by Ramin Mazaheri
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
To 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.
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
In 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.
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 succeeding 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
Every year for more than 50 years the US and South Korea have held war game 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…
Firstly, 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 the peaceful days when they were the “hermit kingdom”.
People think of North Korea as a poor country – totally false: it is staggeringly rich.
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 million 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.
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.
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.
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….
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
With 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, no?
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 – that 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
Seoul 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
I 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 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. He can be reached on Facebook.
There is also South Korean elite/compradors, modern day chinilpa, who also benefit from US alignment and a divided Korea. There are guilty parties in Korea who add to continued division.
North Korea’s existence these past 7 decades means they should also have a say along with South Koreans on the future of a United Korea. And a United Korea will have much to offer ots neighbors Japan, China, Russia, and Mongolia. My sincere hope is that path can be realized peacefully, but even in war a United Korea will reemerge, rebuild and be a light into this world.
Thank you for a wonderful piece.
Thanks Ramin t8he truth always spreads a beautiful light on the day whether it is raining or not
All for Korea’s reunufication – with Kim in charge!
I have heard that the US and Japan fear a united Korea which would have the atomic bomb and would perhaps be hostile to Japan and USA.
Ramin, thanks for this very insightful article. Now the picture is complete.
At the end, it is Koreans (applies to all of us) that must take action, and get that scum out of the way once for all. Same is true for any country under zionazi rule.
Here’s all you really need to know about the Far East…
1) Japan started modernising to become a First World power ***before*** WW1.
2) Japan intended to use first world military methods to subdue the vastly greater China using the ***same*** Empire Methods Britain used to similar ends.
3) If China independently modernised, Japan would inevitably fall to no.2 regional power- which of course has happened. In this circumstance, Japan’s regional ambitions would adjust to never again expecting to be dominant over China.
4) Korea has always served as the ***literal*** slave nation to Japan- the same relationship Saudi Arabia has to Yemen.
5) Since WW2 (as a result of American efforts), the Far East has been in a ***holding pattern*** with all unresolved issues between local nations ***frozen***. This state of affairs cannot last forever- and one day an almighty war is going to happen in the region to settle things. America used the carrot of mega-trade very successfully.
6) Korea was split at the behest of Japan. After WW2, Japan knew they could no longer use horrific empire rules to control Korea, and that a strong unified Korea would eventually displace Japan and take over Japan’s no.2 position
7) America’s military presence in S Korea and bellicose attitude to the north matches the Soviet presence in East Germany exactly- same tactics and motivations. Hence if America leaves, Korea will re-unify overnight and the main leadership of the united Korea will be from the North (see Merkel- the most powerful German leader since Hitler- who is from Soviet East Germany).
8) racist Japan has not reformed at all- indeed the xenophobic racism of Japanese society is stronger than ever. And Japan is a nuclear power, with multiple power stations specifically designed to produce the material for nuclear warheads. All of Japan’s heavy industry is dual use- designed to allow Japan to fight another modern regional war.
9) if Korea re-unified, Japan would immediately declare war on Korea, with the same motivation as Saudi attacks on Yemen and Israeli attacks on Gaza.
10) China, the regional super-power by a million miles, benefits from the status quo- all other regional nations are servile to China in a business sense, and have to invest in advancing Chinese industry- making China even more powerful.
11) The real deal in the Far East is the coming war between the USA and China. Current American military planning focuses on fighting China and not Russia (which would simply fry America to a crisp with its superior nuclear weapons). But the astonishing status of China as the planet’s hi-tech workshop puts this war off indefinitely and in doing so allows China to develop and build the best weapon systems on the planet.
12) The Far East has adjusted well to the frozen ‘holding pattern’ imposed by the USA on the region after WW2. No player there wants things to change. The people are happy- the economies booming- the advancements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution still generating great dividends.
13) the Deep State accepts that the Road to War does ***not*** go thru the Far East, but that racist thickies in the West can always be sold on the usual nonsense of the “yellow peril”- a nice distraction from the massive build up to war against Iran currently happening all across the Middle East at military facilities built for the forces of every major Western power- including Germany.
Here’s a clue for everyone here. Alphas don’t attend to the ‘blah, blah, blah’ that fills the millions of column inches in the serious newspapers too many people on our side still read. The servants of the Deep State demons are alphas- evil alphas of course- but alphas nevertheless. The wordy useless ‘analysis’ that spews out of the ‘chattering classes’ press outlets is to control a layer of society the alphas have to use to control ‘lower down’ Humanity. Alphas see things in simple clear terms. Fake complexity is for betas- to make them feel ‘smart’.
In Orwell’s 1984, the state propaganda is ***not*** forced on the ‘working classes’ (few people even know this about 1984). The always on TV broadcasts are aimed at the class of people who read the Times, and watch the ‘serious’ political shows on TV.
