By Leah Devorak | Layout Editor
Imagine a world where United States President Barack Obama and North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Un are on amicable grounds, visiting each other’s countries to talk politics almost as often as two old Britons gossip over tea.
Please, no laughing. This is a serious matter.
Kim, leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) – the world’s most secluded, oppressed nation – announced Oct. 18 that his country wishes to pursue a peace treaty with its two biggest enemies, the U.S. and South Korea. The hope is to end current nuclear conflicts by building trust, KBS World Radio reports.
This announcement came just one day after Kim rejected the notion of talks with Obama and South Korean President Park Geun-hye over ending the North Korean pursuit of nuclear weaponry, according to the Associated Press.
If a treaty is drafted and accepted, it will replace the armistice signed between the two Koreas in 1953, officially ending the Korean War.
Since Kim Jong Un picked up the propaganda, brainwashing and murder of his people right where his father Kim Jong Il left off, it’s hard to believe that the word “peace” actually came from his mouth. Such a thing would be too hopeful.
It is. As much as this treaty sounds like it will finally end conflict and restore the Korean Peninsula, it actually will only bring about a pseudo-peace, especially for the U.S. and the DPRK.
For North Korea, this is all just another ploy to remain in the nuclear arms race and thus intimidate the rest of the world – as if it was even doing that to begin with.
The North Korean foreign ministry said in its statement announcing the treaty, “If the US insists on its hostile policy, it will only see the DPRK’s limitless bolstering of nuclear deterrence and the growth of its revolutionary armed forces.”
In other words: “Sign this treaty or my Daddy’s gonna hurt you!”
If only Daddy could actually prove his ability to cause damage…
Basically, the nature of this treaty will make it a scapegoat for North Korea. Whether the U.S. eventually approves it or not, the DPRK will use the treaty to blame its severe economic and political problems on whoever suits them most.
Consider if an agreement actually occurs. In that case, North Korea will technically have no reason whatsoever to further its military society and nuclear agenda due to issues of peacekeeping that never existed with the armistice.
The North then will just casually phase out its old militant ways, telling its people, “Look! We finally beat the evil outsiders! Now we can stop!”
Considering the outside world’s theory of North Korean defense being only a hoax, this seems rather convenient.
Contrary, if the U.S. rejects the treaty, the document becomes even more propaganda for showing how terrible Americans really are, which will in turn spark the blaming of every other problem on us, too.
It’s both canonization and cowardice of the North Korean government at its finest.
But the DPRK isn’t the only one faking it. The Obama administration agrees that a North Korean treaty would be nice, too – if only it directly fit in with the nuclear weapons agenda.
In response to the proposed treaty, as Mirror reports, Obama said he is open to negotiations about easing sanctions on the country. However, he also said such a thing won’t occur any time soon because, unlike with the Iranians, North Koreans do not “foresee a future in which they [do] not possess or [are] not pursuing nuclear weapons.”
In other words, there will be no peace treaty because North Korea’s nuclear weapons production is too dangerous. Seriously. No laughing.
Obama’s doubts would be way more understandable if they stemmed from the ethical concerns that arise with supporting an abusive, selfish, inhumane government.
The treaty would also make more sense if backing came from a want to end great suffering rather than the wish to keep control of the most powerful force on earth.
But neither of those issues come into play. Instead, it’s all about showing the world who is boss and about being the hero with a threat that probably isn’t even real.
So while this treaty could be an earth-shattering movement toward Korean peace, the motives of each side will instead turn it into just another sheet of paper tacked up on the wall of pointless political accomplishments – inside both countries.