As Missiles Rise, So Do Tensions Between North Korea and the United States

Over the past decade, The United States and North Korea have been at each other’s throats due to the ongoing topic of nuclear weaponry. Since the start of Donald Trump’s presidency, he focused on building better relations with primarily North Korea. During the spring of 2018, Donald Trump had met with the President of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, in Singapore. These meetings were part of a joint force to try and attempt to solve the nuclear missile and weapons issue. Kim Jong-un had come to a denuclearization agreement with Trump in June of 2018 but soon changed later on. In February of 2019, both leaders met in Vietnam to discuss denuclearization, but that summit ended early.

North Korean testing of hypersonic missile (Washington Post)

Kim-Jong-un has provoked the western countries with aggressive behavior causing Donald Trump to send numerous threats. With South Korea as our ally, many are worried South Korea will be caught in the crossfire. With various missiles being fired over Northern Japanese islands, to even firing rockets across the South Korean border, a stray missile attacking South Korea is a considerable possibility. A cyber-based attack on the U.S. Sony Pictures in December of 2014 deeply concerned Americans about how far North Korea will go.

However, US officials have stated “Preventing both an interstate Korean war and a North Korean internal collapse are critical U.S. national security interests”. Meaning that we must stay vigilant and watch closely to North Korean actions. With the ongoing escalations seen by Kim-Jong-un, the United States and Allies consider North Korea a significant risk. With the uncontrollable escalations seen while Donald Trump was in office, this issue has led to a possibly drastic situation that could devastate many. Leader Kim-Jong-un claims North Korea’s weapons can now reach U.S. territories and the mainland. However, no United States officials can confirm nor deny these accusations yet.

To see what others think about this topic two interviews with Timothy Busch and Jonathon Edwards were interviewed. When asked in an interview Pennridge teacher Timothy Busch stated “I don’t think North Korea has the capabilities to attack the continental U.S., we should be concerned about a nuclear attack on its neighbors”. Edwards stated that “I think it would be hypocritical for us to tell North Korea to denuclearize when we ourselves are building a nuclear arsenal”. Based on these two interviews with social studies teachers at the high school, we can see two opinions on the said situation with nuclear weapons. Overall, the issue pertaining to nuclear weapons is always going to be very prominent. However, it is a matter of time that will truly show whether denuclearization happens or not.

Sources:
https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/north-korea-crisis
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/01/31/north-korea-missile-tests/
https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/dprkchron
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/01/31/north-korea-missile-tests/