Has North Korea Crossed the Line?

North Korea’s Claim Is Met With Doubt and Anger

Since 2003, the Bush administration and North Korea have been in a heated conflict over the nuclear development of North Korea. On October 9, the country announced that the nation had effectively tested a nuclear weapon. This statement immediately received disapproval from its allies as well as international condemnation. President Bush denounced the test as a "provocative act,” and one that required an “immediate response.”

While there is no doubt that the explosion was nuclear, there is still dispute over the strength of the blast and the size of the weapon. Where a successful test would have the same force as between 10 and 60 kilotons of high explosive, American results have reported that the blast was less than one kiloton. This data contradicts with that of Russia’s, which believes that the strength of the weapon was from 5 to 15 kilotons.

Bush also declared that he had spoken to the leaders of China, South Korea, Russia and Japan. All five nations felt that the actions taken by North Korea were unacceptable. At a preliminary discussion that morning, there was a unanimous feeling of disapproval within the Security Council. North Korea’s closest ally, China, had called the actions a “flagrant and brazen” violation of international opinion. The president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, stated that “Russia absolutely condemns North Korea’s nuclear tests.” The world community is finally taking action, even when action was required sooner.
This can easily be paralleled to Germany in the year 1942. On June 28th 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed. Marking the end of World War I, the treaty defined all of the conditions that Germany had to comply with. The treaty stated that land was to be taken away from Germany, their army was to be reduced to 100,000 men with no tanks or air force, and Germany was to compensate for all the damages inflicted during the war. As it would seem, the document infuriated the Germans. It was not until the 1930’s that Germany would find someone to pull them out of the conditions they were in.

For the beginning of his reign of power, Hitler pointed the German economy towards war. He ordered an increase in armament production and the creation of factories and industrial plants to produce vital war materials. The Treaty of Versailles limited the German military to only 100,000 men, but by October of 1934, the army consisted of 300,000 soldiers. He also ordered the training of air force pilots and the design of military aircraft. All of these actions received little response from Europe. Germany would continue to push the limits on March 7th, 1936 when a small group of men moved across the Rhine bridges and into demilitarized areas of Germany, in the direction of Aachen, Trier and Saarbruecken. In doing this, Hitler broke the Locarno Pact of 1925. Eventually World War II began and the world jumped into action.
Much like Hitler did prior to World War II, North Korea continues to push the limits and so far has received little resistance. Furthermore, North Korea in the possession of a nuclear weapon could result in the death of millions.