So, you’ve probably heard about North Korea wanting to nuke us. This isn’t really news as Kim Jong-un has never minced words when it comes to his feelings about the United States.
He has been reported as calling the U.S. a “cesspool of evils” and has even threatened to wipe our country out as a whole. In the past, these threats have not been taken seriously and have even made the leader of North Korea somewhat of a joke in films like The Interview as well as various internet memes.
Previously, North Korea was never seen as a serious nuclear superpower in the world. However, recent threats from Kim Jong-un that detail plans to launch test missiles to the island of Guam, have reopened analysis of North Korea as a possible threat.
The situation escalated after U.S. President Donald Trump responded to the threat of the test missiles. He stated that any strikes would be met with “fire and fury." With all of this in the news, I have to wonder whether North Korea may actually be a threat to the United States and, if so, what does this mean?
Nuclear War?
Recent events seem to have many thinking that President Trump is leading us into a nuclear war. He gave no word on whether the U.S. would take any pre-emptive strikes to North Korea, saying “we’ll see what happens.”
Many are criticizing the President’s aggressive language accusing him of escalating the situation and moving us closer to a possible nuclear war. In response to this, North Korea has only offered an ominous statement saying, “a preemptive strike is no longer the monopoly of the US.”
Do we have anything to be worried about?
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, “the United States and its Asian allies regard North Korea as a grave security threat.” It is believed by some analysts that North Korea has somewhere between fifteen and twenty nuclear weapons in its possession.
While it is believed that North Korea does have missiles that could reach the North American mainland, the United States is in possession of 36 interceptors according to Politico. However, it is questionable whether or not these interceptors would actually be able to stop a weapon aimed at the United States, as they failed three of their five tests. According to Secretary of Defense, Jim Mattis, a nuclear war with North Korea would be “catastrophic.”
Is there another solution?
Mattis then went on to explain that the diplomatic effort to handle the situation has “diplomatic traction” and is gaining “diplomatic results.” As I stated before, President Trump has given no specifics in regards to a preemptive strike or any other form of aggression towards North Korea.
In the end, I’m left with more questions than answers in regards to whether the North Korean threat is actually something to worry about. I suppose it's all in your interpretation of this situation.
Some may see this as the beginning of a nuclear war while others may see it as a rehashing of the Cold War. At this point, all we can really do is pray, wait, and like our President said, “see what happens.”
