I'll Take Geopolitical And Thermonuclear Trash Talk For $800 Please, Alex..

N.Korea 'will rely on nuclear might for defence'


Pyongyang will rely on nuclear might to defend itself against the United States and South Korea, North Korea's Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun told Russia's Interfax news agency Friday.

Anyone taking this threat seriously?  Russia, I'm looking in your direction..

Moments after his comments, the Russian foreign ministry issued a statement stating that "all sides must avoid taking any actions that can escalate the situation."

Japan seems a little agitated by how this whole crisis has unfolded..

Japan's usual quiet approach to tensions with its neighbors is giving way to more military exercises, critical statements and discussions of what was once unthinkable: development of a nuclear arsenal.

In recent weeks, Japan has issued blunt positions against North Korea and China over the North's attacking of a South Korean island and China's refusal to rein in its Korean ally.

This month, Japan refused to renounce its claim to islands to its south whose waters are rich in minerals and that China says is its property. And Friday marked the eighth day of military drills with the U.S. aimed at countering a ballistic missile attack on Japan.  (If I were Japanese, I'd be more worried about China directly, rather than indirectly via North Korea.  But that's just splitting nuclear hairs..)

And, despite favorable talks between China and the U.S., no one seems ready to blink just yet..