No amount of wordy ‘bottom up’ analysis of the Far East or Middle East will give you a true understanding of current events. Your demonic masters do not play that way- and actually the most powerful Humans in History have never played that way either. Wordy bottom up ‘analysis’ is the opium of the chattering classes.
PS Putin is now anticipating the ‘Russian’ press being closed down all across the West in a contradiction to the West’s own principle of ‘freedom of the press’. ***But*** ‘freedom of the press’ is suspended in the West during war time. Bit of a clue there, don’t you think? And ‘wartime’ doesn’t mean the West clobbering another poor helpless target like Libya. ‘wartime’ means like WW1 and WW2- so the coming Iran war will be literally treated as the beginning of WW3 by the West- with extreme war powers controlling the lives of people in the West.
In other words, the Deep State isn’t worried about escalation during the attack on Iran- it positively expects and requires this escalation. Escalation has always been a prime tactic of the modern West. When Britain declared war on nazi Germany, Hitler bent over backward to accomodate Britain and avoid direct conflict. Churchill- in demonic frustration- ordered the bombing of civilian targets in Germany to provoke a German response that could be used as an excuse to escalate the conflict. America in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Libya, Syria etc was always about maximum escalation. The ***lie*** of precise controlled wars (or at least that initial intent) is always sold to the chattering classes.
The fate of all of Iran can be seen in the ruins of Mosul and Raqqa- both bombed flat by the USA with maximum civilian casualties hidden from public view by the likes of the BBC and NYT and Guardian.
Great article, great comment!!!
For the US/NATO to attack either Iran or NorthKorea/China will not be that easy, preparations seem to be going on but when/if a real war starts, who dare to face Russia and or China? Any of these by itself can damage the US beyond recovery. The US expects to fight Russia by using ex communist countries (Poland, Balts, Romania) but these countries expect the US to fight Russia for them! Mediterranean countries have no quarrels with Russia, Germany nobady knows what will do since they are becoming aware being used by the US as tools. How the US intends to fight China? By using who? India seems not se eager. Japan would not do it. Would the US do it by itself? I really doubt it. Conclussion: A major war is probably not going to happen hoping not to underestimate the power of the Israeli lobby over the US.
Thanks Ramin and to Saker for publishing this. It is one of the best things you’ve written. It’s one of the best because articles like this are simply never produced in the west.
I think it is a an absolute disgrace that Russia and China voted for more sanctions on this country and their collusion with the AZ empire is something they will have to reconcile with their consciences as things unfold.
It is particularly remarkable that they did this in the same month that Putin said sanctions won’t work and North Korea’s concerns are justified.
They have shot themselves in the foot because there is no way to reverse the sanctions no matter what NK does and they have allowed the US regime to say that these moves are the wishes of the international community and with Russia and China’s blessing add more sanctions of their own.
I would love to ask the Chinese and Russians what they think NK should do to promote peace. I really would because they would have no answer.
The US doesn’t do diplomacy and if Putin thinks it’s perfectly safe for NK to give up it’s nuclear weapons in today’s world, then perhaps he could set an example by giving up his and see what happens.
Russia of course voted for the no-fly zone over Libya a mere 8 years ago at the behest of NATO and the result was several hundred thousand Libyan deaths, the destruction of Africa’s richest and most progressive country and the disgusting murder of it’s leader.
They also refused to sell Iran the S-300 missile defence systems when war against that country looked very possible, depriving them of a much needed weapon and they even gave the US permission to use Russian territory to transit military equipment to sustain their cruel and illegal war on the Afghans.
The track record of Russian collusion with the US empire is a fact and though many might have thought things had changed in recent times, that is very much in doubt as the NK sanctions issue shows.
Fortunately the brave North Koreans realise that they must rely on themselves and no one else and the hope must be that as US power wanes so the militarisation of SE Asia by the US will end.
I hope your much needed article will educate those who criticise North Korea whilst knowing nothing about it and help us all to ask just what multipolarity actually means in practice if it amounts to nothing more than the abuse and bullying of small nations by the big and powerful.
All respect mostly for facts provided. In these times we must be grateful for truth crumbs.
I didnt knew about the 10 trillion rare metals but the rest was old stuff. NK´s President Kim is for sure doing one hell of a job.
The current situation should not be tolerated for very much longer.
The end game is unification of the Korean Peninsula. But the trend now is for that unified state to be dominated by a nuclear-armed North Korean “monarchy”. This strong man/strong clan entity will dictate the disposition of political power -and through it, economic power- to those who have served and who will pledge to serve the whims of the Kim Clan. That can’t be good for China, for Russia, for Japan, and certainly not for the people of Korea.
Unless a person waxes nostalgic for a Communist World Order, led by the likes of Stalin, Mao, and/or Kim, (s)he should dread the existence of totalitarian authority wherever it exists.
