The Wall Street Journal - 02.08.2019

A8| Friday, August 2, 2019 **** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

WORLD NEWS

SEOUL—North Korea’s re-

cent weapons tests are widely

seen as a means to pressure

the U.S. into offering conces-

sions when talks resume, in-

cluding easing economic sanc-

tions and relaxing demands

that Pyongyang relinquish its

nuclear weapons.

But the test launches—six

since April, including projectile

firings on Wednesday and Fri-

day—also offer practical bene-

fits: Pyongyang can keep ad-

vancing its weapons program,

while leader Kim Jong Un

boosts national morale by

trumpeting self-reliance.

BYDASLYOON

ANDANDREWJEONG

North Korean state media

didn’t immediately comment

on the Friday launch. But for

Wednesday’s test, state media

reported Mr. Kim had person-

ally guided the launch of a

new “large-caliber multiple-

launch guided rocket system.”

Mr. Kim said the weapons

were “an inescapable distress

to the forces becoming a fat

target,” the report said.

The tests sharpen the Kim

regime’s abilities to sidestep

U.S. and South Korean missile

defenses, hit strategic targets

in South Korea with more pre-

cision and better defend itself

against multipronged, Ameri-

can-led attacks by land, air

and sea, military experts said.

“The technology needed for

these weapons must be exact,”

said Moon Jang-nyeol, a pro-

fessor at the Korea National

Defense University in South

Korea. The new weapons likely

need to be tested before their

final deployment, he added.

President Trump has so far

reacted mildly to the uptick in

the North’s weapons testing.

The recent tests have involved

short-range missiles, not long-

range missiles or nuclear tests,

which pose a direct danger to

the contiguous U.S. and which

Mr. Kim has promised to halt.

Mr. Trump on Thursday dis-

missed suggestions that

Pyongyang violated its prom-

ises by firing short-range mis-

siles, telling reporters that Mr.

Kim’s commitments focused

on nuclear testing.

“If the U.S. had responded

with a tough stance, calling the

missile tests a military provo-

cation, North Korea would not

have tested so frequently,” said

Lee Ho-ryung, a research fel-

low at the Seoul-based Korea

Institute for Defense Analyses,

a state-run think tank.

The Trump administration

has pointed to the lack of

long-range missile tests by the

North as a sign its diplomatic

approach with the Kim regime

is working.

Messrs. Trump and Kim

pledged to restart working-level

negotiations on June 30 during

an impromptu meeting at the

Korean demilitarized zone.

This U.S. stance, military ex-

perts say, has created a diplo-

matic buffer for the North to

hone weapons that would typi-

cally draw blowback from the

United Nations Security Coun-

cil, plus Japan and South Korea.

Pyongyang, by the letter of the

law, is violating U.N. restric-

tions banning it from testing

ballistic weapons, experts say.

“Kim Jong Un will continue

to strengthen his missile capa-

bilities, miniaturizing nuclear

warheads and increasing the

number of weapons,” said Moon

Seong-mook, a retired South

Korean army brigadier general.

In the case of a U.S.-led air-

strike, North Korea could use

the short-range projectiles

tested on Wednesday to attack

major cities in South Korea

and the country’s power grids,

said Kim Dong-yub, a professor

of security studies at Kyung-

nam University. The South re-

lies on 24 nuclear plants for

about a quarter of its power

generation, according to South

Korea’s nuclear agency.

North Korea likely wants to

test weapons before formal dip-

lomatic talks with Washington

resume and may conduct fur-

ther weapons tests this month,

South Korean intelligence offi-

cials said on Thursday. A day

later, North Korea conducted its

most recent weapons test.

—Vivian Salama

in Washington

contributed to this article.

Tests Give Pyongyang Practical Benefits

Recent launches of

short-range missiles

counter restrictions,

U.S., Seoul defenses

North Korean state media reported that the nation’s leader, Kim Jong Un, personally guided the test firing of a missile Wednesday. Another launch tookplace Friday.

KCTV/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

and a special-forces assassin

who started the series as adver-

saries and developed into allies

to battle threats—usually in-

volving high-speed cars and

sleeveless shirts.

Throughout the series, fights

are choreographed to ensure

that none of the leads comes

out looking like a loser, said Mi-

chael Fottrell, a producer on five

of the movies.

Does vanity play a role in

those decisions? “No comment,”

said Mr. Fottrell, before adding:

“Of course it does!”

According to producers and

crew members on the films, Mr.

Statham, 51 years old, negoti-

ated an agreement with the stu-

dio that limits how badly he can

be beaten up on screen. Mr. Die-

sel, 52, has his younger sister, a

ContinuedfromPageOne

BRUSSELS—The imminent

collapse of a U.S.-Russia mis-

sile treaty is forcing the North

Atlantic Treaty Organization

to grapple with a Russian mis-

sile system that can target

Western European cities—

without getting caught in an

arms race.

France and Germany and

other allies have backed the

U.S. plan to withdraw from the

1987 Intermediate-range Nu-

clear Forces Treaty on Friday

unless Russia destroys mis-

siles that the U.S. says violate

the pact. Moscow has shown

no sign of complying.

