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Pyongyang’s foreign minister has said the North is considering a nuclear test around the Pacific, after a personal statement from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to US President Donald Trump. Analyst Ankit Panda decodes this unprecedented statement – and what the Pacific threat could actually mean.

The threat follows another remarkable statement by the North, a first-person address from Mr Kim to Mr Trump.

Kim Jong-un’s statement – the first of its kind – came shortly after the North Korean delegation led by Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho arrived in New York for the annual United Nations General Assembly debate.

As such it merits a close reading and serious consideration.

Why did it come now?

The statement was manifestly a response to the US leader’s braggadocio on Tuesday at the General Assembly, when he threatened to « totally destroy » North Korea if the United States was forced to defend itself or its allies.

It also marks what is perhaps the apotheosis of a slowly simmering war of words between the Trump administration and the North Korean regime.

In August, we watched as Kim Jong-un posed with a map threatening an enveloping ballistic missile strike on the US territory of Guam and Mr Trump promised « fire and fury » – possible nuclear first-use, in other words – to North Korea in exchange for continued threats.

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AFP

While North Korea’s state media serve as a propaganda tool, more often than not the reclusive state’s regime tells us exactly what it wants and exactly what it is planning to do in these statements.

Could it be about Donald Trump, personally?

First, even readers unaccustomed to North Korea’s public messaging will note the wide range of ad hominem insults levied at Mr Trump in the statement.

Mr Kim lambasts the US leader – who’d dubbed him « Rocket Man » – as « mentally deranged, » a « dotard » and a « frightened dog ».

Second, notably, Kim Jong-un makes no reference to the US « hostile policy » in his statement.

The « hostile policy » is North Korea’s paramount grievance about the US’s East Asian alliances, permanently deployed military presence in South Korea and Japan, and provision of nuclear umbrella coverage to Seoul and Tokyo.

That Mr Kim chose to ignore it in a speech bemoaning the US president’s threat to « destroy » his country appears notable in combination with his personalised critique of Mr Trump.

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The implication here is that Mr Kim may regard Mr Trump as a sui generis phenomenon – his threats count as an affront to North Korea’s dignity, but do not carry the weight of US policy.

Just as Donald Trump implied Kim Jong-un was irrational on Tuesday by noting that he was on a « suicide mission », so does Mr Kim imply that Mr Trump, instead of making a mundane speech at the General Assembly, chose to deliver « unprecedented rude nonsense one has never heard from any of his predecessors ».

Finally, it’s noteworthy that despite the overall bellicosity of the statement, Kim Jong-un does not opt to threaten the American people or the country itself. If there’s a bottom line here it’s that now it’s personal.

• The North Korea crisis in 300 words
• Does the latest nuclear test mean war?

A pretext for a major provocation?

Doubling down, Mr Kim noted that Mr Trump’s open expression of the « will to ‘totally destroy’ a sovereign state… makes even those with normal thinking faculty think about discretion and composure ».

The implication here is clear – Kim Jong-un does not see Mr Trump as a man in possession of « normal thinking [faculties] ».

What then does Mr Kim propose to do with a leader that he clearly regards as unstable and irrational? Clearly angered by the threat to « destroy » his country, Mr Kim promises to « tame the mentally deranged US dotard with fire ».

The hermeneutics involved here aren’t complex – Mr Kim is using this statement to provide a pretext for a spectacular provocation involving his ever more impressive ballistic missiles and his increasingly more powerful nuclear weapons.

These provocations could come in many forms. Kim Jong-un has already got his foot in the door in terms of overflying Japan with ballistic missile systems – he has done so twice in the past month.

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He could endeavour to do so with North Korea’s Hwasong-14 intercontinental-range ballistic missile.

Separately, he could test-fire a longer-range submarine-launched ballistic missile or salvo-launch intermediate-range ballistic missiles in the direction of the US territory of Guam.

• What missiles does North Korea have?
• Are Pyongyang’s missiles a risk to planes?
• What are North Korea’s other WMDs?

Finally, North Korea hasn’t carried out deliberate conventional attacks against the US or its allies since 2010, when it shelled a South Korean island and sunk a South Korean naval ship, killing more than 40 sailors. It could attempt to seize the initiative with new provocations of this kind.

The provocations do not stop there, however. Immediately after the release of Mr Kim’s statement, North Korea’s foreign minister told reporters that the « highest-level » action Kim Jong-un is considering is possibly the « strongest hydrogen bomb test in the Pacific ».

What could the Pacific threat really mean?

