As tensions between the United States and North Korea reach an all-time high, there are real fears that we could see the outbreak of war with the hermit nation. As was reported by the Inquisitr yesterday, President Trump’s national security advisor, General H.R. McMaster, warned that the threat of war with North Korea is drawing “closer every day.” As Donald Trump admitted on Twitter last week, his hopes that a special envoy from China could help bring North Korea into line with the international communities wishes were dashed when Kim Jong-un refused to meet with the Chinese delegation.
As reported by Bloomberg , today sees the beginning of the largest ever joint military exercise on the Korean peninsula. The war games will see the involvement of some 230 military aircraft and 12,000 U.S. troops. Herein lies the crux of the tension between the U.S. and North Korea. President Donald Trump and previous U.S. administrations have seen these exercises as an essential means of deterring aggression by North Korea. By way of contrast, the North Korean regime sees the exercises as a threat to their country, a threat that their nuclear weapons program is designed to thwart.
Neither President Trump nor Kim Jong-un is prepared to back down, and so we seem to be locked into a spiral of threats and insults that many believe could lead to a nuclear World War 3. It has been widely reported that there was a buildup of U.S. military assets, including three aircraft carrier battle groups, prior to President Trump’s recent visit to Asia. There were fears that this could signal a potential U.S. preemptive strike against the North Korean nuclear weapons program.
If the U.S. were to contemplate military action, it is likely that civilians would be evacuated prior to that action. Worryingly, according to The Guardian , Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has warned that the families of U.S. military personnel should be withdrawn from South Korea.
Senator Graham is a member of the Senate armed services committee and says that the Pentagon needs to make South Korea an unaccompanied tour of duty.
“It’s crazy to send spouses and children to South Korea, given the provocation of North Korea. South Korea should be an unaccompanied tour.
“So, I want them to stop sending dependents, and I think it’s now time to start moving American dependents out of South Korea.”
Senator Graham also warned that if North Korea were to conduct another nuclear weapons test, “then you need to get ready for a very serious response by the United States.”
