Is North Korea really this suicidal?

[Airwolf]

Ummmm... Isn't one of the reasons we're kicking Iraq's butt is that they jerked the UN around one time too many?

http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=B6172C26-8B5A-4F2E-B6A54A1801BE12E4]

North Korea Warns It Will Ignore UN on Suspected Nuclear Weapons Program

Steven Shayman
Tokyo
05 Apr 2003, 11:07 UTC

While the United Nations prepares to consider North Korea's suspected nuclear weapons program next week, North Korea has warned it will ignore anything the United Nations has to say on the subject.

North Korea's official KCNA news agency says it will consider "null and void" any resolution or statements the U.N. Security Council might decide on regarding the North's nuclear program.

In a broadcast monitored in South Korea, KCNA said the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula was "not something that should be discussed at the United Nations."

The Security Council is due to take up the matter on Wednesday, following North Korea's expulsion earlier this year of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency. The IAEA is the United Nations' nuclear watchdog.

The dispute emerged last October, when Washington said North Korea had admitted it had a secret program to enrich uranium. Pyongyang responded to the disclosure by restarting a nuclear reactor that had been shut down, renouncing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and expelling the IAEA inspectors.

Since then, North Korea has engaged in a variety of provocative actions, including the test firing of several missiles. This week, Washington placed trade sanctions on a North Korean company that has allegedly been exporting missile technology.

The sanctions were largely symbolic, since the United States does no business with the North, but the move did add to the rising level of acrimony.

However, an attempt by Washington and Pyongyang to begin a dialogue may be in the works. Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported Saturday that American and North Korean officials held a series of meetings in New York this week, looking for possible points of agreement.

Kyodo says the meetings ended without much progress. Neither side has commented on the reported talks.

 

[jmbg29]

They are pretty freaky. BEHOLD!

 

[agricola]

so residents of a country which ignores the UN are moaning that another country which ignores the UN are ignoring the UN?

 

[MPFreeman]

The UN is a joke. At least the N Koreans know and show it.

THere are several reasons to be concerned with N.K., the UN is not one of them.

 

[MPFreeman]

NKorean .gov poster

 

[MPFreeman]

More tastleful posters...

 

[Airwolf]

I agree that the UN is, for the most part., irrelevant.

It's just odd to see the DPRK take such a militant stand about it. Given the fact that they are high on the "to-do" list this is just waving a red flag in front of the bull.

 

[MPFreeman]

And another

 

[ahadams]

easiest way to understand the NK's is to think of the mafia

what they want is 'respect'. Problem is that for the last half century and more they've been the Rodney Dangerfield of the Far East. Instead of dealing with them in the same manner as someone acting like SH ('I'm going to kill you all but pretend to cooperate until I get the chance") we need to deal with them in the same manner one deals with someone acting upset 14-year-old ("I'm going to say whatever comes out of my mouth next until I'm emotionally stabilized and am absolutely sure in my own limited way that I'm being treated the way I think a grownup is supposed to be treated").

just my 2 cents' worth,

 

[GinSlinger]

Hmmmm,
China wants to become a real world power.
China wants more control over their sphere of influence.
North Korea is in China's sphere of influence.
QED
We should send Kissenger back to China and tell China to fix Korea's wagon....

Seriously, I wouldn't be the least surprised to find out the Beijing is pulling the strings here to get some leverrage on the West.

GinSlinger

 

[Standing Wolf]

Tyrannies always seem to produce the world's worst art.

 

[CZ-75]

How suicidal is ignoring the UN?

We won't want to fight another war for a while, and when we do the UN will rally against US.

And don't count out our fifth columnists at home. Sponsored by Ted Turner according to Bill O'Reilly and the Washington Times, among others, based on financial disclosure statments.

 

[dinosaur]

Nice bright colors though.

 

[CZ-75]

Lotsa RED.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Better than sending Kissinger back to China, let's ask the Chinese to invade. That way the two nations can "embrace" each other in a brotherly fashion promoted by socialism. Literally it will be "workers of the world uniting!" It's a no lose situation for us.

 

[Bahadur]

The captions on the posters are hilarious. Somehow, the most "creative" (or blatant) of the Soviet propagandists found employment in North Korea after the Cold War!

what they want is 'respect'.

They don't care about "respect." They want 1) survival of their tyrannical and murderous regime and 2) more aid to prop-up their crumbling society.

They understand - quite rationally - that now may be the "best" time for them to negotiate with us. We are engaged in a significant military efforts elsewhere, so we are a bit "constrained" in our options regarding the Korean peninsula. The problem for them is, we ain't negotiating!

We might feel generous enough to negotiate post-Gulf War II. But, by then, we will be parking some additional "incentives" in the North Pacific.

