While reviewing chapter 11, “The Kantian perspective” in
Russ Shafer-Landau’s The Fundamentals of
Ethics, I was reminded of the recent threats to the international community
and the United States in particular by Kim Jong Un and North Korea.
A yahoo
news article by Foster Klug of the Associated Press describes Kim Jong Un’s
‘against the grain’ behavior in his title, “Pivotal NKorea Question: What is
Kim Thinking?” Recently, under Kim’s heavy hand, the United States has faced
threats from North Korea of nuclear holocaust with the potential for another
Korean War. David Shlapak notes that this particular crisis is different than
most because of “our lack of insight…
into Kim’s mind”. If he were to follow in his father’s footsteps, he’d try to push
negotiations just as far as he could to receive the maximum amount of foreign
aid. Most do believe, however, that Kim’s methods are more closely related to
scare tactics but it is hard to be sure as he is such a young leader.
