U.S. President Donald Trump has aroused much controversy lately when he warned that, “North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States”. Otherwise “They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.”

Upon later reflection, Trump told reporters that, “If anything, maybe that statement [about “fire and fury”] wasn’t tough enough”.

“I will tell you this,” he continued, “if North Korea does anything in terms of even thinking about . . . things will happen to them like they never thought possible.”

After Trump’s “fire and fury” declaration, Defence Secretary James Mattis, who had been pushing for diplomatic solutions, spoke of the dangers of acting to bring an end to the North Korean regime and its citizens. War with North Korea would be “catastrophic”, he said.

Until now, the Trump administration accepted negotiations as a viable option in an attempt to solve the issue without having to enforce a change of regime for North Korea. Why, then, have they now chosen to stand strong against North Korea?

De-nuke or Face Utter Ruin

Trump’s resolve has sparked doubt and fear in some people.

Republican Senator John McCain criticized Trump saying, “All it’s [Trump’s threats] going to do is bring us closer to a serious confrontation.”

Former Defence Secretary William J. Perry published a similar statement. “We do not make empty threats, because empty threats weaken our credibility, and weaken the strength of threats that we do intend to carry out,” he said.

These mounting fears were due to a statement issued immediately after Trump’s “fire and fury” declaration by North Korea, that they will prepare to launch 4 missiles onto Guam.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un boasted in January that they were in the final stages of preparations in launching their ICBMs, and really did so. In one sense, he is a man of his word. This increases the likelihood that he will follow through with his preparation to launch the Hwasong-12 to Guam, where the U.S. Andersen Air Force Base is located.

According to investigation by the Defense Intelligence Agency, North Korea has already succeeded the miniaturization of the nuclear warhead, the Washington Post reported. And it is only a matter of time before North Korea will be capable of having missile atmospheric reentry technology,

The Trump administration’s threats of North Korea’s destruction are a message to Kim Jong-un to de-nuke or face utter ruin.

Possibilities of China’s Aid Have Crumbled

It is rumored that, the U.S. has been confidentially telling China that if China decides to abduct or assassinate Kim Jong-un, the U.S. would have allowed China to establish a puppet government.

On the 11th, however, the Chinese Communist Party newspaper the Global Times reported that, “If North Korea launches missiles that threaten U.S. soil first and the U.S. retaliates, China will stay neutral . . . If the U.S. and South Korea carry out strikes and try to overthrow the North Korean regime and change the political pattern of the Korean Peninsula, China will prevent them from doing so.”

This statement could be taken as a forewarning of China’s stance towards the U.S. and elucidates the weakening chances of China assuming a mediating role. Depending on the timing of Trump’s strike, there is a possibility that the U.S. military may have to defend against China’s ever expanding People’s Liberation Army alongside the borders with North Korea.

There are reports that the People’s Liberation Army is now moving into near North Korea border in anticipation of a pre-emptive strike by the U.S.; Trump does not have much time.

In his article, “The Military Option for North Korea”, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, says that if China does not cooperate with the overthrowing of the Kim regime, all that is left are military options.

He gave several concrete suggestions including “[a pre-emptive] strike at Pyongyang’s known nuclear facilities, ballistic-missile factories and launch sites, and submarine bases”, and “[using U.S.] airstrikes or special forces to decapitate North Korea’s national command authority, sowing chaos, and then sweep in on the ground from South Korea to seize Pyongyang, nuclear assets, key military sites and other territory.”

“Any military attack must therefore neutralize as much of the North’s retaliatory capability as possible together with the larger strike,” he added.

The Nuclear Umbrella Will Be No More: The Need for Cooperation from Allies
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has declared that he will serve his duty as an ally to the U.S., and Japan must also cooperate as much as possible. Ideally, Japan should have the power to shoot down missiles that approach Guam, offer the U.S. ammunition and protection of warships, and be able to offer private airports and harbors for U.S. military use in emergency cases.

If North Korea really uses their ICBMs, the U.S. nuclear umbrella will become ineffective. Specialists speculate that the ICBMs will be ready in early 2018, meaning that that will be when U.S. allies such as Australia and Japan will lose their protection under the nuclear umbrella.

Until now Japan was only able to focus on the ‘shield’ aspect of their ‘shield and spear’ anti-missile defence system thanks to the nuclear umbrella.

“Are You Going To Accept A World Dominated By Fear?”

For many years, the global community was far too lax in their sanctions against North Korea’s people abductions, and nuclear/missile tests. As a result, the ‘Kim dynasty’ has become a state that sacrifices their starving citizens in favour of armament expansion, and imposes inhumane punishments on those who oppose the government.

“He does something in Guam, it will be an event the likes of which nobody’s ever seen before,” Trump told reporters on the10th.

In his lecture “The Choice of Humankind” at Tokyo Dome on 2nd August, Master Ryuho Okawa, founder and CEO of Happy Science, spoke to the world:

 
If we leave North Korea to their antics it will only increase the danger for neighbouring countries. The Trump administration must make the decision to bring an end to the North Korean regime, and they must make it now.

At the same time, regardless of what action the U.S. takes, Japan must take into consideration the worst case scenario, and prepare a state system that can protect the lives, security and property of her citizens as swiftly as possible.