If a preemptive war on North Korea is not waged and won against North Korea in the very near future (sometime within the next year), South Korea and Japan will have to live under the same kind of threat from North Korea that Taiwan lives under from China. And, just like the United States pays homage to Israel every year with billions of dollars in grants plus tens of billions of dollars in trade+investments, Japan and South Korea will be expected to do the same to North Korea.
It is within the capability of the United States military to systematically destroy all of North Korea’s facilities for nuclear weapons and missiles, without using any assets currently positioned in Korea or Japan. By launching attacks only from the sea and from airbases located in US territories, North Korea may not choose to start a war, certain to end with its own destruction, by attacking South Korea or Japan. By using only non-nuclear standoff weapons, China would have reason to abstain from participating in the defense of the DPRK, because North Korean territory was not being invaded.
This campaign would not require the destruction of the civilian infrastructure, the political leadership, nor the military defenses of the DPRK, other than their air defense forces. Taking such restrictions into account, it would take several weeks to accomplish; but the results would be devastating to North Korea’s long range attack capabilities. And it would not change the status quo on the Korean peninsula.
Recall that the punitive missile strike against the Syrian airbase was executed just as Chinese Secretary Xi was enjoying dinner with President Trump. That was not a coincidence. The strike against the Syrian airbase was a demonstration as well as a “live fire” exercise for what could enfold over Korea.
The outrage expressed by China, by Russia, and probably by most of the nations of the world, must be endured By the United States. But none of these countries are going to war with the United States in order to save the face of a bullying despot. They didn’t act to save Saddam Hussein, the Taliban, nor Gaddaffi. So, there is no reason to expect a different reaction in this case.
East Asia will breathe easier and be a safer place, when the nuclear and long range threat from North Korea is gone.
I’d say the whole world will breathe easier when the nuclear threat from the rogue state USA is gone, yes, the whole world. The US is a threat to everyone on this planet and North Korea is threatening nobody.
Besides, despite everything, North Korea and China have a mutual defense treaty renewed every ten years.
China simply will not allow the murderous US regime to attack North Korea.
“China warns Trump ;We will back North Korea if the US strikes first’
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-09-09/china-warns-trump-we-will-back-north-korea-if-us-strikes-first
I think you have to read again this excellent article here above by Ramin M and make some reflections. My impression is that you did not understand why this suprahuman resistance from Northkoreans against the bully (the US) think what Putin said quite recently “Northkoreans will keep with their nuclear program whatever the price even if they have to eat only grass” or something similar. Then you have to be realistic the US would not dare to attack NK, this is not Irak, or Lybia. NK can really hurt the US and its regional lackeys (Japan, SouthKorea). Besides there is a possibility that China would come on the NK side.
Has anyone here read The Gulag Archipelago? Or Two Hundred Years Together?
Is there anyone here who thinks that The Korean people will live better and freer lives under the atheistic, nihilistic tyranny of a Communist socialist state like the one that has been imposed upon North Korea?
Does anyone have an idea what a communist “liberation” is like? Read up on The Killing Fields of Cambodia, The Boat People from Vietnam and Laos, and the accounts of what has happened to the families and descendants of Cambodian and South Vietnamese soldiers in the decades since. It is realistic to expect a combination of all of these to happen to the South Koreans, should the servants of the personality cult of Kim become the dominant party a unified Korea.
And that’s what this is all about: North Korea’s Kim obsession to unite Korea under his rule.
The United States must put an end to this threat before the nuclear option becomes operational.
As for North Korea’s military strength and resolve versus that of South Korea and that of the United States, there can be no comparison of the tactics of imperialism with the intensity of all-out war. The American is no longer configured to fight all-out warfare. But the South Korean military still is.
Both sides are so heavily defended that the situation would be like Kursk, in that whoever took the offensive was bound to be the loser. For that reason, the United States should make maximum use of its stand-off weapons capabilities; and leave it to the North Koreans to decide to escalte the conflict into a Peninsula War.
“Arthur” you have to be realistic, you must have relized that as for now the US has no strategy at all. This makes them dangeraous to the rest of the world no doubt but they are as dangerous to themselves too.
Well, I don’t see that it is at all realistic to expect the South Koreans will fall prey to the personality cult of the DPRK. I dare say you might benefit from spending some time actually talking with Korean people, studying their society and history instead of lecturing us how they are the same as Cambodians, Vietnamese, Russians, etc.
In any case, the DPRK’s “nuclear option” is already operational, and we can largely thank the US for that. As Putin has recently said, “We should not drive North Korea into a corner, threaten force, stoop to unabashed rudeness or invective. Whether someone likes or dislikes the North Korean regime, we must not forget that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is a sovereign state.“
Anonymous,
I served the better part of 3 years in Korea, evenly divided between service with Korean Special Forces tracking and hunting down North Korean infiltrators, commanding a mechanized company on the DMZ, and service at the General Staff level in Seoul. Additionally, I served for a few months as a liaison officer with the Korean White Horse Division in Vietnam during my tour of duty there. The rest of my tour was split between service with the Cambodian army and the LLDB (the Special Forces of South Vietnam).
