By Arin Garland ’18

In a country far, far away, 6,683 miles away to be exact, a man named Kim Jong Un is developing ballistic missiles to fire at the United States sometime in the near future. If you think this sounds bad, you’re right, it is, but many people aren’t as worried about it as they should be.

You may have heard of North Korea’s famous dictator on the news or seen him in the 2014 movie “The Interview” starring James Franco and Seth Rogen, however he’s not nearly as friendly in real life. He rules his country with an iron fist, preventing all contact from the outside world, and has a seething hatred for the US. For the past few decades, North Korea has been threatening the US with nuclear war, and now, with the successful launch of their new ballistic missile, they are one step closer.

After many failed attempts, on May 14 North Korea finally launched a missile with the potential capability to carry nuclear warheads. This major step for North Korea means that their threats, directed towards US citizens, have jumped three steps closer to becoming a reality.

“It is likely only a matter of time before North Korea develops the capability to strike the U.S. mainland,” Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, said during a press briefing in April regarding North Korea’s successful nuclear tests. While neither myself nor Tillerson believe that an attack is imminent or even likely as of now, what we are saying is that they are getting very close to reaching this point where they are capable of launching nuclear weapons towards the US.

With North Korea being such an isolated country, it is almost impossible to negotiate terms with them. Currently, the only diplomat we have to negotiate between us and North Korea is Dennis Rodman who supposedly told Kim that he had “a friend for life.” This is especially concerning considering we lack the resources to reason with them, putting the safety of our country at an even greater risk.

I am not saying that North Korea is our only concern or that we should be living in constant fear, but we should at least acknowledge that this is a real threat. People have grown tired of this type of news and after decades of listening to North Korea’s threats, they have been desensitized to them. However, we must not forget about that this small, seemingly insignificant country across the Pacific has destructive missiles that could very well set off nuclear war any time its temperamental leader wants to.