North Korea and the United States have never seen eye to eye; but as tensions continue to rise, American citizens have become fearful of the Marxist-Leninist state and its leader, Kim Jong Un.

     A history of threats never followed through on and countless failed missile tests may make it easy to brush off the negative feelings targeted at the U.S. from North Korea, but tides may be turning as the country has taken its third American prisoner.

     Tony Kim, a professor teaching Accounting briefly at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology in North Korea, was detained recently for unknown reasons. If the pattern continues based on the other two Americans held in North Korea, he will likely see a fast trial, be convicted and then serve a ridiculously long sentence.

     The other two American citizens and their families have been pleading for the US to intervene and bring their loved ones home. 21-year-old Otto Warmbier is seeing 15 years of hard labor for removing a political flyer on a restricted floor of a hotel. Kim Dong Chul, a Korean-American businessman will have to serve 10 years in prison and hard labor for espionage. The U.S. government has not said much about the detainees, though pressure to act on behalf of their citizens is building.

     Mr. Trump is more concerned by the most recent missile tests. Trump believes that China should step in and take care of North Korea by halting trade and crushing their economy. The smaller country depends largely on China for economic survival. Trump met with Xi Jinping, the current General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and Paramount Leader of China earlier this month. Many report the meeting went well, however, China still hasn’t made moves to end their somewhat friendly relationship with North Korea.

     Trump continues to promise, “If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them!”
We at The Voice believe that this is a situation that needs to be taken seriously. Making jokes about it and hesitating to act will not alleviate this situation.

     It is a dangerous situation in North Korea. Their citizens are terrorized and blocked from escaping. Their government has their eyes, and missiles, pointed towards America, as well as our allies in the Pacific. And now they are taking American citizens into custody. All the while, the world’s powerful forces are waiting around for each other to take a stance. America thinks China will deal with it, China thinks America should: it goes on and on.

     We at The Voice believe this is a time for action. Time to rescue our own citizens from the frightening regime of North Korea.
If we wait too long to act we may find ourselves in a situation we don’t want to be in.

~ The Voice