U.S. Exacerbates
'Profound' North Korean Insecurity; Provokes Missiles, Nukes (Global Times,
People's Republic of China)
Do the United
States and its allies bear some responsibility for the unpredictable, erratic
and potentially dangerous behavior of North Korea? This editorial from China's
state-run Global Times seeks to
distance Beijing from any arm-twisting of North Korea, and asserts that America
and its allies are driving the Hermit Kingdom to feel a need for missiles and nuclear
weapons.
On Tuesday, despite the deep concern of the international
community, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)
went ahead with its third nuclear test.
Pyongyang said it conducted its third underground nuclear
test to defend its national security and sovereignty against hostile American
policies and in protest of a U.N. Security Council resolution [SC10610],
Washington pushed through last month that punished the DPRK
for its December satellite launch.
[Editor's Note: It should be noted that the U.N. Security
Council, which includes China, agreed in unison to the provisions of resolution
SC10610,
which not only "condemns" and "deplores" North Korea's
action, but tightens some of the harshest sanctions ever endured by any nation,
and which China agreed with during previous nuclear-related episodes].
So immediately, the DPRK's nuclear
test has drawn condemnation from its rival camps. The United States slammed the
nuclear test as "highly provocative," Japan said it is mulling the imposition
of unilateral sanctions, while South Korea vowed to persue
all measures to deter Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.
Posted By
Worldmeets.US
On a superficial level, it is Pyongyang that has repeatedly
breached U.N. resolutions and used its nuclear program as a weapon to challenge
the world community. This was considered an unwise and regrettable policy.
But in fact, the DPRK's defiance is
deeply rooted in its powerful sense of insecurity after years of confrontation
with South Korea, Japan and a militarily superior United States.
In the eyes of the DPRK, Washington
has spared no effort to contain it, and has time and again flexed its military
muscle by holding military exercises around the region with South Korea and
Japan, [and many others].
Pyongyang's latest nuclear test appears to be another
manifestation of a desperate attempt to keep the threat at bay.
At the same time, escalating tensions also highlight the importance
of trust building by all sides, and the need for sincere, concrete efforts to
prevent the disastrous consequences of a deterioration of the situation on the
peninsula.
Right now, in order to properly manage the current
crisis, the most dire need is for all parties to stay calm, exercise restraint,
and accommodate the concerns of the others.
In the long run, dialogue and negotiations, not
confrontation and the exchange of barbs, are the optimal means of leading to a
resolution of the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula. Six-Party Talks,
which bring all sides to the same negotiating table, remain the most viable
platform for reversing the trend of hostilities.
The time has come for all parties concerned to think and to act
rationally, avoid disastrous fallout, and create the basis for a revival of long-stalled
Six-Party Talks.
