President Donald Trump is expected to take action against North Korea after their most recent threats and nuclear test, which they were warned against doing. The good thing for the world is that the test turned out to be a dud for North Korea, as they attempted to get it going on Sunday morning and were not able to get it off the ground. Despite this, they were warned against it and even their biggest economic partner in China is pushing against them and wants to denuclearize North Korea.
According to National Security Adviser to the President, H.R. McMaster, Trump is expected to take action. He spoke with ABC’s This Week on Sunday, telling them the following regarding the situation.
“[I]t’s clear that the president is determined not to allow this kind of capability to threaten the United States. And our president will take action that is in the best interest of the American people.”
McMaster was not open to disclosing any other details considering the nature of the subject. He claimed that Trump does not like to announce what he is going to do before he actually does it. This, of course, makes sense, especially when discussing plans to “deal” with North Korea and take action against them over everything. Trump has been sure to tweet about relations with North Korea, however. One post sticks out above most, where Trump said this.
“I have great confidence that China will properly deal with North Korea. If they are unable to do so, the U.S., with its allies, will! U.S.A.”
Trump is running into an issue with this, however. While China has been seemingly very helpful as of late to help stop North Korea before they go too far, it may not be enough. As of now, China has blocked all flights to North Korea from their nation via Air China air system. They also stopped sending coal over to North Korea, which helps them with numerous things.
There is a theory that China may go as far as pulling out completely from North Korea, causing them to lose their top economic partner. This is something North Korea truly cannot take from a financial standpoint. China has enjoyed having North Korea as a buffer of sorts, as it allows China to be away from Western influence right near their country. South Korea obviously benefits greatly from partnering with the United States, and they have been armed big time over the years.
China knows if by chance the United States wanted to remove North Korea from existence, South Korea would take it over to unite it under one big Korea that is democratic similar to the U.S. This is a big deal, as the United States would still most likely want to remain partners with South Korea as they would be close to China by that point, and being close to them is useful for various reasons. Either way, China wants to avoid that at all costs.
This is why they are, in a sense, punishing North Korea by taking things away until it starts to hurt them in a major way. The United States is not playing around when it comes to North Korea, which is why H.R. McMaster was open enough to tell the media that Trump is going to take action. McMaster said that it would be in the North Korean regime’s best interest to “stop the development of these missiles, and to denuclearize the peninsula.”
At the same time, McMaster knows enough about North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un. He called him “unpredictable,” which is very true going off how he has led since his father passed. McMaster explained that right now, the United States plans to rely on close allies as well as China. This may be the best thing for them, as China currently deals with 80 percent of all North Korea’s trade material. Without China to trade with, North Korea would be economically dead quick.
It may be best to rely on this for now, as it will eventually begin to hurt them in the end. North Korea, again, is not the most predictable nation due to their leader. However, one does have to wonder if Kim Jong-Un understands the punishments for which his nuclear weapons will have him take on. Whether it is terrible economic turmoil, or someone nuking them, it is not something North Korea wants to take on. It’ll be interesting to see what they decide in the coming days ahead.
[Featured Image by Alex Brandon/AP Images]