The organization of the political and economic structure in North Korea is modeled after Stalin’s regime of the 1930s. If ever unified under North Korean rule, the South Koreans will be forced into “re-education”/work camps, family members will be forcibly segregated and isolated from one another, and nearly everyone of the academic, bureaucratic, and industrial elites will be imprisoned for life or summarily executed. That’s Stalin. That’s Pol-Pot. That’s the revenge wrought upon the South Vietnamese people after 1975. That’s history; and that’s a realistic assessment of the fate that awaits the South Koreans, should the North prevail.
It is very much in Putin’s and Xi’s national interests for North Korea to threaten Japan and South Korea and create doubt about the determination of the United States to deal with these threats.
Mr. Brina,
I appreciate your service and perspective on this situation. When you say “If ever unified under North Korean rule…” though, it sounds very hypothetical. I really don’t see how we get there.
You seem to assume that the US, China, and Russia — all of whom have a stake in the status of the Korean peninsula — would just stand by and watch as the DPRK attacks the South (which is, I submit, also very far-fetched, as it would be likely suicidal for the DPRK regime). In particular, you seem to assume that the US would just stand by while tens of millions of South Koreans were, as you put it, “forced into “re-education”/work camps,” etc. Meanwhile, as you know, the US now has 40,000 troops in South Korea and has had tactical nukes there in the past. Given your experience, you must be aware there is active discussion of bringing US tactical nukes back to South Korea. With this military force already stationed in South Korea, and with the will to re-deploy tactical nukes on the Korean peninsula, would the US simply stand on the sidelines as the scenario you fear unfolds?
Next, you also seem to think there’s a military solution to the present conflict. As you may also know, Steve Bannon, on his way out of the White House, recently made a “Kinsley gaffe” (i.e., told “an obvious truth that isn’t supposed to be said”) on the Korean conflict, when he said:
Next, as a reader of the Vineyard of the Saker, you must have seen the Saker’s own reading of the situation, which jibes with Bannon’s. Here’s an excerpt, from an article that appeared here in April:
If you disagree with Bannon and the Saker, I would be curious to hear the military solution you envision that doesn’t involve massive loss of life in South Korea, or why you think the millions of people who would be killed in South Korea would somehow justify your call for a military intervention.
You invoke historical precedent in S.E. Asia, but doesn’t all of this suggest two important points: (1) it is in fact the US that poses the greatest threat on the Korean peninsula, because of its demonstrable hubris in starting regional wars that it cannot finish (e.g., Afghanistan, Iraq, etc.), the glaring lack of consistency and coherence in Washington’s foreign policy (again, starting conflicts, then changing policy repeatedly, leading to predictable failure, quagmire, etc.), and (2) doesn’t it seem more likely that the re-unification of Korea would, sometime in the future, follow the pattern of East- and West-Germany? I.e., that it only occurs after the collapse of the DPRK?
Anonymous,
Were it not for the imminent transformation of North Korea into a nuclear power. there would be no need to take military action. There would be no need to disturb the status quo.
If North Korea becomes a nuclear power, South Korea must become one also; or it will have to acknowledge that it is incapable of defending itself.
If North Korea has nuclear weapons and South Korea does not, then the DPRK will be the senior partner and will forge a union of the two Koreas that will be largely in its favor. The Kim clan will remain firmly in control of the North while the South will be divided among political factions, the leaders of which will be more likely to seek legitimacy from the Kim clan, rather than from the South Korean electorate, largely because the North will have demonstrated the national will to oppose America rather than to accommodate it. Wealth will be transferred from South to North; and population will be transferred from North to South.
I respect the Saker’s analysis on most matters. But he has overestimated the losses and damages to South Korea that would be incurred as a result of an all-out attack by North Korea. That is not to suggest that the costs of such a war would not be significant. Steve Bannon just threw out a number intended to shock more than it was to inform.
In my first posting on this subject, I described the military action which I think will be sufficient. The United States employed much the same actions against the Serbs over Kosovo, against the Iraqis over Kuwait, and recently -in the smallest scale- against the Syrians. I would expect that a comprehensive bombing campaign leading to the destruction of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs will take about the same amount of time -about a month- that the air war against Iraq lasted in 1991.
Once all that effort to create a nuclear arsenal and long range missiles has been rendered a waste, the impetus to question -even to rebel against- the authority and legitimacy of the Kim clan will be renewed.
Mr. Brina,
Well, again, you seem to ignore that North Korea has already demonstrated it posseses nuclear weapons and South Korea is already in a mutual defense treaty (since the 1950s) with the United States. The US is bound by that agreement to defend the ROK from attack. By virtue of this agreement — which is “to remain in force indefinitely” —, South Korea is under the US nuclear umbrella.
