Korea — A Settlement? Very Possible, Highly Unlikely, But— (REPOST)

HELP ENLIGHTEN YOUR FELLOWS. BE SURE TO PASS THIS ON. SURVIVAL DEPENDS ON IT.

North Korea will never give up its nuclear weapons and its right to maintain them, indefinitely. After all, if the three states that have not signed the Nucelar Non-Proliferation Treaty , India, Pakistan, and Israel, can have them, why not North Korea? The excuses for India and Pakistan are primarily each other, for Israel, its size and its geographical isolation. For North Korea, the reason is a rather different one. Rather, it is reasons. Let me count (some of) them: North Korea (1950-53), Iran (1953), Guatemala (1954), Vietnam (1954), Hungary (attempted, 1956), Brazil (1964), the Dominican Republic (1965), Chile (1973), Afghanistan, (1978-86), Nicaragua (partial, 1980s), the Soviet Union (which, despite having nuclear weapons, succumbed to the 75 Years War Against the Soviet Union, 1917-1992), Iraq (2003), Cuba (since 1961, unsuccessful, but still trying), (Iran, presently, still trying), Libya (2012), Venezuela (2017: http://www.globalresearch.ca/large-scale-manoeuvres-encircling-venezuela/5607619 ). And so on and so forth.

A-Bomb Dome (Image by Imahinasyon Photography)

This is a partial list of countries in which the U.S. has attempted, often but not always with success, what is politely called "regime change." The interventions have ranged from the frank overthrow of a freely elected government (Iran, 1953), to direct military invasion of a supposedly "threatening" military dictatorship which, however, presented no threat to the United States other than what was put out in the government propaganda of the time (Iraq, 2003).

It happens that it was the U.S. that created the two Koreas. (It would later repeat the same feat in Vietnam.) As World War II was coming to a close, the Soviet Union was poised to invade Japan and its then colonial possession, Korea, on August 8, 1945. One motivation for the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9) was to foreclose the possibility that the Red Army would establish a foothold on Japanese territory (the first landings were to be on the northernmost Japanese island of Hokkaido) and would quickly take over the whole of the Korean Peninsula.

Korea;'s Kim: No trust in the US, the mark of eminent rationality, not insanity as incessant propaganda would have us believe. The man knows his history well, and that of the world, something Trump doesn't have a clue about and doesn't care.

With the forestalling of the Soviet invasion, U.S. personnel quickly were moved to Korea. Before they arrived in September, in Washington a young U.S. colonel, one Dean Rusk, looked at a map and decided that a line dividing Korea in two, one a "Soviet" zone, and the other a "U.S." zone, would a) be a good idea, and b) would be [arbitrarily] drawn at the 38thparallel. (With this sort of action, Dean Rusk, an army colonel at the time, was obviously preparing for his much bigger role in preparing and perpetuating the War on Viet Nam.) Although the first North Korean leader, Kim il Sung, and his parents, had been leading anti-Japanese guerilla forces since the Japanese conquest of Manchuria in 1932, and was widely respected (revered by some) throughout Korea, the U.S. set-up a pro-U.S. government under the former exile, the pro-U.S. arch-reactionary Syngman Rhee. Using many former Korean Japanese collaborators, they spent much of their time rooting out, and in many cases killing, supporters of Kim il-Sung residing in the South. [These massacres well exceeded 100,000, and were witnessed—some say supervised—by US army personnel, which did not intervene to prevent them as it was their duty under international conventions.—Eds.)

North Korea has previously negotiated with the United States and at one time was an adherent to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It pulled out in 2003 because, bottom line, despite what was being said in Washington at the time, it simply did not trust President George W. Bush. (And, after "Iraq," why would any potential adversary?). Regardless of what did or did not happen between North Korea and the United States during the Obama Administration , the former clearly now does not trust the U.S. any more than it could hoist the whole country onto one of its Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles (or perhaps, if they really have one, an ICBM) and send the whole country into outer space.

It is very important to note that there has never been a peace treaty, either between North and South Korea nor between the North and the United States following the conclusion of the armistice that ended the fighting in 1953. The North has been asking for such a treaty for many years, as have many elements in South Korea. Under neither Democratic nor Republican Presidents has the U.S. ever shown any inclination to negotiate one. And so, as far as the North Koreans are concerned, the number one objective for the U.S. has been the overthrow of their government, with the likely "unification" (and man, would that be a bloody affair) under South Korean rule. That of course would put a close diplomatic, commercial and military ally of the U.S. on both the Chinese and Russian borders.

As I said at the beginning of this column, the North Koreans are never going to give up their nuclear weapons. Those weapons are the only guarantee they have against U.S.-sponsored "regime change." (For obvious reasons, as is well known, neither the Chinese not the Russians want that to happen either.) Nevertheless, the outlines of a deal are on the table. 1. A peace treaty is negotiated. (In early 2016, North Korea did say that in return for a peace treaty, it would end nuclear testing. And that had to have been an opening negotiating position.) 2. Relations between North Korea and South Korea and the United States are normalized. 3. All sanctions are lifted. 4. North Korea re-joins the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, agrees to a freeze on its ballistic missile development program, and subjects itself to regular International Atomic Energy Agency inspections (like Iran), including its military facilities (unlike Iran).

There are give-ups on both sides here, but such a resolution would be very beneficial to the North as well as to Russia and China. There has been much talk about the impending collapse of the NK government --- for years. It has not happened. But true peace would give it the opportunity to massively develop the nation economically. {What the North has accomplished despite the severe obstacles put in its path by the Americans and their allies is simply astonishing, as any impartial observer has testified.) Still, there is much talk about how poor and backward it is, which is largely a propaganda meme floated by the West against any socialist nation, no matter what its real accomplishments. Nevertheless, it has been able to create what must be a fairly large group of scientists and engineers for its nuclear programs, peaceful and military. A settlement would allow the turning of those human resources towards productive pursuits, for all.

Finally, would the U.S. agree to such a proposal? Not a chance, especially under Trump. Since North Korea would, and could, never agree to de-nuclearization, such a deal would be an almost impossible sell politically for any U.S. President, but especially Trump. But more than that, the U.S. needs the "North Korean threat" to justify all sorts of things, military and commercial, starting with the maintenance of Permanent War. In a while, the short-term threats from both sides will quiet down. (Yes, Trump will get bored with this one and turn his attention elsewhere where he can mouth off.) But, because of the inherent U.S. resistance to it, any permanent, peaceful resolution of an unstable situation that has been in place or over 60 years is a long way off.

BUT, if South Korea and its ruling class, with the country's capital within massive artillery (not nuclear) range of the North, finally gets tired of being led around by the nose by the U.S. (and most especially by its current President) on the matter of relationships with the North and decides to go off and negotiate its own peace treaty, well then ---

       

Important references:

1. Bruce Cumings, "A Murderous History of Korea," London Review of Books, May 18, 2017,https://www.lrb.co.uk/v39/n10/bruce-cumings/a-murderous-history-of-korea?utm .

2. Tim Shorrock, "Diplomacy With North Korea Has Worked Before, and Can Work Again,"The Nation, Sept. 5, 2017, https://www.thenation.com/article/diplomacy-with-north-korea-has-worked-before-and-can-work-again/

3. Darrell Prince, "North Korea situation Sept 3 2017: You catch more flies with honey, than vinegar,"http://thecallforunity.org/north-korea-situtation-sept-3-2017/.

 

About the Author

Steven Jonas, MD, is a Professor Emeritus of Preventive Medicine at StonyBrookMedicine (NY) and author/co-author/editor/co-editor of over 35 books.  In addition to his position on OpEdNews as a “Trusted Author,” he is a Deputy Editor, Politics, for The Greanville Post; a Contributor for American Politics to The Planetary Movement; a contributor to the “Writing for Godot” section of Reader Supported News; and a contributor to From The G-Man.  Furthermore, he is an occasional contributor to BuzzFlash Commentary Headlines and The Harder Stuff.  He is also a triathlete (34 seasons, 250 multi-sport races).

Dr. Jonas’ latest book is Ending the ‘Drug War’; Solving the Drug Problem: The Public Health Approach, Brewster, NY: Punto Press Publishing, (Brewster, NY, 2016, available on Kindle from Amazon, and also in hardcover from Amazon).  His most recent book on US politics is The 15% Solution: How the Republican Religious Right Took Control of the U.S., 1981-2022: A Futuristic Novel (Trepper & Katz Impact Books, Punto Press Publishing, 2013, Brewster, NY), and available on Amazon.  This book is currently being serialized on OpEdNews, a project that will likely continue throughout the 2017 calendar year.  

STEVEN JONAS—North Korea has previously negotiated with the United States and at one time was an adherent to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It pulled out in 2003 because, bottom line, despite what was being said in Washington at the time, it simply did not trust President George W. Bush. (And, after “Iraq,” why would any potential adversary?).
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Parting shot—a word from the editors
The Best Definition of Donald Trump We Have Found

In his zeal to prove to his antagonists in the War Party that he is as bloodthirsty as their champion, Hillary Clinton, and more manly than Barack Obama, Trump seems to have gone “play-crazy” -- acting like an unpredictable maniac in order to terrorize the Russians into forcing some kind of dramatic concessions from their Syrian allies, or risk Armageddon.However, the “play-crazy” gambit can only work when the leader is, in real life, a disciplined and intelligent actor, who knows precisely what actual boundaries must not be crossed. That ain’t Donald Trump -- a pitifully shallow and ill-disciplined man, emotionally handicapped by obscene privilege and cognitively crippled by white American chauvinism. By pushing Trump into a corner and demanding that he display his most bellicose self, or be ceaselessly mocked as a “puppet” and minion of Russia, a lesser power, the War Party and its media and clandestine services have created a perfect storm of mayhem that may consume us all.— Glen Ford, Editor in Chief, Black Agenda Report 

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How the DPRK riddle is freaking out the US establishment

by Pepe Escobar for the Saker blog

Mattis—the imperial proconsul—being briefed by vassal army officers in South Korea.

