Should the U.S take stronger actions against N.K to stop its nuclear tests? - By Taeyoon Lim

After the Cheonan submarine sank deep into the ocean in 2010 March 26, my ethics teacher’s face was red with resentment. Standing on the podium, the teacher ardently criticized South Korean politicians for blaming North Korea with no specific evidence in the Cheonan issue. She merely viewed the issue as political artifice by the South Korean government in order to distract citizens’ attention away from domestic politics. Despite two hours of debate, the ethics teacher, a former North Korean refugee, was firm on her stance that most reported North Korean threats were flawed and did not exist. Though she might have said this in such way due to her love towards her hometown, it is incontrovertible that threats from North Korea do, in fact, exist. With Kim Jeong-Un clutching a switch for a nuclear missile launcher, feeling relief in the Korean Peninsula is premature. For the sake of peace and safety for all, the U.S, a country that can wield the strongest international power, should tighten its grip on Kim Jeong Un. North Korea has refused denuclearization suggestions by other nations, and their nuclear weaponization technology has progressed enough to manufacture more destructive weapons.

North Korea has refused to compromise with numerous diplomatic negotiations in order to continue its nuclear tests. The current dictator of North Korea, Kim Jeong Un, has chosen an extremely illogical diplomatic stance in order to pursue further development in nuclear technology. For instance, North Korea has abandoned multi-national food aids provided by the U.S and South Korea in order to maintain its nuclear facilities. I once saw several photos of dead bodies of North Koreans lying on unpaved roads in rural regions. Extremely feeble limbs and swelled abdomens of the dead bodies lucidly suggested that they died due to malnutrition. Why can’t Kim Jeong Un feel such anguish of North Koreans? Is nuclear technology worthy enough to abandon thousands of people whose lives are being eaten away by poverty and famine? Instead of compromising with other nations to aid innocent lives, North Korea conducted the additional underground nuclear explosion experiment on February 12^th 2013. To make a weapon that can destruct 40% of the western continent of the U.S, North Korea is killing thousands people annually with its merciless exploitation . When there are no restrictions on North Korea, no one can guarantee the future of North Korean citizens and other countries. North Koreans will be ceased by poverty, and the world will be ceased by a nuclear war. Therefore, the U.S should perform stronger actions to sanction North Korea’s nuclear tests to ensure North Koreans’ welfare and world peace.

Advancement in North Korean nuclear technology is enabling  more destructive weapons. Instead of investing financial aids from the Sun-Shine policy of South Korea in feeding impoverished North Koreans, Kim Jeong Il covertly accumulated such aids to propel his ambitious nuclear plan. Today, his successor, Kim Jeong Un, is arduously carrying out his father’s grandiose plan by increasing the frequency of the nuclear tests and fatality of potential nuclear missiles. As an example, the Korean Central News Agency recently reported that North Korea has begun to use plutonium in manufacturing miniature nuclear devices. Such devices can be attached on Unha-3, a long-range missile, which North Korea painstakingly manufactured and succeeded in launching on December 2012. Furthermore,Kim Jeong Un had already conducted two long-range missile attacks and one nuclear test during the 2 years of his reign . My science teacher in elementary school said that a war between South and North Korea in the future would end with a push of a missile switch. Such moment seems to be coming earlier than I have expected. Today, all Kim Jeong Un has to do is to push a button to destruct everything that my ancestors have yielded for the past 5000 years. Only ashes and remnants of human civilizations would be left on the Korean Peninsula after a war, and my science teacher’s prediction would turn out to be true. In other words, the U.S should not hesitate to impose stronger regulations on North Korea before its military power begets irreversible chaos.

To sum up, the U.S should strengthen its restrictions against nuclear-fanatic North Korea, since Kim Jeong Un has revealed no signs of denuclearization in order to fulfill his nuclear plans, and improved nuclear technology of North Korea is now in the realm that can impose serious global threats. I and most of my fellow South Koreans are living in modern society that has a weak personal connection to North Korea other than being South Koreans. However, detrimental impacts that Kim Jeong Un can inflict to South Korea do have powerful connections with our lives. The destiny of people I love and everything I possess depends on a capricious dictator living in the North. Truly, this is an inconvenient truth. Persuading obstinate Kim Jeong Un is incontrovertibly a challenging task. But we cannot allow a single dictator to destroy our land and civilizations that our ancestors have established through innumerable historical turmoil and immense sacrifice. With the help of U.S, South Koreans have to struggle to weather through this diplomatic tension that is swaying the destiny of our nation.