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CounterPunch
January
13, 2003
North Korea's
Warlike Noises
(And What They
Mean)
by MARIA TOMCHICK
North Korea has kicked UN officials out of its
country, removed the cameras in its Yongbyon nuclear complex,
abrogated the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and torn up a
1999 agreement to stop testing long-range missiles. It has said
that any attempts by the UN Security Council to impose sanctions
on North Korea would be viewed as a declaration of war. From
this perspective--the portrayal of the current crisis in the
U.S. media--North Korea appears to be a rogue nation ruled by
a madman.
The reality is somewhat different. A
little history can help us understand what North Korea is doing
and why.
After the fall of the Soviet Union in
1989, North Korea was left to fend on its own economically. Formerly
dependent on the USSR for fuel oil to power its generators and
food imports, North Korea had to quickly develop its export market
and a way to generate electricity, or face collapse. This marked
the beginning of the North Korean nuclear program, initially
an attempt to generate power.
North Korea began to build a nuclear
complex at Yongbyon, a huge cave dug into the side of a mountain.
It appeared, at least to the U.S. and North Korea's neighbors
(particularly Japan), that the Koreans might be hiding something,
and the fear was that they might be attempting to refine weapons-grade
material to make a nuclear weapon. Bill Clinton, with satellite
photos in hand, confronted North Korea in 1993.
After a tense standoff, the two sides
reached an agreement. North Korea would allow UN inspectors and
cameras into the Yongbyon complex and would cease work on a nuclear
plant that could make weapons-grade nuclear material. In return,
the U.S. and Japan would provide North Korea with food aid, fuel
oil to run its power plants, and would help it build two commercial-grade
nuclear power plants, which would generate electricity, but not
be capable of producing weapons-grade nuclear material.
North Korea held up its end of the deal,
and so did Japan. But the Clinton administration had a tougher
time selling this deal to Congress. Congress okayed the fuel
oil, but refused to approve the two commercial nuclear plants.
Providing any kind of nuclear materials to North Korea was verboten.
Indeed, it's possible that Clinton knew he didn't have the votes
in Congress to approve the two plants; he may have agreed to
that part of the deal simply for expediency's sake. (In other
words, he struck a deal that made him look tough and statesman-like
while probably knowing that he couldn't deliver on his end and
thinking that he could stall long enough to leave the problem
to a future president.)
In the meantime, North Korea got tired
of waiting for construction to begin on its two promised plants.
The fuel oil helped a lot, but they decided to give the Clinton
administration a little scare, just to prod Bill Clinton's memory
about his unfulfilled promise. In 1999, they fired a prototype
long-range missile over the north of Japan, sparking another
round of diplomatic talks.
By that time the Clinton administration
was on its way out, unable to make any firm promises. Clinton
managed to extract a promise from North Korea, however, to halt
testing of long-range missiles, although no one really believed
that North Korea has completely stopped work on its long-range
missile program. After all, missiles are one of North Korea's
main exports. (Remember the ship bearing North Korean missiles
to Yemen that was stopped in the Persian Gulf a few weeks ago?)
Then, in 2000, George W. Bush was elected
president of the United States. The first thing the Bush administration
did was cut off all negotiations and all contact with North Korea.
Then September 11 happened and the Bush administration declared
a War on Terrorism. The Taliban were supporters of terrorism,
so Bush attacked and destroyed the Taliban, leveling what was
left of Afghanistan in the process. Turning its sights to new
targets, the Bush administration named Iran, Iraq, and North
Korea as members of an "Axis of Evil." Immediately,
Bush singled out Iraq because of its "Weapons of Mass Destruction."
Surely one can see why North Korea would
be in a panic. The Bush administration has isolated them, refused
to talk (much less negotiate), and is on a crusade against perceived
enemies. To North Korea, the U.S. appears to be a rogue nation,
governed by madmen. North Korea might be next on the Bush agenda.
So, like it or not, they decided to develop a deterrent to U.S.
aggression: a nuclear weapon.
U.S. policy has always viewed nuclear
weapons as a deterrent against aggression, first in relation
to the Soviet Union, and now in regards to so-called "rogue"
or "terrorist" nations. When Cold War politicians like
Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney discuss this deterrent philosophy,
they always mention North Korea. Always.
Likewise, Donald Rumsfeld has been pushing
the development of the "Son of Star Wars," an anti-missile
program intended to intercept incoming long-range missiles from
hostile nations. When discussing this program, Rumsfeld always
mentions North Korea. Always. Rumsfeld has been successful in
gaining funding for the Son of Star Wars; in the first stage
of deployment, set for next year, 10 interceptor missiles will
be based at Fort Greely in Alaska. In 2005, 10 more will be deployed
in Alaska, just a few hundred miles from North Korea. Meanwhile,
testing of the interceptor missiles has been conducted in the
Pacific, as a sort of warning to the main target of this billion-dollar,
scary, destabilizing boondoggle: North Korea.
Naturally, North Korea doesn't view these
missiles as strictly for defensive purposes. They view them as
an offensive weapon aimed directly at their heartland. They also
take to heart Donald Rumsfeld's assertion that the U.S. can fight
two wars at once: against Iraq and North Korea, if necessary.
In this context, North Korea's actions
make sense. It's the Bush administration that appears irrational,
particularly in its refusal to negotiate directly with North
Korea. North Korea is right to condemn U.S. attempts to take
this issue to the UN Security Council as a stalling tactic to
buy time so Bush can deal with Iraq first. Notably, South Korea,
China, and Japan all support negotiations; they are particularly
fearful of the prospect of sanctions against North Korea, which
could cause the downfall of Kim Jong Il's government and the
exodus of millions of refugees. South Korea, in particular, would
rather have a slow, economically easy reunification, instead
of a major economic collapse in North Korea.
But the Bush administration is on a crusade.
If only the U.S. media could figure that out and report the news
with a little bit of objectivity and lot less jingoism.
Maria Tomchick
is co-editor and contributing writer
for Eat The State!,
a biweekly anti-authoritarian newspaper of political
opinion, research and humor, based in Seattle, Washington. She
can be reached at: tomchick@drizzle.com
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