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North Korea Threatens Nuclear War with U.S.

North Korea ratcheted up the rhetoric on Tuesday, threatening nuclear war in response to any U.S. pre-emptive strike on a long-range ballistic missile site which had been prepared by the reclusive Asian dictatorship. The North Korea-U.S.-Japan-South Korea crisis was sparked by North Korea when, in violation of a 1999 self-imposed moratorium on launches and an agreement in 2002 with Japan which extended that moratorium (though now agreed upon, no longer simply self-imposed ? meaning, it was a bilateral agreement), Pyongyang appeared to be readying and fueling a version of the Taepodong 2 missile for launch.

It is believed that with extensions, the Taepodong 2 could hit the western United States. While there are doubts to the existence of an actual North Korean nuclear arsenal, even if one exists and the Stalinists there are not bluffing, it is not thought that North Korea has perfected its technology enough to equip the Taepodong 2 with a nuclear warhead. Chances of a launch had initially seemed to wane as North Korean regional ally China seemed to have convinced Pyongyang not to conduct a launch. Japan and the United States have threatened action in the Security Council should North Korea launch, and a former visit by a former South Korean president to North Korea was delayed.

The United States government has reiterated that it has only peaceful intentions for the Korean Peninsula?s future, while in America itself several leading politicians and advisors have expressed their desire to strike North Korea while the U.S. still can. This is, in turn, likely a factor in North Korea?s recent statements, though North Korean accusations of a planned U.S. strike on their country has been a standard line for many years, through the Clinton years up through now.