Tensions between the United States and North Korea hit close to home for some North Shore residents, especially in the wake of the pariah country’s reported recent nuclear test.
North Korea claimed to have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb underground on Sunday, which, along with its reported launch of intercontinental ballistic missiles in July, pushed the country closer to its goal of proving itself able of having a nuclear-tipped missile that could strike the United States.
“I think that the leader is a little touched in the head,” said Mitchell Ramonas, 94, a Lynn resident and World War II veteran, referring to Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea.
Michele Wilkins, a Lynn resident and the daughter of Ramonas, said she thinks Kim Jong Un, who succeeded his father as leader of North Korea in 2011, is definitely a threat. Both father and daughter were at the Franco-American War Veterans club in Lynn on Wednesday.
“I think he’s actually practicing and he’s going to hit something that’s going to cause a major problem is this world,” Wilkins said. “He may not be aiming for something, but he’s going to hit something.”
The nuclear test, if confirmed, was North Korea’s sixth and most powerful since 2006. Hydrogen bombs have the potential to be much stronger than simpler fission bombs such as those used by the United States on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.
The reported test comes on the heels of a stern warning from President Donald Trump that North Korea would “face fire and fury like the world has never seen” if the country keeps threatening the United States. Trump said on Thursday that military action is an option against North Korea.
Some people think the nuclear tensions are escalated because of some sort of clash of egos on the part of Kim Jong Un and Trump.
“I’m not really too concerned about it,” said Arrick Phetteplace, a 22-year-old Lynn resident, outside a Vinnin Square store in Swampscott Thursday. “I feel like he’s not stupid enough to do something against the United States.”
Phetteplace said Trump is an idiot, but he’s not stupid enough to launch an attack on North Korea, which could hurt the economy and America’s relationship with China.
“It’s really just a pissing contest at this point and seeing who’s going to give first,” Phetteplace said.
Sonya Savchuk, a Lynn resident, used the same phrase about the situation between the two leaders. She said both leaders are morally corrupt and unstable, and she thinks Trump is making the situation worse.
David Solimine Sr., who was dining at Brothers Deli in Lynn on Wednesday afternoon, said the whole situation is scary with North Korea and that’s he’s never been able to figure out the country’s leader.
“I believe in my heart that he probably wants to rattle more sabers than he’s going to throw bombs,” Solimine said of the dictator. “He’d be crazy to drop a bomb anywhere. I know we would wipe him out.”
David Mercedes, 60, of Lynn, who was also eating at Brothers, said he thinks the North Korean leader is crazy, and that the president needs to be careful with him.
Robert Murray, 78, of Lynn, said America needs to put Kim Jong Un out of commission. He clarified that he didn’t mean kill him, but take him out and put him someplace, adding that “I think he’s a little loco,” and that he has a bomb.
“I don’t know what he’s actually going to do,” said Mary Smith, a Swampscott resident, of the North Korean leader. “I almost feel like we’re pushing him into something. I feel like he’s a positive nut.”
Smith’s friend, Annemarie Silva, of Winthrop, agreed, saying “I think that Trump is pushing him. I think he’s exacerbating it by pushing him.”
But Zach Ebert, 25, of Lynn, was a little less concerned. He said North Korea has been making threats for years — the U.S. has the military force if Kim Jong Un tries anything and that the president will crush him. If the allies jump in, Ebert questioned, who’s going to back North Korea?
