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North Korea- an Exaggeration

Eric Zhong
3/4/2015
Mr. Heugh
6th hour
My Search Story
"North Korea may not even have enough money to fuel their jets in case of
war," some military experts say. That would mean no bomb dropping, no banners
of Kim-Jong Un gliding through the sky, and no way for them to land their troops on
the ground. North Korea's history, the capabilities of its minute nuclear weapons,
and its current peace efforts contribute to its miniscule threat level. North Korea's
threat to the world is dwarfed by the threat from Russia. Simply put, North Korea is
not a threat to the United States of America and its allies.
Before I started this research project I thought that North Korea was a country
from the deepest depths of the abyss, and that they were out to annihilate the rest
of the world. I thought that North Korea had a vast arsenal of nuclear weapons that

they would use on the world without hesitation. The gist was that I wanted to know
the real facts about North Korea, aside from the lies and what the press claims. Now
I realize that North Korea, corrupted by series of dictators, is a starving
country, with an underdeveloped nuclear weapons program. The first setback in my
research was that a lot of the information that I found on the internet was political
and about the Interview (A movie created by Sony Pictures that was hacked by
North Korea because it detailed a plot to assassinate Kim-Jong Un) instead of
articles with facts detailing their nuclear weapons program. I discovered ten sources
in total in the end, of which three were from websites and seven
were from databases. Another challenge was that I had an uneven amount of note
cards for other roman numerals. For example, my Roman numeral number three
was the least prolific in notecards, so I had to go back to my research to find more
sources. I effortlessly completed my poll right on time, getting my last answers from
my dad, who was in China visiting his family. I have significantly improved my skills
in the process needed to create a research paper so that I will be better prepared to
research and write about another topic in the future. Having analyzed information
from multiple sources about North Korea, I now wonder why everybody is afraid.
My Poll Results
I conducted my poll to see what the general public thought about North
Korea. Since my purpose of the paper was to find the real facts about North Korea,
the general public was excellent to poll because the public's knowledge is generally
limited to what the press and the government tells them. I polled three of my
classmates: Jett Li, Alex Chen, and Jacob Beyer. Jacob Beyer was also doing his
research on North Korea, so he was a great person to poll. In addition, I also polled

my mom, dad, and my English tutor, Ms. Sarah. The Larson teachers who I polled
face-to-face were Mr. Knaus, Mr. Heugh, Ms. Brennan, and Mr. Harrington. I went
around conducting my poll by asking my community five questions which they
answered: agree, disagree, or neutral. 10% of the people I polled thought that North
Korea could successfully attack the world. Second, 40% of my polling community
thought that North Korea could attack the U.S.A. Third, 90% of the community
overwhelmingly decided that North Korea was weaker than the U.S and Russia.
Fourth, 80% of the people who I polled thought that the U.S should try to stop North
Korea's nuclear weapons program. Lastly, 70% of my polling community thought
that North Korea should have more restrictions on their nuclear programs. The poll
helped me clarify the opinions of others on my subject.

Search Findings
Few North Korean nuclear weapons have been tested and developed over the years,
contributing to its insignificant threat level. Of these programs, little or none of the nuclear
weapons actually work. Before his death, Kim II- Sung initiated a nuclear energy program to off
set other energy shortages (North1). From this piece of evidence, it is clear that North Korea's
nuclear weapons program started off as an alternate energy source, not for nuclear weapons. The
question that arises is why North Korea developed nuclear weapons. North Korea launched their
first nuclear missile in 2006, which it used as a leverage to obtain aid and concessions from the
rest of the world (North1). While this action was frowned upon, discouraged, called
"blackmail," the United States of America is to blame. The United States introduced Nuclear
Weapons to the Korean Peninsula as early as 1950 (Stephen). When the U.S. introduced nuclear

weapons to the Korean Peninsula during the Korean War, primarily to South Korea, North Korea
felt the need to defend itself by developing one of its own nuclear weapons. Fear that the North
Korean regime had a nuclear weapon on their hands spread like wildfire. "In the late 1960's,
nuclear armed U.S. warplanes were maintained on a fifteen minute alert to strike North Korea"
(Stephen). The U.S. was evidently scared of the nuclear weapons that North Korea possesses, or
they would not have planes ready to strike. Nuclear weapons were developed much later in North
Korea than in the western world. As you can see, nuclear weapons in North Korea are
relatively new, compared to world superpowers (i.e. U.S. and Russia).
North Korea's nuclear weapon arsenal is dwarfed by the amount that the U.S. and Russia
have, making North Korea inferior to the western world. North Korea recently started making
nuclear weapons in 2002, but the U.S. and Russia have been making them since 1945. "North
Korea has fewer than ten warheads, and it is uncertain whether it has the capability to deliver
them" (Nuclear). The U.S. and Russia maintain roughly 1,800 nuclear weapons on high- alert
status- ready to be launched at any moment (Nuclear). Compared to the U.S. and Russia, North
Korea's nuclear weapons program is microscopic. To put it into perspective, picture a beach, a
nice sandy beach, consisting of 19,500 grains of sand. The U.S. has roughly 8,500 nuclear
weapons, and Russia has about 11,000 (Howard). The beach made up of 19,500 grains of sand is
the combined total of the U.S. and Russia's nuclear weapons. In that same beach, ten grains of
sand would represent North Korea's nuclear weapons. North Korea has a reason to be afraid, but
not only because of the U.S and Russia. "Since the 1950s, the U.S. had turned South Korea into
the biggest nuclear arsenal in the far east" (Stephen). South Korea is now a threat to North
Korea, and they are neighbors, not oversea countries. The fact that South Korea has nuclear
weapons is terrifying to North Korea because South Korea can retaliate immediately if North

