It seems that with each passing day the ‘threat level’ of North Korea rises as its government continues to threaten the U.S. and South Korea, stubbornly refusing to give up its nuclear ambitions. Many countries have advanced nuclear programs. But a North Korea armed with nuclear warheads is scary not only because of the regime’s aggressive rhetoric. The worst is that so little is known about Kim Jong-un, the country’s young dictatorial leader, which makes his future actions difficult to predict. NBN brings you up to date with recent developments in the North Korean nuclear crisis.
Predictions of future nuclear test
Last Wednesday, South Korea’s foreign minister warned that U.S. and South Korean intelligence suggests the North is planning to test a missile in the near future. The missile, ominously called the Masadan, has a longer range than those previously tested by the North. It would threaten Japan and could even reach as far as the American military base on the island of Guam. Also, South Korean intelligence has detected North Korean military units transporting various missiles to the North’s eastern coast, closer to U.S. military bases.
Threat to Colorado Springs?
Last Saturday the North Korean government released a video which threatened various U.S. cities with nuclear attack. One of the cities targeted was Colorado Springs, which initially seems like an odd choice, but makes sense as its home to the North American Aerospace Defense Command and the U.S. Air Force Academy. The video labels the targeted cities on a world map and shows an animation of a missile from North Korea striking each respectively. All this is accompanied by cheesy pop music. However in the North’s efforts to locate Colorado Springs, it is inadvertently placed it somewhere in Louisiana. This does not inspire great confidence in the North’s ballistic accuracy.
Warning from U.S. intelligence
A report by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the army’s version of the CIA, stated with “moderate confidence” that North Korea is capable of engineering a nuclear weapon small enough to be carried on a missile. The report also points out that due to the challenges of designing long distance missiles, North Korean nukes have a very low reliability. Though this is probably meant to be assuring, it seems like a lack of reliability or accuracy would make these warheads all the more terrifying. The director of national intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. maintained that this report does not necessarily represent the consensus of the U.S. intellectual community. The DIA has been wrong before, most notably when it insisted Saddam Hussein’s Iraq had nuclear capability.
Kerry’s trip to Asia
Secretary of State John Kerry has emphasized the possibilities for peace on his ongoing trip to six countries in the region. The White House has maintained a strategy of “strategic patience” towards North Korea which basically means the U.S. won’t agree to talk to them unless they first agree to take steps towards denuclearization. Needless to say, lately the U.S. hasn’t been talking to them much. However, the State Department has tried to appeal to North Korea’s only real ally China to help draw the North into peace negotiations. In a meeting with Kerry this week, China’s foreign policy chief Yang Jiechi said “China is firmly committed to upholding peace and stability and advancing the denuclearization process on the Korean peninsula,” suggesting China could be fed up with North Korean provocations. However, the question becomes how much influence China really has over a secretive and unpredictable North Korean regime.