Link to article: https://apnews.com/article/north-korea-missile-launch-south-a6ec6af18b153b46ff14999e1599f57d
On September 5, 2024, short-range ballistic missiles were shot by North Korea toward waters between Japan and the Korean Peninsula. This was shortly after the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared that he would put together a nuclear force that could compete against those of his rivals. Diplomats from South Korea, Japan, and the U.S. conversed on the subject and decided these launches to be a threat to regional and international peace. Kim claims that the expansion of the U.S.-led regional military bloc poses a great threat to his nation and is countering this by doubling his country’s efforts to make their nuclear force ready for combat. A photo released by North Korea’s state media showed Kim inspecting the country’s biggest missile launch platform which created speculation that they could be making a more powerful ballistic missile intending to strike the United States. The U.S. and South Korea have responded by expanding military drills and other large scale military exercises.
These missile firings from North Korea show that they are not scared to present their military capabilities and are certainly not afraid to use these weapons against their rivals. Not to predict another World War, but a main cause of the WW1 were countries feeling the need to continuously outdo one another in terms of military strength and weapon development. So seeing from history, high tensions and the building up of militaries do not create a prosperous international environment. Although North Korea’s use of nuclear forces in the near future seems unlikely, them exhibiting their military expansions does create a threat for the U.S., Japan, and South Korea that they should surely keep surveillance on.
It is to be assumed that North Korea will simply not stop their aggressive actions, so as the U.S. and South Korea have started to do, the continuance of building up their own military strength will show they will not just let North Korea grow more dominate without the looming threat of their own power. Additionally, last July, the U.S. and South Korea signed a defense guideline which formalized how the two will respond to North Korean nuclear threats. The countries did not sign this as a treaty, therefore it is not considered an intergovernmental organization (IGO) and is only signed as a set of guidelines. Moving forward, opposing countries can reinforce sanctions on North Korea while also urging for more international support (perhaps with someone like China who would hold significant leverage over North Korea). It will be interesting to see what other threats North Korea tries to bring to the table in the future.