North Korea: Attack or Talk?
Source: Yaleglobal
Is North Korea a serious threat?
In 1945, at the end of World War II, Korea was divided at the 38th parallel into a communist north led by the Soviets and a capitalist south led by the Americans. Despite hopes for re-unification, tension and war have since divided the separate nations, culminating in a civil war (the Korean War) from 1950-1953. Since the war, relative peace has existed between the divided peninsula, but North Korea has posed a continual threat to the stability of the region.
In 2003, North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty signed in 1968 by 188 nations that declared that only the U.S., France, the U.K., China, and Russia can develop and use nuclear weapons. After North Korea’s withdrawal, the U.S., China, Russia, Japan, North Korea, and South Korea began a series of meetings called the Six-party Talks in order to find a peaceful resolution to concerns caused by North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
On October 9, 2006, North Korea claimed to have performed an underground nuclear weapons test. On Saturday, October 14th, the United Nations passed a resolution requiring all countries to stop the sale or transfer of any materials related to North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs, and to freeze any funds contributing to the program. The resolution also allows cargo to and from North Korea to be inspected for weapons of mass destruction and associated materials (read article). Kim Jong-il, the leader of North Korea, has declared that he will consider any sanctions against them an act of war (read more).
What should we do about North Korea? Are we too concerned about them? Too little? Should we attack them before they attack us or their neighbors? Should we continue to use diplomatic means to work with them? If so, how long do we wait to give up on diplomacy?
Kim Jong-Il, the leader of North Korea, said to Chinese officials this week that he will not test a second nuclear weapon (read story). However, it is not always wise to trust the promise of a brutal dictator. I agree with Rachel, who commented on last week’s post (see comments), on two important points: First, North Koreans pose no imminent threat to the U.S. because they know that we and our allies could quickly obliterate them upon an attack on U.S. soil, and second, Kim Jong-Il is using threats of nuclear capabilities in a weak attempt to gain more leverage in international negotiations. Jong-Il is likely jealous that Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon have recently received more attention, and he wants to be the focus in the world’s binoculars.
North Korea does pose, however, one potential threat–it is friends with the likes of China and Iran. If those three regimes were to unite forces and attack the Western world or their allies in the East (Japan, South Korea, etc.), then they could challenge the sovereignty of democratic nations worldwide. In order to avoid such a catastrophic threat, we must place political and economic sanctions on North Korea now and continue to do so until they co-operate. But we should use these sanctions with little fanfare so as not to exacerbate Jong-Il’s propensity for tantrums, just like ignoring a child prone to cause outbursts when his parents continue to shower him with attention. We should quietly and carefully use every diplomatic means available to stop Jong-Il, but in the end, if he becomes a real threat to the U.S., then we will have to use physical force to secure our liberty.
What do you think?
