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Qian Cao

Hannah Gunn

English 307

11 Oct 2017

How Should President Trump Respond to North Korea

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created

them,” notes Albert Einstein (qtd. in Koyle). North Korea has conducted six proven nuclear tests

since 2006. The nearest test of intercontinental ballistic missiles contains the threat of reaching

the U.S. mainland (Friedman). It has been the most pressing political topic in the world. In order

to avoid Kim’s abuse of a nuclear arsenal, Donald Trump should negotiate directly with North

Korea rather than ignoring the crisis or relying on others to solve it.

If President Trump keeps ignoring North Korea’s nuclear tests, its ability to attack the

U.S. will grow greater. Abe Denmark, a former deputy assistant Secretary of State once said that,

“When you’re discussing nuclear issues and the potential of a nuclear attack, even a 1 percent

chance of failure has potentially catastrophically high costs” (qtd. in Bowden). North Korea is

now a ticking time bomb. Nobody knows when the bomb might explode. President Trump’s

ignoration will abbreviate the time of the bomb’s explosion. In order to stop the bomb, someone

needs to preview the bomb before it explodes, and be responsible for the removal of the bomb. If

one day North Korea successfully launches its missiles armed with nuclear warheads, it will

cause millions of deaths, destroy the world’s peace, and have catastrophic consequences. Nuclear

war’s ruin on human life is unimaginable, disastrous, and unredeemable. Whether or not North

Korea launches a projectile, owning a nuclear weapons arsenal contains too many uncertain

factors, dangers, and threats. Regardless of its purpose in building nuclear weapons, North Korea
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should stop nuclear testing. Its existence creates social panic and escalating rhetoric. In the hope

that there will be no conflict in the future, the US should start to nip this crisis in the bud by

coming forward with a feasible strategy instead of indulging. Correspondingly, President Trump

should send a negotiation request to North Korea affirmatively and pressure it to respond.

So far, the U.S. hasn’t implemented any consequential action, but waited for other

countries and the U.N. to deal with the nuclear monster, which is unacceptable, useless, and

irresponsible. For instance, U.S. guaranteed China could restrict the trade with North Korea to

limit its economy. In reality, the National Defense University emphasized that “China’s

influence over North Korea is limited” (qtd. in Perlez). China has traded with North Korea for a

long time. A sudden outage will aggravate North Korea’s persuading of developing nuclear

weapons. The U.S. also expects the U.N. to level sanctions. In fact, the United Nations has

passed many sanctions along but North Korea’s tests continue. According to a timeline from

CNN, throughout recent years, every time when the North Koreans conducted a nuclear missile

weapon test, the U.N. imposed numerous sanctions. However, North Korea didn’t respond with

any change, but even became more determined to conduct a nuclear test (Westcott). President

Trump should not expect others to have motions. Instead, he should adopt a forceful diplomacy

with Kim’s, and push North Korea to the negotiation table.

In conclusion, President Trump should rally U.S. allies to deal with this serious problem

by applying pressure on North Korea to come to the bargaining table and reach a diplomatic

solution. Negotiating with North Korea will not only benefit the U.S., but will contribute to the

cause of peace throughout the entire world.

Works Cited
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Bowden, Mark. “How to Deal With North Korea.” The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 09

Aug. 2017. Web. 28 Sept. 2017.

Friedman, Uri. “The Meaning of North Korea's Nuclear Test.” The Atlantic. Atlantic Media

Company, 03 Sept. 2017. Web. 28 Sept. 2017.

Koyle, Becky. “We Cannot Solve Our Problems with the Same Thinking We Used When We

Created Them.” The Abundance Project. N.p., 10 Sept. 2014. Web. 28 Sept. 2017.

Perlez, Jane. “North Korea’s Nuclear Arsenal Threatens China’s Path to Power.” The New York

Times. The New York Times, 05 Sept. 2017. Web. 28 Sept. 2017.

Westcott, Ben. “Timeline: North Korea Nuclear Tests versus United Nations Sanctions.” CNN.

Cable News Network, 15 Sept. 2017. Web. 28 Sept. 2017.