Korean-ing Off The Rails, Part 3

North Korea is still putting out quite a stink over South Korea's increase in military drills and live fire exercises.

North Korea said South Korea is raising tension on the Korean Peninsula to an “uncontrollable extreme phase” by holding military exercises with the U.S. and planning a live-firing drill today by navy ships.

The South Korean government “is so hell-bent on the moves to escalate the confrontation and start a war that it is recklessly behaving bereft of reason,” the state-run Korea Central News Agency said in a commentary yesterday. North Korea is “now maintaining a maximum self-possession and self- control,” it said.

Today’s drills will include live firing from ships into seas near Daecheong Island, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said last week. North Korea said the exercise will result in shells landing in its territorial waters.

I'm not sure what the Korean equivalent of kabuki is, but I have a feeling we're seeing it here and with all the bells and whistles. It's only a matter of time before something particularly provocative is going to happen unless cooler heads prevail, and frankly cooler heads are nowhere to be found on the Korean Peninsula.