North Korea Launches New Type of Missile.

North Korea is well known for its nuclear programme and test-firing missiles. The firing of these missiles usually ends with these missiles landing in the sea. And usually, everyone is on alert in the area but dismisses it as Kim Jong Un up to his old tricks again. From North Korea's point of view, it is about the survival of the regime. The Communist dictatorship has seen how easily Iraq and Libya fell to the Western powers. So North Korea's missile launches and nuclear programme is about putting off attacks by the West.

Japan went into panic mode as North Korea launched yet another missile. The missile crashed into the sea as most of them do. However, it created panic in Japan as air raid sirens went off. At a train station in Japan, a witness said people were panicking. At one point the Japanese government was going to evacuate a part of the country in case the missile hit that part of the country. However, as the missile didn't land in that part of Japan the evacuation was called off.

A Japanese military official described the missile as a new type of ICBM or an Inter Continental Ballistic Missile. The missile like most rockets is powered by solid fuel. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called an emergency meeting of the cabinet in response to the missile launch.

North Korea also has a nuke and missile programme in response to American and South Korean military drills. These drills happen every so often so both sides can coordinate their armed forces. In response to a possible military attack from the North. The Korean War is little discussed say in comparison to other past wars. It ended with no side having gained much. Since then both sides have monitored the other suspiciously.

North Korea is a secretive, closed-off regime that has been ruled by a dynasty of Communist Kings. Monarchy and Communism don't usually sit well. However, North Korea has been ruled by one family for years. So in that regard, they are like a Monarchy. Kim Jong Un is the latest in a line of rulers.

When Trump engaged with Kim Jong Un many thought there was hope. Both men met on several occasions and seemed to get on well. Many compared it to when Ronald Reagan met Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s. The difference being Reagan and Gorbachev achieved something. Trump and Kim broke off their negotiations under talks that broke down.

However, Trump's successor Joe Biden has said despite the antics of Kim talks were still a possibility. North Korea will not enter into talks because a demand from the US will be to scrap its nuclear programme and missiles. Libya in talks with the West was persuaded to give up its nukes. Then years later the West used an internal struggle in the country to overthrow the regime of Colonel Gadaffi.

North Korea may be a dictatorial regime but they are not stupid. North Korea will not be disarmed in the way Libya was. Yes, sanctions would be lifted and the country may gain much-needed wealth. Particularly for its poor, undernourished, people. The UN is frequently operating in the country because North Korea cannot feed its people.

But at some point as with Iraq and Libya, the country might be attacked and Kim Jong Un's regime overthrown. The US and its Allies might not want to get involved in costly internal wars inside an enemy country. The US has more clandestine ways of unseating regimes.

The world we live in at the moment with the Middle East, Ukraine, Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula, etc, could kick off a wider war. That could grow into a III World War and that is where the danger lies.