North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been more militarily aggressive than his predecessors..
Photo: ReutersNorth Korea, during its decades-long dynastic dictatorship, has shown itself to be unworthy of trust. The recalcitrant communist rogue state has negotiated to dismantle its illegal nuclear arms program a number of times. Instead, the testing and development of intercontinental ballistic missiles and of nuclear payloads has continued, and is considered one of the greatest threats to world peace and stability.
North Korea’s 34-year-old supreme ruler, Kim Jong-un – who inherited absolute power several years ago from his father, who had inherited absolute power from his own father – has been even more militarily aggressive than his predecessors.
So, the world is rightly treating with robust scepticism Mr Kim’s unexpected apparent capitulation to pressure to end the bomb brinkmanship and come to the negotiating table. It is probable that without the economic sanctions the world has been ramping up against North Korea, Mr Kim would not be offering to enter talks, in stark contrast to his belligerence, particularly during the past year, the first of US President Donald Trump’s mandate.
The two volatile and tonsorially maverick leaders have engaged in an alarming rhetorical skirmish, with Mr Trump demeaning Mr Kim as ‘‘little rocket man’’ and Mr Kim threatening nuclear strikes on the US and other allies of North Korea’s most proximate enemy, South Korea. But Mr Kim now says he wants to denuclearise and appears likely to meet with Mr Trump before May.
Australia, also now believed to be within range of Mr Kim’s nuclear missiles, has long backed the US-led efforts to end North Korea’s nuclear weapons ambition, and is urging that sanctions not be relaxed unless any talks actually lead to denuclearisation. Like most other governments, ours is wisely tempering cautious optimism with scepticism born of long and bitter experience.
But there is good reason for the world to engage with North Korea. The US has stated the aim of sanctions is to force North Korea to negotiate the end of its nuclear ambitions. North Korea says it will halt its weapons program during talks.
The global mood is further buoyed by the belief that China, which values North Korea primarily as a geographic buffer against the capitalist community of nations, is weary of North Korea’s delinquency.
North Korea has broken UN-brokered agreements. In 1994 and 2005, it agreed to destroy its nuclear arsenal. It has lied. It has threatened its neighbours. It has threatened the world. It is probably already capable of deploying long-range missiles with nuclear warheads. It claims it wants guaranteed security in return for dropping its bombs program. That, evidently, can be assured. North Korea’s nuclear program has devoured resources and shackled the economy.
This adds to the cause for scepticism, as it has little left to lose, but also for optimism, as it has so much to gain by abandoning a military ambition that has never made economic or geopolitical sense, and has caused generations of its people appalling suffering. It must and will end one day, and every effort must be made to bring about a peaceful resolution. Hundreds of thousands of lives are at stake.
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