S Korea & The Korean Crisis

American President Donald Trump has spoken of raining "fire and fury" on North Korea after Pyongyang, having tested missiles that could potentially hit US interests, announced that it was looking at a strike at the US Pacific territory of Guam. Sabre rattling is a part of the fraught ties between the two countries. However, the most important question is: how much of a threat does North Korea really present to the US and neighbouring South Korea?

It is still not clear whether South Korea is fully prepared to bear the brunt of any war with the North. As per data published by International Institute for Strategic Studies and Nuclear Threat Initiative, South Korea's GDP is 50 times larger than North Korea's and Seoul spends almost five times as much as Pyongyang on defence.

Interestingly, the North has an arsenal of chemical and biological weapons, along with ballistic...