People's Democracy

DPRK Caution Not Misplaced

Suneet Chopra

ON April 16, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) spelt out its response to the “US high ranking officials” who were reportedly vying with each other “to talk about dialogue” with it.  The DPRK stated, “This is nothing but a crafty ploy to evade the blame for the tension on the eve of the war by pretending to refrain from military actions..… It is none other than the US which sparked off a vicious cycle of tension, (following) its hostile policy to stifle the DPRK by force of arms.” It also said the UD was pushing the situation in the Korean peninsula to its worst phase ever, as a result of which the US manoeuvred the UN Security Council to slap sanctions on the DPRK for an innocuous and perfectly legitimate satellite launch for peaceful purposes which every sovereign state has a right to do.

The foreign ministry of the DPRK correctly noted that “there is no country in the world which does not react to the encroachment upon the legitimate right of a sovereign state to develop space (research) and its sovereignty.” The nuclear war manoeuvres using B-52 stealth bombers and warships was firmly met in May and June by the DPRK breaking off the armistice as well as industrial collaboration at Kaesong which it had hoped to develop into a commonly agreed peaceful plan for the reunification of the two Koreas. From the fifties onward, the DPRK has suggested not only a treaty to end the war but also action to ensure a peaceful reunification of the country. The only hurdle then, as now, is the US nuclear presence, recently made worse by the US arm-twisting of the UN Security Council and military war games using nuclear powered aircraft carriers and stealth bombers, which the DPRK responded to firmly by ending the armistice and all dialogue with either South Korea or the US.

Moreover, the DPRK showed its resolve and capacity to resist any US threat, including attacks in this crisis and its moves had the salutary effect of ensuring that the USA was forced to put off its attempt to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile in May this year. After that, the DPRK had planned bilateral talks with the South Koreans but it is clear that the USA was not prepared to allow that to happen. So the issue of the nuclear test of February 2013 was raked up again to scuttle these talks. The USA has been doing this persistently on one excuse or another.

However, the National Defence Commission of DPRK stated on June 16 that Washington was welcome to pick a date and place, and the two sides can discuss a range of issues, but that no preconditions could be tolerated. What is deplorable is the double standards being exercised by the US globally. Its allies like Israel can not only have nuclear weapons but invade the neighbouring countries with impunity. On the other hand the DPRK has a social system and government that has proved to be far more stable than its southern counterpart; it is also a country that had even begun to dismantle its plutonium reactor to prove its peaceful intent for a heavy water one which the US promised but never gave, and it is a country that has consistently called for talks which the US and its southern satrap while any such possibility has been scuttled on one count or another. It is such a country that is being painted as a villain by the villain himself.

What objection does the US have to talks with the DPRK that has a stable regime with considerable scientific capacity and reflecting a powerful unity over years, while it is prepared to go into talks with gangs like the Taliban or support the Syrian rebels who are allies of the Al Qaeda? Also, there are reports of the US spying on India, and of the murky refusal of US administration to allow Gilani alias David Headley and his fellow operative Rana to be interrogated by Indian agencies for their role in the Mumbai massacre. And now the 61 million rupee revamp of the Lashkar (alias Jamaat-ud- Dawa) office in Pakistan by its Punjab provincial government ought to open anyone’s eyes as to how far these double standards have gone. Obviously, US imperialism is not to be trusted. But the DPRK has shown how best to defend oneself and at the same time expose the US’s covert designs.

This is no problem for the Left and anti-imperialist forces in India. The government of India should ensure that imperialism does not use this country to profit from while at the same time breeding terror with its gains. How far this rot has gone is evident from the exposure of the Dawood gang’s stake in India’s IPL betting and terrorists links with elements in Bollywood and other people looking for get-rich-quick schemes. It is time the government of India take the security of the Indian people seriously and punish those stashing ill-gotten gains in Swiss banks and offshore havens and leaving the door open for criminals, murderous gangsters and the like to attack the innocent and helpless citizens of this country with impunity.