*Another "Gulf of Tonkin"?

Group of anti-war activists gathered near a US military base in Seoul to protest the drill (EPA)


A few notes concerning recent events with South and North Korea: 


(1) Thousands of troops from the US and South Korea have begun 10 days of joint military exercises, despite threats of reprisals from North Korea which has denounced the annual drill as a rehearsal for invasion. US and South Korea begin war games - (March 8, 2010)


(2) North Korea is threatening to unleash "unprecedented nuclear strikes" against South Korea and the U.S. as those two countries prepare for possible instability in the totalitarian communist state. North Korea threatens nuclear strikes on US , South Korea  - (March 26, 2010)

(3) Word that a South Korean naval ship sank in the tense waters around the disputed maritime border with communist North Korea set off panic: The president convened an emergency meeting and the military dispatched a fleet of ships.

Five hours later, 58 sailors had been pulled to safety but some 40 others were missing, reports said. There was no indication early Saturday that North Korea was to blame for the ship's demise, but troops kept a vigilant watch.

Seoul's panic attack — hours after North Korea's military threatened "unpredictable strikes" against the U.S. and South Korea — highlighted the fragility of peace on the divided Korean peninsula. South Korean naval ship sinks near North Korea; 40 missing  - (March 26, 2010)

(4) South Korea's navy opened fire Friday at an unidentified ship in the Yellow Sea near the North Korean border after one of its own ships was sunk, Yonhap news agency said.

South Korea navy opens fire after ship sunk - (March 26, 2010)

(5) A defense ministry official later said that the unidentified object the vessel had fired at on Friday night near the western sea border that divides the two Koreas may well have been a flock of birds. Initial fears that North Korea might be to blame caused ripples on Wall Street, where share prices dipped partly on geopolitical concerns, and the South Korean won dropped against the dollar. "It is premature to discuss the cause of this sinking," presidential Blue House spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye told Reuters early on Saturday. "It is not clear whether North Korea was involved." The Joint Chiefs of Staff also said it could not conclude that the reclusive North was behind the attack. Yonhap news agency quoted a presidential official as saying satellite pictures and other information showed no sign of the North Korean military in the area at the time of the sinking. South Korean navy ship sinks, North link played down - (March 26, 2010)

(6) Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou ordered Defence Minister Kao Hwa-chu to initiate the national security mechanism to monitor developments in the wake of the sinking of a South Korean patrol boat by a North Korean navy vessel off Baengnyeong Island west of North Korea Friday evening. Taiwan president calls security alert after Korean clash - (March 27, 2010)


(7) Flash back: The Obama administration announced an arms sales package to Taiwan worth $6 billion (Jan 2010). With this, the US leveled a direct strike at the heart of the most sensitive diplomatic issue between China and the US. China’s immediate, and outraged, reaction — cancellation of some military exchanges and announcement of punitive sanctions against American companies — demonstrates, China experts said, that Beijing is feeling a little burned, particularly because the Taiwan arms announcement came on the same day that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton publicly berated China for not taking a stronger position on holding Iran accountable for its nuclear program. - With arms for Taiwan, US sends Beijing a message -  ( Jan 31, 2010)


My thoughts: Connect the dots…..This could turn out to be an attempted "Gulf of Tonkin" type false flag attack.