North Korea and the Possibility of an EMP Attack

         Over the years that I’ve studied Bible prophecy, especially that of the last days, there has been a nagging question in my head about what I would read.  That question was always, “Where is the high levels of technology?”  For all the fantastic interpretations of the beasts and locusts that turn them into helicopters and other things - I just did not see the prevalence of technology that I thought I would see in an end times scenario.  Sure, the mark of the beast may be some sort of microchip, and the ability  for every eye to see Jesus or the two witnesses in Jerusalem might be the ability of events to be televised globally.  Also we might be dealing with someone in the first century seeing things that would honestly blow anyone’s mind who was seeing 21st century technology with a first century understanding of life.  But lately, I’ve been looking at information that would help make sense of a world pushed back from its technological moorings.

         Most of this has been revisited because of the current problems we are having with North Korea - and the threats that nation has been making against ours.  One of the things that is fascinating is the ongoing scenarios where either a nuclear weapon is detonated in the United States - or just an EMP blast took place at a higher altitude.  The affects of a nuclear blast are fairly well known - although we would be talking about a nuclear explosion at least 10 times the size of those that happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  But the prospect of an EMP blast high above our nation is something I’m not sure any of us could truly grasp.  If such a detonation were to take place it would pretty much cripple the electrical grid almost everywhere in the United States.  The aftermath of such an attack would be truly disastrous.  Some who work in the Homeland Security Department believe that the fatalities from such an attack could run in the millions - even up to 10 million or more.  This is not because of any fallout or any explosive event - but rather due to the crippling of our infrastructure.  There would be a nationwide blackout, as well as the destruction of all of our electronic infrastructure that is not protected by some sort of shield that filters out the EMP pulse from the explosion.  

      Dr. Peter Vincent Pry, a former Congressional EMP Commission member, paints a very powerful picture of what such an attack would bring on our nation.  A significant EMP attack carried out high above the skies of the United States would take town the nation’s electronic infrastructure.  Electronic systems of all kinds - computers, networks, and communication systems would all be down for at least months if not years.  Currently all the systems that provide fuel, food, banking, medical, and transportation in our nation would be destroyed.  All our electronic shipping and banking systems would be gone in a flash.  Pray stated, “It would be, literally, a new stone age.  

      In recent days the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un, has threatened to destroy America, warning of “nuclear thunderbolts” that would bring judgment to us.  But what should deeply concern us is that we are not just talking about transcontinental ballistic missiles fitted with nuclear warheads, there have been two satellites that are in orbit that could carry out the attack as well.  Pry explained in an interview recently that North Korea launched two satellites into strange orbits around the earth.  Their orbits have them approach our country from the southern regions of the globe, where we do not have adequate early warning systems in place.  There are also no missiles in place that could intercept an attack from these satellites.  Pry, who is not the executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security, and direct of the U.S.  Nuclear Strategy Forum, has made his thoughts known alone with a field of experts in this field.  “All of us,” Pry states, have written that we think that the threat, the possibility of a super-EMP warhead is so great, the United States should take North Korea’s satellites down.  We ought not tolerate them orbiting, because nobody knows for sure what’s on the satellites.”  Pry went on to add that such an attack would render the United States, “blind and defenseless.”  

      Jim Oberg, an American scientist and retired Space Shuttle Mission Control Specialist is also concerned about these satellites.  Oberg was on of a few American scientists who visited North Korea’s Sohae space launch site.  In a Space Review article Oberg said the following”  ”There have been fears expressed that North Korea might use a satellite to carry a small nuclear warhead into orbit and then detonate it over the United States for an EMP strike.” Oberg went on to say, "These concerns seem extreme and require an astronomical scale of irrationality on the part of the regime. The most frightening aspect, I've come to realize," he said, "is that exactly such a scale of insanity is now evident in the rest of this ‘space program.” There was an enormous amount of money put into this program - and the observers like Oberg were not convinced at all that the program was not military in nature. Oberg’s concerns seem far more warranted now that a report from just over a year ago confirmed that North Korea's satellites are fully capable of performing a surprise EMP attack at an altitude and trajectory that evade U.S. National Missile Defenses.

         When I read these reports recently things began to make a little more sense.  A world where we go from a technological giant into a stone age culture would be disastrous beyond imagination.  The rampant spread of disease, starvation, and subsequent war (because we would be pretty much blind and defenseless) seem to fit the onset of the seal judgments of Revelation 6.  In that chapter events happen where we see war, famine, pestilence, wild beast attacks, and massive persecution against believers take place.  Are we in that time period now?  I am not making a prediction that we are - but I am saying that we are in the midst of times that could easily come about due to the current world crises.  If this is the case, what should we do?  I will save those comments for my next article.  In the meantime - watch, pray, and make sure that you are ready for His return.  

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