In effect, then, the ROK already has nuclear defense. US tactical nukes have been on the Korean peninsula before, and the way things are going now it’s possible they will be again in the not-distant future. The naval armada now parked next to the Korean peninsula also likely has nuclear weapons. It is the same with Japan, bound to the US by ANPO. The US had nuclear missile bases in Okinawa (pointed at China, by the way) and nukes have even been brought to Yokosuka.
If the US were to unilaterally withdraw from this treaty, then yes, there would be an imbalance as you describe, but that is also very hypothetical.
Do you have reason to believe the US intends to abandon the ROK and Japan? Or, is it that you believe the US lacks the will or ability to fulfill its obligation to the ROK under this treaty, i.e., that the American Empire is now collapsing at a rate that places mutual defense in question?
@Arthur: “It is within the capability of the United States military to systematically destroy all of …X Y Z”.
These are the ravings of the same lunatics that led USA to ignominious defeat in Vietnam: “We had to destroy the place in order to save it”. And to present US ignominy (and forthcoming defeat) in Raqqa.
“The end game is unification of the Korean Peninsula. But the trend now is for that unified state to be dominated by a nuclear-armed North Korean “monarchy””
Comment: A unified Korea would doubtlessly be dominated by South Korea, just as unified Germany became dominated by West Germany. South Korea is simply much more economically powerful, as well as – probably – militarily.
“It is within the capability of the United States military to systematically destroy all of North Korea’s facilities for nuclear weapons and missiles, without using any assets currently positioned in Korea or Japan”
Comment: I’d like to see some evidence of this. As far as I understand (please correct me if I’m wrong), most of the missiles can be fired from portable ramps (just like in the Soviet Union). These would be almost impossible to locate and destroy.
“By using only non-nuclear standoff weapons, China would have reason to abstain from participating in the defense of the DPRK, because North Korean territory was not being invaded”
Comment: Are you sure that this analysis is sound? Sounds like a dangerous gamble to me.
“This campaign would not require the destruction of the civilian infrastructure, the political leadership, nor the military defenses of the DPRK, other than their air defense forces”
Comment: An attack on North Korea by the US would almost certainly involve the destruction of the civilian infrastructure and the military defenses of the DPRK. Please refer to the track record of the US military. It would also almost certainly only be the first step towards an invasion and total destruction of the DPRK – which is why China and Russia probably won’t sit on the fence on this one. Or perhaps they will, who knows? Please don’t poke the bear.
You have a western understanding of China. It’s mostly useless. Read something from Chinese sources and expand your horizon:
“The World in 2020 According to China”
Chinese Foreign Policy Elites Discuss Emerging Trends in International Politics
Editor: SHAO Binhong
Subjects: International Relations
Keywords: Sino-US; Foreign; Dual-identity;Diplomacy; Opening-up; Geostrategy; Policy
Publication Year : 2014
Book DOI: 10.1163/9789004273917
E – ISBN : 9789004273917
Print and series information
Collections: Asian Studies E-Books Online, Collection 2014
Volume: 2
Series: China in the World
The implications of the recent UNSC sanctions imposed on North Korea
“We are told that UN Security Council resolution 2375, passed on September 11, was “watered down” so as to obtain Chinese and Russian agreement. In relative terms, this is true, in that the original draft as submitted by the United States called for extreme measures such as a total oil embargo. However, Western media give the impression that the resolution as passed is mild or mainly symbolic. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
The sanctions are designed to destroy the livelihoods of the North Korean people.
“Among other things, the August sanctions prohibit North Korea from exporting coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore, and seafood, all key commodities in the nation’s international trade. The resolution also banned countries from opening new or expanding existing joint ventures with the DPRK.
September’s resolution further constrains North Korea’s ability to engage in regular international trade by barring the export of textiles. It is estimated that together, the sanctions eliminate 90 percent of the DPRK’s export earnings. Foreign exchange is essential for the smooth operation of any modern economy,”
whilst hopefully causing mass starvation –
“Sharply reduced rainfall during the April-June planting season this year reduced the amount of water available for irrigation and hampered sowing activities. Satellite monitoring indicates that crop yields are likely to fall well below the norm. To make up for the shortfall, the DPRK has significantly boosted imports. How much longer it can continue to do so remains to be seen, in the face of dwindling reserves of foreign exchange. In effect, by blocking North Korea’s ability to engage in international trade, the United States has succeeded in weaponizing food by denying North Korea the means of providing an adequate supply to its people.”
The author continues –
“A cap is imposed on the amount of oil North Korea is allowed to import, amounting to about a thirty percent reduction from current levels, along with a total ban on the import of natural gas and condensates. Many factories and manufacturing plants could be forced to close down when they can no longer operate machinery. For the average person, hardship lies ahead as winter approaches, when many homes and offices will no longer be able to be heated.
What has any of this to do with North Korea’s nuclear program? Nothing. The sanctions are an expression of pure malevolence. ”
None of this is reported in the media western or eastern. The phrase “pure malevolence” is the author’s own.
