Declaration of War by North Korea

A little-noticed but significant global action took place on May 27, 2009, in North Korea.

The North Korean government announced that it was no longer bound by the armistice agreement that ended the Korean War. This agreement was not one of peace, but one to cease the arms conflict between the U.N. forces (principally the U.S. and South Korea) and North Korea in 1953. Does the rejection of the armistice mean we are technically at war with North Korea?

This rogue nation has continuously rejected international scrutiny of its nuclear weapons program. In the past, the U.N. has repeatedly passed toothless resolutions in response to these belligerent actions by North Korea. In its recent response to a nuclear test in May, the U.N. imposed sanctions on the importation of weapons and nuclear material on North Korea.

In preparation to potentially enforce these U.N. sanctions, an American naval war vessel is currently tracking a North Korean ship suspected of carrying strategic materials and/or weapons.

North Korea has threatened retaliation against the United States and its allies with a “powerful military strike” if they interfere with the country’s nuclear programs or the ships transporting strategic materials. This situation is a dry haystack with a torch six inches away from it.

Today, North Korea threatened to wipe the United States off the map as Washington and its allies watched for signs that the regime will launch a series of missiles in the coming days.

Will President Obama take the easy road of appeasement? Or will he learn from the lessons of World War II and confront North Korea? The Bush administration and the Republican Party were severely punished at the polls for enforcing U.N. sanctions in Iraq.

Obama was one of the chief beneficiaries of this punishment. It is hard to be optimistic about his reaction to this situation.

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