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Prewar relations
This conflict with North Korea is very similar to the one previously mention between the Soviet Union. Before the Cold War, the U.S had tried to come to the aid of the Soviet Union through the American Relief Administration (ARA) to transport, store, and deliver relief supplies to those in the famine region. ARA continued into 1923 when the famine was finally succeeding (“Library of Congress”). These relief efforts did not stop a tension between the U.S and the Soviet Union from rising.
Similarly, after the Korean War the U.S provided relief. Since 1996, the United States has sent over 2 million metric tons of food assistance, worth $700 million, to alleviate massive food shortages that began in the early 1990’s. In 2008 though the World Food Program (WFP), the U.S provided 500,000 metric tons of food to North Korea after the famine had worsened to levels not seen since the late 1990’s (“Manyin, Mark”).
These food aids were all an effort to prevent war when Kim Jong-Un’s father Kim Jong-Il was alive. Kim Jong-Il would make similar threats to his son but would stop when they received food aid.
The difference between Kim Jong-Un and his father is that Kim does not stop after receiving food aid, and his acquisition of nuclear technology makes him an increasing threat.
Imminent Doom
During tensions with the Soviet Union, the doomsday clock was its lowest at 2 minutes to midnight in 1953. The doomsday clock is a symbol, which represents the likelihood of a man made global catastrophe. The clock represents the catastrophe as “midnight” and in how far we are away from destruction in minutes. Currently in 2017, it is the closest to midnight it has ever been since 1953 with one two and a half minutes to midnight. This is because we currently face a similar threat that we did back in 1953 during the cold war.
A Serious Threat
Both cases have similar communications leading up to possible nuclear war. Currently with the North Korean threat, the U.S and its allies have different opinions on what needs to be done. Many European countries are pleading for the U.S to avoid war, while countries such as China, Japan, and Australia say North Korea is a threat and needs to be put down. But one thing is clear, North Korea is developing nuclear weapons and should not be looked over.
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