Consider the numbers:

More than 25,000,000 South Koreans live within range of nearly 14,000 pieces of conventional North Korean artillery. The likely human cost of a new Korean war is unthinkable with projections of 100,000 dead within 24 hours of the beginning of hostilities.

The unstable reality television host in the White House with full access to the nuclear codes has added a chaotic element to the tension on the Korean peninsula. The situation has become unpredictable and incredibly dangerous.

Investigative journalist Tim Shorrock has been writing about North and South Korea for The Nation magazine since the 1980's. In this conversation we discuss the very real nuclear threat posed by American political instability, assess the unthinkable human cost of a new Korean war and consider the role that countries like Canada have to play in resolving the nuclear crisis.