WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — "The imposition of sanctions upon North Korea at the moment is certain to be perceived in Pyongyang as extremely provocative when the United States and South Korea are conducting the largest military exercises in recent years just south on the DMZ [Demilitarized Zone]," Caldicott said.
The exercises include this year practices to "decapitate" the North Korean leadership, Caldicott, founding president of Physicians for Social Responsibility, the co-winner of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize, told Sputnik.
"If anything is likely to drive somebody to do something really dangerous, well these actions are exactly what is needed to react to a perceived enemy," she warned.
Kim Jong-un’s pattern of behaviour since becoming leader of North Korea in April 2012 has been filled with nuclear threats against perceived enemies overseas and unpredictable acts of repression against even long-trusted senior members of his country’s ruling inner circle, Caldicott pointed out.
"Then what will the world do?… [It] could end in a global nuclear holocaust," she warned.
Caldicott concluded that United States and other international leaders should seek to engage Kim Jong-un positively and treat him with careful respect.
Caldicott is the author of many books, including "The New Nuclear Danger: George W. Bush’s Military Industrial Complex." The Smithsonian Institution has named Caldicott one of the most influential women of the 20th century.
