US Undermining North Korea Nuclear Program With Cyberattacks

Despite not seeing positive results, the U.S. government is still pushing through with cyberattacks against North Korea in hopes of undermining the latter’s nuclear program. This week, new information surfaced saying the U.S. government could be keeping the same strategy against the communist country — a continuation of what former President Obama ordered in 2014.

North Korea dictator Kim Jong-un has already said that the country’s program for intercontinental missiles is “in the final stage in preparations.” As a matter of fact, the country successfully launched three medium-range rockets in the past eight months, as per The New York Times. Hence, it appears the U.S. did not realize its goal of sabotaging the missile program using cyber and electronic strikes.

Officials of the Obama and Trump administrations are saying that the U.S. has not effectively derailed North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. There’s even word going around claiming that Obama himself had warned Trump that Kim Jong-un’s country would be the urgent problem the new president would be facing upon entering office.

The problem with the U.S. government’s strategy is basically its nature. Engadget says the effort to thwart North Korea’s missile program is not paying off because the country is isolated form the internet. Also, the missile systems of the communist country are “mobile and shuffled around,” making it tricky for cyberattacks to work. Therefore, the U.S. cannot easily slip malware into North Korea’s computers to sabotage the program.

It isn’t clear yet if Trump himself intends to really change this approach. The next move could, after all, open the doors to more problems. Should the cyberweapons succeed, there’s the threat that other nuclear-armed nations like China and Russia could also go after the U.S. missile systems. For now, the White House is looking into pre-emptive military strike options, according to an official of the Trump administration.