Kim Jong-Un, the Supreme Leader of North Korea, recently threatened a nuclear attack on Washington, as well as an all-out war against all of North Korea’s enemies (which, coincidentally, is the vast majority of the Earth). Kim vowed a nuclear launch, despite not yet having a nuclear warhead assembled. He has long been opposed to the large stockpile of nuclear weapons that America has and has had no qualms in stating this fact.
However, he recently severed all peace treaties with neighbor and staunch enemy South Korea after further UN sanctions were imposed in response to the threats to America. America and the UN have been imposing sanctions repeatedly to curtail the nuclear proliferation of North Korea, although it only seems to spur them on to greater lengths. While the citizens of North Korea wallow in starvation and poverty, the Premiere eats lavishly while pursuing his dream of being the next great, deranged tyrant in the history textbooks. But does he pose a true threat to America? To the democratic world at hand?
Despite years of trials, Mr. Kim’s scientists have yet to create a nuclear warhead small enough to fit onto a missile that can cross the Pacific ocean. So it appears that the threats on Washington are, to this point, slightly misguided. But what about other nations in closer proximity?
Take South Korea, for example. As a nation with strong ties to America and democracy, it presents itself as a prime target for North Korean hate. And it is close enough to be a juicy target for Kim’s scientists and engineers. But upon closer inspection, would this be wise?
Currently, Russia and China are the only allies of North Korea in the UN. Because of those two countries, the sanctions on North Korea have only been debilitating, instead of crushing. However, if North Korea tried to initiate a WWIII scenario, those two nations would be quick to back the rest of the modern world in crushing North Korea. Realistically, the only partner-in-crime that might stick with Kim would be Iran, although they also do not have any workable nuclear technology. With the entire industrialized world against them, North Korea would quickly be stopped.
Yet it would come at a grave price to South Korea, which has spent decades building itself up into an international presence. A North Korean conflict would almost assuredly be a type of proxy war, similar to those of the Cold War and very reminiscent of the Korean War. How devastating would that be to Seoul, one of the greatest business sectors in Asia?
There seems to be no stopping Kim and his delusional plans of world domination. Sanctions haven’t worked, and he himself proclaimed that even the ‘slightest provocation’ would result in an immediate invasion of South Korea. And at the same time, the U.S. (along with the UN) can’t take preemptive measures, since China and Russia would not join their side, resulting in exactly what Kim wants: World War III. At this point, President Obama must continue to work with the UN in crippling North Korea’s economy and preventing Kim Jong-un from gaining advanced weaponry, while all-the-while hoping that his claims of world domination remain in his unrealistic mind and do not actually come to fruition.