The Sudetenland revival

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he source stressed how principals in these meetings were familiar with “key strategists above Mattis who were responsible for most of the major US defense programs in place.” They know, for instance, how “we are four generations behind in defensive missiles which seals the Russian airspace” – even though any expert in US Think Tankland persists in total denial.

The number one concern is about “the present satellite and missile capacity of North Korea to detonate nuclear bombs over the US knocking out the entire electronic infrastructure through a http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/north-korea-us-attack-emp-power-grid-kill-90-per-cent-american-population-electromagnetic-pulse-a8002756.html

electromagnetic impulse (EMP) attack liquidating 90% of the American population within a year. This concurs with public statements by Putin that tiny countries in the future can obtain the capacity to destroy superpowers.”

Putin’s comment should be interpreted as this possible DPRK threat being capable of affecting a very advanced nation much more than those in the Global South; a completely different dimension compared to the former MAD concept of mutually assured (nuclear) destruction.

In his own presentation to Trump, Mattis emphasized the EMP “as a potential horror beyond imagination. Within 24 hours Walmart shelves would have nothing on them.  Food distribution would grind to a halt. Food riots all over the US would take place. 80% of the population would perish according to Mattis.”

The debate then moved to whether the DPRK already possesses submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs). According to Heritage’s http://www.heritage.org/staff/bruce-klingner Bruce Klingner, the DPRK has twenty Romeo class submarines capable of carrying SBLMs (their range is 9,000 miles; the distance from Pyongyang to New York City is 6,783 miles). True, they are old, built in the 1950s. The question is open on how far advanced the DPRK is in miniaturization.

The debate considered the possibility the EMP threat was “a leak from Mattis to justify war tension, or it so should be interpreted by China and Russia. Mattis said the US would lose 80% of their population based on Pentagon studies, though they did not go that far. Mattis has no strategic sense at all and should be no more than a minor Marine functionary as his ability is very limited.”

Regardless of Mattis’s judgement, the principals agreed that the highest concern is the miniaturization of a hydrogen bomb set off via satellite as an EMP attack – even though that would not be very high above the earth and could, in theory, be knocked out by US ground missiles.

What was interesting is that this possible DPRK threat invoked the specter of the Sudetenland.

“The Sudetenland analogy was one of the principals’ way of expressing that WWIII has already started”, according to the source. “My interpretation was that he was referring to actions of North Korea, and actions in Syria and Ukraine. Those were his words, not mine. You could say Russia occupied Crimea or exerts its influence over Donbass. Or has displaced the US in Iraq and Syria. The main point is that Russia and China are starting to roll back US influence. So the North Korea threat is also part of Sudetenland.”

What’s clear is that the DPRK drama is further straining US alliances, and not only in Northwest Asia. According to the source, “a lot of this has to do with a wide perception that US weaponry does not measure up to the Russians and Chinese. And that US interests such as stopping North Korea from reaching the US overrides US considerations of its allies. These alliance structures are falling apart out of sight of the public.”

In a nutshell, this behind the scenes debate does show how alarmed is the US establishment. It’s unclear what Trump will make of its conclusions as he gets ready to hit the Asia trail.

Wang Yang to the rescue?

Yang

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he ultimate question for the US establishment is how to find some sort of balance in breaking up the Eurasian landmass from the long-term China-Russia strategic partnership embrace. Tactics include mixing a push to resurrect Pilsudski’s http://hungarianspectrum.org/2017/06/29/the-three-seas-initiative-and-donald-trump/

Intermarium Plan against Russia with countering China by seeking to ally India, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea. This is by now classic Cold War 2.0 – but this time around with China and Russia massively stronger than the alliances attempted against them, and on top of it constituted as a Eurasian peer-competitor strategic partnership.

Progressive alienation, simultaneously, of China, Russia and Germany (for instance, via US Congress sanctions on German companies over Nord Stream Two), is not only a de facto act of strategic insanity. This will end up forcing the trio into a solid, long-term realignment in which Washington will be completely alienated from the entire Eurasian landmass to the benefit of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and its spin-offs.

In their upcoming meeting in Beijing, a plausible scenario is Xi suggesting Trump the possibility of a deal with Kim Jong-un – eventually leading to de facto ending of the Korean War (instead of the current armistice). The process would include multilateral security guarantees (by the US, and endorsed/supervised by Russia and China) and a US no-sanction commitment towards some sort of economic opening if the DPRK freezes for good the testing of nuclear weapons and ICBMs. Xi would be a sort of guarantor of the DPRK. The question is whether Pyongyang would accept it.

In realpolitik terms there’s not much the Trump administration can do about the DPRK, except work through Beijing and Moscow to defuse the crisis. Some action is underway via the so-called “New York channel”, with Joseph Yun, US negotiator for North Korea, talking to diplomats at the DPRK mission to the UN. A potential, unilateral US attack on the DPRK could trigger the very World War destruction it’s supposed to halt, as China has made it quite clear.

So all eyes, once again, are on China. Apart from Xi, the man to watch with the emergence of the new 7-member Politburo Standing Committee is Wang Yang – the number four in the hierarchy who now becomes executive vice-premier.

Wang is the former party chief in both Chongqing and Guangdong, and previously vice-premier in charge of agriculture and foreign trade. He’s the top Chinese official dealing with Washington on economy and trade – and may now have his work cut out for him; to convince Team Trump, via Chinese diplomacy, that to do business with the DPRK is actually a good deal.

That certainly beats the specter of an EMP inferno.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Pepe Escobar-nova-menor

Distinguished Collaborator Pepe Escobar is an independent geopolitical analyst. He writes for RT, Sputnik and TomDispatch, and is a frequent contributor to websites and radio and TV shows ranging from the US to East Asia. He is the former roving correspondent for Asia Times Online. Born in Brazil, he’s been a foreign correspondent since 1985, and has lived in London, Paris, Milan, Los Angeles, Washington, Bangkok and Hong Kong. Even before 9/11 he specialized in covering the arc from the Middle East to Central and East Asia, with an emphasis on Big Power geopolitics and energy wars. He is the author of “Globalistan” (2007), “Red Zone Blues” (2007), “Obama does Globalistan” (2009) and “Empire of Chaos” (2014), all published by Nimble Books. His latest book is “2030”, also by Nimble Books, out in December 2015. 



There Are Human Beings in North Korea. Neither Wealthy Nor Poor

horiz-long grey

HELP ENLIGHTEN YOUR FELLOWS. BE SURE TO PASS THIS ON. SURVIVAL DEPENDS ON IT.

 By Kim Petersen

Global Research, October 30, 2017 (A fraternal site)

Puhung station in Pyongyang. Clean, modern, functional.


 Any person who is half clued-in knows well that corporate and state media (particularly in the West) must be regarded with deserved skepticism [if not downright contempt). This holds particularly for geo-political events since the domineering elitist corporate-governmental line will be adhered to. Given this deplorable media state-of-affairs, it goes to reason that coverage of North Korea must be regarded with an Olympus Mons of salt. So the question is: how best to obtain a more credible insight into what the reality is in North Korea? How about actually being there and seeing with your own eyes? This would provide a first-hand perspective as opposed to a second-hand perspective (or quite likely a zero-hand perspective since the monopoly media scribe might never have been to North Korea). Hence, I took my opportunity to travel to and experience a moment in North Korea.

Earlier this month, I arrived in Dandong. It is a Chinese city of two-million people – many ethnic Korean – situated on the Yalu River. Across the grayish, brown river lies North Korea. Two bridges side-by side reach out from central Dandong toward the city of Sinuiju on the North Korean shore. One bridge, the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge, reaches the opposite shore. The other bridge extends halfway out, having been destroyed by the US bombing during the war in Korea. It remains half intact as a reminder.

“We all get free housing, free medical care, and do not pay to go to university.”

Ms Kim even opined that North Korea is more socialist than their communist neighbor China. Obviously, this is so. Communist China cannot claim to have achieved any of these socialist goals… yet. [1] That being said, it seems that governing the third largest country in the world with the world’s largest population — usually cited now as about 1.4 billion people – poses a somewhat more daunting task than governing North Korea and its 25 million people. However, North Korea has achieved these socialist goals despite economic sanctions pushed by the United States through the United Nations. This despite North Korea having broken no laws. As a North Korean weekly newspaper argued:

The DPRK’s buildup of a nuclear deterrent is an absolutely legal and just act that does not violate any international law in all processes from the beginning of their programme to the recent test of hydrogen bomb to be mounted on an ICBM as well as future measures for the completion of the state nuclear programme. [2]

The article further noted that having withdrawn from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 2003, it is untethered to any of its stipulations. Therefore, North Korea has demanded many times, without success, an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to explain, among other matters, the legality of its resolution 2375. Despite resolution 2375 garnering the unanimous vote of the 15 member UN Security Council, the member nations of the G77 unanimously rejected the sanctions against North Korea. [3] Neither Wealthy nor Poor North Korea is not poor, and neither is it materially wealthy. While vehicles are few, Pyongyang boasts a two-line metro 110 meters below ground where some station walls are adorned by beautiful mosaic scenery. Above ground getting around by bicycles and walking was the norm. My observations for the most part were of a slim people nattily attired, seemingly happy.

