North Korea is ruled by Kim Jong-un and might be the biggest problem in the world right now. They are reckless and seem to be a threat to the entire area. Since the Japanese and South Koreans don’t have nuclear weapons, the North Koreans believe threatening them by sending missiles their way is taking their “face” away. They believe face is very important and embarrassing you and having you do nothing meaningful in return belittles you and make no mistake, South Korea and Japan are seen by North Korea as extensions of United States power. One huge problem is we are dealing with someone, Kim Jong-un, who was raised from childhood to be ruthless and have the power of life and death over his subjects. Even when he was a young child he was put into military uniforms and told he would someday lead his country.

We have to remember who his parents and relatives were. His father was Kim Jong-il who ruled the country with an iron hand and who died in 2011 and his mother was Ko Yong-hui. There are many rumors about Kim Jong-un and one is he attended a western school under an alias. Kim Jong-il had a lot more contact with the United States. In 2000 he met with the US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. In 2005 he met with Chung Dong Young the South Korean Unification Minister. In 2007 he met with the President of South Korea. In 2007 President George W. Bush sent him a hand signed letter asking him to dismantle his nuclear weapons programs. It is said he had a stroke in 2008 and in 2009 we hear he wanted to name Kim Jong-un as his successor. This is his third youngest son. In 2009 he met with Bill Clinton and released a couple of captured journalists. Then things begin to change. In 2010 he promoted Kim Jong-un and his sister Kim Kyong-hui to general. Kim Jong-un was also named vice chairman of the party.

Kim Jong-un has many titles and a lot of them have to do with what seems ego building. He is known as “Superior Person”, “Dear Leader”, “Respected Leader”, “Wise Leader”, “Brilliant Leader”, “Unique Leader”, “Great Leader”, “Father of the People”, “Beloved Father” and so many more. Best of all he is known as “Dear Leader, who is a perfect incarnation of the appearance that a leader should have”. Am I the only one who thinks there is something wrong here? I think he actually believes he is something very special and maybe believes he is some sort of god. When people talk about what would happen if a person became the leader of a nuclear armed country who was mentally unbalanced we might find out soon when North Korea acquires the ability to build missiles which will be nuclear tipped and be able to reach the United States.

One would think the sight of the tremendous progress South Korea is enjoying would have had an effect on North Korea and they would have wanted the same progress, but the opposite has happened. There is great resentment here. There could even be a person at the helm who has decided to try and destroy the United States and its allies even if it means his death. Perhaps history is more important to him than even his own life? We know he has no regard for the lives of others as witnessed by the killings he has sanctioned. It has been reported by the intelligence community Kim Jong-un ordered the death of his half-brother in South Korea. Two women assassins attacked him and used a nerve agent on him. By early 2017 it was estimated Kim Jong-un has executed at least 340 people. One hundred thirty were said to be government officials and most were killed to consolidate power. The rest were said to be mostly killed for revenge. One killing was conducted when the Education Commissioner Ri Young Jin, a relative of Kim Jong-un was chained up and his family forced to watch as an anti-aircraft gun was used to blow him to pieces. By the way he was a relative and the murder was said to be because he disrespected the Supreme Leader. Other murders were said to have taken place when officials fell asleep during meetings or were said to having not paid enough attention. Is it any wonder we see photos of Kim Jong-un with his military leaders all smiling at him and waiting on him hand and foot? This is probably the smartest thing they can do under the circumstances.

At the very least Kim Jong-un is probably the most dangerous person in the world. He doesn’t seem to want prosperity for North Korea, but seems to want revenge for being left out of the progress every other country around him has made. He also obviously likes the idea very much that he is treated as a god and everyone lives in fear of him. I guess the question is, is there any way we could ever deal with someone like this? It doesn’t seem we have anything he wants except our destruction, or at least even parity with our nuclear force so he can go ahead with whatever he has in mind while keeping us at bay.

China now realizes what a threat North Korea is, but they don’t want to shut the door on that country and publicly hold out hope the problem will be settled. North Korea is only the first case of a ruthless nation gaining nuclear weapons and a system to deliver them. As time goes by I expect to see other rogue nations doing the same thing and using North Korea as their poster boy. While this looks like a problem for the United States, it is really a world problem and could very well be the start of World War III. The very best thing for North Korea would have been a German type reunification with South Korea, but that would have meant the loss of power for Kim Jong-un and he is not about to let that happen.

Some think the hungry citizens of North Korea, while seemingly worshiping Kim Jong-un, secretly want him dead and sooner or later will try and accomplish that task. I think we have to look at Stalin in the old Soviet Union. This was a similar problem and no one was able to do anything about it. This means the world will either have to accept the fact North Korea will become an advanced nuclear nation or figure out how to bring down the rulers there. I am not talking about sanctions because they have proven not to work.