During the past few weeks, the tension between Trump and Kim Jong-un has been played out on the world stage with the increasing threat of World War Three (WWIII) slowly looming over us. Recently, the North Korea Foreign Minister alleged Trump has declared war on North Korea whilst Trump claims Kim Jong-un is nothing more than a 'Rocket Man'. These growing insults are only adding further weight to the growing tension between US and North Korea. This begs the question if these insults will result in WWIII and the implications for us as British citizens.
Should we be worried about the tension between US and North-Korea?
If you have previously read my past blog posts, you will notice that I am not a great fan of Trump for many reasons but I do believe his threats to Kim Jong-un are nothing more than mere fluff and bluster.
Nobody wants a war, least of all North Korea. WWIII would endanger and expose North Korea's unlawful and unforgiving stance on Human Rights.
I followed the Otto Warmbier story from the very first time it was featured in the press. I remember sitting in my room in Hong Kong and realising that he could have been me or anyone I knew. When we are in our twenties, we think we are invincible and I find it deeply harrowing that Otto's lust for adventure cost him his life.
North Korea's treatment of Otto Warmbier only seeks to advance the claim that they want to avoid exposing their dangerous attitude to Human Rights because despite holding Warmbier for a year, they only gave transported him back to the US when it was clear that he was close to death. They could not risk an American dying on North Korean soil.
At the moment, Trump and Kim Jong-un are only threatening each other without acting upon it. Just ask yourself, how many political leaders have exchanged serious words with each other in the recent years without 'walking the walk'? Nearly every week, the press features a political leader criticising another.
Of course, the ever-expanding North Korea nuclear program is a worry. Specifically, the effects on the environment, the community and international relations. Many critics suggest North Korea is creating nuclear weapons to support them in the fight for survival, preventing them from being exposed to WWIII. On several occasions, North Korea has implied that their nuclear weapons could hit American soil and the US want to avoid this.
One vital lesson that the tension between Trump and Kim Jong-un reinforces is that they are two little men trying to demonstrate they are powerful men. During the US elections, Clinton retold a story about a young boy who said Trump could not be President because he called someone a piggy, highlighting again that Trump likes to 'talk the talk' but not 'walk the walk'.
Despite these two political leaders showing young people that you can be manipulative and still be in a position of power, I hope children remain principled and maintain a lust for adventure. Until it is evident that there will be a WWIII, we should not concern ourselves with the present US-North Korea tensions. If we were to trouble ourselves with the US-North Korea tensions, there would be no end to our worrying.
There will be a time when the tensions will be played out but until that time, I will keep speaking out against human rights whilst still maintaining my passion for adventures.
We should raise our children to be Otto Warmbier's rather than Trumps/Kim Jong-un's.
'And we'll have the reruns, the memories we created to be played over and over again' Otto Warmbier, WHS Graduation 2013