Carlos a Cedillo

Defusing The North Korean-U.S. Missile Crisis Carlos a Cedillo

In mid-2017 President Donald Trump let Kim Jong-un know that if his threats continued they would be met with "fire and fury the likes the world has never seen". The scorching tweet went viral immediately. In response, the North Korean leader detonated a 100-kiloton hydrogen bomb, a successful test of a nuclear device which would be mounted on future missiles. The hostilities between North Korea and the U. S. were daunting, but only the beginning of the growing animosity. Later in August Kim Jong-un intensified the conflict, saying he was prepared to launch a Hwasong-12 intermediate range missile at the U. S. occupied island of Guam. Infuriated, Trump warned with "all options are on the table", meaning he was prepared to take whatever military action necessary. But in 2018, we all gave a sigh of relief when at the Trump-Kim summit a new and friendlier dialogue surfaced between the two heads of state. Perhaps the fact that Pyongyang had now developed an ICBM capable of reaching the heart of America changed our outlook and policies on the rogue nation. Notwithstanding, Donald Trump has continued to dish out punishing sanctions for Kim Jong-un and shows no sign of removing pressure until North Korea abandons its missiles and nuclear program in its entirety. For several decades we've witnessed the long arduous journey of nuclear threats and strife between the two nations. This year our hopes were on the Hanoi Summit, but it ended abruptly with no lunch and no concrete results. Meanwhile, North Korea has resumed its missile tests and President Donald Trump has just about run out of cards. Does he have a hidden ace somewhere? What if the North pushes for a Peace Treaty? At this point what do we have to lose? A peace treaty might not bring the full solution to the diplomatic quagmire, but it might be a step in the right direction.