On March 31, North Korea and South Korea exchanged rounds of artillery into each other’s waters causing several of the South Korean islands to evacuate and take shelter. No one was hurt in this display of power, but it makes people wonder if this will lead to an actual war, and if so, the United States should not be involved.

North and South Korea have been split along the 38th parallel since the Korean War ended with an armistice agreement in 1953, declaring neither side a winner. Unlike a peace treaty, an armistice agreement has left both sides hostile and ready for another war at any time.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said, “We remain fully committed to the defense of the Republic of Korea, including through extended deterrence and putting the full range of U.S. military capabilities in place.”

This defense is from the United State is not necessary though. While North Korea may seem like a major threat because of the brutal authoritarian regime, it is comparatively weak. The country as a whole lacks the kind of advanced industrial and technological military capacity of its southern neighbor.

South Korea can take care of itself. It has been able to handle situations in the past like the threat of a nuclear weapon without needed the United States to take military action.

With a gross domestic product (GDP) of $1.13 trillion, it has 91.27 times the funds of North Korea, (which has a GDP of $12. 38 billion) to work with. The United States is spending $530 billion annually helping countries, like South Korea, who do not need help.

Cato Institute’s Ted Galen Carpenter said, “The current tensions underscore the pitfalls of Washington’s tendency to acquire allies or security clients in a promiscuous manner. At a minimum, such ties cause diplomatic headaches; at worst, they can entangle the United States in unwanted, even irrelevant, conflicts.”

While this all may seem like a waste of time and money, the United States is only trying to meet their obligation to deter armed attack and keep their ally and trading partner, South Korea, safe. Trade is not as important as keeping friendly nations in the Eastern hemisphere.

Ending this conflict as peacefully as possible is especially crucial in this situation considering North Korea is an unstable country that also has produced nuclear weapons. In these situations, the first priority is to keep as many innocent people as safe as possible, which is why the United States needs to remove their military from this war.

The only way that North Korea will ever survive in this modern world is if they lay down their weapons and pick up recent technological advances, but the United States does not need to help them do this.