The nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula is an offspring of the U.S. policy
of nuclear threat based on its deep-rooted hostile policy toward the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea ( DPRK the formal name for North Korea) for over
half a century.
During the Korean War U.S. considered dropping a nuclear bomb at the border
of china and North Korea.
U.S. dropped 1.5 bombs per person wiped out 30% of the population in North
Korea during the Korean War. The U.S. dropped more bombs on North Korea than
all the bombs used in the Second World War.
Four million Korean civilians were killed.
The Korean War was a civil war fought to reunify the country.
The United States intervened not to defend Korean democracy or independence
but to protect its own political interests including Korea¡¯s
division.
Sixteen nations under the flag of U.N. participated in Korean War, (Japan
participated secretly).
The adoption of the U.N. resolution this time makes it impossible for the UN
Security Council to evade the historic responsibility for having patronized and
connived with the U.S. in the 1950/53 War and the subsequent division of Korea.
In doing so, the Security Council violated the UN charter, the cornerstone of
which is the principle of sovereignty, equality and self-determination.
The division of the Korean peninsula at the 38th parallel and U. S.
military occupation of the south both continue to this day.
Again it must be remembered that it was the U.S. that unilaterally divided
Korea following the Japanese surrender in August 1945, and subsequently ruled
with a military occupation government in the south, overseeing the elimination
of virtually the entire popular movement of majority opposition to U.S.
occupation, murdering hundreds of thousands of people.
Primary responsibility for the Korean War should rest with those who divided
the country, in particular, the U. S. government.
The Korean peninsula remains highly militarized and potentially explosive.
Although North Korea is blamed for this situation, it was the United States and
South Korea that sabotaged good faith efforts to peacefully reunify Korea at
the Geneva Conference.
The United States continue to reject North Korean overtures to replace the
armistice with a formal peace agreement as a step toward normalizing relations
and reducing tensions between the two countries.
The demonization of North Korea by the United States government continues
and President Bush used his first State of Union address on January 29, 2002 to
brand perennial enemy North Korea, along with former allies Iran and Iraq, as
"the world's most dangerous regimes" who now form a threatening
"Axis of evil."
Bush presented a "Nuclear Posture Review" report Congress only
three weeks earlier, on January 8, which ordered the Pentagon to prepare
contingency plans for use of nuclear weapons. The first designated targets for
nuclear attack were his newly identified members of the :axis of evil,: along
with four other nations as well - Syria, Lybia, Russia, and China.
The 9-11 tragedy now boldly warns the world of virtual total war.
Vice-president Richard Cheny, declares that the U.S. is now considering
military actions against forty to fifty nations, and that the war "may
never end" and ¡°become a permanent part of the way we live. All
options for achieving global and spatial hegemony are now on the table.
Already, the U.S. military is deployed in 100 different countries.
Bush accused the North Korea of selling weapons to other nations. The U.S.
is by far the largest manufacturer of conventional, nuclear, chemical, and
biological weapons in the world. It is also the largest seller of these
weapons, and has used conventional against dozens of nations, biological
against Cuba, China, Korea, perhaps others, chemical against Southeast Asia,
and nuclear against Japan, and threatened to use them on at least 20 other
occasions. In addition it has armed other nations with these weapons of mass
destruction.
South Korea was the third largest buyer of weapons from the U.S.
Bush condemned the North Korea for spending too much on its military,
causing food shortages for the people. It is worth noting that the United
States is the leading military spender in the world resulting in substantial
underfunding of its own indispensable social program.
U.S. economic sanction on North Korea has been in place for the last 60
years-the longest economic sanctions in world history. As the sanctions have
been tighten in order to choke the North Korean economy, the U.S. has cried out
that the leader of North Korea is starving his own people. Obviously it is the
U.S. has been the cause of North Korea's economic hardship affecting the
people of the North Korea.
Now, the U.N. Security Council has voted to impose even more punishing
sanctions on North Korea including ship searches.
North Korea immediately rejected the resolution, and its U.N. ambassador
walked out of the council chamber after accusing its members of a
"gangster-like" action which neglects the nuclear threat posed by the
United States.
The U.S. is the biggest nuclear weapons holder and dealer in the world
therefore U.N. Security Council should urge sanctions against the U.S. not
against the DPRK!
According to Gregory Elich (author of Strange Liberators: Militarism,
mayhem, and the Pursuit of Profit and also advisor to Korea Truth
Commission), "The six-party talks on September 19, 2005, a statement of
principles on nuclear disarmament was signed between the U.S. and the Bush
Administration, however, viewed its signature on the agreement as only a
tactical delay. During negotiations it had firmly rejected the statement, and
was brought around only when the Chinese delegation warned that it would
announce that the U.S. was to blame were the six-party talks to collapse.
U.S. immediately violated one of its main points. Although the U.S. was
required under the agreement to begin normalizing relations with North Korea,
on literally the very next day it announced the imposition of sanctions on
North Korean accounts held in the Macao-based Banco Delta Asia, ostensibly
because they were being used to circulate counterfeit currency.
