By Jun Ji-hye
George Friedman, a U.S. geopolitical analyst, has claimed that Washington is preparing to attack North Korea.
Speaking at the 2017 Strategic Investment Conference in Orlando, Florida, Monday, he said the Kim Jong-un regime’s actions have “offered the U.S. no alternative” to a clash, according to Business Insider, a U.S. business news website.
The comment came at a time when the North is continuing to push for provocations including two ballistic missile tests this month in defiance of international condemnation and sanctions.
On May 15, the North announced, through its state media, that it successfully test-fired a new surface-to-surface medium to long-range ballistic missile the previous day, saying that the missile is “capable of carrying a large-size heavy nuclear warhead” and reaching the U.S. mainland.
Friedman, the founder of Geopolitical Futures, noted that Washington is unlikely to take action until U.S. President Donald Trump returns home this weekend from his tour of the Middle East and Europe, but a U.S. military attack on the North seems imminent.
He also warned that any strike against the North would result in a “stunning mass of (North Korean) artillery” in retaliation, and those living in Seoul and its surrounding area could be victimized.
“We cannot afford the kind of casualties this will create,” Friedman said.
He also said, “We are facing a war that is not simple,” adding that the North Korean elite had “homicidal, but not suicidal tendencies,” according to the U.S. media.