North Korea Goes Nuclear

As of last Friday, it’s been considered official: North Korea is a nuclear power, many world leaders and nuclear defense experts agree. And whether you choose to accept it or not, the fact is that they have nuclear weapons and are not afraid to use it.

During the past several years, North Korea has been testing and designing nuclear warheads. Up until recently as last year, it was thought that the weapons were too bulky to be crafted onto a missile. However, by the end of 2008, North Korea appeared next to India, China, Pakistan, and Russia on the list of Asia’s nuclear powers.

It is important to keep in mind that with these nuclear warheads, Pyongyang could literally make waste of the US bases in Japan, South Korea, and the island of Guam. Because of the design of the missiles, the long-range missiles are less of a threat than the short-range missiles, being harder to detect.

Because of the nuclear threat, it is becoming a necessity to have defenses against these types of technology, but the one thing that we do not want to do is fight weapons with weapons. The US has a strong influence in the region surrounding North Korea and it must step in and be a moderator in this race of arms.

Nuclear weapons are far too powerful to be put in the hands of a single person or entity. Wherever there are weapons there can never be the guarantee of peace, which is something, no matter what race you are, is always desirable.

Original article: Times Online, April 24, 2009