Two weeks ago Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that North Korea behaved as a naughty child looking to attract the world's attention (she didn't say that the naughty child is in the headlines anytime he wants). Kim Jong IL has “come to life” again after reports that he had suffered a stroke last year. But his political intelligence was not affected at all by his health condition. Since the two American journalists were detained by North Korean officers for allegedly trying to cross its border illegally, it was obvious that he would use them to attract (once more) the attention of the international community, particularly the United States. The Obama administration had a difficult dilemma. They could have done nothing and let their two citizens face a 12 year hard labour sentence in the reclusive state with all the political implications it could have had.
The other option was very risky considering the tuff attitude North Korea has taken towards the Obama administration. After Obama’s inauguration North Korea withdrew from the Six Party Talks, restarted its nuclear tests and launched a rocket capable of transporting a nuclear weapon (although the regime officially said its purpose was to carry a satellite), increasing the tension in the region. So that other option was to make a secret diplomatic arrangement in order to free the American hostages, some would say in other words “negotiate with terrorists”. I think that in the end negotiating with North Korea the release of the journalists was the smartest decision they could have taken, but of course it has its negative implications. In one hand, Kim Jong Il has demonstrated the whole world that he can kidnap people, then release them and in return have a picture next to a respected American ex president, and be in the headlines (again) for a while. In the other, the heroical rescue made by Bill Clinton will let the Obama administration have a better understanding of what really is happening in North Korea after reports of the preparations for the succession of its leader.
The “official pictures” released by the North Korean government show what everything was about. Bill Clinton, who is normally cheerful was very serious, while Kim Jong IL, always appears to be in a bad mood, was trying to smile all the time.
By now, we can say that once more Kim Jong Il got what he wanted. We must wait to see if the Obama administration can get from this operation more than the rescue of the journalists, and use it to get closer to the North Koreans and probably restart the Six Party Talks. But as many of us know, with North Korea it’s always the same, once step forward and wo backwards. At least we have something new to laugh about, that incredible official picture with the waterfall in the background, and the funny faces of Bill Clinton, who has made a wondrous return to the main stage, and the always mysterious Kim Jong IL.
North Korea has once again defied the globe by making a nuclear test that has raised concerns of the intentions of the communist state to press the red button and launch a nuclear weapon. Scientists have confirmed that the test provoked an earthquake in the North of the country, so this time we are not talking about propaganda.
The North Korean regime uses its nuclear programmeas its only mean of negotiation with the rest of the world and Kim Jong-il knows it. If North Korea had no nuclear programme, its negotiation power would be reduced to nothing and the regime would probably have collapsed long time ago. But the imminent threat of effectively developing and using a nuclear weapon makes its neighbors, the United States and the rest of the world take a different approach towards the problem.
Kim Jong-il knows that anything he does (in other words, anything he does and wants the world to be informed of) will be instantly in the headlines of the media of the whole world. The rumours of his health condition and the launch of a rocket which was supposed to carry a satellite but that can be used to transport a nuclear weapon are some examples of the huge media coverage that strengthens the regime. The UN Security Council condemned the launch of the rocket, and in response, North Korea pulled out of the Six Party Talks (involving North Korea, South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan), which were aimed to make the regime stop its nuclear programme. While some objectives were apparently achieved in the Six Party Talks, it appears that in reality Kim Jong-il has no intention of ending its nuclear programme through diplomatic means.
Meanwhile, South Koreans are still in shock after the suicide of their former president, who was formally accused of bribery, and the fear of their neighbor’s intentions to press the red button has worsened the situation. Hopefully the nuclear test was just one more successful attempt of the regime to be in the headlines and strengthen its negotiation power, as it is very unlikely that they will ever launch a nuclear attack. Probably this show will be over the day Kim Jong-il dies and the North Korean people will finally get out of the dark, although his death won’t mean that unification will be easy.
The annual income of North Koreans is around 17 times lower than the one of their southern neighbors and the regime has one of the worst human rights records in the world.
Because life with humour is much better, here you can watch a video of "North Korea's new ambitions", hehe...