On 20 July, the UN’s FAO published a special alert warning of impending food insecurity stemming from an arid stretch from April to June.

Food shortages have plagued North Korea in recent decades, as lack of fertilizer and weather calamities wreaked havoc on agriculture. Given that only 20% of the land is suitable for cultivation, previous crop failures had disastrous effect. While I could not glean information on the current crop yield by observation or by asking the tour guides, I noted that the entire length of the approximately 225 km of rail track from Sinuiju to Pyongyang featured an unbroken expanse of agriculture, primarily rice, but also wheat, corn, and other foodstuffs crammed into every nook and cranny. Farm machinery was seldom seen, and neither were beasts of burden. I witnessed farmer workers manually tending the farms, physically harvesting, and carrying out bundled crops on their backs.

There are other struggles. Air pollution is apparent. And at night, I was surprised by how very dark Pyongyang was. Lighting was at a minimum, obviously to conserve fuel. In smaller cities, such as Kaesong, many women were seen down by the river washing clothes. Kaesong is the entry point to the DMZ where the armistice ending the war on the Korean peninsula was signed. This war is emblazoned in the history and memory of North Koreans. The Start of the War on the Korean Peninsula The North Korean people are very aware of the US role in the war – a war they accuse the Americans of starting. [4] Essentially and logically, this North Korean claim is unassailable. Because if the US had not insisted on splitting the country there would have been no war to reunite the two Koreas.

Protecting Socialism

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he one indelible impression of having been in North Korea was that the country is populated by people so much like you and I, and much like the people I have come across in so many countries on all the continents. They have dreams and desire freedom as do people anywhere. The tour guide (and I did not consider the tour guides in any way to be minders, as they are depicted pejoratively in western media), Ms Kim, related that Koreans are very interested in international matters. I would feel less confident to assert such about people in western lands.

Despite alarmist headlines in western monopoly media, it was also clear that North Koreans have no desire or inclination to launch a first strike with any nuclear weapons.

It is also palpable that North Koreans will never back down to threats from the US as attested to by resolute revolutionary posters depicting North Korea battling the US (and Japan). Neither will North Korea succumb to sanctions imposed by the UN. In fact, the sanctions work to magnify and reinforce the North Korean ideology of juche (self-reliance). After all, what could be a better method to mitigate sanctions than to be self-reliant? As with juche, songun originated with former leader Kim Il Sung. Songun derives from juche. “[T]he songun idea puts up the revolutionary soldier spirit as the main factor in defending the destiny of the nation and propelling overall socialist construction.” [5] Socialism is posited at the core of songun:

Revolutionaries can win the struggle against counter-revolutionary forces and establish a socialist government only when they have a strong armed force. And this continuance buildup of the army is imperative for thwarting all manner of underhand moves of the imperialists and maintaining and consolidating the socialist government. [6]

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]s a declared socialist state, North Korea is anathema to the mindset of billionaire presidents like Donald Trump. That North Korea has been able to survive as a socialist state and render services to all citizens (socialist achievements unmentioned or marginalized by US corporate media) that is unattainable under US capitalism invites demonization by the 1%-ers. In an age where neoliberalism is eviscerating the middle socio-economic stratum and grotesquely further enriching the already rich, North Korea presents a socialism that survives against overwhelming capitalist forces. The Koreans point to and extol these socialist accomplishments.

North Koreans are People

[dropcap]M[/dropcap]y contact with North Koreans was largely limited by language barrier. What I can state is that Koreans came across as likeable, friendly, caring, proud, and non-threatening.

Consequently, to wish to destroy or threaten to destroy these people is an unconscionable and morally depraved attitude deserving of utmost censure and condemnation. It is a denial of the essence of humanity: that we are all humans. Our own humanity hinges upon this essence.

Humanity is elevated by acts of charity, kindness, protection, and rejection of violence against other humans (except in self-defense against rogue humans).

Embracing our humanity demands embracing Koreans, in the north and south, and embracing all humans everywhere.

Therefore, all nations, and the United Nations, must demand a cessation of the vitriolic rhetoric among all parties. In particular, the people of the United States must demand the rejection of violence. Americans should extend a peace branch to Koreans and to the peoples of all lands.

War is, after all, antithetical to humanity.

Notes 1. China’s chairman Xi Jinping has stated that China is in the earliest stages of socialism. Xi Jinping, The Governance of China(2014): location 352. 2. Kang Choi, “A council for global security, or one for US hegemony?” Pyongyang Times, 30 September 2017, p. 7. 3. “G77 rejects anti-DPRK sanctions,” Pyongyang Times, 30 September 2017, p. 4. 4. See Won Myong Uk and Kim Hak Chol, Distortion of US Provocation of Korean War (Pyongyang : Foreign Languages Publishing House, 2003). 5. Questions and Answers on the Songun Idea, (Pyongyang: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 2012), p 4. 6. Questions and Answers on the Songun Idea, p 12. All images in this article are from the author.

The original source of this article is Global Research
Copyright © Kim Petersen, Global Research, 2017

 

About the Author
 Kim Petersen is a former co-editor of the Dissident Voice newsletter. He can be reached at: kimohp@gmail.com. Twitter: @kimpetersen. 

KIM PETERSEN—In an age where neoliberalism is eviscerating the middle socio-economic stratum and grotesquely further enriching the already rich, North Korea presents a socialism that survives against overwhelming capitalist forces. The Koreans point to and extol these socialist accomplishments.

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The Best Definition of Donald Trump We Have Found

In his zeal to prove to his antagonists in the War Party that he is as bloodthirsty as their champion, Hillary Clinton, and more manly than Barack Obama, Trump seems to have gone “play-crazy” -- acting like an unpredictable maniac in order to terrorize the Russians into forcing some kind of dramatic concessions from their Syrian allies, or risk Armageddon.However, the “play-crazy” gambit can only work when the leader is, in real life, a disciplined and intelligent actor, who knows precisely what actual boundaries must not be crossed. That ain’t Donald Trump -- a pitifully shallow and ill-disciplined man, emotionally handicapped by obscene privilege and cognitively crippled by white American chauvinism. By pushing Trump into a corner and demanding that he display his most bellicose self, or be ceaselessly mocked as a “puppet” and minion of Russia, a lesser power, the War Party and its media and clandestine services have created a perfect storm of mayhem that may consume us all.— Glen Ford, Editor in Chief, Black Agenda Report 

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Reporting from Korea during the 2013 ‘crisis’: 5 key facts the West ignores


horiz-long grey

HELP ENLIGHTEN YOUR FELLOWS. BE SURE TO PASS THIS ON. SURVIVAL DEPENDS ON IT.

In 2013 my bosses in Tehran sent me to Seoul, and I felt quite courageous: just like today, Seoul was about to be ground zero for thermonuclear war. And then - as we all know from the movie - the radioactive blast would awaken a very grumpy Godzilla.

I was sent because my bosses weren’t too pleased with my young colleague, who seemed to be more concerned about safeguarding his career than reporting the truth.

So I parachuted in - without a radiation suit, even, I tried to explain to this cub reporter, who thought he was hot stuff and had nothing to learn (I was NEVER like that, of course), that I was definitely not there to take his job: I do not care for a career in the mainstream media, nor to relocate to South Korea, so there should be no problem for us to work together temporarily.

The kid did not believe me, argued over even the most insignificant details, did one report, and then quit.

But that was about all the actual drama I can report from April 2013…because the people of South Korea did not expect nuclear war in the slightest. I cannot stress that enough. I assume it’s the same in 2017, even though the North now has the ability to mount a nuclear warhead on their missiles.

And I assume it’s like 2013 in the United States: judging from their professional and social media, many are convinced that nuclear war is around the corner. All of a sudden they care about Guam…but not enough to make it the 51st state, of course.

Back in 2013 I did 17 reports in 19 days, so it was a crash course in on-the-ground reporting in South Korea. Thanks to an excellent production team already in place, I interviewed top analysts, university professors, political activists and dozens of people on the street.

And almost every single report has been wiped clean from the internet. This process started this year, and it has affected top leftist sites like the World Socialist Web Site, The Greanville Post and many others. I have been able to provide a few web links, after much surfing.

But I wrote this article to provide 5 key things to know when discussing North Korea, but which you have probably never heard.

Key Fact #1: North Korea DID dismantle their nuclear program, but got nothing in return

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]o the amusement of my producers, in nearly every single report we included this 2007 footage  of North Korea imploding the cooling tower of their nuclear reactor (check the 2:10 mark): it serves as undeniable proof that they had made genuine efforts at denuclearization and diplomacy. This dismantling was also verified by United Nations inspectors. (You can see the video in the Appendix, too).

What were they supposed to get for denuclearization?

