Crossfire

The exchange of apocalyptic threats between Trump and North Korea will not end in a warlike conflict, but it concerns the markets.

The provocation and definition of the United States as an external enemy are part of North Korea’s foreign strategy. Kim Jong Un maintains almost the entire dictatorial framework of the regime on an alleged American threat. But in recent days, since the U.N. Security Council approved a new round of sanctions against the Korean regime, there has been a menacing, apocalyptic verbal escalation that has disturbed investment markets and citizens around the world. With unconscionable rhetoric, Donald Trump asserted that the United States would respond to the next provocation of Pyongyang with “fire and fury like the world has never seen.” North Korea responded with the direct threat of attacking and “enveloping in fire” the Guam base, 3,400 kilometers (approximately 2,113 miles) away, with its ballistic missiles.

Kim follows the intended script. He wants North Korea to be recognized as a nuclear power, applying an explicit and absurd challenge to the international community. What is worrying about the latest verbal escalation is the presence in the White House of a president who, unlike his predecessors, has been pleased to descend to Kim’s level. Kim is a dictator who behaves as such in a despotic regime; Trump is the president of a democratic country, subject to rules. His appeals to “fire and fury” confirm a narcissistic lack of control and a mandate in which a dangerous nonsense abounds.

The possibilities of war remain distant, as explained by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, a peculiar firefighter in this crossfire. Neither the allies of North Korea nor those of Washington are willing to facilitate an armed conflict. Trump’s behavior, unresponsive to previous provocations, belies his verbiage. But no matter how far the war is from today, there is a reason to worry about what Trump’s attitude would be in the case of real risk.