Commentary

Why is the U.S. Determined to Create a Crisis in Korea?

The crisis which has erupted over the nuclear program of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) is entirely the making of the American government. The former Clinton administration created the original crisis in 1994 when it objected to North Korea's nuclear power program, claiming that large amounts of plutonium waste was being diverted to weapons production. An investigation by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) showed that all but a few grams of plutonium were accounted for. Despite this fact, the Clinton administration threatened economic sanctions against the DPRK as a method of bringing down the government.

In a 1994 deal brokered by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, the DPRK agreed to decommission its Soviet-style heavy water nuclear power plants in exchange for two U.S.-designed light water nuclear power plants and sufficient oil to replace the electricity lost by shutting down its existing plants. The deal also called for the normalization of relations between the DPRK and the United States and included a pledge of non-aggression between the two countries. However, the Americans almost immediately reneged on the deal.

In 1995 and 1996 the DPRK suffered disastrous floods which destroyed much of its coal production, rendering it even more dependent on nuclear energy for electricity. Sensing an increasing economic crisis and hoping for the collapse of the North Korean government, the Americans stalled and sabotaged the construction of the promised nuclear power plants, which have still not been built. The U.S. also reneged on its agreement to publicly declare an end to its previous policy of a nuclear first strike against the North.

When George W. Bush ascended to the presidency, the American attitude towards the DPRK became even more hostile and belicose. Following the events of September 11, 2001 and the decision of the Bush administration to capitalize on those events to declare the United States to be the sole superpower, Bush went a step further, declaring America to be in a state of perpetual war with the "axis of evil" - Iraq, Iran and North Korea - and reiterating a nuclear first strike policy against the DPRK. These declarations by Bush spelled the de facto end of the 1994 agreement between the DPRK and the United States.

The response of the DPRK was no different from that of any country which may find itself threatened with nuclear annihilation; it resolved to defend itself. Recognizing the fact that the Americans had no intention of ever finishing the promised nuclear power plants, the DPRK took steps to restart its own nuclear power program. The Americans responded with claims that the DPRK had violated the 1994 joint agreement and was actively building nuclear weapons. It proceeded to cut off oil and food shipments to the DPRK, thereby ratcheting the crisis up another notch. Despite repeated denials by the government of the DPRK that it either possesses or is developing nuclear weapons, the Bush administration continues to spread disinformation to the effect that the DPRK has admitted to building several nuclear bombs. Even the government of South Korea has refuted those American claims.

What the government of the DPRK has stated is that, faced with a threat by the President of the United States to use nuclear weapons against them and with the fact that there are already hundreds of nuclear warheads in South Korea aimed at the North, the DPRK has the right to defend itself and to develop nuclear weapons if its sees fit. The right to self-defence is, of course, a principle of international law and a right which the U.S. itself invoked to justify its destruction of Afghanistan. While it would be unfortunate if the DPRK or any other nation decided to arm itself with nuclear weapons, so long as the United States possesses such weapons and threatens to use them to enforce its empire, there is no question that every other nation in the world has the right to possess such weapons as an instrument of self-defence.

However, the whole issue of nuclear weapons is being deliberately blown out of all proportion by the United States in order to hide its real motive in creating a crisis on the Korean Peninsula. During the past several years, a wave of anti-Americanism has swept through South Korea. Tired of being a vassal state occupied by U.S. troops, South Korea has been increasingly asserting its independence from the U.S. and developing trade relations with China, Russia and the DPRK. Despite gross interference by the Americans in recent elections, the people of South Korea elected a president who openly endorses a more independent path for South Korea. Thus, at a time when the Bush Doctrine declares the United States to be the ruler of the entire world, the Empire is beginning to crumble around the edges. If the current trend continues, the United States will soon find itself unwelcome anywhere on the Korea Peninsula and will be forced to remove its occupation troops and nuclear missiles from Korean soil. The loss of that military base would deal a serious political and military blow to the Empire. The only hope for the United States to block that trend is to create a political crisis, which holds the danger of yet another devastating war in Korea.