War

North and South Korea remain the only divided nation since the divisions caused by the Cold War. Nowadays on the news, we get the feeling that they’re going to launch missiles at one another any second from now….could this be the spark to unification….or total destruction?

Or will the result simply be another Cold War stalemate?

History would suggest to us that a stalemate full of war-like rhetoric is most likely to occur. Afterall, the ‘two’ nations are quite equal in terms of military strength. This is especially true since North Korea has developed a strong arms over the years, investing whatever money and effort they have into developing nuclear weapons. Though South Korea has not invested quite as much into arms, I do believe they hold significant arms traded to them by the Americans. As we have seen from the Cold War example, countries will attack for two reasons: either they have a significant advantage, or they were provoked significantly. This boat sinking thing is merely contributes to the already long held long term grievances that the two sides feel for one another. It will not cause a war to break out. Rhetoric will not either.

Besides, other nations will force these nations not to go into war. If South Korea initiates an attack, it is likely that the UN council and America will object to their actions and deny them weapons, perhaps even imposing economic sanctions at a time of economic hardship. If North Korea initiates, then the UN and America will intervene to save South Korea. It’s a lose-lose situation for both sides to attack.

Rationally, I think there’s no reason for them to fight a war with one another, but it all depends when each side has had enough of the other. How tolerant can the Koreans be of each other’s arrogance and ignorance? Only time will tell.