope Francis, First Latin American Pontiff, Dies on Easter Monday

2 hours ago

Chargers in Need of Help at Wide Receiver and Tight End in the NFL Draft

24 hours ago

Magic Happens When Kids and Adults Learn to Swim. Tragedy Can Strike if They Don’t.

1 day ago

Big Fresno Fair Board Will Be Led by an American Sikh for 1st Time

1 day ago

AI ‘Friend’ for Public School Students Falls Flat

1 day ago

Is a ‘Friend-Apist’ What We Really Want From Therapy?

1 day ago

Yemen’s Houthi Rebels Report US Strikes in the Capital and a Coastal City

2 days ago

One Man Dead After Kings River Rescue Attempt in Fresno County

One man died and another was hospitalized Sunday after they were pulled from the Kings River near Winton Park, according to the Fresno Count...

18 minutes ago

18 minutes ago

One Man Dead After Kings River Rescue Attempt in Fresno County

The sun is seen behind a crude oil pump jack in the Permian Basin in Loving County, Texas, U.S., November 22, 2019. (REUTERS/Angus Mordant/File Photo)
19 minutes ago

Oil Falls on Signs of Progress in US-Iran Talks Amid More Market Stress

Wall Street street sign
23 minutes ago

US Bond Funds Suffer Fifth Weekly Outflow on Tariff-Driven Inflation Fears

President Donald Trump listens to remarks during a swearing-in ceremony for Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Mehmet Oz in the Oval Office in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 18, 2025. (REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo)
29 minutes ago

Trump Warns of Economic Slowdown Unless Fed Cuts Rates

30 minutes ago

Fresno County Will Sell Naming Rights for Clovis and Reedley Libraries

Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) scores against Houston Rockets' Tari Eason (17) and Jalen Green (4) during the first half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series in Houston, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
36 minutes ago

Steph Curry Scores 31 Points in the Warriors’ Victory Over the Rockets in Game 1

FILE PHOTO: Newly elected Pope Francis appears at the window of his future private apartment to bless the faithful, gathered below in St. Peter's Square, during the Sunday Angelus prayer at the Vatican March 17, 2013. REUTERS/Tony Gentile/File Photo
2 hours ago

Pope Francis, First Latin American Pontiff, Dies on Easter Monday

24 hours ago

Chargers in Need of Help at Wide Receiver and Tight End in the NFL Draft

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend