War Games: North Korea Destroys U.S. City (Video)

“The nest of wickedness is ablaze,” reads the caption in a newly released video from North Korea’s official website, Uriminzokkiri. The video, which features a chilling misappropriation of “We Are the World,” is a dream sequence in which a North Korean man is launched into orbit in a space shuttle and proceeds to bomb a U.S. city. 

The images themselves may have been appropriated as well, some have suggested, from the Call of Duty game Modern Warfare 3: Campaign – New York Harbor. UPDATE: The video is no longer available on Uriminzokkiri’s YouTube channel due to a copyright claim by Activision Games, Inc., which markets and distributes Call of Duty games.  

This propaganda stunt is the latest provocation from North Korea, which launched a rocket in December that experts fear could be used to deliver a missile to hit Hawaii or perhaps parts of the western United States. 

What’s the Big Idea?

In addition to attacking a U.S. city, this video also presents the dual fantasy of the reunification of the Korean peninsula under communist control. 

Most Korea watchers see the collapse of North Korea as a much more likely scenario. However, in the event of a collapse, China might intervene. China has vested economic interests in the north and could also assert ancient claims to Korean land.  

What’s the Significance?

In the video below, Victor Cha, the D.S. Song Chair at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, says that reunification is the greatest piece of unfinished business from the Cold War. The U.S., South Korea and China will need to begin to prepare for this, Cha says, because “North Korea is at the end of its rope.”

Watch the video here:

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