In the never-ending muscle flexing contest between the
US and North Korea, we have had another bizarre, if not slightly comical, twist. Last week, we saw tensions rise between
Donald Trump and
Kim Jong-Un, as Trump took to Twitter to issue what can only be called the most classic of playground fight tactics.
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/948355557022420992]]
Yep, that's the President of the United States, and arguably the most powerful man in the world, playing a game of "my dad is bigger than your dad". While Trump's 'button' may or may not be bigger than Kim Jong-Un's, the fact that these leaders are approaching the idea of death and destruction on a mass scale in such a blasé and whimsical manner is deeply disturbing.
However, while the North Korean dictator continues to boast of his large arsenal of weaponry that he now has at his disposal, embarrassing details of a failed missile test by his regime have emerged online.
According to recently released satellite imaging, North Korea attempted to launch a missile into the sea of Japan, only for it to hit one of their own cities. The images show the devastation that was left behind by the failed tests, which struck the city of Tokchon and its 200,000 residents.
The Diplomat reports that the Hwasong KN-17 medium-range rocket was fired from Pukchang Airfield in South Pyongan Province, situated 40 miles north of the capital Pyongyang, on April 28 2017. However, the launch was a failure with the missile only recording a flight time of one minute and reaching a height of just 70 kilometres. It then crashed down into an industrial or agricultural building.
An American government source, who apparently has "knowledge of North Korea's weapons programs", claimed that the missile was originally programmed to land in the sea just off of the coast of Japan.
The failure of the testing will no doubt appease the ego of
Donald Trump, who will see the accident as evidence of North Korea's arsenal not being as advanced and organized as his own. However, the evidence of the potential death and destruction that these nuclear warheads can have, should put the schoolboy sparring between Trump and Jong-Un into perspective. While the insults may seem amusing and slight homoerotic at times, this is a matter of life and death at the end of the day.
On top of the recent 'button' tweet, 2017 saw Trump label Kim the 'Rocket Man' and the North Korean leader was quick to respond with some equally bizarre insults. The dictator labelled Mr Trump as a "mentally deranged US dotard" and vowed the "the highest level of countermeasure in history" in response the President's demands that the United Nations "totally destroy" North Korea.
In his speech to the UN, Trump called the North Korean regime a "band of criminals" and labelled Mr Kim as "Rocket Man" on a "suicide mission."
However, despite Trump seemingly being preoccupied with trading verbal insults with Kim, he would have been perturbed in November when North Korea confirmed the news that many had been dreading: They had become a nuclear power.
The country's propaganda news station said:
"After watching the successful launch of the new type ICBM Hwasong-15, Kim Jong-un declared with pride that now we have finally realised the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force, the cause of building a rocket power."
In the statement, North Korea described itself as a "responsible nuclear power", saying its strategic weapons were developed to defend itself from "the US imperialist nuclear blackmail policy and nuclear threat".
Hopefully, given the extremely dangerous and perilous nature of the weapons at disposal here, we will see both men realise that perhaps insulting each other isn't the best way to conduct their business. But given the size of the egos on display here, I wouldn't hold out much hope.
