Rear Admiral Michael Dumont has suggested that the only way to completely dismantle all of North Korea's nuclear weapons is through that of a ground invasion. Rear Admiral Dumont made the suggestion in a letter to Congressman Ted Lieu. The assessment was made after California representative Ted Lieu, and fellow Democrat Ruben Gallego of Arizona wrote a letter of query regarding the casualty assessment of a conflict with North Korea. In the letter, Rear Admiral Dumont said that the Pentagon was assessing North Korea's capability to attack with long-range ballistic missiles, potentially striking heavily populated areas of Seoul, the South Korean capital which lies only 35 miles from the demilitarized zone and has a population of roughly 25 million people.
Casualty number difficult to predict.
In the letter, the Pentagon assess that "North Korea may consider the use of biological weapons." The Pentagon also goes on to state that predicting the number of casualties would depend on the "nature, intensity and duration" of any North Korea strike and would also be dependant on the U.S and South Korea's ability to respond to North Korea's long-range artillery and ballistic missile capabilities.
The stark assessment comes as Donald Trump is engaging on a marathon tour of Asia, visiting countries such as Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and China. Donald Trump's first stop on his tour of Asia is Japan, a nation that has felt the tensions of the regional instability more than anyone in recent months after North Korea fired a ballistic missile over the country.
Donald Trump has already issued a subliminal warning to the North Korean dictator warning that "No one, no dictator, no regime . . . should underestimate America's resolve." North Korea responded in kind saying that the "spiritually unstable" president should refrain from making "reckless remarks" about the regime, according to the Guardian.
There has been no greater time of tension on the Korean peninsula since the Korean War ended back in 1953 due to Kim Jong-Un's secretive regime stepping up their efforts to obtain nuclear weapons. Back in September, the North Korean regime conducted an underground Hydrogen bomb test which the regime claimed could be fitted to the end of an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile or ICBM.
During the heightening of tensions, Donald Trump has threatened to bring "fire and fury" to North Korea and in a speech, at the U.N Donald Trump referred to Kim as "little rocket man." A back and forth of overt threats have commenced, including North Korea threatening to strike the U.S Pacific territory of Guam.
Many of us hold hope that this issue can be resolved diplomatically. During Trump's Asia tour it is hoped that China, North Korea's only major ally can be convinced to put even more pressure on the Kim regime to cease and desist from this ever-increasingly dangerous path. Most of us hold out hope that this will be solved with the stroke of a pen, rather than that of the swing of a sword, so none of us will ever have to know if Rear Admiral Michael Dumont's stark assessment will turn out to be factual.
