The rising tension between North Korea and South Korea is interesting to watch. A few days ago South Korea finally blamed North Korea for sinking a South Korean naval vessel back in March. South Korea is now attempting to place sanctions on North Korea through the U.N. and it appears the U.S. will strongly support South Korea’s efforts. Meanwhile, North Korea is threatening war and has cut off all communication and relations with South Korea.
One of the major assumptions political scientists make is that leaders are rational people. When you hear pundits on television or in the newspaper make a prediction about what a country is going to do one of the main assumptions behind their forecast is that leaders are rational. By rational, a leader will do what is in the best interest of their country and in the best interest of their long-term survival.
I remember challenging one of my Political Science professors by citing a case where the former leader of Turkmenistan built an ice palace in the middle of the desert. When I showed my Political Science professor the actual article mentioning this event he silently acknowledged that I made my point, which was that not all leaders are rational.
The reason I mention this story is because I wonder if Kim Jong Il is rational. Kim Jong Il has done a lot of crazy things and what he is doing does not make much sense to me at the moment. If Kim Jong Il is not a rational man then anything could happen with this North Korea vs. South Korea situation and traditional political forecasting methods can be thrown out the window.
There is nothing in the Bible that makes me believe that the resumption of hostilities between North Korea and South Korea is impossible. At the very least, the situation between North Korea and South Korea can easily be classified as instance of a “rumor of war”, which the Bible tells us that we will hear more about as we approach the start of the End Times.
