For so long, this rogue state is terrorizing the world with its bellicose rhetoric, that it’s about time that it should be stopped in its tracks before it wrecks havoc to lasting peace in the Asia-Pacific region. We are referring to the saber rattling of North Korea towards its neighbors and the US creating tension in the neighborhood. The Philippines is just a pawn in the tangled play of power politics, but just the same small as we are, we cannot escape the possibility of real and eminent danger the moment a shooting war erupts between the protagonists. As shown from the harsh exchange of heated tirades between North Korea on one hand and the South Korea-US tandem on the other, the possibility of hostilities breaking out is not far behind. While watching in the sidelines, we will only be comforted if the hermit kingdom is playing with fighting words to dramatize its penchant for bluff and bluster.

What if North Korea is trying to invite attention to the world that it has the capability to take on America even if it knows its no match to its firepower? Really, we cannot imagine if Nokor will develop a suicidal instinct knowing that the country is in a tight squeeze as a result of severe economic sanctions imposed by the West. That it has developed a “gunpowder mindset” is not farfetched given the impact of the sanctions. As of last report, both the US and North Korea are on war footing with both countries heightening preparations for an attack. With the fingers of the key players practically in the triggers of their guns, next time we hear is a mutual annihilation knowing they have the capability for mutually assured destruction. Both armed with intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear arsenals, the question is who will fire the first shot to trigger an unimaginable conflagration never been seen since World War II. With both countries in the verge of war, we might as well urge the US to act like the world cop, a role that it used to assume to quell disorder, so that North Korea will learn a lesson or two to behave, thus reducing the threat of bullying in a backyard dominated by peace-loving nations.