In their counterattack, the North Koreans would wreak as much havoc as possible, as quickly as possible. and South Korea would face difficult terrain and a North Korean military that borders on the fanatical in its devotion to the Kim regime. Casualties would be horrific, both in number and in types some credible estimates predict more than a million deaths.Įxperts believe that North Korea has a stockpile of between 2,500 and 5,000 metric tons of chemical weapons.Įven with the advantages of a surprise attack and qualitatively superior forces, the U.S. Rather, the North would likely respond with a devastating artillery barrage the invasion of the South by specialized troops through tunnels under the DMZ and air, missile, and naval actions aimed at targets throughout South Korea and its waters.Ĭhillingly, the South Korean capital of Seoul, with a population of around 10 million, is within range of North Korean artillery – artillery that can fire not only conventional shells but also chemical rounds. were to launch a “preventive” attack to knock out the North Korean nuclear capability, few analysts believe that Kim Jong Un would just sit back and twiddle his thumbs. What Would a Second Korean War Look Like? presidents and policymakers may have inadvertently painted themselves into a rhetorical corner from which it’s extremely difficult to emerge without an unacceptable loss of face.īut, is attempting to salvage a failed policy worth going to war? (In fact, he might have as many as 60 of them, according to some estimates.) By painting a “red line” firmly rejecting a nuclear-armed North Korea, U.S. While the policy may not in itself have been wrongheaded, it has failed: Kim Jong Un has The Bomb. Providing intellectual spine (and an endless stream of op-eds) to the crusade are an army of academics and journalists who examine the issues from every conceivable angle. has enlisted the support of allies, some adversaries (such as China and Russia), the United Nations, and truly weird go-betweens like former basketball star Dennis Rodman. To bolster its No Way-No How policy, the U.S. And, alas, there’s plenty of evidence to support that description, even if it is something of a caricature. Why? Evidently, reason numero uno is that Kim Jong Un, who rules the “Hermit Kingdom,” is a brutal, ruthless, homicidal psychopath who goes to sometimes bizarre lengths to maintain his hold on power. policy – as expressed publicly and firmly by a succession of presidents, including the current one – has been that North Korea must never be allowed to join the nuclear brotherhood.
To many, especially in the United States, it is impossible to countenance such an opinion. So, like I said, we should get used to it. and the rest of the international community can do about it. Short of launching an attack on North Korea that would likely lead to hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties – and possibly be the opening act of World War III – there’s not a lot the U.S.
But the reality is that North Korea has crossed the threshold to become the eighth bona fide member of the most exclusive club in the world, the one that can wipe humanity from the planet with the push of a few buttons. We can wag our fingers, we can stamp our feet, and we can match the bellicose rhetoric of the Pyongyang regime with our own “fire and fury” threats. The whole team of apocalyptic horses can bolt from the barn at any moment.
remains the same as it did when Trump and Kim posed for the cameras in Singapore: Rather than risk a cataclysmic world war, accept the reality of a nuclear-armed North Korea.
Considering that an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula could erupt at any time – and escalate rapidly into World War III – maybe the best move for the U.S. As President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un prepare to meet in Hanoi, Vietnam, for their second summit, it’s very clear that not much has changed since their first meeting in Singapore in June 2018.