North Korea is making lavish claims of nuclear advancement again

Editor's note: This is Chatter, our morning rundown of what you need and want to know around the world. Fortunately for us all, you can have Chatter emailed to you every day. Just sign up here!

NEED TO KNOW:

North Korea is doing that thing again where it makes lavish claims of nuclear advancement that almost no one believes are real.

Earlier this month the North Korean government said it had successfully tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile. It even released obviously photoshopped pictures of the test to reinforce for the international community just how serious it is.

“They have not gotten as far as their clever video editors and spinmeisters would have us believe,” said James Winnefeld, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during a recent talk.

The North shot back (rhetorically) at those comments today. It warned Washington not to interfere with its sovereign right to defend itself. And then it boasted of its ability to miniaturize nuclear warheads — another claim no one really believes could be true, though all the bluster is making South Korea nervous.

While these provocations might be dubious, there is one thing no one can deny: North Korea is actively pursuing technology that would allow it to strike other countries with nuclear weapons. And crippling international sanctions do not appear to be much of a deterrent.

The question is, why is North Korea making these threats now? Nuclear tests and other warnings are usually well-timed and have a strategic goal. In 2010, for instance, North Korea showed off its long-hinted-at uranium-based nuclear technology to help bolster the reputation of young Kim Jong Un, who was being groomed to take over for his father, Kim Jong Il. Other tests have preceded international talks.

The threats — as empty as they sometimes are — are never random. So what's North Korea up to now?

WANT TO KNOW:

Indonesia and Malaysia have agreed to give temporary shelter to thousands of asylum seekers fleeing nearby Myanmar by sea. The refugees are mostly Rohingya Muslims, one of the most persecuted groups in the world. The Myanmar government refuses to recognize them as citizens.

While hundreds of Rohingya have already landed on the shores of Malaysia and Indonesia, thousands more remain at sea, adrift in large boats. Indonesian fishermen, who unlike their government sympathize with the desperate Rohingya, rescued 450 of them on Wednesday, bringing them to the coast of northern Sumatra. Previously, Indonesia's policy — like those in Malaysia and Thailand and Australia — had been to tow the victims back out to international waters to fend for themselves.

While the decision by Indonesia and Malaysia to demonstrate some small amount of humanity was celebrated, it is only a temporary solution. The agreement is to provide the Rohingya with temporary shelter (read: refugee camps) until they can be repatriated to a third country. The hope is that repatriation will come within a year.

The announcement was made after a meeting between Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Thailand says it is already overburdened with tens of thousands of refugees from Myanmar and refused to take in any more. Thousands of Rohingya pass through camps run by human smugglers in Thailand, where they are tortured until they pay more money, or are left for dead. The camps were given tacit approval by Thai authorities until international pressure recently led to an official crackdown. In the process, large mass graves were uncovered.

The three countries agreed to address the roots of the problem during their meeting. But in their statement they did not even name Myanmar's government, which is an obvious root of the problem. Myanmar has begun to open up after decades of North Korea-style pariah isolationism. The United States has promised riches if the reforms continue. It's unclear how official treatment of the Rohingya will factor into that financial equation.

STRANGE BUT TRUE:

It's the future. And astronauts from a dozen different countries have landed on some alien landscape, perhaps Mars. After a moment of dazzled reflection on the monumental advancement that has just been made, and after a pre-prepared quote is said into some future version of a camcorder, the astronauts reach for their flag to plant it soundly and forever in the deep red sand. But which flag do they choose?

As GlobalPost's Timothy McGrath writes, the Mars landing could get really awkward really fast. Fortunately the forward-thinking people of Earth have already designed a solution: A flag for the planet. It's elegant. It exudes power. It seems to say to aliens across the galaxy, Earth has arrived. It's beautiful if you think about it. It's a flag for the human race. All of us.

Its designer says the flag is a reminder that "we share this planet no matter of national boundaries" and "we should take care of each other and the planet we live on."