China wants to become a real world power.
China wants more control over their sphere of influence.
North Korea is in China's sphere of influence.
QED
We should send Kissenger back to China and tell China to fix Korea's wagon....

Seriously, I wouldn't be the least surprised to find out the Beijing is pulling the strings here to get some leverrage on the West.

This has got to be one of the most persistent "foreign policy" myths. North Korea is NOT in "China's sphere of influence." As a significant supplier of aid and arms to North Korea, China is indeed influential.

But even the Chinese leaders do not fully gauge the intentions of the North. Quite frankly, the Chinese do not feel that they are ready for a confrontation with the US over anything for the foreseeable future. They do not want a "crazy" North Korea disturbing the delicate balance of power in East Asia.

They certainly do NOT want the North Korea "situation" to invite US military action into the region and set a precedent for such an action in the region.

 

[jmbg29]

We might feel generous enough to negotiate post-Gulf War II. But, by then, we will be parking some additional "incentives" in the North Pacific.

Bahadur, you say the sweetest things sometimes!

 

[capt_happypants]

I don't think Kim Jong-Il really understands that El Presidente Pantalones is no longer in office.

Here's a hint: the new White House resident is George W. Bush, not the Pantless Wonder.

Unlike the previous President, Mr. Bush will not give you millions in fuel oil, food, and technical assistance if you threaten regional nuclear Armageddon. Generally, if you decide to get on his bad side, his response is to locate the source of the trouble, and send approximately 80,000 pounds of high-explosives to your front door, courtesy of 40-something TLAMs. If that doesn't work, he'll send 250,000 soldiers who haven't had a shower, a beer, and a soft bed in months to visit. Trust me, they won't be very happy, and they seek catharsis via destruction.

Really, it's a bad idea to irk GWB. Just ask Saddam Hussein.

If you can find him.

 

[Azrael256]

I've been discussing N. Korea with one of my history professors for some time now. I keep trying to understand why they do what they do. He finally had to tell me: "Stop trying to make sense of them and just accept the fact that they're crazy."

 

[ahadams]

Azreal - listen to your professor!

look when the wind blows off the siberian plain it's still going 50 miles an hour when it gets to central South Korea - can you imagine what winters are like up north? I have it on fairly good authority that the one of the largest problems the NK's have with radio discipline is with their troops reading porno novels back and forth to each other over the radio in the winter. That's got to tell you something about how living under those conditions affects the mind, no?

 

[another48hrs]

North Korea is just like any other third world power in the world. you don't get any say in anything unless you have the ability of using nuclear weapons. They will not stop till they have harnessed the power of the atom. It's sad to see a country's regime starve its own people, but work diligently on making weapons, but hey it happened before during the Great Leap Forward in China.

As far as China is concerned they are trying their best to fix N. Korea. They are taking it slow by establishing special economic zones in N. Korea and trying to build on the success that China has had converting to capitalism.

 

[ahadams]

another48hours: actually relatively little (for china) of that happened durring what was known in some circles as 'the great leap sideways'. That was primarily due to the PLA being temporarily detailed to be farmers, at least from the point of helping with the harvest.

The problem was that the entire country basically ceased to function at that point in time; and anybody who pointed that out ended up dead or doing hard labor while being 'reeducated'.

I would submit that the PLA and it's 'militia' supporters (all 200 Million of them) circa 1978 (well prior to the invasion of Viet Nam) was actually very similar to what anarcho-libertarians wish for the United States. And the results of the Vietnamese punitive expedition clearly demonstrate why that sort of nonsense does NOT work in real life.

 

[Justin]

Here is the only way that I've been able to make any sense out of the whole North Korea situation:

North Korea is like that 102 lb. skinny dude at a bar. He gets a couple drinks in him, and starts to get mouthy. He has a couple more, and starts to get beer muscles. Next think you know, North Korea is trying to pick a fight with America, the 250 lb. bodybuilder who's sitting at the bar trying to quietly enjoy a drink by himself. A bit simplistic, I'm sure, but works for me.

Based on the things I've read, Kim Jong-Il is a spastic psycho nutcase.

 

[4570Rick]

Justin

I don't think your analogy is too far off. You just left out one small item.

North Korea is like that 102 lb. skinny dude at a bar. He gets a couple drinks in him, and starts to get mouthy. He has a couple more, and starts to get beer muscles. Next think you know, North Korea is trying to pick a fight with America, the 250 lb. bodybuilder who's sitting at the bar trying to quietly enjoy a drink by himself, and the 102 lb skinny dude has a gun.

Besides; only a 102 lb drunk skinny dude with a gun would have a haircut like that.

 

[TexasVet]

I LOVE that art!!

But, where do they find that many out of work Marvel Comics artists to pump all that stuff out??