On May 25 of this year, North Korea tested a nuclear weapon as powerful as the Hiroshima bomb. This test threatens to further isolate North Korea from the rest of the world.
I’m not sure how more economic boycotts will affect North Korea because they are already an isolated country depending very little on the rest of the world. I’ve been told that North Korea relies on funding from the United States and will often ramp up such tests for more “hush” money. Was this the purpose of the testing or have they spotted weakness in the Obama administration and they are trying to exploit that?
The test was a way to flex North Korea’s political muscles and boost its security in the eyes of the world. Some speculation suggests that the test was been done because North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-il, could be in the process of naming one of his sons as a successor and he wanted to reestablish his grip on power.
By testing this weapon, North Korea is trying to protect their current position and values. North Korea is a socialistic country and a welfare state that takes care of its citizens from the cradle to the grave. The average pay for a citizen in North Korea is $47 a month. There citizens even get universal health care!
The drama this week is over the two US female journalists that have been captured in North Korea. Were they there to do a story on boarder crossings as they suggest or were they there for espionage purposes as the North Koreans maintain? Either way, twelve years in a labor camp with no way to appeal is a harsh sentence.
This scenario is nothing more than a cat and mouse game. We will ramp up sanctions against North Korea for testing the bomb, but we will offer to relax them in return for the journalists. Isn’t it good that we enjoy freedom of the press in the United States, at least for now? This is just one of many tests for our new president.
