The United States has spent billions on a system that is designed to intercept missiles speeding towards our borders. It has been tested nine times, and worked less than half of those times. On Tuesday this week, the Defense Department hopes to prove they have improved their system by destroying a mock warhead.
Hopefully it works well, because the North Koreans have delivered a new challenge. North Korea has test-fired a series of missiles based on a technology that would give the United States little warning of an attack. The new missiles use solid fuels that enables them to be rolled out from hideaways and launched within minutes. Intercepting these missiles would be even more difficult than what the Americans are used, given that the flawed system works best with early alerts from satellites.
These missiles are also slightly different than what we are used to seeing from North Korea; whose missile launches usually end up falling prematurely into the sea or exploding. Their recent tests have proved successful, and why they have never tested an intercontinental missile, they have claimed they can strike the United States.
For more information, follow the link: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/29/us/politics/north-koreas-missiles-us-defense.html
Do we think North Korea poses any type of real threat to the United States or allies? Do we think North Korea has had any help producing this new technology from their allies? Would armed conflict create an international economic crisis?
I believe that North Korea poses more of a threat to South Korea and Japan more than U.S at the moment. However, if the North Koreans could prove that they can launch intercontinental missles, I'm also afraid that U.S foreign policy in the Asia region may alter as well. The new foreign policy may entail less U.S involvement in the region while arming U.S allies. Trump even pondered arming South Korea and Japan with nuclear weapons during his campaign. That being said, I'm confident in the U.S-South Korea-Japan alliance that has been stable since World War II.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Daichi in that I do not think North Korea would try to attack the U.S. at the moment. I am under the impression that such steps would be made in an attempt to warn potential opposition against trying to interfere with their country's politics.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Chido entirely.
ReplyDeleteI agree that a conflict with North Korea is unlikely, however, it is not out of the question. If some sort of conflict were to arise it would likely happen rapidly, with little room for predicting it.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Daichi. Going off on a tangent though, I'm surprised the US hasn't mastered technology to intercept missiles. They are big "donors" to Israel, and Israel's Iron Dome is doing pretty well against Palestine.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that an armed conflict is an imminent threat. But it will be interesting to see how this plays out between two nations that both yield a good deal of military power.
ReplyDeleteI also don't think their is a current threat of armed conflict but it all depends on what continues to happen with North Korea's missile development. It's actually pretty scary to think about... the US mainland is basically no longer off limits........
ReplyDeleteNorth Korea's last missile test traveled far enough to reach Guam, or United States territory. It is scary..
DeleteI agree with Daichi's idea. But at the same time, North Korea, South Korea, and Japan they are geographically close to each other. North Korea might threat neighbor countries.
ReplyDeleteI think that we should not take any country lightly, especially North Korea, because I think they are getting help from other countries, like China, and if we go to into any conflict with North Korea, they are bound to jump in. But I agree with Daichi because North Korea is near those 2 countries and could attack at any moment and those countries would have a hard time defending themselves.
ReplyDeleteHard to predict things such as this, but it is still something to think and talk about. An attack on one of the neighboring countries would also bring US troops into the conflict as Daichi said we have had stable relations with those countries since WWII
ReplyDeleteIf the DPRK is getting any help at the moment, it is likely coming from Russia, not China. I doubt China has any vested interest in destabilizing the region, but Russia does, if it would isolate U.S. allies.
ReplyDeleteOf course, this is all armchair speculation from me. I am certain that a conflict in the region would have negative repercussions for the world, and especially China.