World War 3 News: Will Donald Trump Provoke North Korea Into Nuclear Strike?

There continues to be talk of World War 3 in the news and some are fearing that when Donald Trump is sworn into office that we may face hostility from North Korea.

The Daily Star has described how some fear that Kim Jong-un will launch a long-range missile on the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration in order to show how powerful his country is. North Korea has already launched 20 missiles this year, so launching another to coincide with Trump’s presidency would not be completely out of the realm of possibility.

South Korean security expert Cheong Seong-chang, when at a military forum, said that it was indeed quite possible that North Korea might either conduct a nuclear test or launch another missile, which has those watching the news and concerned with the threat of World War 3 on edge.

“Chances are high that North Korea will conduct the sixth nuclear test or launch a missile before the Trump government’s inauguration on January 20. Follow-up provocations are likely before the 75th birthday of the late Kim Jong-il on February 16 or the 150th birthday of the late Kim Il-sung on April 15.”

Another security expert, Lee Su-seok, has also said that the detonation of a nuclear device in 2017 is something that is actually very likely to happen, and if North Korea detonates a nuclear device it could be a bad omen that could possibly bring about World War 3.

“In early 2017, it is highly likely that Pyongyang will detonate another nuclear device and launch a long-range ballistic missile to reiterate its status as a nuclear power. North Korea may seek negotiations with the US when it completes nuclear tests and reaches the stage of deploying a long-range nuclear-tipped missile.”

With this kind of talk in the news, it is obvious why some fear World War 3 is around the corner. While Barrack Obama has suggested to Donald Trump that he should take North Korea very seriously as one of his top foreign priorities, it is thought that negotiations between the United States and North Korea won’t be happening anytime soon while Trump is in the process of choosing his advisors.

@johniadarola With Trump WW3 was always going to happen its just a matter of when.

— Sir Salisbury (@Tougakun) December 15, 2016

While Donald Trump has recently posted on Twitter to say that he is planning to keep expanding America’s collection of nuclear weapons, as the Inquisitr reported, NBC News stated that North Korea has delivered a warning to the United States to say they will continue to conduct further nuclear tests, but are also ready to launch a preemptive strike if they fear any threat of nuclear attack from America.

Lee Yong Pil, a top North Korean official who is also the director of the Foreign Ministry’s Institute for American Studies, told NBC News that North Korea would not hesitate to strike the United States if they felt their country was under threat, which will only exacerbate fears of World War 3.

“The U.S. has nuclear weapons off our coast, targeting our country, our capital and our Dear Leader, Kim Jong Un. We will not step back as long as there’s a nuclear threat to us from the United States. A preemptive nuclear strike is not something the U.S. has a monopoly on. If we see that the U.S. would do it to us, we would do it first. We have the technology.”

U.S. officials have said that they don’t believe North Korea has the capability to hit the continental United States with their weapons, however. Furthermore, Kim Jong-un has made these kinds of threats ever since he his father passed away in 2011 and he assumed responsibility for the country. This doesn’t mean that North Korea won’t have the technological capability in the future though, and if they were to strike the United States that could be a trigger for World War 3.

Regardless of whether North Korea is able to reach the continental United States, they have greatly accelerated work with their nuclear program, and the International Atomic Energy Agency has called this both “regrettable” and “deeply troubling.”

With World War 3 discussed so often in the news, do you think the United States has cause to fear North Korea or do you think that Donald Trump and his team of advisors will renew negotiations to stop any possible hostility?

[Featured Image by KRT/AP Images]