Per the 2005 Agreed Framework: the right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy, peace and normalized relations with the US, economic cooperation with all parties, fuel and food, and the promise to “negotiate a permanent peace regime on the Korean Peninsula”.

What did they actually receive? Almost none of that….

The US refused to finally sign a peace treaty, normalize relations or lift their decades-old blockade of death. The US largely reneged on promises of food and fuel, even as food shortages continued in 2008 – even more deaths at the hands of Washington.

Hey - Khomeini, Khamenei, Ghadaffi, the Comanches – they all warned Pyongyang: You can’t trust the US!

I repeat: The US simply cannot be trusted. From Native Americans to North Korea, they simply do not keep their promises. If Trump tears up the Iran nuclear agreement totally – he just refused to certify the deal - how can anyone possibly be surprised?

The point is: there is irrefutable proof that North Korea shut down their nuclear program to advance diplomacy, but it was the US which responded with duplicity, belligerence and Barry Obama’s “pivot to Asia”.

Key Fact #2: Obama ramped up militarism in North Korea & undid Dubya’s diplomacy

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n 2008, as Obama’s advertising team celebrated their Nobel Peace Prize, there was a widespread expectation that Obama would successfully expand the traditional Six-Party dialogue which governs the Korean conflict. God’s Right Hand for Peace on Earth (Barry Obama) would conclude the six decade-long state of war, sign a peace treaty, end the blockade and bring peace to the DMZ, “the last remnant of the Cold War”. 

Reality check: Obama refused to even convene the Six-Party talks throughout his entire 8-year term.

At least Dubya attempted diplomacy…. In October 2008 Dubya even took North Korea off the list of terrorist nations, and Pyongyang continued to disable its nuclear complex. It’s clear that diplomacy was working well-enough, at least, for both sides.

The much adulated Obama, the liberals' darling, is simply a shameless charlatan and loyal shill for the plutocracy. Not to mention a Nuremberg-class war criminal. The man's hypocrisy knows no bounds.

But then Obama (and Hillary) took office in January 2009….

That’s when Washington-Pyongyang relations clearly and irrevocably changed. Of course I have no proof, but I think there must have been informal talks where the Obama team told Pyongyang that a new regime was in town, because things did a 180 immediately.

North Korea is the only nation which the UN Security Council has forbidden to launch even a peaceful satellite (gotta keep them socialists as technologically backwards as possible). But in April 2009, perhaps to get attention, perhaps testing the waters, perhaps totally innocently - they launched a communications satellite, one so dangerous that it dared to transmit revolutionary songs down to earth. North Korea had even warned the International Maritime Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization of where 2 of the 3 rocket stages were going to fall.

But Obama seized on this and forced through UN Security Council sanctions that same month. 

North Korea, fed up with waiting for never-arrived promises and angry over the sanctions, called the 2005 Framework a deception and withdrew.

They then made an underground nuclear test in May. Obama forced even more UN sanctions in June. This was the first “foreign policy test” of his presidency: well, he certainly failed to promote peace, but he certainly succeeded in promoting the historical US policy of belligerence, anti-socialism and militarism on the Korean Peninsula.

Again, whenever you hear that peace talks can only involve ending North Korea’s nuclear program, please remember: Pyongyang already tried that, and they got nuthin’ - their reaction is logical and should have been expected. North Korea is still blamed by mainstream media for “pulling out” of talks first, but that’s beyond absurd: Pyongyang justifiably feels it wasted several years dismantling its nuclear program, only to have the US break its promise of working to establish peaceful relations and stop the deadly blockade.

The Obama administration – whether by secret subversion or their belligerent early response – deserves condemnation for reversing the advances of Dubya and for not fulfilling their promise of peace. But who among US Democratic Party supporters has ever uttered this honest conclusion?

A very plausible accusation I can make is that Obama purposely provoked the North Korea crisis in order to justify his infamous “pivot to Asia” speech in November 2009. The idea that US Democrats aren’t just as tied to the military-industrial complex, and aren’t just as bloodthirsty as US Republicans, is Grade-A bullplop, and Obama proved that yet again.

Barry’s “pivot to Asia” didn’t mean better relations with countries along the Pacific Rim. Instead, it meant new US “super bases” in South Korea, more battleships in Singapore’s key shipping straits, surprisingly-restored relations with longtime Chinese ally Myanmar and increased troop levels in Japan, the Philippines and northern Australia.

But why would the Obama administration need to amplify its armed presence in East Asia? They already reportedly have some 90 bases in South Korea, 90 in Japan, 40 in Okinawa, a base in Guam, warships all around with the ability to launch missiles, the ability to send in nuclear submarines and nuclear bombers, over 50,000 troops in Japan and 40,000 troops in South Korea. More was needed, Barry…really?

The good news is that nearly everyone, everywhere has declared Obama’s “pivot to Asia” to be a failure. Obama claimed to be “the first Pacific president” and he failed, like so many other of his grandiose advertisements.

The appalling show of force was obviously primarily meant to intimidate China and to foment war hysteria against them across the region.

However, from North Korea’s point of view, it was justifiably viewed as preparation to an always-looming invasion. The enormous, omnipresent loomingness of this invasion must be remembered, and it is so horrifically unique that it truly requires the creation of a new vocabulary….

Key Fact #3: War games are not ‘games’ when YOU are the prey

[dropcap]E[/dropcap]very year for more than 50 years the US and South Korea have held war games exercises that simulate the occupation of North Korea. Operation Foal Eagle can involve up to 600,000 South Korean soldiers, more than 10,000 US troops, and can last for 2 months, as they did in 2013 when I was there.

These are called “war games”, but only an idiot would not realize how North Korea is looking on with bated breath and assuming an invasion is minutes away - there are 600,000+ armed soldiers pointing their guns in Pyongyang’s direction, after all. The psychological impact cannot be overstated.

These games are a staggering fact, are going on again now, and are staggeringly ignored by so-called “balanced journalists” in the West.

These totally-underreported war games completely undermine US claims that they are always simply reacting to North Korean aggression.

Amassing armies on a nation’s border – even if they don’t cross over - is hugely aggressive! Back in April 2013, with nuclear war apparently so close, one would assume that alleged peacenik Obama would have called off these provocative military drills: You would be mistaken in that assumption.

Here is perhaps the major reason why the crisis came to a head in 2013, and you won’t read this in the mainstream media either: In March 2013 the conservative South Korean government (headed by the daughter of the deceased, longtime US proxy/dictator) decreased their sovereignty by handing the US permission to make pre-emptive attacks against the North. Thus, the US was flexing this newfound muscle. They were placing even more pressure on North Korea, hoping they would make a mistake which would justify invasion.

That is, after all, what these war games are: “come knock this chip off my shoulder” so you can say, “but he made the first move.” Real Nobel Prize-level stuff, for sure….

The US soldiers symbolize what the US wants – the status quo on the Korean peninsula; militarization and not peaceful unification.

Finally, y’all just need to calm down: the war games are going on now and they always produce an increase in rhetoric. It just so happens that these are the first Trump-era war games, and we all see that such an event is right in his wheelhouse. But c’mon…you are not really threatened unless you are reading this from North Korea.

(Even with the vast US/SK preparations, my money would still be on North Korea: they have a 10-year mandatory military conscription. You can’t beat that training or indoctrination (or waste of time, money & energy to structurally weaken a socialist state.))

Key Fact #4: $6 trillion in rare metals and the #4 economy? Nobody wants that…

[dropcap]F[/dropcap]irstly, one must realize that North Korea is firmly opposed and regularly subverted by the US, Japan, South Korea, China and Russia – absolutely no nation has more major powers arrayed against them.

All of these nations use North Korea as a pawn in their own larger chess games. Koreans often refer to themselves as the “most invaded nation” with fair justification, and with fair justification many of them want to return to the peaceful days when they were the “hermit kingdom”.

People think of North Korea as a poor country – totally false: it is staggeringly rich.

Free public housing in North Korea. Not exactly shabby.Has anyone seen how the poor live in the cities of the rich capitalist west? (Andre Vltchek)

North Korea is 85% mountains, and these mountains contain an estimated $6 trillion in mineral and rare earth wealth. That figure comes from the South Korean government, and has been upgraded to $10 trillion  since I was there in 2013. So we are talking 6 to 10 times the estimated resource wealth of Afghanistan.

Wow….Now do you see why US capitalists will do anything to get it? Talk about a resource curse - not many nations have it worse than North Korea!

Coal, iron, gold copper, 200 valuable minerals - North Korea may not have oil, but they do have the 2nd-largest supply of rare earth metals which are essential for modern electronics. Every electronics producer wants a piece of that –the US, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, etc. Toyota Prius cars as well as most electric and hybrid vehicles of the future need rare earth materials. 

Thankfully, a Russian website preserved my report on this. I interviewed a South Korean professor and he said: “In my analysis, North Korea can survive for the next 100 years just by exporting their underground resources. So the maintenance of the Kim Jong-Un regime will be no problem – all they need is to sell their resources to China.”

China already gets these minerals, so the divided peninsula benefits them very clearly. China currently accounts for nearly 95% of the world’s rare earth production – half of all Chinese firms registered in North Korea are mining companies. The US-led blockade prevents modern equipment, prevents legitimate business, prevents controlled foreign investment, and keeps North Korea’s mines operating at 30% capacity, which all keeps prices down and Pyongyang subservient.  

