The Green Timberwolf

The threat of nuclear war

Blogged By: Ian Frederick

Image 1: Donald Trump (left) and Kim Jong Un (right), the leaders of the United States and North Korea respectively.

The relations between North Korea and the United States have been rocky ever since the mid 19th century, but most of the hostility between the two countries developed after the Korean War. A war in which the United States fought alongside South Korea and many other allies against North Korea. The tension between the two countries has grown even greater since the beginning of Donald Trump's presidency. It has now become a very dangerous and unpredictable situation.

North Korea has been developing their nuclear weapon arsenal at a very fast rate. This has caught the attention of many countries and the United Nations. Along with this they have threatened the United States, and the States have threatened back. Donald Trump continues to weigh further military options against North Korea's ballistic missile program, continuing to escalate the situation. As of now, it is no more than a war of words between two ignorant world leaders.

Image 2: The situation in North korea has been

escalating rapidly since Donald Trump’s presidency.

North Korea has recently released a statement warning that nuclear war might break out at any moment. Clearly, something has to change in order for the situation to decrease in severity. That means either North Korea agreeing to put a stop to their nuclear weapon development, or the United States easing up on military threats towards North Korea. Either of these scenarios seem very unlikely considering the two men in charge of these countries. Trump’s actions since being elected have shown us that he blindly acts without realizing the consequences of his actions. I believe he will put his ‘manhood’ ahead of his country's safety. Kim Jong Un on the other hand has similar characteristics. Any backing down or compromising will be seen as a weakness and i think his ego is too big to let that happen. This leads me to believe these two countries are on track for World War Three. I also believe that North Korea and the US (their leaders impractical)  are all talk. Both countries have made pretty strong threats about what they are willing to do if the other acts first, but I don't know if either of them are willing to be the instigator.

Image 3: Both leaders seem to be in a battle

to see who is more dominant.

I think North Korea would be extremely foolish to go any further with their actions than they currently are because of the fact that the are severely outnumbered and overpowered. That is not to say that they're not capable of causing significant destruction to many countries including the United States. It seems as though North Korea does not care or recognize the almost certain destruction of their country that a war would cause. The North Korean UN ambassador described Donald Trump’s actions as ‘a suicide mission’ only to have Trump respond with his own smart remark, saying ‘rocketman is on a suicide mission’ referring to the north korean leader Kim Jong Un. It seems that both leaders see themselves as superior and that they are dominant.   

References

Cohen, Z. (2017, September 25). North Korea accuses Trump of declaring war. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/25/politics/north-korea-fm-us-bombers/index.html

Kalvapalle, R. (2017, May 13). How did North Korea get nuclear weapons? Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/3448765/north-korea-nuclear-weapons/

Liptak, K., & Diamond, J. (2017, September 19). Trump to UN: 'Rocket Man is on a suicide mission'. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/18/politics/donald-trump-un-speech-iran-north-korea/index.html

Sterling, J. (2017, September 24). North Korea official to UN: Trump on a suicide mission. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/23/asia/north-korea-seismic-activity/index.html

Staff, O. F. (2016, January 11). Donald Trump praises Kim Jong-un for his firm hand with executed uncle. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/donald-trump/12092353/Donald-Trump-praises-Kim-Jong-un-for-his-firm-hand-with-executed-uncle.html