[imText1]Kang Seok Joo, Minister of North Korea’s Foreign Affairs Bureau said on the morning of 22nd “Did we make nukes so we could admit defeat? Surrendering nukes is out of the question.”
In amidst times where the six-party talks is expected to reconvene next month, this kind of remarks darkens the prospect of solving North Korea’s nukes even before the talks have reopened.
Undoubtedly we can interpret Minister Kang’s remark as “We will not surrender our nuclear armaments without compensation” however with propaganda phrases spreading throughout Pyongyang city such as “In our everlasting 5,000 year old history, we have now become a nuclear possessing nation, may there be glory on our nation” and “Let’s establish ourselves as a strong power and bold nuke possessing nation” we cannot easily understand the minds of these people.
In addition, North Korean authorities have been educating citizens at meetings of people’s units saying that “Beginning with participating nations of the six-party talks, the whole world is in fear of our nuclear armaments” and “Now, our government is gathering strength to raise our economy and standard of living next year, to the point even the Americans cannot underestimate our sovereignty.” These meetings are being held in order to regain confidence that the system will be sustained even after the nuke experiments.
Also, a North Korean website “Uriminzokkiri (being Amongst Our Nation)” was used on Oct 18th as North Korea’s tool for foreign advertisement where an article titled “Military Politics and comrade life” was on the weekly news column. After discussing the truth about nuke experiment it argued that “Republicanism uses its own strength, is equipped with self-defense war restraints and that its nation is protected by its own skills.” Furthermore, “military-first politics” was continuously praised as a strong national power to protect and regulate former nations.”
There is one comrade who will never betray you, that is the ‘gun’.
We can understand Kim Jong Il’s fixation on “Military-First Politics” when we examine a North Korean elementary grade 5 textbook on communist morality which portrays an “esteemed opinion on guns.”
In brief, the textbook states “Juche 84, 1995 June 25th, a time when a colloquy was made in order to honor the dictator in the presence of the people’s military and commanders. Honorable admiral (Kim Il Sung) cared for the people’s military and tonight, I would like to make one comment to my comrades. There is one comrade who will never betray you, that is the ‘gun’.”
“I (Kim Jong Il) always live and breathe in-sync with a gun. Even though all things on earth may change, a gun will never betray its owner. A gun is an everlasting traveling companion to revolution and it can be considered a comrade. This is my opinion and theory on the gun” revealed the textbook.
Today, we can revise Kim Jong Il’s trustworthy comrade “gun” as a “nuke.” Though the whole world may change, it is certain that a “nuke” will never betray you.
Retrospectively, though the U.S. and international community is holding onto the hope and conclusion that North Korea will surrender its nukes once the North Korean system is secured and the nukes are abandoned at a cost, having observed the actions displayed by Kim Jong Il after the 1st nuclear threat in `94, it is unlikely that his ‘one and only comrade (nuke)’ will be parted with.
Nevertheless, it is incorrect to generalize that Kim Jong Il will not surrender his nukes. However, if an optimistic give and take condition opens the six-party talks, once again in a few years time, it is possible that we will be discussing idle gossip about the “2006 2nd North Korean nuclear threat.”
