(NaturalNews) In an interview withApril 2, Gen. James Thurman, the top U.S. commander in South Korea, said the current tense situation on the peninsula is the worst it's been since he assumed command of the 28,500 U.S. forces there two years ago.Describing the state of affairs as "volatile" and "dangerous," Thurman noted that while his "job is to prevent war," his greatest fear is a "miscalculation" that causes "a kinetic provocation" -- the military's term for combat action.The seasoned general's warning follows a series of events that, to many, may seem like little more than the same cycles of bellicosity that have emanated out of Pyongyang for years following the ascension of a new leader (in this case Kim Jong Un, the third in a line of Kims dating back to his grandfather and founder of North Korea, Kim il Sung): He takes the reins of power and, to "prove" to his people that he is tough and resolute, he issues a series of provocative statements and declarations that few outside his country take very seriously, but which are designed to showcase his "resolve" and "leadership qualities" before his own people.On the surface, things may appear to be the same as before, but as Gen. Thurman notes, they aren't.So what's different? Why are we taking the junior Kim seriously? What's going in nuclear-armed North Korea and why, all of a sudden, has this poverty-stricken, Stalinist nation of about 25 million become such a threatening thorn in our side?First, a little about how this timeresponse has been different.In the past, there have been occasions when the United States military was placed on heightened alert - as it is now - in response to aggressive statements by North Korean leaders. There have been times when military assets have been shifted to counter such verbal aggression.But this time, the U.S. has spent tens of millions of dollars in preparation to counter North Korea - and all of this when the Defense Department is being hit with billions in sequester cuts:-- The Pentagon, no doubt at President Obama's direction, .



Bellicosity is matching actions



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-- China, a long-time ally of Pyongyang's, is obviously concerned about the direction of North Korean rhetoric, because Beijing is boosting its military capabilities along its border with the Stalinist state, moving tanks, armored vehicles and fighter jets to the region. China has not historically done this when North Korea comes a-threatenin', though China, thenotes, has a defense agreement with North Korea -- Speaking of China, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has been in contact with his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Chang Wanquan, and Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , will be making a rare visit to China in the coming days to discuss the North Korean situation.-- On April 3, the North shut off its last shared link with South Korea - the Kaesong complex located six miles inside North Korea , which houses 123 South Korean companies and employs some 50,000 North Korean workers. The site was a key source of currency for the impoverished nation.On top of all of this, North Korean Leader Kim has declared a state of war with the U.S. and South Korea, and has cut off its sole line of communication with the South.Is North Korea going to be the next global flashpoint? It sure seems that way. With U.S. troops now out of Iraq and preparing to leave Afghanistan, will the global elites be satisfied with "peace in our time?" Not likely.What's more, this "crisis" with North Korea is coming at a time of dire financial straits in the U.S. FromWar. Financial collapse. Destruction of civil society and with it, civil liberties, followed by global governance."As the economic crisis escalates and the debt-based central banking system shows it can no longer re-inflate the bubble by creating assets out of thin air, an economic and political rationale for war is easy to come by," writes Justin Raimondo, of the, a Canadian think tank.War on the Korean peninsula may be just the first phase.