“We don’t want to esca-

late,” said a senior European

diplomat at NATO. “But we

need to show we are united

and ready. We need to talk to

Russia from a position of

strength.”

European leaders expressed

concerns about American

plans to withdraw from the

treaty last year, but swung be-

hind the U.S. assessment that

Russia had breached the treaty

and the Trump administra-

tion’s decision to announce its

withdrawal in February.

NATO Secretary-General

Jens Stoltenberg has said the

29-nation alliance wouldn’t

seek to copy the Russian de-

ployments by fielding its own

land-based nuclear missiles.

Measures under consideration

include strengthening missile

defenses, increasing training

of military forces and involv-

ing warplanes and ships that

can carry nuclear-capable mis-

siles in exercises.

The U.S. and its allies say

Russia has deployed 9M

cruise missiles that breach the

INF Treaty’s ban on land-

based missiles with a range

between 300 and 3,400 miles.

The Kremlin says the missiles

don’t violate the treaty.

NATO, while still discussing

the details, will gradually roll

out steps mostly aimed at bol-

stering defense and deterrence

measures enacted since Rus-

sia’s annexation of Crimea in

2014, according to diplomats.

Those measures have fo-

cused on hardening the alli-

ance’s eastern flank—Poland

and the Baltic states of Estonia,

Latvia and Lithuania—including

stationing four battalion-size

battle groups there. Allies are

aiming by the end of the year

to be able to deploy 30 mecha-

nized battalions, 30 air squad-

rons and 30 combat vessels

within 30 days or less.

“We’re at the beginning of

the process, and it’s important

to maintain the unity of the al-

liance,” said Lithuanian Defense

Minister Raimundas Karoblis.

While some countries favor

pursuing arms control, others

such as Lithuania want a more

robust military response as

well. Arms-control efforts

“should not be at the expense

of NATO,” Mr. Karoblis said.

Some measures could be

more controversial among al-

lies eager to blunt Russian ef-

forts to portray the U.S.—and

NATO with it—as a reckless

rule-breaker that was seeking

a pretext to withdraw from

the treaty.

Upgrading existing NATO

missile defenses to make them

capable of shooting down the

Russian missiles could be a

tough sell to some European

governments, diplomats said.

Russia disputes U.S. claims

that NATO’s interceptors are

aimed at threats from outside

the region and not Moscow’s

nuclear arsenal.

“It would allow the Rus-

sians to say, ‘We told you so,’”

said another European diplo-

mat at NATO.

The U.S. plans to develop

intermediate-range, land-

based missiles once the treaty

expires, The Wall Street Jour-

nal has reported.

BYJAMESMARSON

Demise of

Tr e a ty I s

Challenge

Fo r N AT O

Buildup

NATO has deployed four

multinational battlegroups

near Russia since 2016.

Battlegroupsize,bycountry

Source: NATO, March 2019

Latvia

Poland

Estonia

Lithuania

1,

1,

1,

1,

WORLDWATCH

producer on the films, police the

number of punches he takes.

And Mr. Johnson, 47, enlists

producers, editors and fight co-

ordinators to help make sure he

always gives as good as he gets.

When Mr. Diesel barreled Mr.

Johnson through a wall in “Fast

Five,” released in 2011, it took

about eight seconds for Mr.

Johnson to push Mr. Diesel

through a different wall.

The fights ensure “every

character has their moment,

and that all are seen as formida-

ble opponents,” a Universal

spokesman said. “Each ‘Fast’

character is a hero to someone

watching.”

Messrs. Diesel, Statham and

Johnson declined to comment.

A-list actors often set guide-

lines on their on-screen por-

trayal—mandating, for instance,

they won’t kill women or chil-

dren in a movie, producers and

executives say. In the past, char-

acters like James Bond and

Rambo always won their

fights—but they were fighting

bad guys that, of course, had to

lose. An actor like John Wayne

was even willing to die on

screen in a few movies, but to-

day’s action stars are more sen-

sitive about maintaining their

alpha-male persona, the produc-

ers and executives say.

No moment in the movies ap-

pears too small for actors to nit-

pick. In a scene in 2017’s “The

Fate of the Furious” that re-

quired Mr. Johnson to be lying

on the ground at Mr. Diesel’s

feet, he insisted his character at

least be sitting up, according to

a postproduction crew member.

Mr. Diesel’s sister, Samantha

Vincent, weighs in on rehearsals

and edits, people familiar with

the situation said. “He’s falling

down right here,” she once ob-

served during a fight rehearsal,

according to one person on set.

“Is he going to get his licks back

in?” Ms. Vincent declined to

comment.

The competition spilled off-

screen in August 2016, when Mr.

Johnson wrote an Instagram

post calling out some of his

male co-stars as “candy asses.”

Mr. Johnson later told Roll-

ing Stone magazine he was ref-

erencing Mr. Diesel, who himself

acknowledged in USA Today

that “It’s not always easy being

an alpha. And it’s two alphas.”

