Aug 23, 2017 2 min read

Why did Kim Jong-un switch from threatening the United States to threatening Guam?

We say that North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950. The North Koreans, ignoring the fact that there then was a United Nations “police action” in response to this invasion, say that America invaded North Korea. Since it was all one country before the superpowers divided it in 1945, the truth about who was on what side is complicated. The Korean War was never declared by either side, and is, technically, still not over.

Kim Jong-un’s grandfather and his father drummed their view of history into the North Korean people, and Kim Jong-un, with 24/7, birth-to-death, total control of his country’s media, holidays, banners, and education system, has continued to teach that bit of “fake” news. His solution to this “danger” has been to develop nuclear weapons.

What if Kim is not crazy or stupid? He has much more knowledge and experience at international power politics, from a weirdly different point of view, than our reality-TV star president. Does Kim think we would do nothing if he attacked Guam, a United States territory housing two of our bases? He knows that would unleash a terrible war he would lose, just at the point when he has achieved what his family has been working for three generations to accomplish – having nuclear weapons, which they see as a basic requirement for safety and respect.

Kim Jong-un has already shown that he has the capability to threaten our allies, Japan and South Korea. Maybe the switch to talking about Guam is a way to sound big and bad to his people – which he needs to do, because this is all about national pride – while still signaling to us that he is not going to attack Washington, D.C., or Alaska or, actually, anywhere.

Attacking Guam wouldn’t accomplish anything toward protecting his people, but, rather, basically give us the first actual shot in a war that would mean the total destruction of Kim Jong-un and his people.

Unfortunately, President Trump has believed all his life that you “win” by threatening, insulting, and hitting back harder. Let us pray that our president can be controlled by the more knowledgable people around him.

Gerard H. Weiss

Washington