North Korea Pushes Limits

North Korea rocks Asia's status quo
On October 9, North Korea completed a set of nuclear tests that caused serious tensions. Responses from several Asian nations that are within missile range of North Korea seem to have revealed a changing view on North Korea. The consensus among these countries is that the UN should take harsh action against North Korea for imposing a threat to the world. Exhibiting the power of North Korea through atomic weapons may just prove to be a warning to neighboring countries to stay out. However, the Asians nations in potential danger believe that the test is a sample of what it yet to come. The UN unanimously condemned the testing. Many relationships between the nations and the United States may grow, with South Korea working closely with the U.S. to pressure North Korea. South Korea may also join the Proliferation Security Initiative, designed to stop proliferation of WMDs.
This article brought several historical events to mind. Most evidently, the testing of North Korea’s atomic bomb can be compared to the United States’ test during operation Trinity. The Trinity was the first test after the completion of the Manhattan Project. The tests required planning and execution to avoid damage. However, while North Korea’s test was rumored and publicized, the U.S. test of an atomic bomb was covert. The U.S. test was kept secret even after it had been executed. The world did not know about the weapons the United States had created until it dropped the first true bomb on Hiroshima, but not until Truman’s address. There were similar reactions to the realization that atomic weapons were in use. Parts of the world feared what the world was turning into. North Korea defied a worldwide opposition to a nuclear test. The U.S., before fully receiving a world reaction, continued to use nuclear weapons. Also questionable was the decision by North Korea to test the bomb on its own soil.