US Ready to Attack

Ants and elephants, David and Goliath: The use of such metaphors is inevitable when comparing the U.S. and North Korea. That being said, one may point out that small injuries may develop into something much worse. Svenska Dagbladet’s Karin Henriksson responds to four pressing questions on the subject.

How has the U.S. reacted to North Korea’s threats?

President Barack Obama takes the threats very seriously, despite the conviction that it will be awhile before the country actually has functioning nuclear weapons and the absence of signs of military preparations in North Korea.

The concern is rather that America’s ally, South Korea, could suffer a deliberate or accidental attack. The mark of U.S. military superiority is very clear, with air and warships groupings. First a destroyer in the Aegis class was commanded to the waters off North Korea’s coast and was then posted in what is described as a “predetermined position” in the Pacific to shoot down any missiles.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung Se was in Washington two days ago. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry went to South Korea soon thereafter, and in the beginning of May, the newly elected South Korean president, Park Geun Hye, will visit the White House.

How large are the forces at and near the Korean peninsula?

U.S. troops, currently numbering around 28,500 soldiers, have been posted in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea since the armistice of the Korean War in 1953. Obama visited the DMZ a little over a year ago and emphasized that the staff was “on the frontline of democracy.”

Bases in the Pacific and radar installations in Japan are part of the preparations for war. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel recently announced plans to expand the land-based missile defense — often called “Star Wars” — in coming years. American nuclear weapons have enough range to reach North Korea. After decades of preparation and maneuvers there are battle plans that can quickly be put into action.

Have Asian politics changed under Barack Obama?

After eight years of George W. Bush’s “go it alone” strategy, Obama began with diplomatic overtures to the handful of countries branded as toxic and moved focus from the Middle East to Asia, with more troops and increasing military presence.

The reasons were to both counter China’s influence and respond to requests for a larger American role from countries that felt threatened by a more powerful China. However, it also led to accusations that Obama was ignoring Russia.

Is there criticism in the U.S. concerning the handling of North Korea?

Naturally, Obama has many enemies, not least in the area of foreign policy, in which he accused of “leading from behind” and ignoring the crisis in Syria. However, concerning North Korea, he gains reluctant praise that he did not give in to the temptation to negotiate with Pyongyang. The choreography is by no means new, but Kim Jong-Un’s father and grandfather employed the same tactics to force the West to make concessions.