When I was a kid my friends and me were always competing. Always boasting that one of us is better than the other. Always vying for attention. Sort of reminds me of the give and take between President Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. Each vying with each other over who can make one threat more ominous than the other.
The danger is that Donald Trump is as unpredictable as Kim Jong Un. Their childish game of nuclear threat one-upmanship has some really serious consequences.
The tit for tat between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un is escalating to a critical point at which turning back may not be possible.
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“U.S. United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley said Monday that North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, is ‘begging for war’ with his ‘abusive use of missiles.’
“During an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council, Haley said ‘enough is enough,’ comments which come after North Korea said Sunday that it has successfully tested a miniaturized hydrogen bomb that can be placed an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
“’The time for half measures in the security council is over. The time has come to exhaust all of our diplomatic means before it is too late. We must now adopt the strongest possible measures. Kim Jong Un’s action cannot be seen as defensive,’she said.
“Haley, who has expressed frustration in recent weeks over North Korea’s increased aggression, said ‘an incremental approach’ to handling the country’s nuclear ambitions has failed ‘despite the best of intentions.’
“’We have kicked the can down the road long enough,’ she said. ‘There is no more road left.’”
North Korea has “slapped everyone in the face in the international community that has asked them to stop,” Haley said.
U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis said that "Any threat to the United States or its territories including Guam, or our allies, will be met with a massive response, a response both effective and overwhelming,"
The only sane comment came from China’s Ambassador to the U.N., Liu Jieyi, who pushed for “practical measures” to solve the North Korean nuclear issue, including dialogue.
“The situation on the peninsula is deteriorating constantly as we speak, falling into a vicious circle. The peninsula issue must be resolved peacefully. China will never allow chaos and war on the peninsula,” he said.
By Jeremy Herb, Joshua Berlinger, Taehoon Lee
