The world’s most fascinating – and unnerving – game of poker is taking place on the Korean peninsula. The problem is no one has seen the Korean Kid play before.
The game started out pretty routinely. In December Kim Jong-eun got things started by casually tossing a missile launch on the table. Barack “Pivot” Obama raised him with a UN Security Council resolution. The Kid brought out a nuclear test, and was raised by fresh sanctions.
Since then the bets have come thick and fast. Mr Obama has thrown in B-2 and B-52 bombers. Mr Kim, in charge of North Korea since December 2011, has declared a “state of war” with South Korea and asserted his right to a pre-emptive nuclear strike. This week he raised the stakes still further. He warned foreigners to leave Seoul in case of a “thermonuclear war” and closed the Kaesong industrial park, one of his country’s few sources of foreign exchange. To many that smacked of unhinged irrationality, the equivalent of betting your wedding ring on a feeble hand.