North Korea’s interest in a nuclear weapons program reaches as far back in time as the end of World War II. Since then, Pyongyang has mastered the nuclear fuel cycle and has both plutonium and enriched uranium programs capable of producing missile material. North Korea declared that it had roughly 38.5kg of weapons-grade plutonium extracted from spent fuel rods in May 2008 , however other estimates have varied. North Korea has conducted two nuclear weapons tests, in 2006 and 2009. The Six-Party Talks between North Korea, South Korea, Japan, China, Russia, and the United States began in 2003 with the goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. However, these talks have been suspended since April 2009. On trips to China in 2010 and 2011, Kim Jong-Il indicated his desire to resume the Six Party Talks, but South Korea insisted on an apology from North Korea for the 2010 shelling of Yeonpyeong Island and the inclusion of enrichment activities in the discussion before agreeing to resume the negotiations. More recently, initial uncertainties about North Korea’s nuclear program after the death of Kim Jong Il were tempered when Pyongyang agreed to suspend nuclear tests, uranium enrichment, and long-range missile tests in exchange for food aid from the U.S. on 29 February 2012 . While this was a step in the right direction, previous agreements had been made before only to be broken at a later date.

To celebrate the birth of the founding leader, Kim Il Sung, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea launched a new Earth-observing satellite into space atop a long-range rocket, despite open condemnation from countries such as the United States and South Korea; whom believe it was a disguised ballistic missile test. Regardless, the launch failed; obviously an incredible embarrassment for the prideful North. But, the United Nations has now suspended the much needed food aid. This is a prime example of a dictatorial power causing sufferance and oppression among their people. The desperate people of North Korea are deprived of the basic necessities of life; after the government food distribution program failed shortly after the death of Kim Il Sung, they had to fend for themselves. The tons of food aid that was to be given to North Korea in exchange for the ceasing of research related to ballistic missiles would have gone a long way in a country of such mass poverty. The people do not deserve to suffer any more than they do in their ordinary lives, things we as Americans take for granite are only given to the highest of officials; such as running water and fluctuating electricity.

Our first president, George Washington, warned the American people to be neutral and remain without permanent allies. Yet this conflicts with a recently released statement by the White House, “The US remains vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations, and is fully committed to the security our allies in the region,” Carney said in a statement. General Washington’s warnings should be heeded, for this rogue state has the potential to threaten the very security of mainland United States. This should be our most important objective, not preparing for invasion by having around 40,000 US troops of the demilitarized zone; which splits the peninsula in two. This will only complicate the already severed and estranged diplomatic relationship with the North. Let us allow the Koreans to handle the Korean situation.

~Jake Rinaldi