Over the past couple of weeks, whenever we turn on our television to watch the news there has been some sort of story on about North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un.

Usually the programs focus on how he is consistently bringing up talks about a nuclear strike on South Korea or an attack on the United States.

This is something we as students of NIU should be paying much attention to. This is important because NIU’s ROTC program is creating future officers for the military, we have a large number of students who are in the Reserves or National Guard, and we all should care whether or not there could be a new war in our future.

I do not believe that the US–as well as its allies–will allow Jong-un to continue to develop North Korea’s nuclear program. According to CNN, North Korea made a claim on Tuesday in which it pledged to become a “nuclear state” and continue to develop its nuclear program for power production as well as military use, primarily in self defense. Secretary of State John Kerry released a statement soon after North Korea made its pledge to become a “nuclear state;” in it, he claimed Kim Jong-un is being reckless, provocative and dangerous. With China no longer backing North Korea, I feel Kim Jong-un will hopefully have the better sense to back down and cease with provocative threats of nuclear strike and war.

North Korea does not yet possess the abilities to equip a rocket or missile with a nuclear warhead. According to the BBC, North Korea’s missile program is still rudimentary and it does not possess the capabilities of equipping a missile with a nuclear warhead. As well, its military is said to be in possession of only mediocre Soviet hand-me-downs, and it is not well-equipped or ready to fight a war against the United States or its allies. I’m not saying this piece of information is necessarily the 100 percent guarantee that North Korea will stop these threats, but it seems to me that if they had any common sense they would recognize in the end that they are in no position to start a war–or, even worse, try to perform a nuclear strike.

In the end I believe that Kim Jong-un is just trying to prove himself an even “greater” leader than his father was. He wants to pout and try to bully us in order to make him look powerful and strong. The bottom line is that his threats are just that: threats. I do not believe he would be stupid enough to try to attack the United States with nuclear weapons. I do believe he is a potential threat to the safety of our allies, and he should be watched closely. But I do not believe he has the capabilities or the brass to attempt an attack on the United States.