North Korea and President Donald Trump’s United States have never been so close to war in the last 20 years, Taylor Fravel, a professor at MIT has warned.
Speaking to CNBC, he said there were three possible outcomes from the rising tensions between Kim Jong-un’s regime and the US, with a negotiated solution unlikely.
He said: “There are three possible outcomes.
“One is some sort of negotiated solution, the US goal is denuclearisation. I’m pretty sure North Korea does not want to give up its nuclear weapons.
“I don’t see a negotiated solution as being a likely outcome.”
Mr Fravel added that another possibility could be continued tensions and threats between the two countries.
He said: “The second would be, what we have now, kind of muddling through increased pressure, some threats to use force but ultimately perhaps a more focus on deference and detainment.
“But the third is a military option and the President’s advisors have been publicly talking about a military option.
“That’s quite unprecedented.”
Mr Fravel warned that the risk of war between the two countries has not been this high in at least 20 years, or even 60.
He said: “I think the risk of some kind of military action against North Korea hasn’t been higher in at least two decades and perhaps even six decades.”
North Korea has been fuelling World War 3 fears with its continued refusal to shut down its nuclear weapons development programme.