There is no military threat against the United States that looms larger than North Korea. Its dictator, Kim Jong-un, has said that his goal is to separate South Korea from the U.S., thereby exposing the south to a coerced confederation or unification on the north’s terms. This is precisely why Kim’s nuclear weapons are ultimately offensive in nature. Experts on the subject tell me that the North Korean dictator is indeed not insane, but rather very insecure.
If North Korea were to continue to develop its nuclear capability and provoked a nuclear conflict with the United States, the consequences would be catastrophic. Millions of people on the Korean peninsula would die, and Americans from Guam to the mainland would be potential nuclear targets. That’s why everything possible should be done to prevent this potential holocaust from happening.
President Trump has drawn a red line against North Korea’s nuclear threat, but the devil, as they say, is in the details of effectively deterring that threat. The U.S. is fortunate to have the combined experience of seasoned military advisers and an equally strong diplomatic team working to defuse the crisis.
Secretary of Defense James Mattis, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly are all former generals with extensive combat experience and a keen awareness of the horrors of war. Having led troops in battle, they are ideally suited to convey to the North Koreans the deadly price of a war with the U.S. Mattis, in particular, put it perfectly when he warned the North Koreans that “any threat to the United States or its territories, including Guam, or our allies will be met with a massive military response, a response both effective and overwhelming.”
So, unless the North Korean regime is suicidal, it would be well advised to de-escalate this conflict. That’s why a strong international effort, led by the U.S., is so crucial. It is time to fully enforce United Nations sanctions and continue to push for new ones should the situation continue to escalate. We should immediately implement, in full, the secondary sanctions that Trump announced at the U.N. General Assembly last month. While we have sanctioned small banks here and some individuals there, we have not yet gone after the major mainland-Chinese entities and banks that keep North Korea in business. Why not? Let’s do it. Do it now, and be severe about it. Be thorough.