Will Trump's Military Option against North Korea Work? Legal and Political Restraints

• Author: Eric Yong Joong Lee
• Pages: 451-462

Trump v. Kim Jong Un

451

X JEAIL 2 (2017)

Eric Yong Joong Lee

∗

North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missiles are an unprecedented threat to the

security of the United States, which has never been attacked by weapons of mass

destruction. Pyongyang’s provocations irritated President Trump and led him

to openly consider military attacks against North Korea. The possibility of armed

    

aggressive rhetoric. Military attacks against North Korea are virtually impossible

in a legal as well as a practical sense. They will bring only disaster to all involved,

including the US. The best way to resolve North Korea’s nuclear issue is to rehabilitate

the multilateral channel for dialogue and then begin talks. What if President Trump,

however, implemented military options against North Korea because of the nuclear

     

military options against North Korea and if so, what legal and political considerations

he must take.

Keywords

Trump, Kim Jong Un, North Korea, Nuclear Test, NPT, Military Option,

Security Council Resolution 2375

To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme

   

enemy’

- Sun Tzu -

* Professor of International Law at Dongguk University-Seoul, Korea; President of YIJUN Institute of International Law,

B.A. (U. Washington), M.P.A. (Seoul N. U.), LL.M. (Leiden), Dr.iur. (Erasmus). ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-

5640-490X. This work was supported by the research program at Dongguk University. A special thanks is extended to

Professor Mark R. Shulman for his valuable comments. The views reflected in this article, however, are the author’s

own. The author may be contacted at: grotian@hotmail.com / Address: 562 Gwangnaruro, Kwangjin-gu #201, Seoul

05033 Korea.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14330/jeail.2017.10.2.06

Will Trump

’

s Military

Option against North Korea

Work? Legal and Political

Restraints