The bellicose language is what is raising tensions as the US President spars verbally with North Korea. The extreme rhetoric signals a clash of personalities, as a US President with an unpredictable streak takes on a dynastic megalomaniac who is North Korea’s supreme leader. While Donald Trump fulminates with the imagery of “fire and fury the likes of which the world hasn’t seen”, Kim’s men retaliate with talk of clouds of fire at Guam in the Western Pacific. Where all this may lead is a matter of grave concern for the world, that is watching tensions rise with every missile test Kim launches as its reluctant ally China strives to make it see the light.
Mr Trump’s chilling speech from a New Jersey golf club, said to be extempore, went way beyond the measured language of diplomacy. His nuclear posturing has invited criticism from both sides. The severity of United Nations sanctions against North Korea is another flashpoint as the rest of the world guesses whether the disco ball-type of miniaturised nuclear warhead Kim flaunts has the capacity to send a nuclear missile that can enter the atmosphere again without burning up the device and its deadly payload. The point is whether leaders of the two sides are going beyond the line that civilisation holds most dear — in trying to keep the peace for collective progress in the modern era. Four Hawsong-12 missiles aimed at the vicinity of Guam are enough to shatter world peace. Will Mr Trump and Mr Kim see reason in time?
