Why is North Korea a threat to the United States?
Since inheriting power in 2011, North Korean President Kim Jong Un has escalated the threats to other countries, especially the United States, which has become a vital source of concern for the United States government (Jervis & Rapp-Hooper, 2018). North Korea remains a threat to the United States attributed to its considerable investments in the development of its nuclear weapons, as well as, the ballistic missiles with the capacity to carry these weapons. Although the United States has engaged North Korea is seeking to ensure that the country seizes to develop nuclear weapons, President Kim has been on the forefront in defying the requests by President Trump. The outcome is that this has raised the threat levels within the United States, considering that the North Korean weapons have ranges that are likely to impact different states within the United States.
North Korea has embraced what can be described as a totalitarian regime, which is predominantly focused on ensuring its survival concerning ensuring that it can build its defence capacities (Mansbach & Taylor, 2019). With that in mind, it is clear that the United States government finds itself at a disadvantage in dealing with North Korea, considering that this small East-Asian country threats the security of the world. President Kim has been broadcasted issuing threats to the United States on the possibility of retaliation against some actions that the United States government has taken. An example can be seen when President Kim issued a nuclear weapon threat to the United States during a time when President Trump was considering an invasion of Iran. That seems to suggest that indeed, North Korea ought to be regarded as a critical threat that is not only affecting the United States but other developed countries as well.
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In a recent alleged cyberattack by North Korea, the United States government indicates that the North Korean government was able to hack into Sony Pictures, which only sought to fuel the tensions between these two countries. President Trump believes that any form of provocation of the North Korean government is likely to result in a situation where the state would retaliate in a manner that would have severe implications for the United States. It is clear from this point of view that North Korea does not only have to possess physical capabilities that it may use for attacks but can also be in a position allowing it to engage in cyberattacks. That seeks to reiterate the fact that indeed North Korea ought to be viewed as a severe threat to the United States and other developed countries.
In trying to understand why individually North Korean can be considered as a threat to the United States or why the tensions between these two countries have been strained, it is essential to focus on the history of North Korea. According to the belief held by North Korea, the United States committed a wide array of atrocities during the Korean War, which included violation of rules of wars, as well as, engaging acts of torture and mass bombings. It is estimated that the actions by the United States government resulted in the death of approximately 10% of North Koreans (Cha & Katz, 2018). That has been a critical source of concern for the totalitarian regime, which believes in the need for retaliation as a way of seeking justice against the United States for its involvement in the Korean War.
References
Cha, V., & Katz, K. F. (2018). The Right Way to Coerce North Korea: Ending the Threat Without Going to War. Foreign Aff. , 97 , 87.
Jervis, R., & Rapp-Hooper, M. (2018). Perception and Misperception on the Korean Peninsula: How Unwanted Wars Begin. Foreign Aff. , 97 , 103.
Mansbach, R. W., & Taylor, K. L. (2019). The North Korean Crisis: Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the Threat of Nuclear War. In Contemporary Issues in International Political Economy (pp. 113-148). Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore.
