Preventing Korean nuclear war is essential

Our View

The potential nuclear war that could break out between the South and North Korea has many people concerned about their safety. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has made threats about sending nuclear missiles towards South Korea and has also said they have a missile on its east border with capabilities to reach 3,000 km, which means it could also strike Japan. When Kim Jong Un stated, “The moment of explosion is approaching soon,” many people grew very upset. American troops have started rehearsing anti-nuke routines to show signs of strength and U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has stated that there is “real and clear danger” from North Korea. On April 3, the United States also started deploying anti-nuke and biological warfare soldiers. The Pentagon also said that the anti-missile shield would be ready and up in as little as a few weeks to address this danger that the communist state presents to the United States and its allies. The American Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system is set to arrive in Guam within two weeks.

These threats were made around a week ago with not much progress being made in any direction. All anyone can really do at this point is to take precaution. The United States is trying to be proactive. It announced that it was sending ballistic missile defenses to Guam that could be a potential target for North Korea.

All this waiting around has just caused more anticipation and tension for everyone. After all this time if North Korea was going to make any moves, they would have probably done so already. Except for the verbal threats and moving some missiles closer to their border about a week ago, North Korea hasn’t really done much to show much progression. Un even told lawmakers at a committee meeting that the missile has “considerable range but not enough to hit the U.S. mainland.” Kim Kwan-jin, the South Korean Defense Minister also said that if North Korea were preparing for a full-scale conflict, there would be more signs. Some signs would be mobilizing units, more supplies and rear troops, but South Korean military officials haven’t found any of these preparations. Thankfully, this arms race hasn’t really come to much, but all we can really do is continue to play the even hand and hope for the best.