North Korea Just Keeps Going...

     Just today, North Korea launched a live-fire artillery exercise in honor of the 85th anniversary of the founding of its army. This is yet another demonstration of North Korea's willingness to act upon threats as the isolated nation only recently launched an unsuccessful missile test last weekend. As if this wasn't dramatic enough, all of this is occurring simultaneously as, and perhaps because of, the USS Carl Vinson is finally making the journey to the Korean Peninsula. 

     What is sort of...ominous...is that we really have no idea just how unstable the young Kim Jong Un is and on which of his threats against the U.S. he might actually act. I can't imagine him to be so vastly ignorant of his position in the world that he would launch an attack on the U.S., but then again, I am falling victim to mirror-imaging. President Trump has assumed a hard-line stance on North Korea's threatening behavior; Vice-President Pence agrees all options are on the table. So...what should we actually do? 

     At this point, I think its necessary for President Trump to maintain an active, strong dialogue on North Korean with his Chinese counterpart. It would be blatantly ignorant to make foreign policy moves in the Korean Peninsula without consulting North Korea's big brother. Sure, China doesn't really care for the Kim regime; that much is clear. However, China also doesn't really care for increases in U.S. military presence in the region or the deployment of anti-missile defense systems in South Korea. 

     Regardless, I would tread carefully if I was a decision-maker in this situation. The world knows how quickly North Korea could be decimated or incapacitated if it were to launch a legitimate nuclear attack. Yet, any successful nuclear attack has serious consequences regardless of how powerful the opponent might be. An attack on any of the major surrounding metropolitan cities in the area would be devastating to the respective nations and to the global economy. If North Korea happens to engineer its missile that can apparently reach Los Angeles, well, we'd lose Amy Schumer and to that I say go for it, but nonetheless the initial result would be catastrophic - especially if we return fire.