This raises a terrifying spectre – one that North Korea watchers have mulled for some time, but which did not seem realistic until this year.

Kim Jong-un could conduct an atmospheric nuclear detonation in the Pacific Ocean.

There are two mechanisms for a test like this. One is for Kim Jong-un to mount the nuclear device he showed the world before his 3 September nuclear test and fire it over Japan, into the Pacific Ocean, and demonstrate a credible thermonuclear capability.

• What is an H-bomb?
• The most powerful nuclear blasts in history

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Presumably, witnessing this feat would « tame » Trump into accepting the « equilibrium » that North Korea alluded to earlier this week – a state of stable nuclear deterrence.

Given the inadequacy of existing US and Japanese ballistic missile defence systems, it is far from a sure thing that such a test could be intercepted.

Jeffrey Lewis, an arms control expert at the Middlebury Center of International Studies at Monterey, alluded to China’s fourth nuclear test as a reminder of why this logic may make sense to North Korea.

In the 1960s, US observers doubted Chinese nuclear capabilities until China placed a nuclear weapon on a ballistic missile and carried out an atmospheric detonation. Only then were they « tamed » to accept China as a serious nuclear state.

The last atmospheric nuclear test on Earth took place on 16 October 1980, by China.

What could the consequences be?

Nevertheless, the risks with a test like this are immense. Civil aviators and mariners in the target area may perish, given that North Korea does not offer international warning of its missile launch plans unlike other states that routinely test ballistic missiles.

Moreover, the environmental damage and fallout could be catastrophic. Should the missile fail over Japan – or prematurely detonate – the consequences would effectively guarantee a nuclear war in retaliation.

North Korea could choose not to use a missile for a test like this to mitigate some risk, but still demonstrate an awe-inspiring capability.

A second mechanism could be to sail a ship out to sea with a nuclear device and detonate it. Here, the odds that US intelligence would detect and interdict the North Korean vessel are higher.

What’s critical to recall here is that North Korea gives no assurances of any specific action. Mr Kim simply insults Mr Trump, defends the dignity of his country and promises to consider further action.

Similarly, the foreign minister’s words hint at one possible outcome of many.

An atmospheric nuclear test from North Korea would represent the apotheosis of its provocative testing behaviour. It could even spark a military conflict should Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo determine that no more could be tolerated.

Does the North recognise red lines?

Fortunately, North Korea has proven to be deliberate and incremental in its ballistic missile and nuclear testing and recognises the existence of « red lines » for the international community.

For instance, after its nuclear tests, it noted that no environmental damage occurred, a token gesture of « responsibility » despite its illegal and provocative behaviour.

Ultimately, Kim Jong-un likely saw this statement as an act of proportionality.

Donald Trump’s « unprecedented » threat to his country at the United Nations merited a proportionate response – an unprecedented first-person statement from him.

And so the war of words continues between the leader of the world’s foremost nuclear superpower and its newest nuclear state.

Ankit Panda is a North Korea expert and senior editor at The Diplomat.

This week’s takeaway comes from Kyle Kramer, vice president of video at Forbes Media, who oversees all video development, creation and strategy.

As media rushes toward its video future, it’s worth thinking about what sort of video works. Here are some familiar guidelines for branded content video:

• Keep it short
• A square format beats a rectangular one
• Use captions
• Nail the takeaway at the top
• Keep things in motion, visually speaking

Here’s another — one that’s just as crucial but gets less attention: Make your videos episodic. Forget about one-off videos, if you have the choice.

“If the goal is to engage an audience,” said Kramer, “then the series is by far the better investment for a brand.”

The single viral video still sweetens advertisers’ dreams, but it’s a low-yield bet. “Sure, if you hit the jackpot with a one-off video that racks up 6 million views within days, you’ll beat any series in terms of effectiveness,” Kramer said. “But you probably won’t.”

Kramer prefers building an audience video by video, piece by piece. It’s like going long on a solid stock rather than tossing your savings into one hot IPO.

“A series gives a brand a lot more chances to forge an emotional bond with an audience,” Kramer said. “We tend to be skeptical that we can build an audience with one-off video content.”

Kramer and his team shoot videos in series of four to 30.

The numbers tell the story. All eight of the videos in Forbes.com’s Samsung-sponsored Relentless series, which explores how young achievers maximize their time, are currently among the top 25 most-viewed Forbes videos. Viewers come to see one Relentless video, and many stay to see more than one, or all of them.

