What is North Korea’s Kim Jong Un trying to accomplish? I hear that question
often as I travel around and speak to people. Usually, I try to give a short, thoughtful
answer to the question. In the future, I’m merely going to say that he is doing what his
grandfather and father have been doing for decades.

It’s true that they didn’t have his level of nuclear technology or missile
technology. But it is also true that his grandfather and father were able to get away with
murder. I mean that both figuratively and literally. Let’s first look at the legacy of his
grandfather, Kim Il Sung.

In 1968, North Korea boarded and captured the USS Pueblo. The American crew
were starved, tortured, and put before a mock firing squad. After spending time in POW
camps, they were eventually released. America did nothing. In fact, the ship is still in
North Korea to this day. It is the only ship of the U.S. Navy currently being held captive.

In 1976, North Koreans ax-murdered two U.S. officers in the DMZ. In 1983,
North Korea tried to assassinate South Korea’s president in Burma. They did blow up a
Burmese landmark that killed four cabinet officers and 16 other people.

In 1987, the North Koreans blew up a South Korean airliner that killed all 115
people on board. This occurred just a few years after Russians shot down Korean Airlines
flight 007. Each of these atrocities went unpunished.

What about the legacy of his father, Kim Jong Il? Under his leadership, North
Korea torpedoed a South Korean patrol boat. In 2010, his country shelled a South Korean
island, killing a number of people. Many called it one of the worst clashes since the
Korean War ended.

It is easy to see why Kim Jong Un is acting the way he is. He has seen his
grandfather and father act with impunity. He has seen them get away with murder. We
shouldn’t be surprised that he thinks he can do the same. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s
my point of view.