The Growing Menace of the Norks

This photo of the Korean Peninsula was taken from space. It shows the stark difference between the standard of living between the two Koreas.

This is an article I posted five years ago on a former blog. I will update some of it, however some will probably remain outdated. The term Nork is a common slang term for North Korea. Was has changed since I first posted this article is "Dear Leader" is now dead, and the Norks have recently announced they have a new missile which will reach anywhere in North America.

First a bit of recent Korean history taken from Wikipedia:

"The Korean War refers to a period of military conflict between North Korea (officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) and South Korea (officially the Republic of Korea) with major hostilities beginning on June 25, 1950, pausing with an armistice signed on July 27, 1953. North Korea has since unilaterally withdrawn from that armistice, having announced its intent to do so on May 27, 2009. The conflict arose from the attempts of the two Korean powers to re-unify Korea under their respective governments. The period immediately before the war was marked by escalating border conflicts at the 38th Parallel and attempts to negotiate elections for the entirety of Korea. These negotiations ended when the North Korean Army invaded the South on June 25, 1950. Under the aegis of the United Nations, nations allied with the United States intervened on behalf of South Korea. After rapid advances in a South Korean counterattack, North-allied Chinese forces intervened on behalf of North Korea, shifting the balance of the war and ultimately leading to an armistice that approximately restored the original boundaries between North and South Korea."

After the death of North Korea's "Dear Leader" (Kim Jong il), power was handed off to his youngest son, "Supreme Leader" (Kim Jong-un) . Before his death, "Dear Leader"  announced that North Korea will not abide by any United Nations sanctions, WILL weaponize any uranium or plutonium that resides in North Korea and worst of all, launch a nuclear strike against any country that takes part in an embargo or aggressive sanctions. Right now, with the entire Korean Peninsula destabilized, it is unclear which country (Japan, South Korea or United States) is in greater peril. I have said for years the only type of person I fear is one who has absolutely nothing to lose. In a country that is plagued by starvation, has very few utilities and endures chronic human rights abuses, North Korea truly has nothing to lose. They are the desperate thug who suddenly acquires a handgun. Due to the selfish, short sighted "leadership" in North Korea, we could be standing on the precipice of yet another world changing event. Besides having a fully functioning nuclear device, North Korea has also perfected the multistage Taepodong-2 missile, which could reach Alaska, Hawaii or the west coast of the United States. In addition, it is believed that North Korea has anywhere from one to three dozen single stage No-dong short range missiles that could easily hit South Korea, Japan or our bases in Okinawa or Guam. Finally, it is not going to take much of a technology leap to come up with a longer range missile that could reach any target in the United States. Should the North Koreans ever be able to light off even a low grade nuke at high altitude over the United States, it will be "lights out" - literally. The EMP effect of this type of detonation could wipe out most of our electric grid, everyone's stored electronic data as well as numerous other essentials (By the way, the Heritage Foundation has a video out called 33 Minutes which also addresses the North Korean threat to our homeland). In other words, should North Korea ever achieve this evil deed, our country would look very much like North Korea for years, if not decades.

The following poem written in 1970, I now dedicate to the Supreme Leader. He needs to read it and understand it - now, more than ever.

Here I stand a man among men,

I know no evil, I practice no sin.

I burn, destroy, kill and maim,

Its' funny I don't even know my name.

I cover the path that peace had trod,

Some call me man, but I call me God.

Post script: The North Koreans are every bit as dangerous today as they were when I first posted this article. As concerned as we are about Iran getting a bomb, this very unstable regime already has at least one. They now have the bomb and the ability to deliver it. This menace cannot be ignored, no matter how turbulent the rest of the world has become.