What comes in your mind by the mention of the term ‘virtual reality’?  Most people will conceive it to be either a film or a game set. However, Virtual reality (VR) is an artificially generated environment by a 3-D computer program and then presented to its user in a manner that simulates reality, hence has a definition beyond film or video programs.

The adoption of VR technologies globally has been influenced by social, economic, and technological dynamics. For example, in the field of medicine, the VR has been used to improve various traditional therapeutic methods for cases such as PAST and social disorder.

Globally, the adoption of VR has been vigorous due to its dynamic capabilities. From video to phone games, the tech is fast growing. Analysts indicate that by 2022 the industry would have hit about $33.90 billion. Today, VR technologies have risen to world brands such as Samsung Gear, Oculus, and among others. An indication that the tech exceeds the mere video and video game connotation.  But what does this mean to the marketing industry?

Virtual Reality and Marketing

VR bring about a new platform for businesses in the world of marketing, especially for companies when it comes to engaging their clients. Generally, marketers and companies are often looking for better approaches on how best they can package their goods and services, an event that brings the VR into perspective.

For example, estate agents can use it to give their customers a virtual walk on the potential property. The Westfield shopping center in the United Kingdom uses VR headsets to display their latest collection of fashion. In the US, juries have used VR techs to make convictions.

So, how do these dynamisms affect marketing especially in the field of Law?

1.Video Marketing and Product branding

Technology is regarded as one of the most effective approach to marketing. Most law firm marketers online have adopted video marketing solutions as a compelling way to drive visitors to their websites into contacting them. As of 2016, it is estimated that up to 96 percent of B2B companies have engaged video marketing, of which, 73% acknowledged a positive ROI impact. The VR concept comes in handy in the video marketing by offering a 3-D dimensional experience.

The 360-degree experience by itself changes how video marketing is done, since it makes the videos more realistic and customers’ motivating. This also provides marketers with an easier time while illustrating their concepts. The VR also presents an alternative to video streaming for ads, same as the television.

2.Product Testing

The VR tech has been transformative on how most product testings are conducted. Product testing, as a marketing technique it can be used by marketers to give customers an experience of the real product.  The VR comes in handy, in instances when some productions such as from law and architectural services that cannot be given in samples or portion like a pastry. Thanks to the VR, an almost leveled field in marketing has been achieved. Lawyers can illustrate to their customers how they intend to prosecute their cases without necessarily visiting a courtroom.

Most organizations have partnered with the VR service providers to enhance their customers travel experience, software, and clothing trials. Also, thanks to the VR you won’t be seeing some salespersons knocking at your doorstep or scheduling for a product’s demo’s appointment. In brief, VR provides a marketer with enough intelligence to understand their customers.

3.Faster production and lesser product’s time at the marketplace

With the VR technology, companies or marketers take less time to understand their client’s needs or demands. This has been validated by the capacity of the tech to generate a virtual product as per the customer’s requirements. In the field of litigation, lawyers and prosecutors could save the time in lawsuits by illustrating their cases using VR gadgets such as holograms. Noel Edlin visualizes that VR can be used to transfer a jury to the actual seen of crime.

In short, marketing practitioners could use the tech to make remote depositions in a way that removes distance and time barriers.

4.Improved Customer Connection

The marketing industry is one of the most competitive fields. The more a marketer treats their client to a better experience, the more the likelihood of retaining them. Most customers do not like being treated just as ‘mere numbers.’ By giving customers the chance to have an insight and experience of a company’s operations and productions, marketers would be elevated to a new level of marketing which boosts clients-business relationship and vice versa. With the VR tech experience, marketers can improve their connections with customers in several ways.

5.Improved sales

In improving the way of engaging with customers, there is a higher probability of companies attaining improved sales. As illustrated above, by 2022 the industry would have hit about a $33.90 billion mark. More so, this factor can also be attained through the quickening of the supply chain of goods and services from producers to buyers. From the litigation industry scenario, most law firms have been able to maximize their sales via VR tech programs’ promotions.

 

To sum up, the arrival of VR application brings about a new set of opportunities as well as setbacks in marketing management. Whereas VR programs have the potential of shaping the future of businesses and general marketing issues, there is a severe lack of enough research to identify the major themes to describe VR application from customers or marketing perspective. Other challenges emanating from VR applications include ethical considerations, technical investments, and financial costs of the technology.

Regardless, if you are drafting a marketing plan, then incorporating or considering VR systems would be fundamental in this techy savvy era. For law firms, definitely this is your best bet. Not only does it make your marketing easier but also improves your viability to winning cases so does client relationship. Therefore, embracing the VR is like accepting the future, let’s embrace the VR.

