As North Korea threatens to turn the United States into ashes, residents along the west coast are beginning to panic.
North Korea’s leader Kim Jung Un claims he has nuclear-tipped missiles capable of reaching the United States, but military experts doubt his claims.
Experts say North Korea has yet to test an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of crossing nearly 5,500 miles of the Pacific Ocean to reach the west coast.
North Korea’s most recent missile test failed spectacularly. But after 5 such missile tests in nearly 10 years, North Korea has shown it possesses minimal nuclear power.
In February, North Korea test fired a missile that traveled about 300 miles into the sea of Japan.
As a result of the increasing threat in the Korean peninsula — and President Trump sending a Navy carrier strike group to the region — Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is bracing for war.
Russia is mobilizing troops and armored vehicles to the border with North Korea. The progression includes railway trains loaded with troops and equipment, rough terrain combat vehicles and military helicopters.
Residents in Russia’s far east town of Vladivostok uploaded videos to social media showing the massive mobilization through their town — which is about 11 miles from the border with North Korea.
Putin is said to be concerned that if the U.S. conducts air strikes on North Korea’s underground nuclear facilities, the missile strikes could release a nuclear cloud that would reach Russia within 2 hours.
Not to mention the mass exodus of hungry North Koreans pouring across the border into Russia.
Russia urges diplomacy to stall North Korea’s nuclear program. Experts say former President Obama’s non-negotiating policy of “strategic patience” gave Kim time to develop nuclear missiles.
But there is hope for residents of California, Oregon and Washington.
“The good news, if you’re worried, is first of all the North Koreans are not suicidal, they’re not going to just start a war,” said Joshua Pollock, a senior researcher at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California. He noted that the United States survived other nuclear threats from Russia and China over the decades. “So this is a familiar condition for us and I don’t think we need to get too worked up.”
