The child is playing with fire

Let’s think about it. If North Korea attacks the United States and causes the outbreak of the second Korean War, it will then be a Northeast Asian war. Of course, China, Russia and Japan would not just watch with folded arms.

If the North really got angry and launched a nuclear attack, everyone would have to run for their lives. Northeast Asia is not so far from Southeast Asia. Malaysians would also have no time to hold the upcoming general election.

Of course, the world is watching carefully with wide eyes and wondering whether something has gone wrong. Is Kim, like other children in the world, just playing an online war game with his iPad?

I do have some doubts. North Korea recently made a video showing its forces bombing the White House. The Photoshop effects were not that impressive; many secondary school students could have done them. However, the North Korean people were so excited at the prospect of destroying the evil US.

However, the child seems serious this time. Through an international news agency, he released a photo showing him in a strategy meeting with four generals who reverently look at him signing a strategic plan to attack the US. There is a map behind them, clearly showing four bombing targets, namely Hawaii, Los Angeles, Washington DC and Austin.

This might represent only the third ever attack on the US by external foes. The last time was the 9/11 al-Qaeda attacks and the first was when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour during the Second World War.

The difference is, al-Qaeda and the Japanese launched their attacks without declaring war, causing the US to be caught off guard. Kim, however, is more generous, as he has made prior notice and even revealed the targets clearly, so that the US can prepare.

Of course, those with military knowledge will ask whether North Korea has really made such rapid progress with its missile technology? In the past it had to rely on luck to hit targets only a few hundred kilometres away, but today it claims to be able to hit US territories thousands of kilometres away?

Even though we have doubts and laughing at such claims, we should not underestimate Kim. His father, Kim Jong Il, and grandfather Kim Il Sung, loved to make such threats. Whenever necessary, particularly when they were under pressure, they would resort to missile threats.

However, such trickery should not be used too frequently, or it might bring a greater counter-attack.

Kim has been addicted to this tactic since he took over as the country’s leader about a year ago. Missiles alone did not satisfy him, so he authorised another nuclear test, and now he says he wants to attack the US and declare war on South Korea.

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton says that Kim is behaving like a “spoiled child” to get America’s attention. Hillary is a mother and she knows that when a child lacks a sense of security, he or she will cry and make noise to attract attention and get what it wants.

Kim is just like a child trying to grab attention. However, he has gone too far. In addition to riling the US, South Korea and Japan, he has even offended “allies” like China and Russia, the great supporters that even his father and grandfather dared not to offend.

He is a spoiled child who does not understand the real world, let alone the rules of international politics. The problem is, power in his hands is far beyond his experience and wisdom.