Kim Jong Il comforting the people of Korea after the death of his father, Kim Il Sung.
This concept of moral and racial superiority had to jive with the unequivocal fact that Korea had never been any sort of a military power in Asia. Repeatedly the Korean peninsula has been invaded and conquered by outside forces. Since the rest of the world is inherently evil, they desire to crush the pure-blooded Korean people, a group so virtuous that they, sadly, cannot protect themselves from the depravations of the heathen all around them. In order for the Korean people to survive they need a strong leader, a great figure to protect them from all outsiders. This figure was not an educator, in the vein of the propaganda surrounding Joseph Stalin. Rather it was as a parental, even motherly figure, one who takes care of Korean people and assures their safety from impurity.
This system has been quite effectively coupled with Songun, North Korea’s ‘Military First’ policy. This system, which came into effect with the rise of Kim Jong Il and the utter collapse of the North Korean economy, emphasizes the importance of the military over all other institutions in the country. It is effectively a reason for the government to ignore the incredible epidemic of starvation in North Korea because the government is concerned almost entirely with preparing for the imminent invasion of the United States and/or South Korea.
So every time we rattle the saber, all it does is play into the North Korean idea that our attack is imminent. This also makes it impossible for us to negotiate some kind of settlement, as the only real power the North Korean regime has over the populace is their military deterrent against the ever looming invasion of the Korean peninsula the the degradation of the pure Korean people. Cutting back on their military or ditching their nuclear program in exchange for food or economic aid from the rest of the world would only weaken the power base of the rulers of the DPRK. Without the perception of an outside threat, there would be no reason for the parental Supreme Leader. For the DPRK’s leaders to cede to our desires to demilitarize their country would be political suicide, no matter how we force it. The world needs to find another way.
6 Comments
Great article!
Only point of issue “saber rattling” – is I am not sure how capitulating to N Korea would help.
Their people having been starving for years and I am sure somehow the NK Regime blames the “outside” world for this too.
So whether we saber rattle or do nothing the NK regime will use our action, reaction or lack of action as “evidence” of an eminent attack or their strength in “warding” us off.
The US and UN (haha) should operate in a manner directly respective of security of our countries and those who are allies with little or no concern what NK will propagandize to their ‘captive’ people.
I can recall a raghead in Libya that used to behave in a similar manner. (I say raghead as M Ghadafi is a scumbag regardless of what he purports himself to be.)
Proving to me that the most effective way to deal with tyrants is to push them around and show their people they are not all powerful in the eyes of the world.
Proving to me that the most effective way to deal with tyrants is to push them around. (in effect ensuring our security.)
The best defense is a good offense!
The problem is that we can’t push Kim Jong Il around. Any attacks we make him, or the country as a whole, only feed into the paranoia. Like I said in the piece, our military superiority is substantial, but none of that matters if we are the unpure monsters at the gate. They will unite behind North Korea because they believe it is right – not necessarily because they believe they can win (though some folks might believe they can).
While I do not have a good answer to this question of what to do with North Korea, I think the only chance we’ve got to deal with these guys without an all out war is to convince China to stop propping them up financially. I don’t know what the Chinese would want for such a favor, but maybe someone can convince them it is in their best interests to ‘deal’ with the little monster they’ve created, just as we’ve had to deal with a few of the little monsters we created during the cold war.
I guess we could threaten China by going bankrupt.
Consider after the USSR fell the truth came out regarding what complete pagentry Soviet power really was even in the eyes of Soviet citizens. (Maybe that average bottle a day vodka habit kept them occupied and politically incurious.)
Personally I cant imagine anything sadder than living in NK.
Freedom is so precious that I would rather live risking life and limb in a day to day war zone than have experienced a fate the likes of NK citizens have for the 50+ years.
noticed that a lot of celebrities are deactivating their twitter accounts to somehow support a charity that helps babies with aids.
this seems highly illogical and leaves me wondering why they dont support pro life initiatives?
are healthly babies not worth the effort or saving?
or maybe you dont get that good liberal street cred for helping save healthy unborn babies?