Over the weekend, North Korea tested a hydrogen bomb. It was a headline that I certainly didn’t want to see, because I knew that giving more attention to Kim Jong-un only fuels his egocentric ways. North Korea has now solidified itself as a nuclear power, whether the rest of the world likes it or not.
While watching the emergency meeting held by the United Nations on Monday, I realized that half-hearted sanctions are no longer the answer. Despite the repercussions for the citizens of North Korea, the UN needs to adopt sanctions completely cutting off all funding and trade between other countries and the rogue state.
Lately, having conversations with people about the situation in North Korea is becoming aggravating. People tend to joke around, failing to see the threat the country really poses. Donald Trump seems to get the memo, saying that any attack from North Korea would be met with “fire and fury.” However, that is not what we need right now.
Nikki Haley, the current U.S. ambassador to the United Nations seemed to want to move away from talks of war if at all possible. She opened her statement by reading every single sanction the UN has imposed on North Korea, showing the world there are only two options left: a complete cut off, or war. Anything but a total trade and funding disconnect from North Korea will not work. It hasn’t in the past, and certainly won’t in the future, seeing as they already have a bomb over six times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima.
I think I speak for almost everyone when I say that no one wants to launch into a nuclear war. Even if the regime’s intercontinental ballistic missile was shot down, their regular stockpile of weapons would be enough to kill millions of people in the capital of South Korea, Seoul. Right now, the best option is to demand that North Korea be completely cut off. Not only would this proposal put a stranglehold on Kim’s regime, it would allow the United States to see their real allies.
China stepped in during the Korean War in the 1950s to ensure the North would live on. Their pro-communist state saw a potential ally in their neighbor. Instead, they got the most aggravating neighbor in history. At the time, China pledged their support to the North Koreans, promising to help defend the land if it were attacked again. Many things have changed since then.
Seeing what role China would play in a totally-sanctioned North Korean state would be interesting to say the least. China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang called the possibility of a complete trade cut off “both not objective and not fair.”
In my mind, anyone who traded with or helped fund the nation after sanctions would have to be considered an enemy to the United States. China’s response to the threat is troubling, seeing as the meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this year seemed to go well. China even went as far as to impose their own sanctions when Kim threatened Guam after Trump escalated his words.
With another nuclear test on the horizon, I hope to see this issue resolved without war. The last thing the United States needs is to fight in two wars. However, if they attack our land or the land of our allies, all bets will be off with a man like Trump in office.
At the end of the day, Nikki Haley said it best: “enough is enough.” It’s time to impose sanctions that will bring the crazy leader in the North Korean peninsula to his knees.