Mr. Johnson said the two men

came to a detente after having a

“face-to-face in my trailer.”

Mr. Statham has been known

to swing by the editing room to

weigh in on fight scenes, ac-

cording to postproduction crew

members. “It’s like that old

trope where an actor comes in

and wants more close-ups,” said

one “Furious” editor. “They

want more muscles.”

The “Fast & Furious” movies

also star actresses like Michelle

Rodriguez as ensemble players

who are as tough as the men.

People associated with the fran-

chise said there are fewer con-

cerns about scorekeeping in the

women’s fights.

For the men’s battles, cre-

ative interruptions usually solve

the challenge of ending a fight

without a loser. To stop Mr. Die-

sel’s character from killing Mr.

Statham’s character as the two

men fight atop a parking garage

in 2015’s “Furious 7,” a helicop-

ter fires a missile that splits the

concrete between them like a

fault line. In “The Fate of the

Furious,” Mr. Johnson and Mr.

Statham appear ready to have a

go at one another when a prison

riot breaks out and distracts

them from their squabble.

One-upmanship keeps fights

interesting—although matches

tend to end up neatly symmetri-

cal so neither actor feels

cheated. After they trade throws

through glass partitions in “Fu-

rious 7,” Mr. Statham pummels

Mr. Johnson to the floor and

lands on top of him. Mr. John-

son responds by bringing Mr.

Statham to the floor in his own

slow-motion move, pinning his

body on top.

The plot of the new “Hobbs

& Shaw” movie makes things a

bit easier, since Mr. Johnson’s

and Mr. Statham’s characters

are on the same side and don’t

fight each other. Instead, they

unite to battle yet another Hol-

lywood tough guy: Idris Elba,

playing a rogue MI6 agent who

uses cyber-genetic technology

to boost his own strength to su-

perhuman levels.

‘Fast’ Leads

Never Lose

A Fight

YEMEN

Rebels Kill Dozens in

Attack on Port City

Yemen’s Houthi rebels killed

at least 36 people in a missile-

and-drone attack on a govern-

ment-controlled southern port

city, in a blow to already falter-

ing United Nations-backed ef-

forts to end a four-year war.

The rebels said they tar-

geted a military parade in Aden,

the seat of the Saudi-backed

government, on Thursday. The

attack left dozens injured, Ye-

men’s Health Ministry said.

Both sides have regularly

targeted territory under each

other’s control since the

Houthis captured the capital

San’a in 2015, prompting a

Saudi-led coalition to intervene

on the side of the internation-

ally backed government. The

U.S. and its regional allies ac-

cuse Iran of arming the Houthi

rebels, a charge Tehran denies.

The attack comes as U.N.-led

attempts to bring the warring

parties to negotiations have

largely failed.

—Sune Engel Rasmussen

SAUDI ARABIA

American Doctor

Freed From Prison

Saudi authorities have freed a

Saudi-American doctor who was

allegedly tortured while held in

prison for almost two years

without known charges, people

with knowledge of his case said,

ending a detention that had

fueled criticism of Saudi Crown

Prince Mohammed bin Salman in

Washington.

Walid Fitaihi, a 54-year-old

dual citizen, was among hun-

dreds of Saudis rounded up in

November 2017 and held for a

time in the Ritz-Carlton hotel in

Riyadh, in what the government

described as a crackdown on cor-

ruption. Dr. Fitaihi is a Harvard-

trained physician who built a

hospital in Jeddah and became a

popular motivational speaker and

television host in the kingdom.

Saudi authorities transferred

him to a prison and held him

there long after most of the Ritz

detainees were released.

Charges against him weren’t dis-

closed, and the people familiar

with his case said he told family

members that he was beaten,

whipped, shocked with electric-

ity, stripped to his underwear

and bound to a chair.

—Summer Said

MIDEAST

Kushner Promotes

Peace Plan on Trip

President Trump’s son-in-law

and senior adviser Jared Kush-

ner tried to breathe life into

Middle East peace efforts with

meetings this week in Israel and

Arab countries, as administration

officials suggested the plan

wouldn’t guarantee full state-

hood for Palestinians.

Mr. Kushner is swinging

through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Is-

rael, Egypt and Morocco in a bid

to build off a June conference in

Bahrain that outlined how a

peace plan could benefit the Pal-

estinian economy. Mr. Kushner

didn’t meet with any Palestinian

officials on his trip, which ends

in Morocco on Friday, and Pales-

tinian leaders remained opposed

to the Trump administration’s

peace efforts, calling them bi-

ased toward Israel. They have

boycotted contacts with the

Trump administration since De-

cember 2017 when the U.S. rec-

ognized Jerusalem as Israel’s

capital.

—Felicia Schwartz

WILDFIRES SPREAD: Fire-service members work in the Krasnoyarsk region in Russia on Thursday.

RUSSIAN AERIAL FOREST PROTECTION SERVICE/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK

‘He’s falling down

right here...is he

going to get his licks

back in?’