Cars made in North Korea—did you know they even made modern automobiles? Of course not. The talent and determination of the Korean people are legendary. (Andre Vltchek)

The only country which would really benefit from reunification would be South Korea. Of course, families would be reunited with families – can’t put a price on that. But who talks about this? Everyone just talks about how “crazy” the Kims are….

Anyway, the “crazy” Kims have created a society where 99% of the 25 million population is literate (thanks socialism!). They offer South Korea an intelligent workforce who is desperate for manufacturing jobs at the Kaesong Free Trade Area which pay $3 per hour – this is a hugely untapped human resource.

There would be no Toyota Prius without rare earth materials—a precious resource that China and North Korea possess in abundance.

So imagine the combination if the two nations were unified? Surely the North has plenty of construction projects they could undertake - reunification in any form will be hugely profitable to whoever leads it. A huge drop in military spending would provide yet another economic boost to the peninsula.

A report estimates that a unified, peaceful Korea would be 80 million strong and the #7 economy.

Before you start naysaying - don’t even bother to start. A unified Korea is a threat to Japan; China and Russia want their buffer against US military aggression, sure, but they also have clear economic concerns; rising nations like Indonesia, the Philippines  and everyone else in the Pacific has reason to be scared as well.

And why only #7? Their combined population is greater than the UK and France – surely Korea would leapfrog them as quickly as Japan did decades ago? They could even out-produce Eurozone-stagnation-loving, rapidly-aging Germany.

And has Germany fallen from its US-assisted postwar perch since reunification? Not hardly, and quite the opposite

So it should be clear: NOBODY wants to see a Korean powerhouse. And that’s why the Six-Party Talks, even when the US deigns to attend, go nowhere. Six-Party Stranglehold is more like it….

The Okryu Children’s Hospital is a six-story, 300-bed facility across from Pyongyang’s towering maternity hospital. U.S. sanctions on the DPRK prevent further entry of machines like the pictured CT scan. While defiantly proud of the health care system, Dr. Kim Un-Song spoke of her anger as a mother: “This is inhumane and against human rights. Medicine children need is under sanctions.” (Courtesy Eva Bartlett. See her photo report on North Korea.)

While the short, medium and long-term solution for any leftist must be unification for Korea, come what may for the mostly-capitalist regional economies...if I must posit a Realpolitik alternative, I would wager that North Korea will fully enter the anti-Western China and Russia orbits when all three nations have grown even stronger than they currently are growing. China and Russia already want to incorporate North Korea's wealth into their economy, but they do not have the geopolitical influence to force it through…yet. Pyongyang will not and should not tolerate the poor terms they have been forced to accept from these two semi-allies in recent years, so they need time to improve their situation as well. South Korea will eventually - if only partially - join in this regional harmony as well, as they remain cut off from Eurasia by land, to their obvious self-detriment. The US can forbid Seoul for now, but not when the One Belt, One Road project gets humming.

Key Fact #5: Fake-leftists have shamefully abandoned all Koreans, not just the North

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]ith the type of reports I do, if I stayed to work in South Korea I’d soon be in jail – that’s what I was told by journalists there.

The only report of mine which can be easily found online is this one: “Is There Freedom of Speech in South Korea?”

The answer is a resounding “no”.

Just like West Germany, Japan and other US proxies, communism was totally banned in South Korea (in 1948). Openly supporting North Korea is a crime, as is owning a book published in North Korea. Just like all such laws, all leftism, human rights groups, and labor movements are ruthlessly suppressed. In 2002 a South Korean soldier got two years in prison for telling his fellow soldiers that the United States is to blame for the division of Korea – the chilling effects of such an episode should be clear, even though only the most rabidly-anti-communist South Koreans believe otherwise.  

Of course you never hear any this in the West - it’s the North which is oppressive, right?

I have never seen a country where leftist demonstrations gathered so few people than in Seoul - this means those brave enough to go are extremely courageous.

So if South Koreans are not permitted to rectify the enormous misperceptions about the situation in Korea, it is incumbent on leftists outside of Korea to do it for them. If we won’t stand up for leftism in all of Korea, who can?

Sadly, how many people do you know are openly defending North Korea? And even though they face no actual repression?

I would say the best start to rewire your brain about Korea is to start with the Korean Conflict (War). The US killed 20% of the population; they committed horrendous war crimes by bombing dams to create huge floods and force famines; the 3 years of carpet bombing, maybe the worst in history, was so bad that the Communists had to tell people to stop rebuilding their homes and go live in caves because rebuilding just provided bombing targets and thus more chances to be murdered.

And this was after a brutal Japanese occupation for 35 years, which only ended with World War II.

So, North Korean grandparents have seen some traumatic times and may be more prone to Alzheimer’s for all I know, but keep in mind that they are still socialists - how many elderly fake-leftists in the West have given up the fight over nothing at all?

This is not me droning on: The Left MUST not continue to abandon North Korea and their people. As noble as blockaded, revolution-supporting Cubans are, their sacrifices really cannot be compared with North Koreans.

Anyway, we NEED the North Korean mentality: When reunification comes, maybe the new Korea is not a socialist state, but does it have to be modern Germany?

The German far-right just took 3rd place in national elections; their people (mistakenly) support the imperialist gutting of places like Greece; the former East Germany has been literally depopulated and denuded of leftist thought.

In a reunified Korea, only Northerners can insist on avoiding a repeat of this terrible scenario. With global support, a reborn Korea can provide a new, more leftist-model of capitalism, or perhaps even just a right-wing model of socialism? To call these stupid dreams would be stupid on your part – politics are real, and they do change.

The incredible resilience of the North and the tremendous innovation of the South has proven that Korea certainly has very much to teach the world. Who is listening? Who refuses to keep suppressing them? 

What must change is our unwillingness to defend North Korea – which is truly pathetic. You don’t have to uphold the North Korean model 100% - no country is perfect – but there is infinite proof that the North is the victim of tremendous, sustained, ill-informed, genocidal, imperialist aggression.

But pity poor South Korea

[dropcap]S[/dropcap]eoul was infinitely more advanced than any Western country I’ve stayed in. They don’t even use keys for doors – it’s all digitized. They don’t use keys, I said! Fleets of new buses transport work-obsessed, coffee-slamming, chain-smoking workers to their job where they work the 2nd-most hours in the world. Seoul was rebuilt multiple times in the 20th century, and it is pretty brand-spanking new. Iranians I know visit Seoul, then go to the US – they are hugely disappointed at American backwardness. Korea’s K-pop music beats French techno or American rap, at least. Korean women don’t need the “add an eyelid” cosmetic procedure to be beautiful – although I must admit, their newly-enormous brown eyes are pretty compelling (still, don’t do it). South Korea, after Japan, is the top backer of bitcoins, and if any society is digital-ready for crypto-currencies and poised to profit from the block chain revolution, it is South Korea.

So how can the world’s #11 global economy be “poor”?

Well, why is Iceland richer than the Eurozone nations? They may be small and isolated, but they haven’t given up their democratic sovereignty.

“The fundamental sovereignty, deciding on war or peace - it’s not up to the South Korean government. It’s up to US, because if the war broke out on Korean peninsula, the wartime control rights transfer to US soldiers, US government. That’s the fundamental problem,” said a peace activist I interviewed in 2013. (I don’t want to reprint names here… leftism is dangerous in South Korea. You’ll just have to trust me, and I have a better record with anonymous sources than even The New York Times.)

So South Korea doesn’t really have control over its own future. They are estranged from their families in the north, they have 40,000 US troops holding them at gunpoint, they have been force-fed the American model of societal and cultural construction, they are denied free political speech, and they are denied the chance to be more influential and prosperous than they currently are. And the reality is that without reunification, war – hot or cold – is the only future.

South Koreans know this, and they told me all this, but it cannot be reported in the West. It certainly cannot be reported in South Korea - permanently hostility towards Pyongyang has been institutionalized in South Korean media, of course.

I did visit the DMZ for a report, and I did speak with random families who went there just to pay homage to their relatives across the border. It’s an extremely sad scene, and no one there was blaming the “crazy” Kim family. Here’s a few quotes I got at the DMZ which should pull at your heartstrings:

“I wish we could reunify because it would make the world more peaceful. I totally agree with reunification because there are parents who haven’t seen their children since the Korean War.”

“It will be so wonderful when we are unified again. Friends and families can reunite and share our histories and our cultures. But I don’t know how we can achieve it politically? “

“The Korean people's long-cherished desire is for reunification. Even though unification will be a long process, I would be so happy if we could just cross the border. This confrontation has taken too long, and the gap is widening between us.”

But I got the exact same type of yearning quotes from strangers on Seoul streets. Support for reunification is simply never going to go away, because the Koreans view themselves as one people…who have been divided by foreigners.

I guess the long-term plan of the US is to simply keep division as long as possible? Snap polling does say that the younger generation is less and less interested in reunification, and that makes sense. But I’ll put my faith in deliberative polling – which reveals that 91% of respondents ultimately decided that “reunification is necessary”- in the intelligence and compassion of the Korean people, and in the idea that another 70 years of division is not only impossible but that it won’t be enough to create the permanent rift which the US is trying to provoke.

To sum up: The problem is not that North Korea won’t play nice - it’s that the US won't, and never has.

