People’s Korea reaches out to south for peacful dialog, defuses U.S. war rhetoric
By
Deirdre Griswold
Published Jan 19, 2011 4:50 PM
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said on Jan. 11 that the Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea was “becoming a direct threat to the
United States.”
The U.S. capitalist establishment, whose military is spread across the globe
and is armed with the most destructive weapons in the history of the world, has
created the myth that People’s Korea is a threat to the U.S. and much of
Asia.
This myth by itself would be totally unconvincing, since the DPRK — the
northern half of the Korean Peninsula — could not rationally contemplate
an unprovoked attack on the U.S., a military superpower. So a second myth is
necessary: that the DPRK leaders are not rational. Every accusation that the
DPRK poses a threat to world peace requires this second myth.
These two myths are repeated ad nauseam in the powerful U.S. corporate
media.
According to Gates, the DPRK is within five years of being able to strike the
U.S. with an intercontinental ballistic missile and is continuing to develop
nuclear weapons.
Of course, the U.S. has had ICBMs since 1959. The Pentagon showed in 1945 that
it would not shrink from using atomic weapons against civilians when it dropped
bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, incinerating hundreds of thousands of people.
With the development of ICBMs, it became possible for Washington to order such
instant destruction almost anywhere in the world.
Using Gates’s own logic, the United States became a “direct
threat” to the entire world long ago.
The U.S. certainly has been a direct threat to People’s Korea for more
than half a century. It invaded the northern part of Korea in 1950 and carried
out a brutal three-year war with vastly superior air power and weapons, yet
failed to conquer this valiant country. It has tried to cripple the
DPRK’s economy ever since with sanctions and keeps almost 30,000 troops
right on the other side of the demilitarized zone that separates the socialist
north from the U.S.-allied south.
Is it not really rational, therefore, that the leaders of the DPRK feel they
need strong weapons to defend themselves? Isn’t Gates really afraid that
if the U.S. were to militarily attack it, the DPRK could have the ability to
retaliate?
For at least two generations, the U.S. ruling establishment argued that it
needed to keep developing and stockpiling nuclear weapons as a
“deterrent” in the Cold War against the Soviet Union. Once that
struggle was over, they promised a “peace dividend” and
disarmament. But most of the weapons remain and U.S. foreign policy has become
more aggressive and belligerent.
Is it irrational for the leaders of the DPRK to also want to have a deterrent
against attack? Why isn’t this rational for a much smaller country than
the U.S. — one that has been targeted again and again by the Pentagon and
included in former President George W. Bush’s mythical “axis of
evil”?
New Year’s message emphasizes peaceful development
The leaders of the DPRK don’t represent huge corporations and banks that
suck wealth out of countries around the world and need a strong military to
enforce their exploitation. That’s the U.S. government. The DPRK wants
nothing more than to be left alone to carry out peaceful development on a
socialist basis.
They showed this on Dec. 19 when, after being wildly provoked for the second
time in a month by the U.S. and its south Korean allies, the DPRK leaders
defused a terribly dangerous crisis. Troops of the Seoul regime in the south,
backed up by U.S. advisors, again fired live shells into waters just off the
DPRK during so-called war games. The north had warned that if that happened
again, it would respond. It did happen again — but the armed forces of
the DPRK held their fire in the interests of all the Korean people.
An authoritative joint New Year’s editorial by the DPRK’s three
leading newspapers stated that the allocation of state resources will continue
to emphasize the development of light industry and agriculture in order to
raise the standard of living of the people.
For almost a decade, the people of the DPRK have tightened their belts in order
to give priority to the building up of their defenses in reaction to increased
U.S. threats. They have made great gains in this area. Beginning last year and
continuing into 2011, the emphasis now is on using high technology to provide
the people with manufactured goods of greater quality and more abundant
food.
On Jan. 5 another joint statement was issued that reflected decisions of the
government, the Workers’ Party of Korea and other parties and
organizations. This one addressed the desire of all Koreans for peace and
reunification. It called for an unconditional and early opening of talks with
“the political parties and organizations of south Korea including its
authorities, be they authorities or civilians, ruling parties or opposition
parties, progressives or conservatives.”
Saying that “the issue of inter-Korean relations can never be solved by
confrontation,” it added that the DPRK was “ready to meet anyone,
anytime and anywhere. ... The danger of war will be defused and the day of
peace, reunification and prosperity be brought earlier when all Koreans assert
in concert and pool their wisdom and efforts.”
The south Korean authorities have yet to give a positive response. They know
that the people certainly want peace. If they reject this overture from the
north, the opposition in the south is sure to grow.
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
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