This post is part of our contributor series. The views expressed are the author’s own and not necessarily shared by TNW.

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Mr. Chen Qi, VP of Hangzhou Souche Automotive Services Co.,Ltd. (parent company of Tangeche), said “Auto consumption in China has entered a new inflection point, which presents a great opportunity for Tangeche, the leading brand for auto financial leasing in China.  In terms of marketing, Tangeche selected a strong partner with Youku and became the first advertiser to use NIVA CPM, so that the brand appeared across the whole platform and in multiple shows – Tangeche could be seen everywhere. Besides cost-effective brand exposure, Tangeche attracted the attention of younger users, and communicated a new way for buying cars, thanks to its subtle messaging in scenes that featured urban mainstream working and living.”

“As a brand that typically purchases OOH, Tangeche is utilizing NIVA as a supplement with powerful ad tech and tracking capabilities that feature high quality integrations that deliver high relevancy, reach and efficiency,” says Mike Rees, Mirriad Managing Director APAC. “By delivering the quality, authenticity and editorial integrity mandated by the content, NIVA helps address critical issues brands and advertisers are currently facing, such as quality and brand safety. We are seeing brands, advertisers and content owners alike embracing NIVA as the future of advertising – to integrate advertising directly into entertainment content.”

China, a leader in the realm of media innovation and ad tech, is seeing their market for video content expanding rapidly. At the same time, the need to monetize content has led to an oversaturation of interruptive advertisement that hinders the viewing experience, requiring solutions. Mirriad’s NIVA technology allows brands to advertise directly within the content in a highly noticeable and relevant context, delivering unskippable advertising that respects viewers. At the same time, brands receive core reach and frequency metrics in order to buy NIVA as advertising.

Alibaba Digital Media Entertainment Group – Youku Chief Operating Officer Shen Wei said, “Thanks to the innovative ad product NIVA, advertisers can leverage hot IPs for increasing brand exposure and enhancing brand association, as well as generating more opportunities for content marketing.  In the near future, Youku will strive to create more native ad products, which will inspire advertisers with new ideas for video marketing.”

As Mirriad continues to expand globally, they are introducing NIVA CPM, a product positioned for programmatic transaction that has created a long awaited currency for brand integration as an ad unit. NIVA allows advertisers to buy advertising in-video at very high quality whilst being compliant with the three V’s of digital advertising: viewability, verification and value. All NIVA ad units can be tracked and optimized during the course of the campaign and are scalable – key steps in providing brands with what they need to justify a native in-video campaign, and to move beyond more disruptive forms of advertising.

As the death toll from Tuesday’s 7.1-magnitude earthquake reached 245 people, with at least 100 in Mexico City and the rest distributed in surrounding states, Mexicans confronted scenes out of parents’ worst nightmares as rescuers pulled children’s bodies from the ruins of the primary school. Residents also learned about a baby’s baptism in central Mexico that ended with 11 family members dead, including the baby, when the church collapsed.

Amid the scenes of devastation, a surge of civic spirit took hold as thousands volunteered to provide medical care, food and water or to pick through buildings destroyed by the quake, the second major temblor in the past month and the deadliest in three decades.

In Mexico City’s central Roma neighborhood, small stores stayed open around the clock, offering food to rescue workers and families of victims. A hardware store lent tools to people trying to claw through massive piles of debris. Signs on pay phones advertised free calls. On one quiet street in Colonia del Valle, a generator rumbled softly, with a paper taped to the wall next to it that read: “Neighbors, you can charge your phones here.”

“It’s a pleasure to help,” said Rogelio Santos, a shopkeeper, on Wednesday. “We wouldn’t want to be anywhere else right now.”

In the capital, the powerful quake caused more than three dozen buildings to crumple and damaged hundreds more, a north-south band of destruction that scarred poor and wealthy neighborhoods alike.

“The priority continues to be rescuing people in collapsed structures and treating the wounded,” Peña Nieto wrote on Twitter on Wednesday as he assessed damage in Mexico City and surrounding areas. Peña Nieto declared a three-day period of national mourning, the second time the government has made such a declaration this month.

Where Mexico’s earthquakes have struck View Graphic Where Mexico’s earthquakes have struck

The Mexican leader spoke to President Trump on Wednesday about the quake. Trump extended his condolences and offered assistance and search-and-rescue teams, which were quickly deployed, according to a statement from the White House.