I have explained how a reunited Korea would create a mega-boom for all Koreans. Even if the Koreans and me yawn at the Western media’s Chicken Little-worries about Trump’s tweets, reunification would indeed eliminate one of the world’s most heavily-fortified areas and possible flash points. It would also free Korea from foreign occupation for the first time in more than a century.

I wish them luck and success. But most Westerners have been so misled that they won’t even wish that for North Korea from half a world away….

I think changing that is a good place we can start.

Postscript

[dropcap]I[/dropcap] recently checked in with a journalist friend in South Korea, who knows the country about as well as any non-Korean can, to find out what the mood is during this latest so-called “crisis”. 

"It's much worse than 2013, I think...because of Trump," he or she said.

(Again, leftism is practically a crime in South Korea, and associating with people like myself is generally frowned upon worldwide, so you’ll just have trust my anonymous source.)

"People worry about the Americans doing something much more then they worry about the North Koreans doing something, although most people are upset about North Korea going ahead with their nuclear missile programs."

And voila…so it truly is the same old story: Washington remains the biggest source of aggression, fear, and division on the peninsula, and NOT the North.

"A year ago most South Koreans did not want THAAD, the controversial antiballistic US missile system: now the majority of South Koreans do want THAAD...and nukes."

And this is probably one of the main hidden reasons for the uptick in American belligerence: they need a place to showcase this expensive, highly-subcontracted weapons system.

The main point is that ratcheting up the war hysteria is what the US always does in Korea. But hopefully this article reminds everyone that Trump isn’t doing anything which hasn’t been done with American nuclear weapons for 60+ years, so don’t permanently relocate to your bomb shelter just yet.

What is absolutely certain is that Washington benefits from Korea's division more than anyone, which is why they are the most committed to keeping the peninsula disunited.

Hopefully this article encourages you to at least defend, if not openly support, leftist North Korea’s position.

Now that this attempt at balance and sympathy (and leftism) is over, let’s all resume reading the typical "it’s all because Kim and Trump are crazy" analyses, which can be found everywhere in the West, from the top mainstream pundit to the nightly routine of the standup comedian/clown.

RAMIN MAZAHERI—South Koreans know this, and they told me all this, but it cannot be reported in the West. It certainly cannot be reported in South Korea – permanently hostility towards Pyongyang has been institutionalized in South Korean media, of course. I did visit the DMZ for a report, and I did speak with random families who went there just to pay homage to their relatives across the border. It’s an extremely sad scene, and no one there was blaming the “crazy” Kim family.

APPENDIX

SIDEBAR: See the video right here. Click on bar below

South Koreans fear US drag them into another war again

Most Koreans—North and South want a diplomatic ending to the state of war endangering their nation, but the US refuses

US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said North Korea is nearing a "dangerous line", as the Obama administration continues to escalate nuclear war fears by making belligerent statements nearly every day. Such hostility contrasts starkly with the perspective of the average South Korean, as repeated polls show they favor not just peace with the North but also reunification.

The hardline attitude of the US and other Western powers has many believing that South Korea, once again, doesn't control its own destiny. Today's situation is reminiscent of 1945, when foreign powers partitioned Korea and then turned it into a battleground, causing more than 3 million deaths.

Last month the conservative South Korean government decreased their sovereignty by handing the US permission to make pre-emptive attacks against the North. The New York Times recently leaked a "counter-provocation" plan, in which the US reportedly plans to immediately escalate even a minor military provocation by North Korea. It gives credence to the notion that the massive military buildup by the US is not just for show.

The buildup is making many wonder if the US even wants peace: In 2007 North Korea shuttered its nuclear reactor, but the US refused to normalize relations or lift their decades-old blockade. Despite the widespread belief that food is a human right, the US even reneged on promises of food and fuel, helping to cause repeated famines in North Korea. Diplomacy with Pyongyang has never been formally attempted by the Obama administration, as they have refused to join the traditional 6-party talks that work for a diplomatic solution in Korea. South Koreans want to avoid another devastating war with the North, but many in the international community act as though conflict is unavoidable. The top diplomat of the United States, Secretary of State John Kerry, will soon arrive in Seoul, but he has no plans to meet with the leaders of North Korea.

About the author
 RAMIN MAZAHERI, Senior Correspondent & Contributing Editor, Dispatch from Paris

Ramin Mazaheri is the chief correspondent in Paris for Press TV and has lived in France since 2009. He has been a daily newspaper reporter in the US, and has reported from Iran, Cuba, Egypt, Tunisia, South Korea and elsewhere. His work has appeared in various journals, magazines and websites, as well as on radio and television.

 Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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Photo-Report: The North Korea Neither Trump Nor Western Media Wants The World To See

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HELP ENLIGHTEN YOUR FELLOWS. BE SURE TO PASS THIS ON. SURVIVAL DEPENDS ON IT.

by Eva Bartlett, Mint Press News

What we hardly ever see in articles on North Korea is the human side, some of the faces among the 25 million people at risk of being murdered or maimed by an American-led attack. I was part of a small delegation that visited the DPRK, with the intent of hearing from Koreans themselves about their country and history.

PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA — North Korea (the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK) is one of the least understood and most lied about countries on Earth. In Western corporate media renditions, most news about the country is alarmist (of “the North Koreans want to kill you” type), fake (“all men have to have the same haircut,” a story originating from Washington itself), or about the North’s military.

Accounts of the nation’s military prowess and threat generally ignore (as noted here) the presence of the 28,500 U.S. troops occupying South Korea, their 38 military installations, and more recently their Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in South Korea — “a U.S. radar system opposed by the Korean people, in the North and South, as well as China.”

On September 19, 2017, in the forum of the United Nations General Assembly, U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to “totally destroy” North Korea.

Does this country really look like a badly exploited and led society? What would happen if US television showed North Korea the way it really is? Clean, modern and functioning well and rationally despite all the unceasing attacks by the US and its gaggle of accomplices? 

This is not the first time threats against the DPRK have been issued. Colin Powell in 1995 threatened to turn North Korea into “a charcoal briquette” and in 2013 reiterated that threat to “destroy” the country.

Not broadcast in corporate media is the fact that America had already annihilated North Korea, destroying the capital city, Pyongyang, and cities around the country, with 635,000 tons of bombs, including 32,557 tons of Napalm — indeed turning the North into a ‘charcoal briquette’.

Related | 

Retired U.S. General Curtis E. LeMay, who headed the Strategic Air Command during that earlier war, said that they had “burned down every town in North Korea.” In LeMay’s words, “Over a period of three years or so we killed off, what, 20 percent of the population of Korea, as direct casualties of war or from starvation and exposure?”

Also omitted in news on North Korea are the criminal sanctions against the North, enforced since 1950, making even more difficult the efforts to rebuild following decimation. The sanctions are against the people, affecting all sectors of life (as humorously noted in this clip). Yet, in spite of all odds, the country maintains an enviable health system. As Professor Michel Chossudovsky noted: “North Korea’s health system is the envy of the developing world.” And, according to World Health Organization Director General Margaret Chan, North Korea has “no lack of doctors and nurses.”

Further obfuscated in Western reporting are the simulated attacks (what America euphemistically calls ‘war games’) on North Korea twice a year. Involving “hundreds of thousands of troops.” As researcher and author Stephen Gowans noted, “It is never clear to the North Korean military whether the U.S.–directed maneuvers are defensive exercises or preparations for an invasion.”

 

A purposeful and familiar crime against reality

The absurdly cartoonish “news” one hears in Western media about North Korea is meant to detract from America’s past and current crimes against the Korean people, and to garner support for yet another American-led slaughter of innocent people.

The stories are designed to vilify the leadership and provide no context, while completely ignoring the North Korean perspective. This is standard operating procedure with respect to countries like Syria, Libya, Venezuela, Cuba, and wherever America and its allies have set their sights on establishing control (and military bases). As historian Bruce Cumings wrote:

The demonization of North Korea transcends party lines, drawing on a host of subliminal racist and Orientalist imagery; no one is willing to accept that North Koreans may have valid reasons for not accepting the American definition of reality.”

We are meant to believe that the North Korean leader is a maniac, inexplicably hell-bent on bombing America. Utterly deleted from the story is the fact that North Koreans have a different perspective: the right to a deterrent against yet another U.S. annihilation of their country. The right to self-defense.

In response to Trump’s threats of annihilation, DPRK Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ri Yong Ho, on September 23, stated:

The United States is the country that first produced nuclear weapons and the only country that actually used them, massacring hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. It is the U.S. that threatened to use nuclear weapons against the DPRK during the Korean war in the 1950s, and first introduced nuclear weapons into the Korean peninsula after the war.

…The very reason the DPRK had to possess nuclear weapons is because of the U.S. and it had to strengthen and develop its nuclear force to the current level to cope with the U.S.”

 

North Koreans as seen through a visitor’s lens

Propaganda and history aside, what we hardly ever see in articles on North Korea is the human side, some of the faces among the 25 million people at risk of being murdered or maimed by an American-led attack.

From August 24 to 31, 2017, I was part of a three-person delegation that independently visited the DPRK, with the intent of hearing from Koreans themselves about their country and history.

As it turned out, we heard also about their wishes for reunification with the South, their past efforts towards that goal, their desire for peace, but their refusal to be destroyed again. Following are snapshots and videos from my week in the country, with an effort to show the people and some of the impressive infrastructure and developments that corporate media almost certainly will never show.

