North Korea At War

I just came in the news and I'm still kind of shocked, even though I've kind of saw it coming. North Korea declared in their national TV program that they are actively at war again with the south.

Some of my readers are military wives. Some of my personal friends are military wives, and we even have one close friend set to start a tour in South Korea this summer. We are beyond relieved that one close friend has just returned from his tour there and is now safely back in the US.

What I am asking myself is: what is necessary on top of what already happened for someone to step in? I am calling on the US, the UN, the NATO. Yes, I am specifically not mentioning Germany here, because our military is forbidden by our constitution to start a war. That is why our military was not involved in the Iraq war. It was clearly an attack without clear provocation. We were, however, involved in Afghanistan, since it was considered a defensive mission after the Taliban had attacked the USA. We currently have some defensive missiles stationed in Turkey after the government has called for help since Syrian attacks had hit targets in Turkey and have caused casualties among the civilians there. Therefore, without a clear UN or NATO mission, we cannot attack.

But why hasn't the US military done anything? They and South Korea are the first targets, as this madman Kim Jong Un has declared on several occasions (as I recall, Saddam Hussein has not made threads that clear). He most likely has nuclear bombs and missiles that can carry them (Saddam Hussein did not; indeed, in order to justify the mission there, explosives where re-classified as weapons of mass destruction). Why is no-one coming to help the people, who are starving to death and are put away in labor/death camps by the tens of thousands? Didn't the US claim Saddam Husseins acts against the population as another reason to invade? Well, Hussein was definitely no innocent when it came to acts agains human rights. However, the North Korean regime is above and beyond that!

I know the reason why the US has not invaded North Korea, but that's not up to discussion here. What's important now is that world leaders work together beyond primary interests and politics to de-escalate a situation that is probably one of the greatest dangers to world peace and might just develop into the first nuclear conflict after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War 2.

I am scared. I am scared for this world and I am scared for our friends and their spouses. Something has to be done, and quickly.

What is your opinion on the current situation? Are you concerned or do you think Kim Jong Un just rattles his sabers a little louder than usual?

UPDATE: This is the witness statement Ms. Soon Ok Lee, a former inmate of one of North Korea's notorious interment camps has made during a hearing at a US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titles "Examining The Plight Of Refugees: The Case of North Korea". It is a very difficult read describing in great detail the inhumane cruelties the inmates face every single day. I was in tears and had to stop several times, but I would still recommend the read just to know why I feel so strongly about this case.