Dear Kim Jong Un

Dear Kim,

Why?

Why are you doing this? What good could it possibly do? Why are you putting yourself and everyone you love at such great risk? Why are you putting the world at an even greater risk? Why do you want destruction and fury? Why don't you care about the fate of your own people? What makes you so angry that you think this is the only option? I have so many questions to ask you, but the main one is, "Why?"

Your country successfully tested a hydrogen bomb today, and I'm scared. I'm scared for my country, and I'm scared for your country. I don't want my country to hurt your country. We have a scary man in charge, and I'm afraid of what he might do. Do you understand what he could be capable of? I certainly don't condone any of those actions, but I'm not dumb enough to think that it couldn't really happen. Please, Kim, I'm begging you to stop this before it's too late.

Your country didn't ask for this. They don't understand what you're capable of. They don't understand what could happen to them if the world strikes back. All they know is you, and that isn't fair. It's not fair that you've brainwashed them into all this. Your people deserve freedom as much as you and me. Please free them from your fury. Don't make them a part of this. They don't deserve to die, and you have to understand that that is a very real possibility for them if you keep this up. I'm not threatening you. Trump is. I'm just trying to tell you that you need to get out of this arms race now, while there's still time to save your beautiful country. Please don't let it get so bad that you find yourself surrounded by a city of ashes.

Please think about why you're really threatening this mass destruction. Do you remember the last time this happened? Of course you don't, and neither do I. We weren't alive back then, but that doesn't make Hiroshima and Nagasaki any less real. People died and they died a horrible death. Thousands of innocent people got vaporized and even more continued to die from the after effects of radiation. This is not an exaggeration; it's incredibly real, and that makes it worse. And this was all because their leaders couldn't get along. That makes me sad. I'm sad for those that lost their lives because their leaders could only think about themselves. When I think about the reality and aftermath of World War II, I feel like crying because none of those people deserved to die. I want to cry because I can't believe my country did something so heinous. It's utterly heartbreaking, Kim.

Please don't bring this fury about again. Please reconsider your actions. Please think about why you really want to do this. Look at the big picture for a moment, the whole world is begging you. If you step down off this pedestal of fury, I'll clap for you. I'll be there with praise, because it's hard to do the right thing, and, Kim, that would be the right thing. Please do the right thing. For you. For me. For your people. For my people.

Sincerely,

A highly concerned citizen of Earth.