 

Impact of U.S. travel ban on unfiltered views of North Korea

My visit coincided with the impending U.S. travel ban to the DPRK, which came into effect one day after I left the country.

As a dual citizen holding Canadian and U.S. citizenship, I can still choose to return to the DPRK after September 2017 on my Canadian passport. However, for Americans, the ban means they will only in limited instances be permitted to travel to the DPRK. The U.S. State Department advisory notes:

“Persons who wish to travel to North Korea on a U.S. passport after that time must obtain a special passport validation under 22 C.F.R. 51.64, and such validations will be granted only under very limited circumstances.”

While the U.S. pretends that the travel ban is for the safety of U.S. citizens, the same advisory contains this threat:

Using a U.S. passport in violation of these restrictions could result in criminal penalties. In addition, the Department may revoke a passport used in violation of these restrictions.”

This wording reveals that the intent of the ban is far more likely to prevent the American public from seeing the human face, and positive aspects, of the DPRK.

Indeed, in an August 2017 Forbes essay on North Korea, amid the predictable Western rhetoric were surprising admissions of truths:

Pyongyang looks much more like a normal city than 25 years ago. Then there were no private cars and few government ones. I wondered why they bothered with traffic lights. Today there is traffic. It’s not much by U.S. (or Chinese!) standards. But there’s no longer the ghostly sense of empty boulevards. …Visitors on longer tours with more guides often have more meaningful informal interaction with “real” North Koreans. It’s one of the reasons I believe banning travel to the North is foolish and counterproductive.”

For more photos and videos from the DPRK, please see my Facebook album and my Youtube playlist, and watch my conversation with the creators of the satirical documentary, “The Haircut, a North Korean Adventure.”

The Mangyongdae Children's Palace in Pyongyang is a sprawling extra-curricular facility offering children lessons in sports, dance and music (Korean and non), foreign languages, science, computers, calligraphy and embroidery, and more. Around 5,000 children daily attend this facility. They may indeed be the most talented children in Pyongyang and surroundings, but encouraging the growth of talent is something done worldwide. Unlike in many Western nations, in the DPRK lessons are free of charge.

The Mangyongdae Children’s Palace in Pyongyang is a sprawling extra-curricular facility offering children lessons in sports, dance and music (Korean and non), foreign languages, science, computers, calligraphy and embroidery, and more. Around 5,000 children daily attend this facility. They may indeed be the most talented children in Pyongyang and surroundings, but encouraging the growth of talent is something done worldwide. Unlike in many Western nations, in the DPRK lessons are free of charge.

 

The Pyongyang International Football School opened in 2013. The complex includes a massive stadium and a school teaching all subjects, with football as a focus for the roughly 200 students. Different classes practised their skills outside, doing warm-up drills to energetic music. When years ago I lived in Korea's south, practicing Tae Kwan Do I warmed-up to similar drills.

The Pyongyang International Football School opened in 2013. The complex includes a massive stadium and a school teaching all subjects, with football as a focus for the roughly 200 students. Different classes practiced their skills outside, doing warm-up drills to energetic music. When years ago I lived in Korea’s south, practicing Tae Kwan Do I warmed-up to similar drills.

 

Students at the Mangyongdae Children's Palace playing the traditional Korean instrument, the kayagun. Listen to their performance here.

Students at the Mangyongdae Children’s Palace playing the traditional Korean instrument, the kayagun. Listen to their performance here.

 

In Pyongyang Middle School. Students spoke in English of the universal desire for peace, one girl urging people to struggle for peace. On the issue of North Korea's weapons, one teenage boy said: “We make intercontinental ballistic rockets, not for invading other countries but for our national defense. To protect one's country, the country must have a powerful defense.”

In Pyongyang Middle School. Students spoke in English of the universal desire for peace, one girl urging people to struggle for peace. On the issue of North Korea’s weapons, one teenage boy said: “We make intercontinental ballistic rockets, not for invading other countries but for our national defense. To protect one’s country, the country must have a powerful defense.”

 

To my questions about the U.S. sanctions, a girl replied: “The sanctions are not fair, our people have done nothing wrong to the USA.” Another boy spoke of the silence around America’s use of nuclear bombs on civilians: “Why do people all over the world give us sanctions? Why just us? Why can’t we put sanctions on the U.S.? It’s not fair, it’s totally wrong.”

 

In a hallway in the Middle School, a poster encourages students to alert authorities if they come across unexploded ordnance (UXOs). Our host, Kim Song-Nam, said: “We're still discovering old bombs, for example when we dig to lay foundation for a building.” This article noted the discovery of nearly 400 UXOs near an elementary school playground, that farmers periodically come across UXOs, and that the cleanup period may take longer than 100 years. At the Pyongyang War Museum we learned: “There were 400,000 people in Pyongyang, and they dropped more bombs than that on the city.” 428,000 bombs, according to the museum guide.

In a hallway in the Middle School, a poster encourages students to alert authorities if they come across unexploded ordnance (UXOs). Our host, Kim Song-Nam, said: “We’re still discovering old bombs, for example when we dig to lay the foundation for a building.” This articlenoted the discovery of nearly 400 UXOs near an elementary school playground, that farmers periodically come across UXOs, and that the cleanup period may take longer than 100 years. At the Pyongyang War Museum, we learned: “There were 400,000 people in Pyongyang, and they dropped more bombs than that on the city.” 428,000 bombs, according to the museum guide.

 

Students playing football outside the Middle School. Watch clip here

Students playing football outside the Middle School.  Watch the clip here.

 

Pyongyang's Science and Technology Center, completed in 2015, is an expansive structure heated by geothermal energy, and with drip irrigation-watered live grass on inside walls. Its more than 3,000 computers are solar powered, the library has books in 12 foreign languages, and a long-distance learning program enables people from around the country to study and earn a degree equivalent to that of in-university studies.

Pyongyang’s Science and Technology Center, completed in 2015, is an expansive structure heated by geothermal energy, and with drip irrigation-watered live grass on inside walls. Its more than 3,000 computers are solar powered, the library has books in 12 foreign languages, and a long-distance learning program enables people from around the country to study and earn a degree equivalent to that of in-university studies.
Watch a tour of the center.

 

Student in the aquarium section of Pyongyang's zoo. While the zoo was well-maintained, by far most interesting was watching the human interactions, from schoolchildren to adults. Koreans returned our smiles with deep, genuine smiles.

Student in the aquarium section of Pyongyang’s zoo. While the zoo was well-maintained, by far most interesting was watching the human interactions, from schoolchildren to adults. Koreans returned our smiles with deep, genuine smiles. Watch a clip from the zoo.

 

A group of schoolgirls pause for a portrait photo at Pyongyang's zoo.

A group of schoolgirls pause for a portrait photo at Pyongyang’s zoo. Watch a clip from the zoo.

 

The Okryu Children's Hospital is a six-story, 300-bed facility across from Pyongyang's towering maternity hospital. U.S. sanctions on the DPRK prevent further entry of machines like the pictured CT scan. While defiantly proud of the health care system, Dr. Kim Un-Song spoke of her anger as a mother: “This is inhumane and against human rights. Medicine children need is under sanctions.”

The Okryu Children’s Hospital is a six-story, 300-bed facility across from Pyongyang’s towering maternity hospital. U.S. sanctions on the DPRK prevent further entry of machines like the pictured CT scan. While defiantly proud of the health care system, Dr. Kim Un-Song spoke of her anger as a mother: “This is inhumane and against human rights. Medicine children need is under sanctions.”

 

The Children's Hospital provides classes to inpatient children to continue their studies while in hospital.

The Children’s Hospital provides classes to inpatient children to continue their studies while in hospital.

 

Dr. So-Yung (60) works in the tele-consultation department of the Children's Hospital. “We have contacts with provincial-level and county-level hospitals, mostly about children's diseases or illnesses. When they have difficulties with diagnoses, they request consultations from this hospital,” he explained. “I cannot suppress my anger about the sanctions imposed by the U.S. and other countries. Yet, generally it doesn't affect our health system. We have a solid health system, we are giving proper treatment to people and are producing our own medicines.”

Dr. So-Yung (60) works in the tele-consultation department of the Children’s Hospital. “We have contacts with provincial-level and county-level hospitals, mostly about children’s diseases or illnesses. When they have difficulties with diagnoses, they request consultations from this hospital,” he explained. “I cannot suppress my anger about the sanctions imposed by the U.S. and other countries. Yet, generally, it doesn’t affect our health system. We have a solid health system, we are giving proper treatment to people and are producing our own medicines.”

 

While walking up a path to the Pakyong Waterfall, over 100 km south of Pyongyang, I met a group of men and women grilling meat over a fire. At the waterfall, other picnickers ate grilled meat, fish, boiled eggs, kimbap (“Korean sushi”), and kimchi (fermented vegetables), drinking beer and soju (alcoholic drink). Having lived in South Korea, this scene is one I saw countless times along the sea or in the mountains.

While walking up a path to the Pakyong Waterfall, over 100 km south of Pyongyang, I met a group of men and women grilling meat over a fire. At the waterfall, other picnickers ate grilled meat, fish, boiled eggs, kimbap (“Korean sushi”), and kimchi (fermented vegetables), drinking beer and soju (alcoholic drink). Having lived in South Korea, this scene is one I saw countless times along the sea or in the mountains. Watch clips here and here.

