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Two American experts have not ruled out the possibility of South Korean leader Kim Jong-Un starting some kind of potential military conflict.
Jong-Un this week declared South Korea an enemy country and formally abandoned the idea of a peaceful reunification of the two halves of the peninsula, reports The Washington Post.
His speech came just a day after North Korea claimed it had launched an intermediate-range missile with a hypersonic warhead, which, if true, would give it a highly maneuverable weapon that could it traveled at low altitudes and at five times the speed of sound.
North Korea said on Friday it had tested another nuclear-capable unmanned underwater attack drone in response to joint exercises off the coast of South Korea.
The country is known for bombastic threats, but the rhetoric has become significantly more aggressive in recent months, an alarming shift that some analysts say could lead it to justify using conventional or nuclear weapons against South Korea.
"We have to pay attention to the possibility that Kim Jong-Un has somehow figured out how he can prepare and start some kind of military conflict and be able to throw it at others," said Siegfried Hecker, a prominent American nuclear scientist who has visited North Korea on numerous occasions.
He and Robert Carlin, once the CIA's top North Korea analyst and an expert on Pyongyang's propaganda, warned that North Korea may be preparing for the possibility of an armed conflict.
But is Kim Jong-un preparing for war?
Two prominent US scholars warned last week that Kim Jong-un's calculations have changed significantly since he last sat down for nuclear negotiations in 2019.
They say American policymakers in waiting are unprepared for the potentially dangerous measures he is now preparing to take.
We have to pay attention to the possibility that Kim Jong-un has somehow figured out how he can prepare and start some kind of military conflict and be able to throw it at others," said Siegfried Hecker, a renowned American nuclear scientist who has visited North Korea on numerous occasions.
He and Robert Carlin, once the CIA's top North Korea analyst and an expert on Pyongyang's propaganda, warned that North Korea may be preparing for the possibility of an armed conflict.
There have been signs since 2022 that Pyongyang is reorienting its foreign relations priorities.
Kim signaled through speeches that he was seeking to strengthen ties with Russia and China, despite Pyongyang's complicated relationship with both, and saw engagement with the United States as futile.
As for relations with the United States, Kim approved a new nuclear law in 2022 and declared that he would accept no “denuclearization,” no negotiations, and no bargaining chips for trade,” indicating that he would not return to talks on whether denuclearization would be on the agenda.
On the other hand, the United States and South Korea are now conducting regular military exercises, and last year, the US deployed a nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine to South Korea for the first time since the 1980s.
The North sees these moves as inimical to its national security and uses them to justify its weapons and nuclear program.
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