There was widespread concern at the recent ballistic missile testing by North Korea. But as we delve into the subject matter, a few questions do need to be asked: first of all, should we be worried about North Korea's actions and if so, why? And secondly, is there not an element of hypocrisy to the actions of those who are concerned?
The facts
CNN reported that on Wednesday morning (5th April), North Korea fired a ballistic missile "off the coast" of the Korean Peninsula, into the Sea of Japan. It comes at a crucial time, particularly with the upcoming meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
If it was not for sure beforehand, North Korea's nuclear programme will most certainly be on the agenda of the talks to take place. The activities of North Korea are, in the eyes of Donald Trump, such an issue that the President stated that he would be prepared to act alone if other countries did not help as well. As reported in the BBC, Trump said that "if China is not going to solve North Korea, we will".
Should we be worried?
According to the Independent newspaper, yes we should, mainly due to the "threatening and confrontational rhetoric" in addition to the "increasing regional tensions" with South Korea especially. As reported in the Atlantic, there are further reasons as to why we should be worried.
In addition to the fact that a North Korea nuclear bomb can kill or injure an estimated two million people in "each city", there is also the fear of WMD exports. It is known that The North has already tried to help Syria build a nuclear reactor, and with them possessing nuclear explosives, it can easily get into the wrong hands.
Further on from this, if the North did use its arsenal or provide other rogue states with the capabilities to cause harm, it will in all likeliness lead to a third world war. It is this fear that has led the US to work with South Korea on developing a new strategy to prevent war from occurring: "preventive attacks".
The case of hypocrisy
Moving on, let us now consider the second question: is there not an element of hypocrisy to those who do not want Pyongyang to possess nuclear weapons? It is an argument that many have put forward. They say that the United States, Russia, the UK, France and China all possess nuclear weapons, so why can't North Korea too? There is also the claim made that the only country to have actually used nuclear weapons against an opponent still possesses them; that is the United States. But in adding my own opinion to answer the question, I reject the claim of hypocrisy. The reason the countries mentioned do possess nuclear powers is to maintain peace and security around the world.
This, I believe, is something that North Korea are not doing. It is seen that their actions are provocative and a threat to the stability of the global order. The issue is not possessing nuclear weapons, but why you do possess them in the first place.
There is a keen need to global stability at the moment and it seems that North Korea are rocking the boat. They need to be open and honest and make moves to prevent hostility from those around them. If they fail to do so, it could well lead to further problems, such as war. Let us just hope that that does not happen.