 

Beneath a tree near the waterfall, soldiers took turns being photographed with the waterfall as a backdrop. Later, they repeated at the waterfall.

Beneath a tree near the waterfall, soldiers took turns being photographed with the waterfall as a backdrop. Later, they repeated at the waterfall. Watch here.

 

Girls played at a puddle of water near the waterfall. Walking past me, one smiled for the camera, the other shy.

A group of men sit and chat near the base of the waterfall.

 

North Korea has suffered harsh periods of drought and starvation. The long-imposed brutal U.S. sanctions and destruction of the country don't help matters. Yet, traveling over a hundred kilometers south from Pyongyang, we passed endless lush fields of corn and rice.

North Korea has suffered harsh periods of drought and starvation. The long-imposed brutal U.S. sanctions and destruction of the country don’t help matters. Yet, traveling over a hundred kilometers south from Pyongyang, we passed endless lush fields of corn and rice.

 

Plots of land surround houses in the Jangchon Cooperative Vegetable Farm. Homes are equipped with solar water heaters, and use methane gas for cooking. Song Myong-Oh moved with her husband from Kangnam county to the farm. Outside their home grew eggplants, peppers, corn, and herbs. Of America's threats against North Korea she said: “Although we don't want war, we are not afraid of the US.”

Plots of land surround houses in the Jangchon Cooperative Vegetable Farm. Homes are equipped with solar water heaters, and use methane gas for cooking. Song Myong-Oh moved with her husband from Kangnam county to the farm. Outside their home grew eggplants, peppers, corn, and herbs. Of America’s threats against North Korea she said: “Although we don’t want war, we are not afraid of the US.”

 

Inside the child-care center of the Jangchon Cooperative Farm. The cooperative also includes a cultural center for meetings and events, and rows of greenhouses.

Inside the child-care center of the Jangchon Cooperative Farm. The cooperative also includes a cultural center for meetings and events, and rows of greenhouses.

 

At the Kaeson Youth Amusement Park inside the city one night, I interacted with people and tried out some of the rides. The park was packed with families and children, including a group of 14-year-olds who had visited multiple times. A schoolteacher from Nampo City said she frequently brings her students to visit. A young man next to me on one of the rides filmed with his mobile. With an entrance fee of 200 North Korean Won (about US $0.22), the lines were long. Photo: A second amusement Park outside of Pyongyang.

At the Kaeson Youth Amusement Park inside the city one night, I interacted with people and tried out some of the rides. The park was packed with families and children, including a group of 14-year-olds who had visited multiple times. A schoolteacher from Nampo City said she frequently brings her students to visit. A young man next to me on one of the rides filmed with his mobile. With an entrance fee of 200 North Korean Won (about US $0.22), the lines were long. Photo: A second amusement Park outside of Pyongyang.

 

Under colonial Japanese rule, Pyongyang Silk Factory laborers worked in unsanitary conditions. When Korea gained independence, conditions were gradually modernized and improved. The present-day factory is clean and well lit, with water coolers throughout. The 1,600 workers work eight-hour shifts, with financial incentives to those who exceed their quotas. A nursery provides childcare, and unmarried women have accommodation on site, with a cafeteria and sports and leisure areas.

Under colonial Japanese rule, Pyongyang Silk Factory laborers worked in unsanitary conditions. When Korea gained independence, conditions were gradually modernized and improved. The present-day factory is clean and well lit, with water coolers throughout. The 1,600 workers work eight-hour shifts, with financial incentives to those who exceed their quotas. A nursery provides childcare, and unmarried women have accommodation on site, with a cafeteria and sports and leisure areas.

 

Fruit stand seen in Pyongyang. Small stands this size also sell snack food, sweets, water, sodas, beer, and ice cream.

Fruit stand seen in Pyongyang. Small stands this size also sell snack food, sweets, water, sodas, beer, and ice cream.

 

A revolving bar and restaurant at the top of Yanggakdo Hotel overlooks a modern, rebuilt city. The DPRK receives tourists from around the world -- especially China and Japan, but also South Koreans -- and is continually opening up areas for tourism. The potential for more American tourism was recently stymied with the September 1, 2017 U.S. travel ban.

A revolving bar and restaurant at the top of Yanggakdo Hotel overlooks a modern, rebuilt city. The DPRK receives tourists from around the world — especially China and Japan, but also South Koreans — and is continually opening up areas for tourism. The potential for more American tourism was recently stymied with the September 1, 2017 U.S. travel ban.

 

At Panmunjom, near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), one learns the North Korean side of history, including the over 8,400 ceasefire violations by the United States. One of many notable such violations was the espionage vessel, the USS Pueblo, now on display outside Pyongyang's war museum. North Koreans on several occasions proposed to have peace treaty talks, with “no positive response from the U.S. side.”

At Panmunjom, near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), one learns the North Korean side of history, including the over 8,400 ceasefire violations by the United States. One of many notable such violations was the espionage vessel, the USS Pueblo, now on display outside Pyongyang’s war museum. North Koreans on several occasions proposed to have peace treaty talks, with “no positive response from the U.S. side.”

 

This is something former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who has visited the DPRK three times, confirmed — saying he had met with Kim Il-Sung in 1994 “in a time of crisis, when he agreed to put all their nuclear programs under strict supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency and to seek mutual agreement with the United States on a permanent peace treaty, to have summit talks with the president of South Korea.” Carter maintained Kim Jong-Il pledged he would honor these promises. (And he would have.)

 

In a hall near the DMZ, photos depict 2000 and 2007 meetings between North and South discussing reunification, as well as the support of the people in both South and North. Our guide at Panmunjom noted: “On July 7, 1994, the day before he died, President Kim Il-Sung was looking through documents regarding reunification. He devoted his whole life to this.”

In a hall near the DMZ, photos depict 2000 and 2007 meetings between North and South discussing reunification, as well as the support of the people in both South and North. Our guide at Panmunjom noted: “On July 7, 1994, the day before he died, President Kim Il-Sung was looking through documents regarding reunification. He devoted his whole life to this.”

 

Pyongyang's metro is a three minute escalator ride below ground into a series of marble stations with elaborate chandeliers and beautiful wall paintings. Passengers ranged from well-dressed people, women in nice dresses and high heels, and others in casual blouses and slacks. Mosaics and engravings depict scenes of farming, construction, factories, rebuilding. Riding the metro costs the equivalent of a few cents. The tour group, Uri Tours, writes that half a million people ride the subway daily.

Pyongyang’s metro is a three-minute escalator ride below ground into a series of marble stations with elaborate chandeliers and beautiful wall paintings. Passengers ranged from well-dressed people, women in nice dresses and high heels, and others in casual blouses and slacks. Mosaics and engravings depict scenes of farming, construction, factories, rebuilding. Riding the metro costs the equivalent of a few cents. The tour group, Uri Tours, writes that half a million people ride the subway daily. Watch a clip of the metro here.


One of our hosts, Kim-Young, holding the flag of the DPRK. Behind her, the Juche tower, so-named after the dominant philosophy of self-reliance. Our other host, Kim Song-Nam, explained: “The Juche philosophy was created by President Kim Il-Sung. Man decides his own destiny, we rely on our own resources.”

One of our hosts, Kim-Young, holding the flag of the DPRK. Behind her, the Juche tower, so-named after the dominant philosophy of self-reliance. Our other host, Kim Song-Nam, explained: “The Juche philosophy was created by President Kim Il-Sung. Man decides his own destiny, we rely on our own resources.”

 

Stories published in our Daily Digests section are chosen based on the interest of our readers. They are republished from a number of sources, and are not produced by MintPress News. The views expressed in these articles are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect MintPress News editorial policy.

Republish our stories! MintPress News is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.

 

About the Author
 Eva Bartlett is an independent journalist, a specialist in the Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation, who recently spent time in Syria, covering one of the hottest points in the war, the battle for Aleppo. Her brave work continues. 

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EVA BARRETT—Dr. So-Yung (60) works in the tele-consultation department of the Children’s Hospital. “We have contacts with provincial-level and county-level hospitals, mostly about children’s diseases or illnesses. When they have difficulties with diagnoses, they request consultations from this hospital,” he explained. “I cannot suppress my anger about the sanctions imposed by the U.S. and other countries.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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Parting shot—a word from the editors
The Best Definition of Donald Trump We Have Found

In his zeal to prove to his antagonists in the War Party that he is as bloodthirsty as their champion, Hillary Clinton, and more manly than Barack Obama, Trump seems to have gone “play-crazy” -- acting like an unpredictable maniac in order to terrorize the Russians into forcing some kind of dramatic concessions from their Syrian allies, or risk Armageddon.However, the “play-crazy” gambit can only work when the leader is, in real life, a disciplined and intelligent actor, who knows precisely what actual boundaries must not be crossed. That ain’t Donald Trump -- a pitifully shallow and ill-disciplined man, emotionally handicapped by obscene privilege and cognitively crippled by white American chauvinism. By pushing Trump into a corner and demanding that he display his most bellicose self, or be ceaselessly mocked as a “puppet” and minion of Russia, a lesser power, the War Party and its media and clandestine services have created a perfect storm of mayhem that may consume us all.— Glen Ford, Editor in Chief, Black Agenda Report 

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