A Panoramic Espousal of the Nature of Nuclear Weapons: Implications of the Production and Stockpiling of the Weapons by North Korea (1)

By

Ifeanyi Chukwunonso OGBODO Esq.
LL.B (Hons), B.L
Email: iogbodo@gmail.com

Introduction
In his recent state visit to South Korea, President Trump amidst the pomp and ceremony gave an address with  less threats; a stunt recoil of his first speech at the United Nations General Assembly where he stated that United States will totally destroy North Korea if it failed to stop its nuclear programme. Trump devoted a large part of his address to detailing the human rights abuses that the  Kims have committed in North Korea, filling his speech with words like “tyrant” “fascism” and “cult”. He painfully described North Korea as not just a home to a dictator with nuclear weapons but 25million people who suffer under him  —malnutrition among children, suppression of religion, forced labour at prison camps where north Koreans endure torture, starvation, rape and murder.
The sheer scale of the casualties and destruction resulting from the use of a nuclear weapon in or near a populated area and its long-term effects on health and the environment raise serious humanitarian concerns.
The aim of this discourse is to conceptualize the effect of nuclear weapon to humanity with highlights on the effect and legal regulations guiding its use; the recent production and stockpiling of the weapon by North Korea and probable implications.   

Legal Description
A nuclear weapon  (known as nuclear bomb) is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion (thermonuclear weapon). Both reactions release large quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. A nuclear device no larger than traditional bombs can devastate an entire city by blast, fire, and radiation. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction, and their use and control have been a major focus of international relation

 policy since their debut.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in its 1996 Advisory Opinion on the Legality of Nuclear Weapons, to wit: “Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons” case, replied that there is in neither customary or conventional international law any specific authorization of the threat or use of nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons are contrary to the rules of International law governing armed conflict. According to the Court, the first two causes of damage are vastly more powerful than the damage caused by other weapons, while the phenomenon of radiation is said to be peculiar to nuclear weapons. These characteristics render the nuclear weapon potentially catastrophic and its destructive power cannot be contained in either space or time. They have the potential to destroy all civilization and the entire ecosystem of the planet. The decision provides one of the few authoritative judicial decisions concerning the legality under international law of the use or the threatened use of nuclear weapons.

Effects of a Nuclear Attack
The explosion of a nuclear weapon releases a combination of heat, blast waves and radiation. These forces have the potential to kill and injure massive numbers of people, to obliterate homes, buildings and infrastructure, and to have severe consequences for the environment. Whether the explosion is as a result of a missile strike during an armed conflict, an act of terrorism or an accidental detonation, it will have a major impact on the health of those directly affected and on the capacity to provide assistance to survivors in the immediate aftermath.

Heat casualties:
The earth below the epicenter of the blast would be heated to a temperature of approximately 7000°C, which would vaporize all living things in that area. Tens of thousands of those people who will not have been vaporized would be burnt, with most people suffering horrific full thickness skin burns. Severe burns could occur up to 3 km from the blast. In addition, many people looking in the direction of the explosion would suffer temporary flash blindness for up to 40 minutes or even permanent eye damage, including retinal burns and scarring affecting the visual field, from looking at the fireball with the naked eye. 

Blast casualties:
The fireball and flash heat would immediately be followed by blast pressure waves travelling at supersonic speeds. People would be killed or severely injured by collapsing homes, falling buildings or flying debris, or from being thrown through the air. Injuries would include ruptured organs, compound fractures, fractured skulls and penetrating wounds. A significant number of people would be left deaf, owing to ruptured eardrums. 

The accompanying firestorm:
The fireball and heat would raise temperatures to such levels that many objects and structures not immediately vaporized would burn. The combination of the heat and blast would cause fuel storage tanks and flammable liquids to explode. As a result, fire would ignite in several places with potentiality of creating an immense firestorm as wind and intense heat combine to combust oxygen and many seeking safety in shelters above or below ground would likely die from asphyxiation. Those that survive the lack of oxygen would be at risk of severe burn injuries.

Radiation and radioactive effect of nuclear explosion
The immediate effects of radiation include the following: Severe central nervous system dysfunction; Nausea and vomiting from damage to the gastrointestinal tract, leading to potentially fatal dehydration and nutrition problems; and destruction of the body’s capacity to produce new blood cells, resulting in uncontrolled bleeding (due to absence or severe reduction of platelets) and life-threatening infections (due to absence or reduction of white blood cells). 

Many of those who survive the heat and blast effects of a nuclear explosion would fall victim to radiation sickness in the weeks and months that follow. This unique consequence of nuclear weapons would affect persons located outside the immediate proximity of the explosion, as those close to the explosion are likely to have died from fatal burn and blast injuries. Radioactive fallout may also be carried to considerable distances by wind, exposing a much larger population than that affected by blast and fire. Many affected individuals would not be aware that they have received a potentially lethal radiation dose until days or weeks after the explosion, when the damage to their blood system would become evident from bleeding from the gums, or from uncontrolled infections or wounds that fail to heal. Even if people survived the immediate dangers or exposure to radiation, they would face an increased risk of developing certain cancers, such as leukemia and thyroid cancer. Over time, many more lives would be lost. In Hiroshima and Nagasaki the fatalities attributed to the bombings had, by 1950, risen to 200,000 and 140,000 respectively. Leukemia incidence increased during the late 1940s and reached a peak in the mid-1950s before decreasing to a lower but still elevated level. The risk of cancer of the breast, oesophagus, colon and lung also rose, particularly in people exposed to high levels of radiation. Even today, radiation-related illness and death are seen among the now elderly survivors.

North Korea is not a democratic country. Democratic countries in possession of nuclear weapons cannot authorize its use without parliamentary approval but Kim Jong-Un’s utterances have shown that he can. His regime has made it clear that it expects to be accepted as a nuclear power . The country also has a significant amount of chemical and biological weapons.  A nuclear armed North Korea would not only be dangerous for the Korean Peninsula but to the entire world.

BIBLOGRAPHY

1.  Dr. Marcel Junod, “The Hiroshima Disaster”, International Review of the Red Cross1982. Cited in International Committee of the Red Cross. Information Note 1 .  retrieved on 20th September 2017 from https://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/2013/4132-1-nuclear-weapons-human-health-2013.pdf
2. Nystuen, G and Egeland, K. Mar. 2016. A ‘Legal Gap’? Nuclear Weapons Under International Law. Arms Control Association. Retrieved July 20, 2017, from https://www.armscontrojl.org/ACT/2016_03/Features/A-Legal-Gap-Nuclear-Weapons-Under-International-Law.
3. Request for the advisory Opinion (including the dossier of documents transmitted to the Court pursuant to Article 65, paragraph 2 of the Statute of the ICJ) 110 ILR 163.

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