The government of North Korea routinely issues a ridiculous statement about its relationship with the United States or stages a flashy publicity stunt with missiles or airplanes.
After being placed alongside Iran and Iraq in the Axis of Evil by President Bush, North Korea revealed that it has had a secret nuclear weapons program and withdrew from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
The country described the move as “a legitimate act of self-defense.” Since then, it has fired missiles into the Sea of Japan and has sent fighter jets to fly alongside a U. S. surveillance plane. It has also issued statement after statement expressing fear that the United States will initiate a surprise attack on it and its willingness to turn America into a “sea of flames.”
The United States has never initiated an attack on North Korea. Prior conflicts were due to North Korean aggression. In addition, the last time North Korea and the United States clashed at all was in 1953.
North Korea previously withdrew from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 1993 on the same grounds. Through diplomacy, the United States was able to quell the threat. In 1993, North Korea issued the same threats to transform various locations into seas of flames, but luckily, and quite predictably, none of those threats were carried out.
It is interesting to note that one of North Korea’s missile tests was staged within hours of the inauguration of the new South Korean president. The timing of the missile test was obviously meant to divert attention from North Korea’s southern neighbor. Now that the United States has invaded and has focused all of its attention on Iraq, Kim Jong-Il’s goon squad has doubled its efforts to draw attention back to it. In addition to announcing intentions to test more missiles in the Sea of Japan, North Korea has stated that it will begin beefing up its military in fear that the United States will invade it after the conflict in Iraq is over.
The Korean Central News Agency, the country’s official news agency, recently reported that the United States was designing a plan to employ “not only cruise missile strikes and massive air raids, etc., but the use of tactical nuclear weapons” against North Korea. The United States has consistently, after every threat made and concern expressed by North Korea, stated that it believes there is a diplomatic solution to the problem. Still, North Korea insists that it is fearful of a U.S. invasion.
An appropriate word to describe these actions is “antics.” Kim Jong-Il, despite reports that he was enraged at being included in the Axis of Evil, must have been absolutely thrilled. North Korea perceives these actions as the only way it can come to the negotiating table with the United States. North Korea is only interested in negotiating with the United States, as demonstrated by its refusal to participate in multilateral talks with the United States and other countries from the region.
North Korea is capable of doing great harm with its military or by using weapons of mass destruction. The chance that it will do that, however, is very slim. North Korea is a distant distraction from the real danger that the United States now faces. Eventually, North Korea will probably halt its nuclear weapons program again and perhaps even disarm. The potential conflict will most likely have a diplomatic ending.
Until then, the North’s illegitimate fears and greatly publicized statements and actions will continue to be desperate pleas for the spotlight and will only garner scorn from the White House
Josh Foreman is a junior communication major.