Link to article: https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/nkorea-fired-unidentified-projectile-yonhap-citing-skorea-military-2021-09-15/
North and South Korea test fired ballistic missiles. This proves that they are both developing increasingly sophisticated weapons. South Korea tested a submarine launched ballistic missile. The two ballistic missiles that North Korea launched could have nuclear capabilities. North Korea’s launch has sparked trouble with other countries. The U.S. says North Korea’s launch violated the U.N. security council resolutions. The Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga deemed that North Korea’s launches are a threat to peace and security in the region. In addition, North Korea has continuously stalled denuclearization negotiations. President Moon of South Korea stated that the reason for South Korea’s tests and development of better missiles are because of the volume of weapons and nuclear capability that North Korea has. Meanwhile Kim Yo Jong says that if Moon continues to “slander” Pyongyang, inter-Korean relations would deter.
These events are significant because conflict surrounding North Korea’s nuclear capability seems to be rising. Because of North Korea’s power, South Korea is trying to balance it out by increasing the development of their own weapons. Although, in the article it was stated that it would be hard for South Korea to develop nuclear weapons because of political and legal obstacles, so they will develop other capabilities to gain more power. South Korea’s attempt to gain more power can further deter the relationship between the koreas because North Korea may view this as a challenge. Because of this competition of the “better Korea ”, we might begin to see an increase in conflict within the countries and an increase of weapon development. Outside of the Koreas, this can create a negative impact on the region because of the threat of North Korea’s illicit weaponry. As it was stated in the article, Japan is already worried that peace in the area will be hindered.
In class we talked about countries that are global actors, and the countries that are most powerful and impactful. Though North Korea is small, its nuclear capabilities have certainly given it the power to be in the conversation. This also connects to the conversation of world peace in general, and how it is maintained. We can already see that with North Korea’s current nuclear weapons, countries like the U.S. and neighboring countries like Japan are concerned, especially with the way that negotiations of denuclearization have been stalled. The more nuclear weapons that North Korea develops, the more the current functions of peace and dynamics of countries worldwide and in the region can alter.