The North Korean regime fired its second intercontinental ballistic missile in a month. The leaders of North Korea state that they are capable of reaching the United States with their nuclear weapons. Donald Trump wrote on Twitter that although China makes hundreds of billions of dollars every year when trading with the U.S., China has done nothing to stop the North Korean military program.

Trump declared that the Asian giant has a huge trade surplus with the United States, which was close to $350 billion last year. The U.S. President believes that China can find a solution to the North Korean problem easily.

China sided with North Korea when the Korean War took place in 1950 and fought against the U.S. and they have been allies for a long time.

In the 70s, China and the United States began to improve their relationships and their economic ties grew exponentially. Although North Korea has advanced much the last years, the point is that it's still not capable of creating missiles that can reach the mainland United States but that could change in the next 5 or 10 years.

Ideological war

Since Kim Il-Sung took power in 1948, he sided with the Communist countries, sharing many ideas with Mao Zedong in opposition to the United States. Kim Il-Sung attacked South Korea in 1950 and he had occupied most of the country but South Korea was rescued by the U.S.

and forces from the United Nations.

For many decades there has been an ideological war between both Koreas. North Korea is Communist while South Korea prefers market economy. We also have to add that China has implemented many economic reforms and the country is completely different from the times of Mao Zedong. Today, China has an economy based on the market and it has become a key player in the global arena.

China has a capitalist economic policy and the country is open to foreign investment and the private property is respected.

South Korea is much more advanced

At first, Communist Korea was more developed than South Korea but it began to change in the 70s. The U.S. promoted the development of market economy in South Korea and imported many products from that Asian country.

South Korea produced more and more textiles, steel, cars, computers and other products. South Korea is now among the top exporters and it has become an Asian tiger. Today it belongs to the league of rich nations. Its per capita income is more than $27,000 while the North Korean one is less than $700. North Korea is much closer to Ethiopia than to South Korea in economic development.