On June 25, 1950, the North Korean People's Army backed by communist China and the USSR swept across the 38th parallel in an attempt to invade South Korea (Jasper, Para. 2). This hostile act led to what is now known as the Korean War. The outcome of this bloody war resulted in the deaths of over 4 million civilians and soldiers. The implications of this tragic event 65 years later is very prominent in the Korean Peninsula. North Korea is perhaps one of the most isolated countries in the modern 21st century unlike its counterpart South Korea, which is one of the worlds most industrial nations. The two sides are infamously separated by the demilitarized zone, which is a 205-kilometer border barrier (Szczepanski, Para. 31). In the past decade, …show more content…
The country's blindness to diplomacy is quite evident given its long history of war declarations. Isaac Stone Fish, a contributing editor at Foreign Policy and a senior fellow at Asia Society’s Center on U.S.-China Relations, argues that North Korea provocative actions will continue to worsen its relationship with the west and further the chances of militaristic conflict. Fish elaborates on his argument by providing historical examples of North Korea's undiplomatic leadership. He states "In 1968, North Korean soldiers seized the USS Pueblo, a U.S. Navy spy ship, killing a crew member in the process. The remaining 82 crew members were tortured and held hostage for nearly a year. " Another example of North Korea's hostility was an airborne situation in 1969. 31 Americans died when a squadron of North Korean Fighter Jets shot down an American spy plane (Fish, Para. 7). There has not been any major conflict in Korea since the Korean War primarily due to the establishment of the United Nations. William F. Jasper, a senior editor for the New American, states "The Korean War has been presented to three generations of Americans as an event that proved the necessity and effectiveness of the newly founded United Nations for stopping international aggression and opposing Communist expansion." The United Nations power, authority, and prestige helped prevent war between North Korea and the west during the cold war. However, the policies enforced by the U.N. was not enough to halt North Korea's hostile agenda. The nation successfully tested its first nuclear weapon in 2006 (Smith, Para.