Peter King: NKorean Government Like ‘Organized Crime Family’

There is no purpose in attempting direct talks with North Korea, says Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., because “As far as I can see, this isn’t even a government. It’s like an organized crime family running a territory.”

King, appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s recent “bellicose rhetoric” is not an empty threat. Though the communist country doesn’t have the ability to hit the U.S. mainland with warheads as Kim claims, King said “I think the real threat is what North Korea might be boxing itself into.”

Kim is trying to establish himself and be “the tough guy,” King said of the 28-year-old leader.

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“He keeps going further and further out. And I don’t know if he can get himself back in.”

To save face, Kim might launch an attack on South Korea or on a U.S. base in the South Pacific, King said. Newly elected South Korean President Park Geun-hye, more hardline and pro-Western than her predecessor, may respond militarily against North Korea, King said.