North Korea’s leadership, under Kim Jong-un, has made repeated threats to escalate into all-out nuclear war. These threats coming from the North Koreans are not new, but the rhetoric seems even stronger than before. This even led to the United States strengthening its missile defenses. Some say that North Korea is insane for going out on a tirade like this, and that it’s the wrong decision for the rogue state to make. To the contrary, these actions may be needed for Kim Jong-un to keep any level of control, at home or abroad.
For one thing, Kim Jong-un needs to send a message to the North Korean military that he is a strong leader. He is only a few years older than the Dickinson College students who are graduating in May and he has a perceived lack of experience. This makes him potentially vulnerable to internal unrest, so he needs to step up the rhetoric in order to keep control. Now that he comes across as more assertive, he is less vulnerable to being undercut by more experienced generals.
He is also in danger of losing favor with citizens. North Korea continues to suffer through a severe food famine, and without the anti-America and South Korea rhetoric, morale would suffer greatly. This is a way to get the attention away from the famine and towards a cause that unifies its population: taking down South Korea and the United States. While it is unjustifiable for North Korea to divert its resources away from famine relief and towards the military, the move is not insane because North Korea’s needs to keep morale high at home.
Finally, he also needs to send a message to the outside world that he is every bit as strong as his father, Kim Jong-il. Other countries, including the United States, have previously hoped that a change in leadership would result in a country more willing to have peace. This would undercut Kim Jong-un, because the ideas of “peace” that exist among some countries would undercut the power of his current leadership. By deciding to instead remove the armistice with South Korea, he is sending a message that his regime is business-as-usual. Threatening rhetoric against countries like the United States only confirms North Korea’s continuation of policies.
However, if North Korea ever follows through on its threats to fight a nuclear war, then they are insane. While stronger rhetoric is needed to keeping potential enemies in line both at home and abroad, there are even former allies of North Korea who are starting to get ticked off. China is the latest and most notable example of this, because even though they have been long considered North Korea’s “big brother,” they have supported the latest round of United Nations sanctions against the current regime. China’s cooling of relations with North Korea is the biggest reason why Kim Jong-un would be insane to go to nuclear war. China alone has enough resources to easily topple North Korea if they want: a large standing army, a border without guards due to previously friendly relations with the country, and relentless support from the United States. All of this gives good reason to believe that a war against North Korea would end in short order. Therefore, North Korea won’t cross the line into insanity unless they follow through on their threats.
