Of Nuclear Fire and Brimstone
As North Korea had announced their plans to proceed with possible nuclear testing, with the UN Security Council still fidgeting with the proper response to such a provocative gesture, our country seems awfully quiet and calm cept with a single cool statement with regards to such an international ‘Tsunami’. Which I supposed is quite the norm for any noteworthy international events, our MFA would either keep their neutral stance or back the majority of the international community (or US) with a politically correct response.
Singapore views with great concern North Korea’s nuclear test plan By LS | Posted: 03 October 2006 2007 hrs
SINGAPORE : Singapore’s Foreign Ministry has responded to the North Korea Foreign Ministry spokesman’s statement on conducting a nuclear test in the future.
Responding to media queries, Singapore’s spokesman said the Republic had read the North Korean statement and viewed it with great concern, as such a move would be dangerously destabilising to the entire region.
The ministry said it would also not be in North Korea’s own interest.
Singapore urged the North Korean authorities to reconsider its plan and not proceed with such a test under any circumstances. – CNA /ls
Going back to North Korea, since the Korean war, had been a constant anormaly amidst a global advancement towards international cooperation and trade. For years, they had embarked upon their ideological policy of ‘Juche’, which loosely translates into self reliance, with strong central control on economic and social policies, promoting a self sustaining economy based on their agricultural and manufacturing industries. This policy had sustained them for years since the truce with their southern neighbours, until a series of natural disasters and the collapse of the Soviet bloc, causing a shortfall in their grain output, resulting in widespread famine in the 1990s, and only with international food aid did the crises subside.
During this time, the Americans had known of North Korean plans to acquire nuclear weapon technology from China and the Soviet bloc, and had since made use of their economic leadership to impose sanctions and on knowing of their famine situation, dastardly bargained restrictions on their nuclear program for more food. Which you could say, I am big and you are small, I give food and you pass me knife. While this policy had worked for awhile, it had never stopped North Korea nor curb their desire to obtain nuclear technology. While drawing parallels with a madman in IMH whom is restrained and tied to the bed had never stopped him from trying to get out anyway.
Well, look at it this way, the US had never been a big fan of communism from the start, and North Korea is one of the last communist state with an ideology which aligns itself to stalinism (Lets not talk about China, they had already sold themselves out to Capitalism with a capital C), which means that they are more or less one of the last few communist whipping boys of the US, with perhaps an exception of Cuba, with the primary difference that North Korea are in the position to produce sticks of nuclear dynamite, and Cubans are more adept in producing sticks of equally bombastic cigars.
Since the time when the US had described North Korea as one of the three axis of evil states along with Iraq and Iran. One must have wondered upon the ‘liberation’ of Iraq (’s oil), how so had the American administration came down to this particular conclusion given their intensive WMD search in Iraq had more or less rendered them a big fat zero (which was one of the primary reasons why they attacked in the first place), and probably a big negative on their credibility rankings as well. At the same time giving rise to the North Korean conclusion that the US would pursue military action against them even without UN approval, thereafter pushing the socialist state’s percieved need for nuclear weapon technology against possible American aggression.
While North Korea’s actions were far from evil (globally), they are aimed more at targeting the international community’s attention, which had been sparsed since the 911 incident and the subsequent anti-terror wars (which Kim Jong-il must be glad that he wasn’t targeted) in Afghanistan and Iraq. North Korea’s intial refusal to participate in the global advancement had a much dampening effect on their already backward society ruled by their totalitarian state, and their commitment towards the ideology of Juche means they would not risk implying that their national economic policy had failed by opening up to the rest of the world. Yet, without it, they risk a total collapse of their economic and social structure. Thus, they chose the conservative approach of limited engagement by opening up special administrative areas dedicated for foreign investment such as the Kaesong Industrial Region.
In order to attract the attention that North Korea need to itself, the recent missile tests over Japan had been a clear illustration of this. While most countries view this as a provocative gesture which could lead to future east asia conflict. This is clearly a premediated plan to draw the world’s attention, and had achieved a three fold plan initiated by the socialist state, the first most evident and perhaps most unimportant reason of missile testing, second to threaten and to draw Japan’s attention to it, Japan had been the world’s second largest economic body after the US, and as neighbours, North Korea had not been able to benefit from it due to the lack of formal ties since World War 2, and wanting more than just agricultural trade and food aid which Japan is clearly capable of more, and third, to attempt to squeeze more concessions out of the six-party talks resulting from the missile firing. Yet, after all the saber-rattling from the missile firing and talks, North Korea had not been able to more economic concessions or removal of US sanctions. The hardened stance from Bush administration towards North Korea had inadvertently brought on the statement from North Korea to pursue nuclear weapons testing. Although much is suspect on whether North Korea had the capability to pursue such a course, but one thing is clear that the socialist state is attempting to create more diplomatic opportunities for itself through a nuclear threat, and in the due process, forcing the Bush administration to back off from its hardened stance towards it.
While North Korea have only itself to blame for most of its troubles, but sometimes when things gets worse, don’t attempt to pour oil onto the fire. One only has such advice for the Bush administration.
别落井下石
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