In what is turning into a weekly broadcast of threats, North Korea has threatened to sink Japan and turn the US to 'ashes and darkness' in response to new U.N sanctions placed on the dictatorship.
The new sanctions
The new sanctions are going to hit North Korea hard with a 30 percent decrease in total oil imports by cutting off over 55 percent of refined petroleum products going to the country. Furthermore, the council has banned all textiles exports costing the tiny kingdom $760 million in sales. Other sanctions include restrictions on foreign earnings and ramping up efforts to subdue the countries lucrative smuggling operations.
Will they work?
North Korea has been under some form of economic sanction for years, and it still has not dissuaded the regime from their dictatorship and human rights abuses. North Korea knows the fear that nukes provoke as well as the damage they can do, so a dangerous game is being played from both sides. North Korea is as resilient as they are stubborn, but the question on everyone's mind should be, is the DPRK capable of pushing the button regardless of the imposed Economic Sanctions or do they want to see how far they can press the world before a war breaks out? There has been no word from the White House about the latest war of words, but Rex Tillerson is toning down the sanctions as not that bad.
If the sanctions are "not that bad" then what is to stop North Korea from carrying out the threats against the rest of the world?
How much atomic power do they have and where do they get it?
When it comes to North Korea and its nuclear weaponry, all we can do is speculate on the amount of firepower they truly have and whether or not it could reach us here in America.
It is suspected that the country gets its nukes, or rather the tools and technology needed to make the WMD's, from China (who deny it). Pakistan and India have both been linked to North Korea's nuclear program as well. Judging by the latest test, they have definitely ramped up their efforts and caused a man-made earthquake.
According to the Japanese defense ministry, the September explosion was 160 kilotons and was the strongest test to date. It is the hope for humanity that North Korea does not have and is not supplied with the tools necessary to launch a successful intracontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the United States or any other country that the North believes is standing in the way of the kingdom's autonomy.