Russia and China have gone to great lengths to comply with the sanctionseven exceeding them !
“Washington’s threats prompted China to implement steps in the financial realm that exceed what is called for by the UN Security Council resolutions. China’s largest banks have banned North Korean individuals and entities from opening new accounts, and some firms are not allowing deposits in existing accounts. There is no UN prohibition on North Koreans opening accounts abroad, so the action is regarded as a proactive measure by Chinese banks to avoid becoming the target of U.S. sanctions.”
The shallow rationale for the sanctions is easily exposwd –
“The Trump administration claims that UN sanctions and its policy of maximum pressure are intended to bring North Korea to the negotiating table. But it is not the DPRK that needs to be persuaded to talk. President Trump has tweeted, “Talking is not the answer!” ”
So – ” . . .If the ostensible reason for UN sanctions is to persuade a reluctant party to negotiate, then one can only conclude that the wrong nation is being sanctioned”.
http://www.zoominkorea.org/trumps-war-on-the-north-korean-people/
Will we hear calls for sanctions against the US regime?
We know the answer to that.
Thanks Ramin, for a very insightful and eye-opening article. As usual ;-)
If I may add a point, imho the problem blocking the reunification of Korea, is not that much the ‘political systems’ or the interests of the colonial empire of the USA, or China that will never allow American soldiers standing at their border (well, ok, they are ‘advisors’)
The problem is Japan.
‘Korea has always served as the ***literal*** slave nation to Japan’, @twilight. That’s quite right, but will it be today?
Just imagine Korea united. It could grow into a powerhouse challenging Japan.
Curiously, while European leaders whining about falling demographics and therefore flooding Europe with illiterate African men, if there is a country with failing demographics while still being the 3d economy in the world it is Japan. And no one is talking about it. More diapers are sold there to incontinent seniors, than to Japanese parents for their children.
This could change, when Japan as a nation would feel threatened.
If there is anything that China is afraid of, it is not the USA. China is afraid of a remilitarisized Japan. What Japan did in China during the thirties and forties of last century is unheared of. Ever heared of te slaughtering of Nanjing or Unit 731?
China will maintain the division of Korea, in order to keep Japan down.
At least, those are my thoughts.
Cheers, Rob
As a keen observer of China, I agree that the animosity between China and Japan is very deep.
It must influence how China and Japan approach all issues
I remember a book written by Russel Braddon, ‘The Naked Island’ …. it was about his experience as an Australian POW under the Japanese in WWII. He concluded the story of the atrocities carried out by a barbaric and cruel society, the Japanese, with a brief exchange he had with one of the guards.
Braddon said, “well, you lost the war”
The Japanese guard replied, “no, we lost a battle, the war will continue for 100 years”
I do not believe the basic nature of a society can be changed in one or two generations.
Japanese look down on all other Asians (and probably all other peoples) as inferior
So … I agree …. in all the complex mix that is Korea today, we have to remember and try to understand the animosity between China and Japan.
(and yes, Unit 731 makes the Nazi’s death camp guards look like benevolent choir boys. The thinking of the Japanese has not changed, it has just been caged for the moment. Note that the Japanese do not admit to war crimes and still worship at the memorial to Japanese war criminals. It is not taught in Japanese schools, it has been wiped from Japanese history. We all know what happens when we forget the past.)
China will maintain the division of Korea, in order to keep Japan down.
No. I would disagree on the basis of sheer size momentum. It’s a very simple equation, China 1.4bil versus Japan 0.127bil. The former has greater land area, greater resources and greater overall manpower. Japan is not a threat, it’s just a mere annoyance.
One may argue sophisticated & well trained smaller army winning vs a conscript larger army, yes it might win (this disregards upgrades and improvements by current Chinese military) … but it won’t be able to keep what it won. Isoroku Yamamoto and the Japanese general staff were keenly aware of this when they initiated hostilities vs the US in WW2, they were not idiots. Circumstance forced their hands. Look what happened.
Russia proved the validity of this simple equation numerous times, not only vs Germany during WW2 but further back in history during the war of 1812 vs France and Swedish invasion of 1708. The Japanese annexation of Manchuria lasted less than 10 years with a puppet government (Manchukuo), even if WW2 hadn’t happen, it was just a matter of time before a revolt happens.
Remember divide and conquer? A key US policy would be to accentuate the animosity between the Chinese and the Japanese in order to keep them at loggerheads. Supporting the ultra radical Japanese (that looks down on the rest) and fanning animosity in social media through viral videos or statements.
Realistically, from the Asian perspective, the future lies in regional cooperation and respect. Live and let live. The majority of Chinese and Japanese understands this concept, it’s not an alien concept. Both sides grew from similar culture. Both suffered from the hands of the westerners.
Ask them, who is the greater enemy?
” has been upgraded to $10 million” s/b “10 trillion”…
Otherwise a very interesting article with interesting links.
