After this most recent election, many Americans feared that President Trump would fail at diplomatic measures with other countries, as he has no previous experience regarding politics. Instead, he was a billionaire with a flashy mouth and a disrespectful attitude towards women, and that is exactly where the fear of his presidency resonates within the United States. Now, North Korea is threatening America yet again, and instead of making attempts at diffusing the situation through diplomacy, President Trump has resorted to answering with militaristic threats, exactly what many Americans fear.
According to The New York Times, in response to North Korea’s continued development of a sophisticated nuclear weapons program, President Trump has announced the United States military is “locked and loaded” and ready to “take-action against” North Korea. The New York Times released another article that explained North Korea’s most recent missile launch on September 15 over the gulf of Japan. The missile test on September 15 brings the heavy realization that North Korea has no intention to cease the production of their weapons program, despite the multiple threats and sanctions from the United States and other countries that would be affected by the successful development of a North Korean weapons program.
The New York Times also reported that North Korea, along with their many other threats towards the United States and Japan, threatened to aim the missile towards Guam, which would “trigger a military response.” Thankfully, the tensions between the United States and North Korea have not resulted in military actions, but the thought of possible military involvement in the North Korea crisis looms over the American people. Such a response could certainly trigger a form of ballistic warfare, but only if North Korea’s weapons program is as advanced as Kim Jon Un reports. With each new missile launch from North Korea, President Trump seems to come closer to unleashing militaristic actions against North Korea, which according to many experts, would be devastating for both countries Newsweek reported.
Newsweek proceeded to report estimated statistics pertaining to the number of casualties that would be expected in a United States- North Korean war. That number of casualties sits at a daunting estimation of 1 million dead. The article continues to explain that the estimation of casualties would increase astronomically if the warfare were to be nuclear. This horrifying estimation could easily become a realization if North Korea continues to launch missiles that proceed close to the United States and/or if President Trump decided to respond with militaristic force, which is becoming likely after his most recent statements regarding the missile test over Japan. Though the majority of Americans are opposed to military actions against North Korea, the United States is at an impasse when it comes to dealing with an unstable dictator such as Kim Jong Un.
Despite the failed attempts from past Presidents pertaining to forcing North Korea to cease its development of a ballistic weapons program, President Trump should continue to use every diplomatic method in the books to connect with Kim Jong Un, as military actions against North Korea would certainly exacerbate heightened tensions between the United States and North Korea. For North Korean leaders, a ballistic weapons program is a lifelong goal for many dictators, and Kim Jong Un has come the farthest in meeting their goal of a successful and functioning weapons program. Newsweek reported that Kim Jong Un has tested nearly twice as many missiles than his father did during his leadership of North Korea. This increase in productivity has inspired Kim Jong Un to continue to work to achieve what his father could not, and the terrifying reality is that Kim Jong Un is quite close to doing so.
According to CNN, there is an estimated 28,000 American troops stationed within South Korea and 49,000 American troops within Japan. The deployment of American troops within these countries seems necessary, as the tensions between North Korea and the United States have been inflamed recently, but what if North Korea decides to take actions against those American soldiers? What would the fallout of such actions result in? Militaristic threats against North Korea are slowly developing into actions- the exact opposite of the diplomatic opportunities that should be presented to our leaders.
Throughout the months that will follow the North Korean missile test that took place on September 15, it is paramount that President Trump explore all diplomatic means of diffusing the North Korean missile crisis, as to avoid catastrophic warfare between the United States and
North Korea. The task of finding a solution to a seemingly never-ending problem is a daunting task, but Donald Trump took the oath of office knowing he would need to make difficult decisions. Hopefully President Trump will find a smart, diplomatic solution to resolving the conflict that has loomed over the United States for so many decades.
Sabin is a freshman English major . He is a contributing writer for The Voice
