North Korea

When the Korean War ended in July 1953, the line between the two Koreas was re-established at the 38th Parallel, and a 56-year armistice ensued. That means the United States and North Korea are still at war, we just agree not to fight about it.

The irrational national leadership of the north has kept that small country at odds with the rest of the world ever since. With no free press and virtually no communication with the outside world, the ruling Kim family keeps the populace completely ignorant of what's going on outside their tiny dot on the planet.

Last year the dictator, Kim Jong-il, probably suffered a stroke, although as I said, communication with North Korea is virtually nil, so there's no way of knowing for sure what happened to him. Recent rumors say that his youngest son has been chosen to succeed him in power, and the military is opposing that decision. With a backdrop of such political uncertainty, the grim shadow of nuclear war now falls across the stage.

North Korea has been testing nuclear weapons and long-range rockets to carry them. The U.S. government has expressed concerns that the impoverished nation is selling these weapons to unstable Third World countries like Iran.

We protested their continued tests, and in response North Korea declared the truce ended. They had done this a couple of times before, but it was a noteworthy threat all the same.

As they continued their tests, the U.S. went to the United Nations Security Council, and secured a unanimous vote to impose sanctions on North Korea, one of which involves stopping any vessels suspected of carrying outlawed armaments and searching them.

This week, the United States declared that such a suspect vessel had been spotted leaving port. North Korea says that if any nation stops and searches one of its ships it will be seen as an act of war.

Into this boiling pot, a Japanese newspaper threw a little spice, by suggesting that North Korea is considering firing a rocket on Hawaii. "Why Hawaii?" one of my children asked. "Because they can't reach L.A.," I answered.

The rocket that North Korea is putting the finishing touches on is supposed to have a range of 4,000 miles. Hawaii is 4,500 miles from North Korea. One of the contributors to an online forum that I frequent gave a sigh of relief -- Well, then, they can't reach Hawaii! But I doubt that 500 miles is enough of a buffer between them and a nuclear warhead, to anyone living on the island.

North Korea bluffs a lot. This could just be a big bluff, to gain concessions (and money) from the United States and its allies. But North Korean leadership has shown itself to be irrational...and who knows who the leadership is by now, anyway?

It all makes for dicey circumstances that clearly bear watching.