North Korean Nuclear Arms
north korea nuclear weapons testing
North Korea is being closely watched the whole world because they have recently been testing nuclear weapons. North Korea's Nuclear weapon aggression started in 2003 when they withdrew from the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons treaty. Then later in 2006 they announced that they had nuclear weapons (Mortimer). The world was shocked and scared because North Korea was basically threatening them, making sure that everyone knows they have the potential weapons to do major harm. The Guardian stated, "2006, 9 October, North Korea conducts an underground nuclear test blast" (Mortimer). It was said to be about a tenth size of Hiroshima. Since then they have conducted 4 more tests in 2009, 2013, 2016, and the most recent on September 9th 2016 (Mortimer). What we know is that North Korea has weapons, and are trying to make them more effective.
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Political issues HAPPENING in north korea
North Korea is a communist country. The country completely isolates themselves from the rest of the world. The government in control of prices, manufacturing, and almost anything to do with the economy. They are greatly known for aggression towards neighboring countries, and other countries. The governments first priority is supporting their military, causing negative effects on the rest of the economy. With Kim Jong Un refusing change in the government, all the economic mismanagement, and the cutoff of the Soviet Union, has caused North Korea's economy to collapse.
The economic collapse, inadequate food production, and natural disasters put North Korea into famine. It was said by a journalist, David Pack, that about 3% to 5% of the population died of starvation. The country was on its knees begging for China, the U.S, and South Korea to help them. In 2005, the country was on its 11th consecutive year of food shortages (Pack). North Korea should be focusing on their starving population rather than creating weapons of mass destruction that are doing no good for anyone. |
north korea's perspective
So why is North Korea focusing on their nuclear weapons rather than their starving population? It is said that North Korea is using its nuclear weapons to scare the U.S into making a non-aggression pact and continue its supply of food to the country. If the U.S does this then North Korea will be able to feed their malnourished population (Pack). In addition, North Korea likes to cause fear to the world, and feels the need to prove that they are powerful, even though their economy has greatly declined. North Korea sees themselves as a powerful country. They believe that power comes from weapons and military. This is why they support nuclear missiles. Nuclear weapons will make other countries scared of them, therefore bringing them power. Take the nuclear missiles away and countries won't be threatened by them, and they won't have the power to destroy large amounts of land.
The effects of the north korea conflict
The North Korea conflict has risen controversial issues between the U.S, China, and South Korea. The U.S is completely against North Korea testing nuclear weapons and threatening other countries with them. They are mad at China for not intervening in the North Korea conflict. China is an ally of North Korea and basically just sees them as a nuisance (Defense Secretary). There is now tension and bad relations between the U.S and North Korea because of nuclear weapons. The U.S has not yet come up with a solution in response with this rising issue. Everyone is waiting to see what happens next.
North Korea has stated that they can now successfully launch a nuclear missile anywhere in the world (Mortimer). This statement is extremely dangerous. Hypothetically if North Korea could drop a 100 megaton nuclear warhead, it would disintegrate anything within a 20.3-mile radius and effect anything in 46-mile radius (Wellerstein). The world has seen what the bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have done. Nobody wants this to happen again or be possible to happen. North Korea should not be able to construct such an effective blast. North Korea or any other country should not have nuclear weapons because all it is doing is causing political issues, bad relations, and horrible fear for the people of the world. Nuclear weapons have brought conflict between countries since WW2. We still see this conflict today between North Korea and specifically the U.S, but also the rest of the world. Because of nuclear weapons North Korea is spending their money on military rather than saving their people from famine. There are bad relations between countries, and an aggresive nation has access to weapons of mass destruction. |