North Korea has been threatening war, but there are reportedly no clear signs that the country is actually preparing for a conflict.
President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un recently engaged one another in a war of words, with the American president warning that the U.S. will devastate North Korea if it is forced to use military force and Kim threatening to tame Trump with fire. North Korea also threatened to test a thermonuclear weapon in the Pacific and shoot down U.S. military aircraft.
After those threats, the North Korea reportedly relocated fighters and anti-aircraft units to the country’s east coast, but beyond that, there have not been any real evidence the country is anticipating a war, according to sources inside the country.
“While the political space is clearly very charged right now, we haven’t seen a change in the posture of North Korean forces and we watch that very closely,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told Congress last Tuesday. “What we haven’t seen is military activity that would be reflective of the charged political environment.”
North Korea has been organizing numerous rallies, in which North Koreans raise banners about defeating America and achieving final victory over the aggressive imperialists. The regime has also put up new propaganda calling for the destruction of the U.S., which the North Korean people are also promoting. “If we have to go to war, we won’t hesitate to totally destroy the United States,” a local teacher told The New York Times.
“After Kim Jong-un delivered a personal address, emergency lecture sessions and speeches were held to inspire national unity and alert us to the current situation, but there weren’t any noteworthy military movements,” a source inside from Ryanggang Province told Daily NK.
“The only major initiative we saw was mobilizing residents to participate in mass rallies. Aside from that, there were no special orders. The atmosphere is not one that would indicate preparations for war,” a source in Pyongyang told reporters, explaining that during past periods of tension, North Korean authorities would carry out air raid drills and other exercises to create a wartime atmosphere.
The Kim regime is not interested in going to war with the U.S., for neither Kim Jong-un nor the North Korean elites are particularly interested in committing suicide, senior CIA official revealed Wednesday.
“The last person who wants conflict on the peninsula is Kim Jong-un,” Deputy Assistant Director of CIA for Korea Mission Center Yong Suk Lee said at a conference at George Washington University, explaining that the young North Korean dictator is a “rational actor.”
North Korea cries war on a regular basis, and while North Korean claims that Trump recently declared war on the rogue regime are alarming, North Korea has made similar statements hundreds of times.
The lack of military activity in preparation for an imminent war does not, however, preclude the possibility of more missile and nuclear tests, which could come at any time.
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