Introduction
Ballistic missiles dominate a military parade in Pyongyang on April 16. As North
Korea seeks to develop ever-more-powerful nuclear bombs and missiles capable of
reaching the United States, President Trump has warned of a possible “major,
major conflict” with the secretive “Hermit Kingdom.” (AFP/Getty Images/KCNA)
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Tension is running high between the United States and North Korea, a family-run
communist dictatorship with a record of horrific human rights abuses. One of the world's
most militaristic nations, the “Hermit Kingdom” is testing increasingly
powerful nuclear bombs, seeking to develop ballistic missiles capable of reaching the
United States and threatening U.S. ally South Korea with a massive arsenal of artillery
and other weapons. After years of attempts by U.S. presidents to rein in North Korea's
nuclear ambitions through negotiations and ever-more-stringent economic sanctions, the
Trump administration is vowing to eliminate the North Korean military threat. President
Trump warns of the possibility of a “major, major conflict” with North
Korea, and administration officials say they are considering all options. Neighboring
China and Japan fear a full-scale regional war, and South Korea's new government — fearing that tens of thousands of its citizens could die in a war with the North — wants a more conciliatory approach in dealing with Pyongyang.
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