Essay Example on US-North Korea Relations Deteriorate: Nuclear Weapons & Missile Developments

The relationship between the United States and North Korea continues to worsen since the end of the Korean War. The worsening situation has compromised the nations' political and diplomatic relations, an aspect that prompted the two countries to pursue diverse and personal measures to safeguard their interests, including their political supremacy. Typically, North Korea's measures are defined by the development of nuclear weapons such as long-range missiles, with the capacity to attack thousands of miles away. The United States, on the other hand, has pursued efforts such as cyber-attacks to combat the development of nuclear warhead since it possesses a constant threat not only to the United States but also to the international community. Despite the sanctions and embargoes imposed on North Korea by the international community, North Korea under the leadership of Kim Jong Un continues to develop and tests its nuclear weapons while constantly threatening to attack the United States if provoked (Sanger & Broad, 2017). Different regimes in the United States' history and governance have tried different measures to curb the rooming war, but North Korea remains rigid and determined to go to war with the United States. In this article, I will argue that deontology shows us that the cyber-attack War inherited by Trump was just because it is the moral thing to do to safeguard the interests and security of the global community.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The cyber-attacks on the North Korean Missiles have since the Obama administration taken a new turn, considering his orders to the Pentagon to step up their cyber and electronic attacks on the North Korean missile programs (Sanger & Broad, 2017). Consequently, the North Korean military experienced instances of their warheads exploding, veering off their targets, disintegrating in midair, and others plunging into the sea. The beefed-up cyber and electronic attacks on North Korean missile programs have attracted mixed reactions from the teams of experts, including the Pentagon (Sanger & Broad, 2017). The latter believe that the corruption of the North Korean nuclear programs was effective and served as a better way of engaging the Korean government in diplomatic talks to end the development of nuclear wars. Others believe that considering the nature and position of North Korea, its incompetence levels, disgruntled insiders, and more importantly, the manufacturing error could be a possible reason that their missiles faced some difficulties and acted awry.

Michael Boylan (2013) in Can there be a Just War? Claims that because most of the Western nations such as the United States enjoy a wide scope of technological advancements, most of their operations are computer-driven and monitored. Boylan, therefore, states that with the incorporation and integration of technology in the day to day activities, any form of cyber-attack threatens not only the infrastructure of the respective corporate entities but also the well-being and security of the stakeholders (Boylan, 2013). Boylan (2013) acknowledges that just like the conventional wars, cyber-attacks threaten the peace of the international community and should not be used prior to the exhaustion of peaceful talks and negotiations. A Just War is, therefore, that which pursues and exhausts the peace talks and negotiations first prior to launching attacks, including cyber-attacks and war to the conflicting nation. In other terms, while the Trump administration inherited the cyber-attack War from its predecessors and considering the mounting pressure from North Korea, it is important that Trump's administration considers alternative measures to initiate peaceful talks and negotiation with North Korea. Such a move would minimize the risk posed by cyber-attack, especially on the nuclear weapon programs that could detonate the missiles, thus causing deaths of innocent civilians and mass destruction.

The deontology ethical theory states that action should only be validated because of its actions and not its consequences. In other words, one should only engage in actions that are morally justifiable while avoiding those that are not the right to pursue at that particular point and situation since the Korean War hostility has grown and compromised the political and diplomatic relations of the Korea and United States governments. Despite the endless efforts by the United States through its various regimes to establish a peaceful coexistence with the North Korea government, the latter has continuously demonized the United States amongst its citizens while issuing nuclear attack threats. Recently, the Trump administration has expressed concerns regarding the constant threats from North Korea and demonstrated its willingness and ability to attack. The attacks include cyber-attacks that spasm the nuclear programs in North Korea to secure the security and peace of its citizens. The situation has left many of the United States, North Korea, and the international community in general in suspense, wondering what next for the two nations.

Arguably, considering the United States has, for decades, embraced and encouraged peaceful talks and negotiations with North Korea's supreme leader, Kim Jong Un, the cyber-attacks are justifiable and the right thing to do. The North Korean government has, for decades, frustrated the efforts of the international community and particularly the United States' seeking to promote peace by rebuilding their shuttered political and diplomatic relations. Therefore, while the cyber-attacks potentially pose threats to innocent civilians, it was the right thing for the United States to do since it had exhausted the available alternatives.

Conclusion

Overall, the worsening political and diplomatic relations between the United States have left many in shock. Both governments want to prove their political and military superiority, an aspect that has further heightened the conflicts while delaying the establishment of peaceful coexistence between the two nations. However, considering the efforts of the United States to engage Kim Jong Un in peaceful talks, the latter has held to his backward ideologies and continued to issue nuclear attacks threat to the United States. The inherited cyber-attack is, therefore, a just War since the United States and the Trump administration have exhausted the available negotiation alternatives.

References

Boylan, M. (2013). Can there be a Just War? [Ebook]. Retrieved 3 May 2020, from.

Encyclopedia Britannica. (2018). Deontological ethics | Definition, Meaning, Examples, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 3 May 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/deontological-ethics.

Sanger, D., & Broad, W. (2017). Trump Inherits a Secret Cyberwar Against North Korean Missiles [Ebook]. Retrieved 3 May 2020, from.