During the past two posts on this blog, the issues discussed
were around tragic events that caused many arguments among the American people.
The first blog post on the Syrian immigrant crisis dicussed the tensions among
the American public on the influx of refugees that may come into our country
with government approval. The second blog post discussed the tragedy of the
recent San Berandino attack. Both posts are connected in the sense that they
discuss terroristic events that occurred inside and outside the United States
that have been heavily debated upon. For this blog post, the recent launching
of a ballistic missile by North Korea will be discussed in terms of the issues
concern to the United States.
As of March 17th, 2016, CNN posted an article that stated that it was confirmed that North Korea launched a ballistic missile
of the east coast of the peninsula last Friday (confirmed by Joint South Korean
Chiefs of Staff). The missiles flew a distance of 800 kilometers.
The article notes: “the action is the latest display of
military power that roils with tension”. “Tensions have heightened on the Korean Peninsula since a
fourth North Korean nuclear test and joint U.S.- South Korean military drills.”
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| Courtesy of CNN |
The reason why there is so much concern on what seemed to be
a test launch is that the launch occurred just after “a North Korean claim that
it had miniaturized nuclear warheads to fit on ballistic missles”. North Korea
also had a successful hydrogen bomb test in February.
It is important to note that the United States has not only
started to take note of North Korea since the recent testing conducted there.
North Korea has been of concern for quite some time. However, the dynamic of
North Korea and its relationship with South Korea has changed over the years.
To interject a personal note, I recently had the opportunity
to hear a three star Air Force general speak about missiles and his concerns,
especially in North Korea. He suggested that we should not only be scared of
North Korea as a singular country, but of its culture and the culture of its
leader, Kim Jong-Un. The general spent some time in South Korea when his career
first started. He told us a story of how when he was over there a few decades
ago, the South Korean people had a lot of pride in the idea that North Korean
would join them once again to become Korea. Now, the South Koreans do not want
to be associated with North Korea in many ways.
He also stated that because of the prolonged suppression and
isolation of North Koreans, their language has even started to morph from South
Korea’s.
The stem of concern that is most known is the background of
the very young leader of North Korea and his influence on the country. The one
detail that scares many people is that he went to school in Switzerland.
Why is this a problem?
Because of the time he spent in Switzerland, Kim-Jong-Un not
only knows what the Eastern side of the world is like, or even just his
country, but he also has experienced how the Western side of the world conducts
business and operates. Much of his
life has also been a mystery, as a PBS Frontline article recognizes, “As a boy
he was never seen in public. Only a handful of Kim Jong-il’s top officials were
even allowed to meet him.”
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| Courtesy of PBS Frontline |
As the world watches on we become increasingly concerned of
happenings in the East, especially with the ruler surrounded by such an air of
mystery.
Do you think we should move our military focus towards the
Korean area and away from the Middle East in light of these progressing events?