German counterfeit expert Klaus Bender believes that since U.S. currency is
printed on specially made paper in Massachusetts, using ink based on a secret
chemical formula, "it is unimaginable" that anyone other than
Americans "could come by these materials."
The printing machines that North Korea obtained three decades ago, Bender
says, are "outdated and not able to produce the USD supernote, a high tech
product." He strongly implied that the CIA could be the source of the
counterfeit currency as it "runs a secret printing facility equipped with
the sophisticated technology which is required for the production of the
notes."
That the CIA has the capacity to print money does not prove that it has done
so. It would, however, have a motive, and the source has not been traced.
Wherever the counterfeit supernotes came from, the Bush Administration was
ardently using the issue as a pretext to take action against North Korea.
Banco Delta Asia was quick to deny the charge, saying that its business
relations with North Korea were entirely legitimate and commercial. Over a year
later, the U.S. has yet to complete its investigation.
As long as the investigation remains unresolved, the U.S. can continue to
freeze the DPRK's funds.
Russian Ambassador to South Korea Gleb Ivashentsov called for the U.S. to
present evidence to back its accusation. Yet all the Russians received was
"rumor-level talk."
U.S. Treasury officials met with a North Korean delegation in New York in
March 2006, but provided nothing to back the charge.
DPRK delegation head Ri Gun remarked afterwards, "There were neither
comments nor discussion" about evidence. At that meeting, he proposed
creating a joint U.S.-DPRK consultative body to "exchange information on
financial crimes and prepare Counter measures."
The North Koreans said they would respond to evidence of counterfeiting by
arresting those who were involved and seizing their equipment.
"Both sides can have a dialogue at the consultative body through which
they can build trust. It would have a very positive impact on addressing the
nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula," Ri said.
The delegation also suggested that a North Korean settlement account be
opened at a U.S. financial institution and placed under U.S. supervision, so as
to allay suspicions.
Not surprisingly, the North Korean offers were rejected. By raising the
issue of alleged counterfeiting, the Bush Administration sought to use this as
a means to justify economic warfare against the DPRK.
The measures taken against Banco Delta Asia deprived North Korea of a major
access point to foreign exchange, and served also as a mechanism for magnifying
the effect of sanctions.
By blacklisting Banco Delta Asia, the U.S. caused other financial
institutions to curtail dealings with the bank.
The campaign soon took on global significance.
The U.S. Treasury Department sent warning letters to banks around the world,
resulting in a worldwide wave of banks shutting down North Korean accounts.
Fearing U.S. retaliation, banks felt it prudent to close North Korean accounts
rather than risk being blacklisted and driven out of business.
U.S. Treasury Under Secretary Stuart Levey observed that sanctions and U.S.
threats had put "huge pressure" on the DPRK, leading to a
"snowballing avalanche effect." U.S. actions were meant to undermine
any prospect of a peaceful settlement.
Warning letters to banks were often followed by personal visits from U.S.
officials. Bankers and American officials say that the messages contained a mix
of implicit threats and explicit actions.
Consequently, it was not long before nearly all of North Korea's
accounts held in foreign banks were closed, with a deleterious effect on the
DPRK's international trade.
U.S. officials were inflicting serious economic harm on North Korea, but
planned to do much more. "We're just starting," said Treasury
Under Secretary Stuart Levey several months ago.
In many cases, no pretense was made that the actions were related to illegal
financial transactions.
U.S. officials were now openly pressing financial institutions to sever all
economic relations with the DPRK.
"The U.S. government is urging financial institutions around the world
to think carefully about the risks of doing any North Korea-related
business," Levey said.
By September 2006, the U.S. had sent official dispatches to each UN member
state, detailing plans for harsher economic sanctions.
The planned measures were so strong that several European nations expressed
concern, and it was said that the plans aimed at nothing less than a total
blockade on all North Korean trade and financial transactions.
Selig Harrison, director of the Asia Program at the Center for International
Policy, visited the DPRK and reported on what he saw. "I found instances
in North Korea authenticated by foreign businessmen and foreign embassies in
which legitimate imports of industrial equipment for light industries making
consumer goods have been blocked.
The North Koreans understandably see this as a regime change policy designed
to bring about the collapse of their regime through economic
pressure."
Undersecretary of state for arms control said at a recent State
Department meeting that he hoped the sanctions would "put out all the
lights in Pyongyang."
It was always the goal of the Bush Administration to win international
backing for UN sanctions against North Korea. The U.S. won approval in the UN
Security Council for international sanctions against the DPRK.
UN member states are called upon to take "cooperative action including
through inspections of cargo to and from the DPRK."
Both the Security Council and the sanctions committee were given the right
to expand the list of goods and technology that can be blocked, and the
committee is to meet every 90 days to recommend "ways to strengthen the
effectiveness of the measures."
It can be expected that the U.S. will press for more draconian measures.
