Is North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un Playing One Super-Power Over The Other?

New York Times: With Nuclear Test, North Korea’s Leader Asserts Role of Instigator

SEOUL, South Korea — The young leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, has often been dismissed as inexperienced, erratic and even clueless. But with the North’s test of a nuclear bomb this week, Mr. Kim appears to have mastered a strategy that has served his reclusive country well: playing one big power against another.

The nuclear test quickly increased tensions between the United States and China. In a strong rebuke on Thursday, Secretary of State John Kerry called China’s approach to North Korea a failure, saying that something had to change in its handling of the isolated country it has supported for six decades. On Friday, China suggested that it was the Americans, not the Chinese, who were largely to blame for the North’s nuclear program.

The United States also used the North’s test to tighten a trilateral alliance with Japan and South Korea in the region, a relationship that China has long viewed as a check on its power.

WNU Editor: The China that I know does not like to be told what to do .... and they sure as hell hate being manipulated. Bottom line .... North Korea's nuclear test made China realize .... again .... that this country will go to extremes to not only try to get what they want from the West .... but to also get what they want from China.

Update #1: I have already heard about these feelers from North Korea from my Chinese readers .... North Korea seeks China help on treaty with U.S., or more tests - source (Reuters) .... the Chinese are not happy with this "threat"

Update #2: I mentioned earlier that the U.S. remarks that China's policy vis-a-vis North Korea was a mistake .... U.S. Blames China For Failing To Rein In North Korea. It is because it gives China the excuse to blast back at the U.S. while not focusing on North Korea .... where the focus should be.

Update #3: This is not the reason why North Korea decided to have an atomic test .... Is North Korean girl band connected to nuclear test? (CNN)

My Prediction On What Will Be The U.S. And Chinese Response To North Korea's Nuclear Test

Kim Jong-un signs the order for the nuclear test. KCNA

The Guardian: North Korea nuclear test meets with familiar response from White House

Obama administration greets fourth test in a decade with usual approach of ‘strategic patience’, as Republicans once again call for harsher measures.

Barack Obama’s administration has greeted North Korea’s fourth nuclear test in a decade with the same mix of condemnation, exasperation and pleas for collective action prompted by Pyongyang’s previous nuclear detonations.

Once again, US officials said they refused to accept North Korea as a nuclear state – even though two decades of diplomacy, sanctions, and threats have failed to reverse the country’s nuclear programme.

An emergency meeting of the UN security council is expected to add economic sanctions atop longstanding ones intended to punish Kim Jong-un’s nuclear violations. A senior US State Department official said: “We would like to see additional sanctions that are very tough to continue to hold this regime to account.”

Update: Some tension, but trade uninterrupted at China-North Korea border (Reuters)

WNU Editor: Nothing will change. But expect more U.S. military personnel and equipment to be deployed, weapons to be sold, and a greater international focus on North Korea. But the Chinese are going to be miffed for a few months.

Chinese Reaction To North Korea's Nuclear Test

Hua Chunying, spokeswoman of China's Foreign Ministry, gestures at a regular news conference in Beijing, China, January 6, 2016. REUTERS/JASON LEE

New York Times: North Korea’s Hydrogen Bomb Claim Strains Ties With China

BEIJING — For months, China’s leaders have worked to improve relations with North Korea, its loyal but unpredictable ally to the east. They dispatched a top official to the North for a military parade, rejected calls to isolate it with tough economic sanctions, and spoke glowingly of its leader.

But on Wednesday, Beijing’s hopes of keeping its neighbor in check appeared to diminish, as the North said it had completed a test of a hydrogen bomb about 50 miles from the Chinese border, the fourth nuclear weapon test in a decade.

Officials in Beijing were furious.

“China strongly opposes this act,” Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in unusually harsh remarks at a news conference on Wednesday. “China will firmly push for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

More News On Chinese Reaction To North Korea's Nuclear Test

China firmly opposes DPRK's nuclear test -- China.org.cn
China not terribly pleased with North Korea's hydrogen bomb testing -- Shanghaiist
China urges North Korea to honor commitment to denuclearisation -- Reuters
China 'firmly opposes' North Korea nuclear test: Beijing -- AFP
North Korea and China Play a Delicate Game -- AP
China Condemns N. Korea's Purported Hydrogen Bomb Test -- VOA
China says did not have advance warning of North Korea bomb test -- Reuters
China, North Korea's Last Ally, Expresses Concern At Apparent Nuclear Test -- IBTimes
North Korea Tests China With Nuclear Claim -- WSJ
China says will lodge protest with North Korea after bomb test -- Reuters
China's Xinhua: North Korea nuclear test runs counter to goal of denuclearisation -- Reuters
North Korea nuclear test 'slap in the face' for China -- CNN
What China Is Saying About North Korea’s Nuclear Test -- Scott Cendrowski, Fortune
A snub for China, North Korea’s reported nuclear test shows Beijing’s waning influence -- Washington Post
When Will China Finally Abandon the Loons in North Korea? -- Kevin Drum, Mother Jones
North Korea tested a nuclear bomb on China’s doorstep, and China is not pleased -- May Shi, Quartz