Since assuming the mantle of “supreme” leadership, following the death of his father, Kim Jong-il, on December 17, 2011, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un has not faltered in his ironclad determination to continue with the tradition of promoting military adventurism as a state policy. Rather than take steps to improve the sagging economy of one of the most impoverished countries in the world, tackle endemic poverty and reduce perennial food shortages, he has shown nothing but an implacable thirst for the acquisition of nuclear weaponry and technology, just as did his father and grandfather, Kim Il-sung.
Recently, his country fired three ballistic missiles in one day into the sea, off its east coast and near Japan, thus attracting the usual world condemnation that has failed in the past to restrain Kim or temper his war-mongering rhetoric. The latest adventure was just one in a series of provocative actions that have underlined the danger that the absolute despot poses, not just to his immediate neighbours, but to the entire global community. The world cannot continue to watch in silence while Kim’s stockpile of nuclear weapons continues to grow at a time when the global agenda is denuclearisation.
For someone who has lived all his life on the fast lane, Kim is not likely to slow down unless forced to do so. And it will take all the efforts of the world powers to achieve this. Enunciating his objectives of military superiority four years ago, he was quoted as saying, “Superiority in military technology is no longer monopolised by imperialists. We have to make every effort to reinforce the people’s armed forces.” Since then, he has been pushing to take his “military first” policy to the next level.
The latest nuclear tests, the fifth and “most successful” by the country, resulted in a 5.3 magnitude “artificial earthquake” near its main nuclear site. It is part of the bid to flaunt North Korea’s claims of having acquired the capability to mount a nuclear warhead on ballistic missiles that could target its “enemies.” “The standardisation of the nuclear warhead will enable the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) to produce at will and as many as it wants a variety of smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear warheads of higher strike power,” said a report, quoting the country’s state media. But it is a violation of the United Nations Security Council’s resolutions which restrain North Korea from carrying out further activities related to ballistic missile.
Before now, there were also claims in January of a first successful hydrogen bomb testing from which seismic monitors recorded a 5.1 magnitude tremor, according to the United States Geological Survey. It was also seen as a milestone. Although the claims of the testing of a thermonuclear bomb – as hydrogen bomb is otherwise known – could not be independently verified, they were serious enough to alarm the international community.
As usual, the ineffectual condemnation that has so far failed to put a dent in Kim’s ambition has been pouring in from leaders and governments across the world. While South Korea described it as “maniacal recklessness,” the United States has warned of impending “serious consequences.” “The nuclear test conducted by the North is a violent action against the international goal of denuclearisation,” South Korea’s president, Park Geun-hye, said. Japan’s Shinzo Abe has threatened sanctions, adding, “We simply cannot tolerate that North Korea went ahead with a nuclear test.”
But what the situation demands now is much more than mere threats or condemnation; action is needed now to restore sanity where disquiet has been reigning. Decades of negotiations and persuasion have failed to achieve the goal of preventing the emergence of North Korea as a nuclear power. What is likely to happen now is the imposition of another round of sanctions, but that country has managed to find a way to survive in spite of sanctions and isolation.
In the past, the common practice was to call on China and Russia, its closest allies, to curtail the excesses of the most isolated country in the world. The various attempts to discourage the pursuit of its nuclear programme under the six-party talks involving the US, Russia, China, Japan, South Korea and North Korea only yielded temporary success. Each promise to refrain from further embarking on nuclear advance has only been replaced by another renewed and single-minded resolve to acquire and use the nuclear technology. There was even a time under the umbrella of the six-party talks that the country was promised food supply in exchange for disarmament; it all failed and is yet to be revived since 2009.
But right now, the erratic leadership, like the falcon that can no longer hear the falconer, can no longer be kept on a leash, not even by China. The threat posed to its more prosperous neighbours, South Korea, with whom it fought a bitter three-year war that only ended in an armistice in 1953, Japan and even China, cannot be overemphasised. With each test, North Korea is getting closer to acquiring the nuclear capacity that it would need to continue to blackmail the rest of the world. It may be only a matter of time before the urge to launch attacks on its neighbours becomes overwhelming.
This is the time for the world, especially its main ally, China, to force North Korea to a disarmament negotiation table. If the world cannot get Kim to agree peacefully, then there should be a way of forcing him to do so. With time fast running out, and the world in turmoil as a result of jihadist activities in nearly all parts of the globe, nobody is likely to sit pretty with nuclear bombs in the hand of an erratic leader.
