Florida U.S. Senator Says North Korea and Young Leader Acting Recklessly, Says U.S. Ready

Press Release

In the wake of new tensions on the Korean Peninsula, a senior member of the U.S. Senate's Armed Services Committee today said North Korea's young leader, Kim Jong Un, is acting rashly.

As CNN and other media outlets are reporting today, North Korea stirred up fresh unease by blocking hundreds of South Koreans from entering a joint industrial complex that is a symbol of cooperation between the two countries. And that comes a day after North Korea said it plans to restart a nuclear reactor it shut down five years ago, not to mention weeks of threats against the United States including launching a preemptive nuclear strike against the U.S.

"We've been through this before with his father (Kim Jong Il)," U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) said today during an NPR affiliate interview. "The difference is North Korea now has nuclear weapons. The United States is ready though. If he does anything he shouldn't be doing, he's going to pay a very significant penalty."

Nelson's comments echo similar remarks made just recently by other U.S. lawmakers who are questioning Kim Jong's stability, including U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

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