North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected an intercontinental ballistic missile last month.

KCNA/VIA REUTERS

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The North Korea Threat

The Communist country’s latest missile tests show that it’s working toward mounting a nuclear attack against the United States. How will President Trump respond?

August 10, 2017
By Patricia Smith and Rebecca Zissou
Jim McMahon/Mapman®

North Korea's ruthless dictators have long had a hostile relationship with the United States, vowing to destroy America and wipe it off the map. For years, these warnings were mostly considered empty threats. But the Communist nation may soon be able to back them up.

On July 28, North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile that experts say is capable of reaching many U.S. cities. It's a milestone in North Korea's military capability that a long list of American presidents have said could not—and would not—be tolerated.

The latest missile test is "extremely important," says Bruce Klingner, a North Korea expert at the Heritage Foundation. "It shows that the threat is very imminent."

It’s not clear whether North Korea—led by its unpredictable young dictator, Kim Jong Un—has the capability to successfully carry out a long-range nuclear attack. But experts say it is getting closer all the time.

Tensions escalated further when North Korea refused to back down. President Donald Trump responded by saying, "North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen."

But North Korea hasn't stopped issuing threats. In fact, it stepped them up, saying it was planning to launch warning-shot missiles toward Guam, an island in the Pacific Ocean that's an American territory.

For the U.S., the latest escalation is particularly unwelcome news. President Trump took office in January promising to get tough with North Korea and finally deal with the threat it represents. Over the past two decades, the U.S. has tried negotiating with North Korea and has punished it with tough economic sanctions. Neither approach has worked.

On August 5, the United Nations (U.N.) passed a new round of sanctions against North Korea that are expected to cut the amount of money it earns from exports by $1 billion—a third of its total. In response, North Korea ramped up its threats, declaring, "There is no bigger mistake than the United States believing that its land is safe across the ocean."

DECADES OF HOSTILITY

North Korea's troubled history with the U.S.—and its neighbors in Asia—goes back to the end of World War II. In 1945, the Korean Peninsula, which had been occupied by Japan since 1910, was divided into two zones.

The North, led by Kim Il Sung (Kim Jong Un's grandfather), established a Communist government backed by the Soviet Union and China. (Under Communism, the government owns all land and businesses, and individual freedom is limited.) South Korea became a democracy and a key U.S. ally.

In 1950, North Korea invaded the South, starting the Korean War. An international coalition led by the U.S. came to the South's defense. In 1953, both sides signed an armistice to end the conflict. The agreement established a 2.5-mile-wide demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea at the 38th parallel, the line of latitude at 38 degrees North. Decades later, the two nations have yet to sign a formal peace treaty, and they remain hostile to each other.

Today, South Korea has the 13th-largest economy in the world and is home to such successful brands as Samsung and Hyundai. North Korea, meanwhile, has become one of the most restrictive regimes on Earth.

LIFE IN NORTH KOREA

Kim Jong Un's family has ruled North Korea for three generations, maintaining tight control over the nation's government and its people.

At times, the country's state-run economy has struggled to provide enough food for its citizens. In the 1990s, droughts and floods contributed to a famine that killed tens of thousands of people. Many North Koreans resorted to eating weeds.

In 2011, Kim Jong Un—then in his late twenties—inherited the dictatorship after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il. At the time, there was hope that the new leader would improve relations with the world. But he's proved to be just as ruthless as his father and grandfather. In 2013, Kim even ordered the execution of his uncle for allegedly plotting to overthrow him.

Today, most of North Korea's 25 million people live in poverty. Many homes lack indoor plumbing and rely on fireplaces for heat. Shortages of water and electricity are common.

Daily life is also strictly controlled. Most ordinary citizens have little or no access to the internet, and TVs and radios receive only government channels. Homes are equipped with speakers that blare state-sponsored propaganda all day—and can't be turned off. At school, kids are taught to worship the Kims like gods. And anyone who challenges the country's leaders can be sent to labor camps, where some are worked to death.

NUCLEAR AMBITIONS

Although many of its citizens are suffering, the government spends billions of dollars maintaining a massive army. About 1 million people serve in the nation's armed forces. Elaborate military parades often take place in the capital of Pyongyang as a show of strength.

The country also pours huge sums of money into developing nuclear weapons and missiles, which it sees as the only way to ensure its survival.

NO EASY SOLUTION

Trump, like many presidents before him, has been frustrated with China's failure to rein in North Korea. China is North Korea's main ally and biggest trading partner. Trump recently tweeted that the Chinese "do NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk."

But in August, China did vote in favor of the new U.N. sanctions. It remains to be seen, however, whether China—which fears chaos on its border if the Kim regime collapses—will actually enforce the restrictions.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said that "all options are on the table" for dealing with North Korea. Those options include negotiations or more sanctions—neither of which have worked so far—and the threat of a military strike. Experts say using military force is extremely risky—and could prompt an all-out war on the Korean Peninsula, with millions of casualties.

The reality is that there isn't really a good solution. Most experts agree that North Korea is unlikely to give up its nuclear weapons program.

"If there was a solution to this," says Richard Bush, a North Korea expert at the Brookings Institution, "we would have had it a long time ago."

 

With reporting by Peter Baker and Choe Sang-Hun of The New York Times.

A version of this article will appear in Junior Scholastic’s September 18 issue.

 

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