Beware fellow Americans, for North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un claimed this week that his nation had successfully tested a submarine-launched missile and was within striking distance of being able to target the United States with a nuclear weapon.
While some might feel tempted to laugh, given Un’s penchant for making spurious claims, this case may perhaps be different, according to Joel Wit, a former U.S. nuclear negotiator with North Korea.
“I’m concerned, and I think it should be ongoing concern for everyone,” Wit told USA Today, pointing to the rogue nation’s tenacious desire to develop a functional intercontinental ballistic missile.
“If they get that thing working, then they will be able to reach the United States, and that, of course, is a serious concern for all of us,” he added.
North Korea positioning a submarine close enough to actually strike the U.S., however, still remained unlikely. And the country certainly could never reach America from its shores alone.
“Because — despite this success — we’re not within striking range of their nuclear weapons,” he explained, though he noted that were North Korea to obtain nuclear-launching capabilities, it could conceivably target nearby nations with threats, thus drastically complicating foreign relations.
In short, North Korea cannot and may not ever be able to strike the U.S. with a nuclear weapon, but it could theoretically use short-range capabilities (which it has claimed to be on the verge of developing) to stir up a lot of trouble in its part of the world.
And this, of course, presents a huge problem — though some suspect that it is these very sorts of problems that GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump would excel at resolving.
As for President Barack Obama, it would not be surprising were he do to absolutely nothing about this new predicament …
Mark Megahan