Kim Jong Un continues to attempt to be the reason for starting World War 3. He is definitely playing a game of Russian Roulette that could lead the world into an all out nuclear war. He for reasons as of yet to be known believes he is untouchable and would survive such an event. China and Russia have asked him to stop his nuclear weapons testing and to end the verbal threats towards the US, Japan and South Korea. All involved seek a diplomatic end to this volatile situation except Kim. Acting as a spoiled child or more realistically a mentally ill man who lacks the ability to understand what the results of his actions could be.
How did a economically limited country attain the ability to become one of the few nations in the world to obtain nuclear weapons? As of June 2014 only 9 nations have nuclear weapons; The United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). There have been undocumented reports that Saudi Arabia has used Neutron bombs in Yemen. Officially called an Enhanced Radiation Weapon (ERW). And of course Iran is beginning it’s Nuclear Weapons Program. The US and Russia account for 93% of the total weapons yet one nuclear weapon is one too many. The question is who allowed North Korea to obtain this capability?
The Soviet Union helped the North Koreans develop a Nuclear Science program in the early 1960’s but refused to help them develop weapons, China also refused to help. In 1994 the Clinton Administration signed an agreement with North Korea that they receive two light water reactors in exchange for disarmament. By 2002 this agreement fell apart and Pakistan admitted that North Korea had gained Pakistani nuclear technology. North Korea had its first nuclear test on October 9, 2006. By January 6, 2007 North Korea confirmed it had nuclear weapons.
North Korea has only executed 6 nuclear weapons tests yet claim they can destroy the US totally. But can they? They also claim they have the ability to hit the lower 48. This of course would require long range missile technology. Recent missile tests have proven this claim to be very sketchy as the last two tests failed miserably. And yet the CIA claims the North Koreans have an active satellite armed with a EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse weapon) that can be set off above the US knocking out a large portion of our electrical grid. I have to question this last claim as it suggests they have mastered missile/rocket technology. Their test results are witness to the fact this CIA information is false.
Recent video of the military parades that North Korea routinely has suggest that the missiles displayed were fake. It was also noted that their soldiers were equipped with outdated weapons and gear including sunglasses. We can be assured that US military technology far exceeds that of North Koreas in every category. So we ask why Kim Jong Un is so confident that he can defeat the US in war? We know that an invasion by US and or South Korean forces is out of the question as this would more likely than not spark World War 3. Kim seems to be ignoring his Chinese and Russian allies request at this moment. Economic sanctions don’t appear to work as he apparently has found ways to generate a cash flow through the black market.
The Opium Poppy production in North Korea has been reignited to fill the void left by sanctions, most recently China’s coal import ban from Kim’s Korea. Opiate use world wide had skyrocketed due to the medical professions willingness to hand out pain killers. Heroin addiction in Europe and the US is at all time highs since the occupation of Afghanistan also. The Taliban had almost eradicated all poppy production in Afghanistan. Once the US invaded they allied with the drug lords of the north to help defeat the Taliban. These drug lords were rewarded by the US allowing them to resume their poppy production under protection of US forces who turn a blind eye to the situation. Kim has made North Korea a leader in this illicit drug trade also as he reversed his father Kim Jong il’s policy.
As with Afghanistan that sits on top of not only prime poppy production land it has a largely untapped wealth of suspected minerals beneath the ground. There are over 200 mineral types, covering 80% of the land including coal and gold. The Chinese are already mining there and this explains their desire to keep North Korea under their sphere of influence. As you can see there is more involved than nuclear weapons when it comes to North Korea.
The Chinese have made it clear that regime change is out of the question at this point. If it does happen they not the US would be the ones doing it. A tactical American strike is an option but would require China’s permission. This of course has its danger as Kim may then attack into the South and create World War. The next option is that the US or whoever it is that may be triggering the self destruct mechanism on these North Korean missiles continues this pattern for years. And the last option is to give into Kim’s demands and allow him to remain a world menace and nuclear threat.
The Chinese, Russians and US need to act in some manner and remove North Koreas nuclear threat and pull off a regime change. Kim is very young (33) and unless he is killed or dies from disease or accidentally he will out live Presidents Trump, Xi Jinping and Putin. The world awaits as this situation must be resolved before someone makes a mistake that can’t be forgiven.
Alan E. Moses Thoughts and Opinions 