North Korea's Recent Warnings and Threats
North Korea has recently released a string of warnings against South Korea and the United States, as well as the United States Army stationed in the Pacific. They also threatened to launch pre-emptive nuclear attacks against the United States. Various experts, however, remain extremely skeptical that North Korea is capable of reaching the US mainland with a missile, regardless of whether it is nuclear-tipped or not (Stueck Jr., 2017). They maintain that any of the North's missiles could target Japan or South Korea, as well as US forces stationed in these nations.
International Efforts to Penalize North Korea
The UN Security Council has passed four resolutions as from 2006 targeting to penalize North Korea for their plans on nuclear weapons (Drezner, 2010). Besides, the U.S., which remains in a specific state of war with North Korea, has constrained its particular regimen of severe financial sanctions. The joined effects have greatly pounded yet not crippled the North Korea's economy. However, the violations by the North Korea's combative behavior has shaken nerves of many countries like the U.S. and South Korea. This way, the United States has mounted an inquisitively strong show of demoralization, sending a guided-rocket destroyer and B-2 stealth airship to the Korean Peninsula – all to impart a message that it will secure the U.S. and its accomplices in the region.
The Impacts of the Conflict of North Korea's Nuclear Ambition
With North Korea having obviously won in doing a test of a hydrogen bomb at its sixth nuclear test, the world remains set out to find a final and suitable response for this issue. For instance, the U.S. President, Trump termed North Korea as a significant threat, and other senior American officials threatened to respond with military power. There is a call for an introduction of new sanctions by the UN will most likely intend to cripple North Korea's already weak economy furthermore, hoping that the country's way toward transforming into a real nuclear power could in any occasion be delayed, if not blocked.
A Coordinated Approach to Managing North Korea
There is a prerequisite for a coordinated approach to managing North Korea by the United States and China, with the United States giving more "carrots" to Pyongyang and China would give more "sticks" (Moore, 2017). Apparently, that approach has not been put to play, and here they are, yet again, facing a dilemma. Therefore, what ought to be done is to finally provide a solution to the North Korea nuclear crisis since any attempt to use such nuclear weapons will interfere with their economy and that of the whole world too.
Personal Opinion on the Situation
Despite some negative gauges as for North Korea nuclear problem, it is my conviction that other nations still have space and the necessary resources to defuse the problem as long as a couple of preconditions are met. First, every major power needs to stop the issue of blaming each other for the current crisis, paying little regards to the historical background of the issue. Certainly, it might be a great prudent talk when all sides attempt to comprehend what happened in the past two decades since North Korea chose to go nuclear. There have been many debates, and truly, coming back to those open considerations is of no help to the present crisis (Cha & Kang, 2010). The essential thing is that all powers must agree that North Korea's nuclear is a threat, plain and direct, both to the regional neighbors and globally.
Building Trust and Providing Incentives
Without such an assertion, it isn't possible to think about a practical solution. The U.S. in particular needs to stop viewing North Korea as China's problem, thinking that it’s China who holds the key to the solution. Additionally, the Trump administration also ought to stop asking China to stop all its trade with North Korea because it risks humanitarian catastrophe. China, in the interim, needs to stop viewing North Korea as a buffer state against a United States threat peril and start seeing them as a normal state. These nuclear weapons one day could hurt China the most and not Japan, United States, or South Korea. After such an agreement is accomplished, is when the major powers can start talking about the practical strategies to solve the problem.
The Importance of Economic Reforms
North Korea is a rational country and its administration under Kim Jong-un is furthermore rational in the pursuit of the nuclear ambition. First, the North Korea is after for surviving in world politics issues just like any other state. Therefore, they are not crazy. A crucial part of the final solution, thus, is to find an efficient way to deal with the North Korea's security issues, which do not appear easy, of course.
Conclusion
North Korea can rarely trust the U.S. guarantees regardless, paying little heed to the likelihood that the United States will offer one; and the U.S. won't also be in a position to restrict itself when an opportunity comes beckoning (Whitlark, 2017). Therefore, building trust between the two isn't an easy matter, be that it needs to commence from a point. Perhaps a collection of security guarantee including both the U.S. and China would look good to Kim Jong-un or some other sort of security by the regional powers. If such a technique is conceivable, then North Korea needs to surrender its nuclear ventures in exchange for security, financial aid as well as the international affirmation. Kim Jong-un may worry over his own specific totalitarianism's survival chances, yet he moreover needs to develop North Korea in a bid to maintain the legitimacy. A nuclear status may sound conventional internationally, but it won’t help the ordinary North Koreans who scarcely have anything to do with the nuclear weapons. Therefore, Kim Jong-un needs to be convinced that the destiny of North Korea depends on the economic related reforms and advancements which are currently affected by the country’s nuclear ambitions.
References
- Cha, V. D., & Kang, D. C. (2010). The Korea Crisis. Foreign Policy, 20-28.
- Drezner, D. W. (2010). Sanctions sometimes smart: targeted sanctions in theory and practice. International Studies Review, 13(1), 96-108.
- Moore, G. J. (2017). How North Korea threatens China's interests: understanding Chinese ‘duplicity’on the North Korean nuclear issue. International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, 8(1), 1-29.
- Stueck Jr, W. W. (2017). The Road to Confrontation: American Policy toward China and Korea. UNC Press Books.
- Whitlark, R. E. (2017). Nuclear beliefs: a leader-focused theory of counter-proliferation. Security Studies, 26(4), 545-574.
