This is just a quick post meant to gauge public opinion on the North Korean nuclear standoff. I'm curious as to how people feel.
As far as I can tell, we have four broad options:
(1) Do nothing and allow North Korea to develop deliverable nuclear weapons and a way to deliver them. This would be the first time that the U.S. has allowed a country to develop nuclear weapons while that country was directly threatening to use them against us. It could also push Japan and South Korea to pursue their own nuclear programs. BAD OPTION.
(2) Continue to press for more diplomacy and sanctions. North Korea has made it clear that they will pursue nuclear weapons regardless of diplomatic efforts or sanctions, and this is probably true. Thus, this path will probably eventually end up where number 1 above would end up--albeit, a bit more slowly. BAD OPTION.
(3) End our military presence on the Korean peninsula, remove THAAD, stop all exercises with South Korea, and sign a peace treaty with North Korea formally ending the Korean Conflict. The North claims that they will "suspend" their nuclear development if we will agree to all of this. The problem is that there is no evidence that they'd actually suspend their efforts and ample evidence--including historical examples--that they'd continue developing their weapons but in a quieter, harder-to-detect manner. The Kims prioritize having nuclear weapons above all else; thus, this path would probably end up at the same result as numbers 1 and 2 but with the added complication of our being less capable of defending South Korea and Japan. BAD OPTION.
(4) Attack North Korea directly. The magnitude of the attack doesn't matter here. Whether we attacked only their nuclear facilities or decided to go ahead and put an end to the murderous Kim regime, North Korea is almost certain to respond--likely devastating Seoul with artillery and missiles. Many Americans could die, depending on how far we go. What's almost certain though is that many hundreds of thousands--maybe millions--of South Koreans would perish. The end result would be the elimination of the North Korean threat and an opportunity finally to pick up the pieces and move forward. This would come at an extraordinarily high cost though. BAD OPTION.
The point is that no President can stand by while a country that threatens to nuke Americans develops nukes. A President cannot simply trust that they're bluffing and assume that they wouldn't really use them. (Plus, whether they'd use them isn't the only point of concern here.) That is gambling with potentially millions of American lives, and a President simply cannot do that.
So something must be done one way or the other. What though? As far as I can tell, we are faced only with bad options, and it's a matter of trying to figure out in a very timely manner which is the least bad. Over the decades, the U.S. has tried every possible avenue short of military strikes to encourage North Korea to peacefully integrate into the global commons, and they have refused to do so. A decision point is now fast approaching.
Does anyone see any GOOD options? If not, which is the least bad?