By Alex Chantilas ’18, Contributor
On March 26, North Korea released a propaganda video that not only concerned but also confused many in the United States. It depicts a missile firing from the ocean and meeting Washington D.C resulting in an inferno. The video stated forebodingly: “Choose, United States. Whether the country called United States continues to exist in this planet depends on your choice.” North Korea has been boasting about their ability to create a Nuclear warhead for a longtime, but how much can we trust this proclamation?
This certainly is not the first time North Korea has threatened the United States , and when they have, it has not resulted in much. For example, after President George W. Bush labelled North Korea as part of the “axis of evil” in 2002, Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, said it would “mercilessly wipe out aggressors.” In 1994 South Koreans were sent into a panic after a threat to send the southern capital, Seoul, into “a sea of fire.” Since then, this statement has been commonly used when threatening others. North Korea seems to have achieved a position as the world’s paper tiger by providing empty threat after empty threat. That being said, there were a few times when they actually did attack. In an example, North Korea shelled a South Korean border island, Yeonpyeong, in November 2011, killing four South Koreans. While this was no nuclear strike, it does offer some credibility to their threats.
We can look at the United States and South Korea’s response to the threats and the allies’ own reports on whether the totalitarian regime does have a nuclear arsenal that could be a real threat to the future of the world. Along with the United Nations, the United States has imposed sanctions. This has only provoked more belligerent threats on North Korea’s own people as well as the rest of Western Society. The United States plans to help South Korea by participating in the Joint military exercises with South Korea, according to United States Forces Korea. South Korea has released statements saying that North Korea does have the capacity to launch a missile with a nuclear warhead. In order to curb worries, the government has planned for 17,000 American troops to participate in the exercises with the South Korean Military, which involve ground, air, naval and special operations forces.
Whether North Korea truly does have the ability to launch a nuclear strike on the United States or not remains to be seen. Yet, the cold hard facts still remain, since 2007 North Korea has made continual power-hungry nuclear declarations along with many threats to the safety of Western countries. That being said, no actual nuclear attacks have been made, which should give the United States comfort.
Sources:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-15278612
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-21710644
http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/06/asia/north-korea-preemptive-nuclear-strike-threat/
Image Source:
http://www.newsweek.com/north-koreas-kim-jong-un-orders-further-nuclear-tests-435865