Precisely, a unified Korea is more a threat to US regional bases, than to regional powers Japan, China and Russia. Post-unification, the US would lose it’s sole reason for troop deployments in Korea and (some in) Japan.
China may not be happy losing a buffer state, but it’s a reasonable price to pay. Korean unification would wipe out all US bases in the Korean Peninsula, without firing a shot. No deaths, no destruction, everyone shaking-hands … except the US sulking in a corner, planning a de-stabilization exercise as revenge.
That leaves only Japan. Their recourse is to (officially) declare a nuclear deterrent. This will remove its US troop dependency. Naturally, China/Russia would balk at a nuclear Japan, but they’ll have to accept this as a non-negotiable. Japan has little choice but to take this path to preserve its interests.
A lot of wishful thinking above :) It’s very unlikely that Japan’s real master would allow the nuclear transition, unless they’re confident at maintaining complete control over their vassal.
Spot on Ramin
Being an good old fashion leftist myself and true believer like the late great Gramsci .
Many in the west are suffering from confirmation bias and this in it self will be the last nail in their coffin to their dying paradigm. 20 trillion dollars of hidden wealth is where all this leads us to and docius in fundem last but not least the masters of the universe/washington consensus /anglo-zionist wanting to put their latest military toy right under the Chinese and Russian eastern belly. They did it in 2008 in the eastern Europe with the lame BS about Iranian nuclear threat. Same lie different times.
The righteous shall over come and the truth shall lead us to peace
This is an excellent article, honestly the best I read so far. Thank you so much, Ramin.
I’m sharing it.
QS
Those who take up the sword……… ?
the essence of the issue is twofold balkanization and resources. The wars gong on and those planned are just for that. Also the Iran and Korean issue is again just to get at Russia. Thats why Russia plays it cool in Syria. They will not take risks they may even give in to the enemy, this could also happen in case of war with Iran. Russia would definitely support iran but may not get fully involved. Russia must keep all its resources to face the ultimate. (There are military bases all around its borders, there are lunatics who would storm on Russia given a change). Don’t forget the main issue is to destroy Russia and if Russia goes everything goes. But if Russia holds on and overcomes the other issue will get redressed and a new era becomes possible. One cannot imagine what hell it will be if Russia goes down. What is happening is not that there are mentally deranged people in power in the empire but that those people are driven by powerful dark and hostile powers. the same ones who were not entirely defeated when the nazis went down. in fact the empire resuscitated them for their use not realizing the forces behind them. and were are we now the darkness has overpowered them controls them makes the empire its absolute slave. The dark powers make the empire do whatever they want. But there are powers of Light. but they don’t act in the way the dark powers do. They inspire but do not possess or enslave, theirs is a saving hand. Their work is to re establish balance a fertile ground for cooperation and spiritual progress. Russia stand on the side of the Light the empire allowed itself to be swallowed by the darkness.
Russia is winning on all sides. It is winning on the financial war front, it is winning on the political war front and it is winning on the propaganda war front. Certainly not yet victorious with the big V on these 3 fronts but moving organically in that direction.
Good comment. “One cannot imagine what hell it will be if Russia goes down” I will tell you what would had happened (and still could happen) if Russia and China were down: The destruction of Syria would be complete. Plans would be long gone to attack and “obliterate” by air and sea Iran probably using nukes too. Venezuela would also be surrounded by all kinds of “coallitions”. Russia would be plundered to starvation, this only to start with.
“But the trend now is for that unified state to be dominated by a nuclear-armed North Korean ‘monarchy’. This strong man/strong clan entity will dictate the disposition of political power — and through it, economic power — to those who have served and who will pledge to serve the whims of the Kim Clan.”
Typical Western Leftist drivel, forever spouting MSM narratives as is clearly evident from the vocabulary used. Of course, the leadership of the DPRK is, quite likely, not too interested in staging faggot parades and other tremendous achievements in the armory of Cultural Marxism.
Western media portray N.Korea as the poorest country in the world. This is a lie as there are many more countries that are poorer in Asia and Africa. North Korea is demonised because its economic system is sealed from global capitalism.
From what we can see in the internet, N.Korean cities such as Pyongyang look better, cleaner and richer than the chaotic cities in Indonesia, Phillippines,or Bangladesh etc. North korean cities are designed similar to the Russian cities, with parks, ample spaces and grandiose buildings.
Still, we do not have information about north korean everyday conditions. Are there enough consumer goods ? Are there frequent electricity black outs ?
Anyway, North Korea managed to survive the end of USSR and has achieved high level of
self-sufficIency.
Thanks for that informative article. Stephen Gowans have also written extensively on North Korea on his website ‘what’s left’ https://gowans.wordpress.com/category/north-korea/
Israel Shamir visited the Country last year and wrote an interesting report and like Mr. Mazaheri gives the reader a different view of NK than the one we are constantly being force-fed by the Western Media; http://www.israelshamir.com/article/north-korea-love-thy-leader/
“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.”
