The world is going through a troubled phase. Conflict is brewing in certain hot spots of Middle East and South Asia, although trouble is brewing in another, an equally combustible region; the Korean Peninsula. In recent times, there has been an alarming level of rhetoric discourse between the obscurantist regime in Pyongyang, and the Trump administration in Washington D.C. It would not be an over statement, considering both governments are no strangers towards provocation, former being a rogue state known for bizarre decisions, latter known for imprudent foreign policy with no regards to the sovereignty of other countries. The events surrounding the birthday of North Korea’s founding father, Kim Sung, amid a heavy military display, proved enough of a warning for America to get prepared for a nuclear attack. Considering how North Korea deals with rhetoric and has a nuclear arsenal plus its eccentric nature, this provocative rhetoric should not be taken lightly by the world players. The US has responded by deploying its naval strike force in the Korean Peninsula to curb Pyongyang nuclear threat. Furthering the uncomfortable environment warning, the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated that war could break out “at any moment” in the highly contested peninsula. China is always considered to be a safe player; hence their warning should be taken seriously by the global stakeholders.
After the bifurcation of the peninsula into North and South because of the Korean War, the relationship between North Korea and the US has never been rosy and has now correspondingly reached new ebb. The Communist North and the Capitalist South have their own sellers furthering their objectives in the wake of ever growing tensions around the globe. China has always used North Korea to subdue the triplet nexus between South Korea, Japan and the US. On the contrary, US always wants to be a major player in the peninsula to further its hegemony on the world stage, not only in the political realm but to cover the economic domain as well. In fact, this bitterness has survived the end of Cold War, and today may trigger something more substantial if the global community does not intervene in a timely manner. Pyongyong’s rhetoric, for a very long time has been dangerous and may result in belligerence towards South Korea and the US, if ever the opportunity presents itself.
However, at Washington’s end, Trump administration has not done enough to engage North Korea into productive talks, though conversely the US has adopted a tone of bellicosity and arrogance. That is one thing US does not seem to learn, no matter how much they suffer because of their misadventure on their foreign policy front. Some security analysts advocate that the recent dropping of “mother of all bombs” and the raid on Syria is a direct message to Pyongyong. Presently, the situation is quite alarming for the world in this ever-changing world dynamics. China being one the few friends of North Korea should play a decisive role in pacifying the overall situation on the world chess board.