Trump has had a testy relationship with the Mexican government and was criticized for not quickly contacting Peña Nieto after a deadly quake off the Pacific coast earlier this month. (Trump blamed poor cellphone reception.)

[Was it the cell signal? Mexicans wonder why Trump took so long to offer condolences]

The latest quake knocked out power across 40 percent of this city of 20 million, and rescue and medical services were stretched to their limits. Peña Nieto said Wednesday night that power had been restored to 95 percent of the population.

Authorities reported damage to at least 22 hospitals in and around Mexico City.

One, in Morelos, collapsed completely. Some 5,000 schools were damaged by the quake.

The partially destroyed Colegio Enrique Rebsamen, a private elementary school with about 400 students in southern Mexico City, quickly became a painful symbol of the tragedy. Mexicans anxiously watched on their televisions as dramatic rescue efforts continued through Tuesday night and into the next day.

By Wednesday morning, Lucia Arista had already visited what remained of the school. She had checked the dozens of names scrawled on paper and taped to trees that identified the survivors and deceased. She had visited eight hospitals in southern Mexico City in a desperate, predawn search for her niece.

She could discover no news, good or bad, about the fate of Jessica Laura Castrejon Hernandez, a 32-year-old cleaning woman who worked at the school.

“She has disappeared,” Arista said. The mingled emotions of anxiety, dread and hope were evident in the crowd gathered around the three-story school.

After one wing collapsed Tuesday afternoon — where the kindergarten and the younger grades held classes — hundreds of rescue workers descended on the scene, including police, soldiers and marines.

“It’s like a sandwich now,” said Eduardo Corona, 55, a search-and-rescue volunteer who began working at the building Tuesday evening. “Many of those children, they didn’t make it.”

Corona saw the bodies of young children but said he could not hear sounds from survivors. Working to the rumble of generators, rescue teams used search dogs, mirrors, hoses and other methods to probe the wreckage for survivors.

Rescue worker Pedro Serrano described to the Associated Press how he tunneled into the unstable rubble to a partially collapsed classroom of the school, only to find no one alive.

“We saw some chairs and wooden tables. The next thing we saw was a leg, and then we started to move rubble, and we found a girl and two adults — a woman and a man,” he said.

The search for the girl known as Frida Sofia became the top priority at the school, and maybe for all of Mexico. Overnight and into Thursday morning, there remained confusion about how many children were inside with her and whether they were alive.

Around the security cordon, neighbors strung up sheets of paper, taped between a tree and a crosswalk sign, with names of children who survived, suffered injuries or died.

There were 31 names on two lists of the dead. At least 59 other people were listed as having gone to hospitals in the area.

“We don’t know how many children are still inside,” said Elena Villaseñor, 44, a neighbor who was helping with the notices. “They were in classes. The school was full.”

A stream of parents, grandparents and other relatives checked for the names of family members.

“It is very hard to have to point them to these two lists,” Villaseñor said, motioning to the blue and white sheets with the names of the dead children. “There aren’t words.”

[In Mexico City, rich and poor had little in common. Until the quake hit.]

The Mexican military dispatched more than 4,000 service members to Mexico City and thousands more elsewhere to help with relief operations.

Several countries made plans to send assistance. At the Mexican government’s request, the U.S. Agency for International Development will deploy a team to conduct damage assessments and help local authorities coordinate their emergency efforts, American officials said. The team will include urban search-and-rescue specialists from the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Ordinary Mexican residents also banded together to assist in the recovery effort in any way possible: distributing water, sandwiches, tamales and coffee.

Telecom companies enabled free text messaging and provided Internet service at points across the city. Private car services, as well as public buses and subways, offered free rides.

When the traffic lights went out in the hard-hit Roma neighborhood, several private security guards and one regular civilian in a T-shirt and jeans took it upon themselves to direct traffic.

Tuesday’s earthquake occurred exactly 32 years after Mexico’s worst earthquake, which left thousands dead in 1985 and demolished entire neighborhoods in the capital.

Mexico is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes: The country is in a region where tectonic plates butt up against one another, with huge amounts of energy waiting to be unleashed.

Gabriela Martinez and Paul Imison in Mexico City and William Branigin, Andrew deGrandpre and Abby Phillip in Washington contributed to this report.

Read more

Strong earthquake shakes Mexico, killing more than 200 people

Mexicans claw through the rubble to reach survivors after deadly earthquake

Thirty years later, Mexicans are getting ready for the next big quake

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