North Korea is also known as the Hermit Kingdom because it is so isolated from the world.
The small totalitarian communist nation is governed by a dictator called Kim Jong Un, who comes from a family dynasty that’s ruled the impoverished country since 1948.
Despite progress that was being made by President Trump with regards to Kim, the belligerent leader is back making threats once again.
Kim says he’s fully ready to push the nuclear button if South Korea, the US, and its allies don’t stop doing training exercises close to his country.
Will He Really Do It This Time?
Specifically, Kim issued these threats on Thursday, blaming the US and South Korea for escalating tensions on the peninsula. He gave the remarks while speaking to North Korean veterans to remember the Korean War.
COVID has been negatively affecting North Korea. The country isn’t doing very well, so some analysts say this is simply to get the country fired up about external enemies and distract them from their domestic reality.
Nonetheless, Kim is not just a harmless blowhard. The guy has nukes, a massive standing army, and oriented almost all the foreign aid his country has received into building an offensive attack posture.
According to Kim, the US and South Korea are constantly threatening him with military drills close to his country, but then act outraged when he conducts missile tests of his own.
He also hates the leader of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, who Kim calls a “maniac” and a “gangster.”
North Korea's Kim threatens to use nukes amid tensions with US, South Korea https://t.co/GrkHi21r2f pic.twitter.com/tPyY3kMsqW
— New York Post (@nypost) July 28, 2022
South Korea’s Growing Strength
The fact of the matter is South Korea is not a military dictatorship and doesn’t have the same kind of belligerence as the north. Nonetheless, they have continued to increase their alliance with the US under Yoon and built up their missile defenses.
This clearly rubs Kim the wrong way; he said South Korea is “suicidal” for even suggesting it has the ability and will to preemptively hit Pyongyang if necessary.
Kim said any kind of strike from the south will be “immediately punished” and he would “annihilate” South Korea’s government right away if they were to take action against him.
The South responded by simply saying it will continue its friendship with America and partnership with the US military and will not be bullied by the North.
Yoon also said Kim should start talking about de-nuclearization and stepping back from the edge of conflict.
North Korea's growing threats to use nukes will leave ROK with two worse options: deploying US's tactical nukes on its soil and producing its nuclear weapons. Both scenarios can quickly devastate regional balances of power in Northeast Asia. https://t.co/2mxj9zDjqq
— Lokman Karadag 盧克曼 (@LokmanKaradag1) July 28, 2022
The Bottom Line
Kim is likely not about to launch nuclear missiles tomorrow. He and his regime would be obliterated.
Though he still remains a significant threat and all the progress that did occur under Trump has now been undone.