U.S. officials were quick to point out that UN sanctions allowed the inspection
of North Korean ships, and gave the go-ahead for a more aggressive campaign to
force financial institutions to cut ties with the DPRK.
The Bush Administration regards the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI),
a program said to be aimed at limiting the flow of nuclear, biological and
chemical weapons, as the centerpiece of enforcement.
Soon after the passage of the UN resolution, U.S. Ambassador Alexander
Vershbow and Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill asked South Korea to
review its economic relations with the North, with an eye to limiting contact.
This was followed by a visit from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was
there to reinforce the message.
In particular, the U.S. wanted South Korea to halt cooperative projects in
the North at the Kaesong industrial park and the Mount Kumgang tourist
resort.
U.S. officials met with more success in Japan, which had recently imposed a
total ban on trade with the DPRK.
The furor over the partial failure of North Korea's single, rather puny
nuclear test made for an interesting contrast with the indifference that has
greeted other nations' nuclear arsenals.
The U.S., of course, has a massive arsenal of nuclear arms at its
disposal.
There is no suggestion that the established nuclear states should disarm,
nor have there been calls for sanctions against the newer nuclear states,
India, Pakistan and Israel.
The U.S. has even recently signed a nuclear deal with India. Yet only North
Korea has been singled out for punishment and outrage. The basis for such a
glaringly obvious double standard is that none of the other nuclear powers are
potential targets for U.S. military forces.
U.S. Ambassador to the UN John Bolton has hinted at the possibility of
stopping and searching North Korean ships in international waters, an act
lacking in any legal basis. If the U.S. decides to pursue that course of
action, it risks inviting a military clash at sea. Japan is considering
contributing destroyers and patrol aircraft to the U.S. plan to harass North
Korean shipping. This would be seen as an especially provocative act, given the
bitter memories associated with the many years Korea spent under harsh Japanese
colonial rule.
But then, confrontation is surely what the Bush Administration wants,
viewing it as an opportunity for further punishment of the DPRK.
Since demolishing the 1994 Agreed Framework, the Bush Administration has
gone on to do everything in its power to worsen tensions.
"The U.S. never intended to honor the Agreed Framework and did not
fully fulfill any of its provisions,"
I am going to read part of statement that was presented by DPRK's U.N.
representative in the U.N. recently so you can hear what the other side has to
say.
"The entire issue is being presented in the monopoly media to disinform
people as to the truth of what the historical experience has been on the Korean
peninsula so that they have difficulty distinguishing between right and wrong,
what is just and what is unjust in the situation.
Every nation has the right to defend itself against a military invasion and
to take whatever measures necessary to secure its independence and sovereignty
against aggression.
The DPRK has stated clearly, as recently as October 3, its nuclear weapons
program is not intended for aggressive purposes but only as a deterrent to the
constant danger of a military attack by the United States.
Should the UN Security Council be abused to pass crippling sanctions against
the DPRK as it did to Iraq for 12 years prior to its invasion, such a move must
be condemned.
The continued U.S. military presence in the south of Korea and its claim to
have the right to carry out "regime change" and "pre-emptive
nuclear strikes" will be conducive to the cause of peace and justice.
The DRPK has tried repeatedly to get the U.S. to end the state of war that
still exists since the 1950-53 Korean War and to sign a peace treaty that would
normalize relations between the two countries. The U.S. always refuses.
The DPRK's possession of a deterrent power, solely for self-defense, is
also fully in line with the interests of the regional countries for peace and
security and a peaceful environment. However, the DPRK government maintains its
consistent position to resolve the issue of denuclearizing the Korean peninsula
peacefully through dialogue and negotiations.
If there is anything that the United States is in favor of it is the
aggravated tension on the Korean peninsula to be used as a pretext for
reinforcing its military forces in the North-East Asian region. This is what
the real intention of the United States.
The North-South Joint Declaration of June 15, 2000 is a declaration of
realizing independence and peaceful reunification by the Korean nation itself
rejecting foreign interference.
The U.S. doctrine of preemptive nuclear strikes against the DPRK, incessant
large-scale joint military exercises of the USA and South Korea, mass delivery
to south Korea of all sorts of military equipment including weapons of mass
destruction, and the aerial reconnaissance by the USA for hundred-odd times
every month constitute the major factors undermining peace and stability and
aggravating tension in the Korean peninsula.
Furthermore, the North-South Joint Declaration of June 15 has not been
smoothly implemented so far because of the persistent maneuvers of the USA,
which is not in favor of improved inter-Korean relations.
The Security Council should be a body accountable to the General Assembly by
making real contributions to international peace and security, not a means for
certain countries to legalize their strategic interests.
The fact that the Security Council remains indifferent to the infringement
of sovereignty and massacre of civilians committed in the Arab territories,
such as the U.S. invasion of Iraq and Israel's aggression [against]
Lebanon, represents typical examples of irresponsibility, unfairness and double
standards in its activities."
Korea Truth Commission - U.S. demand,
