Since 1951, the Korean peninsula has been a flashpoint in world affairs.  U.S. troops have been stationed on the DMZ since the armistice, more than fifty years ago, and throughout the Cold War and the years following, two dictators have kept the whole region on edge.  Kim Jong Il, who among other things was the world’s self proclaimed greatest golfer, started crisis after crisis, throwing the two Koreas to the brink of war more than once.  But a little over a year ago, Kim Jong Il became truly ill, and the reins of the most despotic society in the world were turned over to his son, a little-known young man named Kim Jong Un.  But it has been this little-known son that has created some of the greatest havoc seen in that part of the world since the end of the Korean War.

Many analysts and policy makers were hopeful that the new ruler, who was schooled in the West, would be a more moderate leader who would start to reform his country.  But that has not been the case.  In the past month, Kim Jong Un has exceeded any threatening stance that his father ever took, transforming the situation on the Korean peninsula from relatively peaceful to red-hot.

But this time the target of the threats is not the North’s traditional enemy, South Korea, but rather the U.S.  This in itself is a new development, as it is a step Kim Jong Il never took, and, combined with the DRNK’s rising nuclear program, it has become a cause for concern, especially since the North keeps increasing the rhetoric; the threats keep coming.  The North Korean Army has been mobilized.  Weapons systems are being readied and aimed.  The state television channels are airing videos of the destruction of New York City.  Finally, Kim has declared that his country is officially in a “state of war.”

Threats and actions of this magnitude have not been seen before.  Even the single ally of the DRNK, fellow communist state China, has condemned them.  Without the support of China, the North seems to have lost all outside support, yet they keep upping the ante.  It is clear to the rest of the world that if the North were to launch a nuclear attack, North Korea would simply cease to exist in a matter of minutes.  Similarly, if they attacked South Korea with conventional weapons, the U.N. would step in, which would spell the end of the communist utopia of the Peoples Democratic Republic of North Korea.  Yet every day there are new threats.  Kim is like a child on a bicycle playing chicken with a freight train.  Some have speculated that Kim is actually insane, which would not come as a massive surprise.

In the wake of the Boston bombings, North Korea has taken a backseat in American news, but they still show no signs of backing down, and the two Koreas, not to mention the United States, are inching closer and closer to open conflict.  The situation in Korea is not one to be taken lightly, and could erupt at any time.