Jessica Mackey
Staff Writer
Is it time to bring back the old time bunkers from the Cold War era? Are we back into a constant threat of nuclear war? The answer may surprise you.
Over the past few weeks, North Korea’s leader Kim Jung Un has openly and belligerently threatened the U.S. and South Korea with a nuclear attack. However, the plausibility of such an attack is unknown. What is known is that the likelihood of a nuclear missle, or any missile for that matter, hitting the Continental U.S. or Hawaii is very slim, if not impossible. Thus, we should be safe from any potential attacks.
Some experts do believe that North Korea has the capabilities to attack South Korea and various military bases throughout the Pacific. The only question left to answer is will there be an actual attack? If so, when will it occur? And more importantly, where will North Korea attack first?
“Obviously I’m concerned. I think Kim Jung Un is just trying to assert his authority by making all these statements,” said freshman Alexis Turner-Lafving when asked about the plausibility of an attack by North Korea. “I think that by pulling out the factory that North Korea operates with South Korea, there’s a power play to emphasize North Korea’s dominance. I just think that North Korea is blowing smoke, trying to freak everyone out and get what they want.”
The aftermath of the threats have left the U.S. and the international community in unchartered waters. The U.S. and other countries have to protect their respective citizens’ safety and well-being by all measures necessary, including enhancing defensive measures and practicing delicate diplomacy.
However, not all students believe that the U.S. or the international community is doing to enough to prevent North Korea from following through on their threats.
“I definitely feel like it’s only a matter of time before North Korea takes some sort of action,” said senior Adult Studies student Franchesica Middleton. “I don’t advocate a first strike from the international community against North Korea, but I feel like they haven’t done anything to halt the threats and future capabilities of North Korea’s nuclear program.”
Moreover, other students do not agree with the initial response by the United States, with the U.S. pushing aside the threats made by North Korea as an act of juvenile behavior akin to simply having a temper tantrum.
“I think we should take the threats seriously by the North Koreans, even though things such as this have happened in the past,” said senior Tiffany Oglethorpe. “They have continued to threaten us, and while we should not go to war or directly attack them since they have not taken any action against us, there needs to be some type of affirmative action against them. They think they can get away with threats and negative action against South Korea. But they have clearly learned nothing and their actions need to be corrected.”
No matter the initial response by the United States, the government has caught on to the ever increasing worry and concern the citizens have on the continuous North Korean threats. The U.S. has increased their military presence in the Pacific and is keeping negotiations open and clear with many Asian countries and other allies in efforts to peacefully resolve the issues of the North Koreans.
Hopefully, North Korea doesn’t attack any country or risk the danger of any citizen by firing off a test missile over open land and sea space. However, if they do decide to do so, the U.S. is ready and able to defend itself. No matter the result, the debate over nuclear weapons and warheads is going to be forever changed. Maybe this is the beginning to a new era of nuclear war.
