On Aug. 28, North Korea performed yet another long-range missile test landing harmlessly in the sea. For the past few months, North Korea has attempted to perfect their missiles toward South Korea and the US. These tests have not only alarmed the neighboring countries around North Korea, but also the United States. The first long-range missile testing has succeeded, and it is unknown whether North Korea has succeeded in building their first hydrogen bomb.
“I know that North Korea increased its missile testing sharply over the last year mainly under Kim Jong-un’s rule,” said Jonathan Ames, high school social studies teacher. “At first I thought North Korea was flexing its muscle mainly because of economic sanctions against the country as well as part of their intimidation techniques. However, after their first successful missile, neighboring countries are now worried about their safety. It is not a new topic, but North Korea’s amount of testing and success rate are worrisome.”
Unlike recent years, North Korea has finally taken action by shooting a missile over Japan and into the ocean. Although this is not their first time firing a missile into the ocean, it is North Korea’s first attempt at shooting a missile going through Japan. Alarmed by the dangerous threat North Korea posed, Japan is now on the same page as the US in sanctioning North Korea. According to the New York Times, although, Japan and the US are working and discussing together in tightening pressure on North Korea, no progress has yet been made. Japan and the US have been trying to sanction the missile testing and come to an agreement over the issue at hand after firing the missile over Japan. According to Chosun Ilbo, warning signs announced the approaching missile overhead on television upsetting several Japanese citizens.
“Over the course of the years, North Korea only said they were going to fire a missile toward us and never actually launched one” Nick Shin (10) said. “However, after witnessing their first successful launch towards South Korea, I am really worried what might happen next since this scenario is quite different from what the majority of the people thought.”
On the other hand, North Korea seems to be celebrating its successful launch of a long-distance missile. Regardless of the harm created by the missile, North Koreans participated in a mass rally to celebrate the country’s success in their missile testing on Sept. 10. Even though this was only a missile testing, North Korea has shown signs of eagerness in targeting other territories such as Guam. Not only have they increased the ability to create long-range missiles, North Korea is also currently working on building a successful hydrogen bomb.
Before, North Korea was known to threaten other countries with missiles only with words. However, after this missile testing, North Korea has become an active global threat. After their first successful long-range missile, North Korea is planning to test yet another missile into the ocean.