As nearly everyone is well aware, the North Korean regime has been ramping up its bellicose behavior in an attempt to garner nuclear weapons (recent nuclear test) and an improved missile capability (the satellite launch in December). These actions have come at relative surprise to most observers; officials caught off guard during both developments. In fact, the ambassador was at a Christmas party getting wasted when the N.K. launched their satellite, revealing how little we know about the hermit nation. What we do know, however, is that there is the ever increasing possibility of a North Korean attack on South Korea. Kim Jong Un, the young leader of the starving country, is rumored to be trying to prove his mettle to the military. Early on, when his father had just died, many analysts believed that his inexperience might end with the military launching a coup attempt. This, in turn, led to greater security on the peninsula. While an attack is unlikely to be a full blown invasion, we may be looking at something similar to the North Korean shelling of the border island or sinking of the South Korean corvette, both of which occurred in 2010. Tensions in both the lower (citizens) and upper (government) echelons have increased due to the decrease in American hegemony. Less than 50% of South Koreans believe that the United States would fulfill the pledge it made to South Korea when we extended our nuclear umbrella to color them. It's a widely known fact that the United States is the leader in non proliferation activities, partially because many countries that would have a nuclear arsenal don't because we consider a de facto territory in our nuclear defense policy. If we wish to see the Asian-Pacific region, an area responsible for the majority of the world's seaborne trade, remain unafflicted by threats of conflict and nuclear proliferation (both of which are counter intuitive to everyone's interests), the United States is going to have to show leadership in this situation. We need to act as a mediator in this, yet show steadfast military support for the South Koreans by reaffirming our defense obligations to the South. Anyways, what are your thoughts on this, flood... er... bungie? tl;dr U.S. shouldn't shirk it's obligations as a world leader, lest bad shit happens