The Democrats have been “anti-war” twice in their 2 centuries of history. The most recent was when a rebellion within the party overthrew the pro-war Democrats and nominated McGovern in 1972. The bosses of the Democratic Party were strongly supportive of the Vietnam War …. see Chicago 1968.
The one other time the Democrats have been anti-war was when they were the pro-slavery party and the northern Democrats continued to oppose Lincoln during the American Civil War. In the movie “Lincoln”, its the Democrats who are opposing the amendment to free the slaves, and Lincoln needed the burning of Atlanta to convince the nation he could win the war and avoid the Democrats accepting the slave states back into the union.
When I was growing up in the southern US in the 1960’s, the Republicans used to point out that the Democrats had gotten the US into every war in what historian Gabriel Kalco called A Century of War. In the 1960’s, the Republicans were still isolationist and opposed America’s military adventures abroad. And they did like to point out that it was Democrat Presidents that had gotten the US into WW1, WW2, the Korean War and the Vietnam War …… ah the golden days of my youth when one could count on one hand the number of wars America had fought in the century. Seems so golden compared to these days when you need both hands just to count the current wars.
And the Democrats have strongly supported this policy of war except when a popular revolt overturned the party leadership for a brief time at the end of the Vietnam War. By the 1980’s, it was back to Congressman Al Gore (D-TN) supporting Ronnie Rayguns Peacemaker Missiles (of nuclear devastation and the end of human civilization as we know it).
The Democrats did have an anti-war wing, the last remnants of which were seen associated with the Kucinich runs for President. But they’ve been a minority in the party since the 1970’s, and the Clintons and the DNC completely drove them from all but a view elected offices with no power in the party. The Republicans did for decades after the Vietnam War attack the Democrats for being ‘soft on defense’, but that’s like the rest of the DC Kabuki theater show is an exaggeration of very small differences.
Very accurate article apart from the fact that North Korea provides tens of thousands of cheap farm workers every summer to Russia.
This was one of the last agreements between Kim’s father and Putin. It provides North Korea with vital Rubles.
On top of this North Korean welders and construction workers are found in Polish shipyards.
Not that an Iranian would know this. First rate article and very accurate.
The US and its primary bankers are the ultimate fascists. For the life of me I can’t understand why Antifa unconditionally supports these bastards the way they do!
Very well written article! I have two additional comments:
1. On the issue of Korean reunification, it should be remembered that peaceful and independent reunification by the Korean people themselves (i.e. without foreign interference) is the common aim of the Korean nation, as expressed in the June 15th North-South Joint Declaration:
“The South and the North have agreed to resolve the question of reunification independently and through the joint efforts of the Korean people, who are the masters of the country.
For the achievement of reunification, we have agreed that there is a common element in the South’s concept of a confederation and the North’s formula for a loose form of federation. The South and the North agreed to promote reunification in that direction.”
A realistic policy for reunification, without one side devouring the other, has been elaborated in detail by the leaders of the DPRK and is constantly being repeated in north Korean statements.
2. Retrospectively it is interesting to review Kim Il Sung’s analysis in 1968 of US imperialism.
“Countries whose proletariat seized power within the encirclement of international capitalism are threatened with the danger of imperialist aggression and the restoration of capitalism during the entire period of revolutionary transition from capitalism to socialism. The exploiting classes which have been over-thrown always attempt to recover their lost positions, and foreign imperialists continue to engage in invasion and subversive political and ideological intrigue and manoeuvres. […] US imperialism is the most barbarous and heinous imperialism of modern times; it is the ringleader of world imperialism. It is not only the Asian or the Latin-American or the African countries which are having their sovereignty and territories violated by US imperialism or which are being menaced by US imperialist aggression. There is no place on earth to which US imperialism has not stretched its tentacles of aggression, and wherever US imperialism sets foot, blood is spilled. The US imperialists pursue their constant aim of bringing the whole world under their control. To realize this aim, they continue to carry out invasion and subversive activities against the socialist and newly independent countries and brutally suppress the liberation struggle of the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America. This savage aggressive design of US imperialism must be conclusively frustrated. It is clear that world peace cannot be safeguarded, nor can national liberation and independence or the victory of democracy and socialism be achieved without fighting against US imperialism. The anti-US struggle is the inescapable duty and the principal revolutionary task common to all the peoples of the world. […] US imperialism’s basic strategy for world aggression at the present stage is to destroy, one by one and by force of arms, the small and divided revolutionary socialist countries and the newly independent countries while refraining from worsening its relations with the big powers and avoiding confrontation with them as far as possible. In addition, it is to intensify its ideological and political offensives in an attempt to subvert from within those countries which are ideologically weak and are reluctant to make revolution and which spread illusions about imperialism among the people and want to live with it on good terms, noisily demanding nothing less than unprincipled coexistence.”