2017 Korean Crisis

[arandomperson5000]

"In 2017, tensions with North Korea worsened with the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, whose administration adopted a more assertive stance than the preceding Obama administration. In April, Trump said in an interview that he was sending a "powerful armada", consisting of the USS Carl Vinson and its carrier strike group, to Korea.[99][100][101] On April 24 the Japanese destroyers Ashigara and Samidare participated with the USS Carl Vinson in tactical training drills near the Philippines; North Korea threatened to sink her with a single strike.[102]

On May 3, North Korea issued a rare and harshly worded criticism of its chief ally, China, stating that "One must clearly understand that the D.P.R.K.'s line of access to nukes for the existence and development of the country can neither be changed nor shaken[...] And that the D.P.R.K. will never beg for the maintenance of friendship with China, risking its nuclear program which is as precious as its own life, no matter how valuable the friendship is... China should no longer try to test the limits of the D.P.R.K.'s patience[...] China had better ponder over the grave consequences to be entailed by its reckless act of chopping down the pillar of the D.P.R.K.-China relations." The harsh commentary also accused the Chinese media of dancing to the tune of the U.S.[103]

On July 4, 2017, North Korea successfully conducted its first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), named Hwasong-14.[104] It conducted another test on 28 July.[105] On August 5, 2017, the UN unanimously imposed further sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear program. North Korea responded saying that it was a "violent violation of our sovereignty" and that it would make the US "pay the price for its crime... thousands of times" [106]

On August 8, 2017, President Donald Trump warned that North Korean nuclear threats "will be met with fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which the world has never seen before". North Korea responded by announced it was considering plans to attack US military bases in the US territory of Guam.[107] On August 10, 2017, North Korean Lt. Gen. Kim Rak-gyom responded to Trump, saying his words were "nonsense" and asserting that "reasonable dialog" wasn't possible with Trump. The North Korean governmental news agency KCNA reported that Kim Jong-un's military will be able to fire four ICBMs, type Hwasong-12, into the Philippine Sea just 30-40 kilometres away from the island Guam itself. The flight time of their Hwasong-12 will be exactly 17 minutes and 45 seconds. (This plan could possibly be put into effect mid August, 2017, according to the KCNA).[108]

Guam Homeland Security spokeswoman Jenna Gaminde posits in the Pacific Daily News a flight time of 14 minutes, however, and avers in the event of missile launches that Guam's 15 All-Hazards Alert Warning System sirens would sound, whereupon the Civil Defense department would use all forms of mass media, including social media, to inform the public.[109]

Japan stands ready to defend Guam (and hence the United States) with their anti-missile system MIM-140 Patriot. Vehicles of this system have already been deployed at the Ministry of Defence of Japan in Tokyo. [110]" Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_conflict#The_Trump_era

[simsulla]

What is the underpinnings here? Nuclear proliferation? The ability of the "nuclear club" to prevent other notions to acquire the Nuclear bomb and ICBMs? We could considering giving US/(rank 1 nuclear power) (and may by USSR if communist) an event when a country proceeds with the nuclear/missile WMD program decisions, where they threatens with consequences.

[arandomperson5000]

The of underpinnings are a mix of nuclear proliferation and spheres of influence, I know this may sound a little bit confusing but I will try to explain it using several examples of countries that have nuclear weapons but are not in the nuclear club (USA, Russia/USSR, UK, France and China)

North Korea The history of the North Korean nuclear weapon programme is already quite well known so I'm not really rally going to post anything about its history. North Korea has managed to avoid the worst effects of the constant economic sanctions being placed on it by great powers such as the US because North Korea's most important ally and trading partner China has vetoed any international sanctions by the UN against North Korea solidifying the country as part of the Chinese sphere of influence however now it appears that things are changing as since China currently wants to expand the influence across the globe, having a pariah state in your sphere of influence is becoming more of an unnecessary burden then a useful asset.

India and Pakistan During the Cold War, the Indian subcontinent was often the place of many conflicts between India (supported by the USSR) and Pakistan (supported by the USA), however after the collapse of the Soviet Union, American aid to Pakistan drastically declined during the 1990s as it was no longer necessary for the US to fund proxy conflicts against their main rivals at that time, this had created a situation both India and Pakistan had no backing from any of the great powers. When both India and Pakistan greatly expanded their nuclear weapons in 1998 the G8 applied economic sanctions to both of these countries. However after the sanctions on both Pakistan and India were lifted due to ineffectiveness of the sanctions and their use as strategic allies by the US in the War on Terror.

Israel Although it has never admitted nor denied having nuclear weapons, Israel is widely believed to have a current stockpile of 80 to 400 nuclear weapons. The Israeli nuclear weapons programme started shortly after the Israeli's state founding in 1948 with the first steps being investigating the nuclear field. Over the next decades Israel would secretly receive support from outside powers with their nuclear weapons programme such as France which in 1958, France aided in the construction of the Negev Nuclear Research Center. It is thought that Israel created their first nuclear weapon in December 1969. It wasn't until 1986 when extensive details of the weapons program were first provided by Mordechai Vanunu, a technician formerly employed at the Negev Nuclear Research Center who was later kidnapped by the Mossad where he was brought back into Israel and was sentenced to 18 years in prison for treason ans espionage. Due to Israel being an important country in the US sphere of influence it has largely avoided sanctions.