(Opinion Korea Times Wednesday 18 July 2018)
Five myths about North Korea
Updaded 18 July, 2018
Five weeks have passed since the landmark summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore.
It is too short a period for any meaningful progress to have been accomplished, but long enough to draw disappointing responses from impatient critics. Denuclearization is a long, drawn-out process that can take years or even a decade.
John Bolton, Trump's hawkish national security adviser, recently urged the North to finish the whole process in a year ― i.e., follow the Libyan model of denuclearizing first and being rewarded later ― a formula Pyongyang rejected from the start.
Bolton's demand may come from Washington's "good cop, bad cop" routine or reflect the Trump administration's lack of teamwork. That, along with the U.S. reluctance to declare the end of the Korean War, seemed to be behind Pyongyang's complaint about the "gangster-like" U.S. demand for denuclearization.
The U.S. diplomatic establishment for its part expressed great dismay with the North's foot-dragging. Declaring Trump a loser and Kim a winner, major U.S. media criticized their leader for being duped by a young despot, blinded by political hastiness related to the November midterm elections.
Their editorials and columns say in near unison that Pyongyang got what it wanted ― eased economic sanctions and the suspension of U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises ― while offering nothing of substance in return.
In fact, the North has scrapped its nuclear testing ground and the launching site of long-range missiles. The U.S. hard-liners say the demolition of a few obsolete facilities was just a show and the North has yet to specify its plan to denuclearize unequivocally.
From the standpoint of Pyongyang, however, it is China ― not the U.S. ― that is relaxing the tight economic rein while Washington and Seoul can resume their suspended war games any time if they so decide. What the North wants are not these "reversible" steps but an irreversible, if symbolic, declaration that war between the two sides is over ― a U.S. security guarantee for the isolated and impoverished state.
These contrasting viewpoints over the stalemate in follow-up negotiations are attributable at least in part to some deep-rooted biases ― or myths ― the U.S. diplomatic establishment, including the media, have about North Korea.
Myth No. 1: Kim Jong-un can do anything he wants to in his country, without taking into consideration anyone's thoughts and feelings.
Right, Kim seems to be a brutal dictator, who can even execute his uncle and mentor ― with anti-aircraft guns if unconfirmed reports are correct. As in any other country, however, there must be hawks and doves in North Korea, too.
There are reports Kim has yet to take full control of the Army, and Kim has to read the military elite's faces to make significant diplomatic concessions. Also, the 34-year-old ruler with little diplomatic experience needs experts' advice on foreign policy. His arrogance and supercilious airings in public places may be stagecraft to hide vulnerability.
Myth No. 2: North Korea was destined to be a nuclear power no matter what the U.S. did.
The North's nuclear development program started as the last resort of self-defense for the impoverished country, which cannot match South Korea, let alone the U.S., in military spending.
Had the U.S. shown some latitude, however, even the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il might not have pushed ahead with it by driving millions of his people to starvation. Ending the weapons program might also not have been possible because of internal resistance had the last two U.S. administrations not maintained such a tight economic blockade and military hostility.
Myth No. 3: North Korea has deceived the U.S. throughout the nuclear crisis over the past 25 years.
Both sides have deceived each other in the past quarter of a century or so, blaming the other for violating agreements first. Deciding who was right or wrong will lead to endless quarreling. When it comes to consistency of policy and even predictability, dictatorial North Korea may claim superiority to democratic America where policy can change 180 degrees with the change of political power.
Myth No. 4: If war breaks out and U.S. troops enter the North, the North Korean people will welcome them as liberators from a dictatorial regime.
Ordinary citizens' antipathy toward the U.S. may be stronger than expected. This traces back to the near demolition of the northern half of the peninsula by the U.S. nearly seven decades ago. North Korea will be a second Iraq ― and a much worse won war at that.
Myth No. 5: South Koreans will like it if Washington destroys the North with minimal damage to the South.
Aside from the abhorrence of casualties from military conflict, however minimal they might be, South Koreans' wishes to co-exist and co-prosper with their northern brethren are quite strong, as seen in the last local elections.
Strong anti-communism, of course, remains among conservatives, particularly older ones, but President Moon Jae-in's rapprochement policy is enjoying nationwide support. On the other hand, their dislike of Japan is deep as seen in a recent survey, which showed South Koreans like Kim Jong-un better than Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Some U.S. experts criticized President Donald Trump for just meeting with Kim, giving legitimacy to the despot who brutalizes his people. Can such criticism be justified, however? Yes, North Korea is a country that can be proud of few things, if any. It is also true that no one has given the U.S. the right to punish regimes that do not follow its orders and principles.
North Koreans are desperate to live and live a little better than now. Stripping them of such opportunities illustrates the arrogance of the world's sole superpower ― or its hidden agenda whether the collective thinking of Americans is conscious of it or not.
Choi Sung-jin is a Korea Times columnist. Contact him at choisj1955@naver.com.