Korea attacks. On the other hand, the biggest threat to the U.S comes from Russia. Russia has the
most nuclear weapons and is heavily investing in the modernization of warheads (Nuclear). The
number of the nuclear weapons that North Korea possesses is microscopic compared to the U.S
and Russia, and it is incapable of using them.
The underdeveloped North Korean nuclear weapons program restrains North Korea from
becoming a major threat. North Korea is still taking its first steps toward a major nuclear country,
while the U.S. and Russia are at their peak. It would take more time, money, and testing for
North Korea to develop a reliable nuclear weapons capability (Terence). North Korea is short on
time, restricted in money, and forbidden to test their nuclear weapons. If North Korea is denied
those three things, they will be unsuccessful in creating a reliable Nuclear Weapons
program. Most experts agree that North Korea's missiles aren't powerful enough to reach the U.S
(North2). The real threat is not to the U.S, but to its allies. "North Korean forces are within
artillery range of the South Korean capital, Seoul, only thirty miles away" (Sharif). North Korea
is likely to attempt an attack on South Korea in the future, and then the U.S. would have to step
in. North Korea attacking South Korea may begin World War III. Also, the North Korean
ballistic missile program probably has the capacity to strike another U.S. ally in the region, Japan
(Sharif). The real threat from North Korea to the U.S. is not a direct strike, but an attack on its
allies. Eventually, the U.S. will be under the threat of a direct assault from North Korea, or not.
The USA perceives that, because of the energy crisis facing North Korea, Pyongyang cannot
afford to continue its military exercises (Sharif). This would mean no more nuclear weapons,
artillery shelling, or nuclear threats. If North Korea did attack the U.S., it would be suicide. In
1995, Collin Powell told North Korea that the U.S. had the means to turn their country into a
"charcoal briquette" (Stephen). That was 20 years ago, the U.S. now has thousands more nuclear

weapons than it did in 1995. It is certain that the U.S. is not threatened by North Korea. North
Korea's nuclear weapons capability is a defensive threat alone (Stephen). North Korea's nuclear
weapons program will not make them a powerful country. The only way for North Korea to
survive and restore its good status with the world is to pursue peace.
Instead of trying to forcefully crush North Korea down, the U.S. should try to pursue
democracy in North Korea. A country that is willing to risk the lives of its own people to
accomplish tasks is major concern. The government of North Korea has made steps toward
peace. In March 2012, Kim Jung-Un agreed to suspend North Korea's nuclear weapons tests if
the U.S. would give them 240,000 tons of food (North3). This piece of information shows that
North Korea cares for its citizens, even if most are starving on the streets. Also, in the past there
have even been agreements where North Korea destroyed a nuclear facility in exchange for aid
(North4). "North Korea has begun disabling its Yongbyon nuclear facility- which was being used
to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons. Overseen by U.S. officials and the IAEA
(International Atomic Energy Agency)" (Bush). North Korea already has started their process on
ending their nuclear weapons by destroying their reactor. This is a major step toward peace
because it shows that the North Korean government does care about its country's well-being. If a
country's citizens are starving, broken, and unhappy with their government, the government will
change to get support for their activities. North Korea offered to impose a temporary suspension
on nuclear tests if the U.S. canceled its joint annual military exercises with South Korea
(Time). North Korea is obviously scared of the U.S. training in South Korea because South
Korea may invade North Korea in the future. The threat of South Korea also may have inspired
North Korea to develop a nuclear weapons program in defense. "The best chance that Koreans in
the north have for presenting their sovereignty is to build nuclear weapons to deter a U.S.

military conquest" (Stephen). The nuclear weapons in North Korea are mainly for preventing
invasions and for deterring enemies. In the Korean War, U.S. forces pushed back the North
Korean forces until the Chinese came to their aid. North Korea fears another attack by the U.S. in
an attempt to reunite both parts of Korea. Now that North Korea has nuclear weapons, the U.S. is
cautious in approaching North Korea, because it might launch a missile at an U.S. ally, causing
serious damage. North Korea's nuclear weapons are purely defensive, and probably will never be
used against the U.S. The world can live with a nuclear Iran or North Korea, as it has lived now
for 45 years with a nuclear China, a country once viewed as the ultimate rogue (Mueller). When
China first tested their nuclear weapons in 1964, the world was alarmed because China was a
authoritarianism government, meaning it required absolute obedience to authority, against
personal freedoms. North Korea is not much different, maybe even weaker. "North Korea is the
most sanctioned nation in the world" - George W. Bush (Stephen). From the number of sanctions,
or restrictions on the North Korean economy, China is a far bigger threat because they have
stable trading relationships and strong allies. The main problem at hand is that the North Korean
government is unlikely to change their government and their leader in the near future. If
the U.S. overthrows the North Korean government, and creates a democracy, North Korea would
focus more on its citizens and their welfare than creating a stronger military, thus lowering their
threat to the U.S.
In the future, I believe a peaceful relationship between North Korea and the U.S. will be
possible and extremely beneficial to the citizens of both countries. North Korea is far from being
a threat to the United States of America and its Allies. North Korea is a poor, starving, and broke
country that is corrupted by its dictator government. The government of North Korea is the real
issue and cause for what North Korea is today. I feel that North Korea is desperately in need of

simple supplies for life so they will be forced to negotiate in the future. The U.S. could provide
humanitarian aid to the North Koreans and in return, North Korea could move a step
closer toward democracy.

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