Kim Jong Un Nuclear Missile Accuracy Woes: Oops Could Be Catastrophic

Donald Trump has threatened to “totally destroy North Korea” if forced to defend the U.S. and its allies, as Kim Jong Un’s reckless behavior with nuclear missiles continues. This was conveyed in Trump’s speech when speaking before the United Nations this week, which really got the ire of Kim Jong Un.

Trump’s threat was answered with a promise from Kim Jong Un that Trump will “face results beyond his expectation.” Trump’s speech sparked Kim to refer to the president as “deranged” and a “dotard.” Kim’s angry words opened the door to three things.

The first is more retaliatory words from Trump, who has now tagged Kim a “madman.” The second is a huge online search for the meaning of the word “dotard.” According to the New York Times, the Merriam-Webster website reported that “searches for ‘dotart’ are as high as a kite.”

Then there is the third, which is a threat that North Korea will test a nuclear missile over the Pacific. When the smoke clears from the name calling, this is a serious threat coming out of North Korea. Experts are offering their concerns about the possibilities of Kim Jong Un following through on this threat. Earlier this morning Kim said that what the president said at the U.N. merits the “highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history.”

? Kim Jong Un calls Trump a mentally deranged U.S. dotard. Searches for 'dotard' are high as a kite. https://t.co/HztPoLSjXi

— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) September 21, 2017

According to CNBC News, the dictator then said he is “thinking hard” about what Trump could have possibly expected when he delivered those remarks. The stage set for Kim Jong Un to send one of his missiles to explode over the Pacific Ocean to show that he means business. The worry consuming experts today concerns not only where his soldiers will send this missile, but also where it will actually end up once it is launched. Something going wrong with the missile launch over the Pacific is too terrifying to fathom for one expert.

Vipin Narang, who is a nuclear expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said his “biggest fear is that North Korea might conduct an atmospheric test of a nuclear weapon atop a missile.” If North Korea tests a nuclear missile over the Pacific, this would be “worse than testing a longer range for an intercontinental ballistic missile,” claims Narang.

A test such as this could bring danger to the aircraft and shipping that cross the Pacific. Even if they were humane enough to designate a “keep out” zone in the area designated for this nuclear bomb to go off, if something goes wrong, this could pose a risk to many people.

Narang said, “We are talking about putting a live nuclear warhead on a missile that has been tested only a handful of times. It is truly terrifying if something goes wrong,” according to the Sacramento Bee.

What Kim is threatening to do has experts extremely concerned. He is putting a nuclear weapon on the tip of a ballistic missile. To test these two together is extremely dangerous. According to NPR‘s Geoff Brumfiel,

“There are good reasons why nuclear weapons and nuclear missiles are usually tested separately. Nuclear weapons are the most powerful devices ever developed by human beings. Missiles are giant tubes filled with explosive fuel. Bringing the two together is risky enough. Firing the missile increases the risk considerably.”

The risk of something going wrong is a major concern that’s coupled with the original concerns of Kim firing off a nuclear missile in the first place. Officials in Hawaii this week held a closed meeting where they discussed getting their residents prepared for a nuclear attack. They sit in the Pacific Ocean and their concerns are based in the reality of Kim Jong Un’s threats.

The Washington Post reports that at the closed meeting held this week among officials of Hawaii, they were shown slides of the various levels of destruction from a nuclear missile.The level of destruction depended on at what level in the atmosphere it went off. The launching of a North Korean nuclear missile and the accuracy of its launch is of great concern today, not only for the U.S., but for the rest of the world as well.

[Featured Image by Airman 1st Class Ian Dudley/AP Images]