North Korea has continuously sparked fears of the outbreak of World War 3 as Kim Jong-un refuses to give up his ambitions to become the “world’s strongest nuclear power”.
The despot leader and Donald Trump become embroiled in a furious war of words as either side threatened the prospect of military strikes on one another.
Discussing the tension on the Korean peninsula, American Diplomat Christopher Hill said there is a “lot of reasons to be sleepless” over North Korea and the rogue state’s threat to the world.
Mr Hill told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think there is a lot of reasons to be sleepless over this.
“I think Kim Jong-un is very much dedicated to his father’s unfinished business. Unfinished business in the sense that his father wanted the country to go nuclear, but did not concede with his relationship with China.
“So, Kim Jong-un has effectively broken off his own relationship with China.
“And secondly, I think he is very concerned about his grandfather’s unfinished, which was to unify the Korean peninsula and that was thwarted by the presence of the Americans on the Korean peninsula, and, of course, many other countries from the United Nations.
“So, he is looking for a means to decouple this kind of international support and I think he thinks nuclear weapons are the way to do that.
“There are lots of reasons to be losing sleep these days.”
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham said the possibility of military conflict still remains low.
The Senator, however, predicted a significant upwards shift in the possibility if Kim Jong-un fires another test missile.
Senator Graham said: “I should say there’s a three in ten chance we use the military option.
“If the North Koreans conduct an additional test of a nuclear bomb – their seventh – I would say 70 per cent.”
US President Donald Trump is now trying to get Vladimir Putin and Russia onside to put an end to North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
The pair discussed bilateral relations and the situation in the Korean Peninsula during a telephone call, the Kremlin said in a statement this evening.
The White House added that both “discussed working together to resolve the very dangerous situation in North Korea”.
Trump also reportedly thanked his Russian counterpart “for acknowledging America’s strong economic performance in his annual press conference,”
Both leaders agreed to continue contacts, the Kremlin added but did not provide further details.