North Korea Opens Hot Line to South

The crisis telephone link between North and South Korea was disconnected two years ago by orders of Kim Jong Un, increasing the chances of a dangerous miscalculation in the tense border standoff that has lasted more than fifty years.  Communications over the hot line was reestablished today when North Korean officials contacted their neighbors about "technical issues" for twenty minutes.  The link is located in Panmunjong, the shared village on the 'demilitarized' border. Western observers hail the contact as a diplomatic breakthrough coming on the heels of a somewhat conciliatory speech by the North Korean dictator in which he pointedly told Donald Big Mouth that "the nuclear button was on his desk."  North Korea is considering sending an Olympic team to Peyongchang for the Winter Olympics that begin next month.  South Korea's president welcomed the move, saying reopening the channel was "very significant" for what is sometimes known as the 'hermit kingdom'.  Whether actual progress in talks is made remains to be seen as the two nations divided by war have failed to advance beyond stalemate and recrimination in the past.

The US President is not helping the situation.  Typical of the infantile bombast for which Donald has become world-renowned, he boasted in a twit that his button was "much bigger, more powerful" than Un's.  This sort of prattle belongs in a school-yard, not on the world diplomatic stage.  One female Twitter respondent desperately asked, "Is this real life?"  Unfortunately for the rest of us, a nuclear-armed government by sociopathic personality* is.

*according to the Mayo Clinic, a sociopathic personality may exhibit some or all of these symptoms:

• Persistent lying or deceit to exploit others
• Being callous, cynical and disrespectful of others
• Using charm or wit to manipulate others for personal gain or personal pleasure
• Arrogance, a sense of superiority and being extremely opinionated
• Recurring problems with the law, including criminal behavior
• Repeatedly violating the rights of others through intimidation and dishonesty
• Impulsiveness or failure to plan ahead
• Hostility, significant irritability, agitation, aggression or violence
• Lack of empathy for others and lack of remorse about harming others
• Unnecessary risk-taking or dangerous behavior with no regard for the safety of self or others
• Poor or abusive relationships
• Failure to consider the negative consequences of behavior or learn from them
• Being consistently irresponsible and repeatedly failing to fulfill work or financial obligations