Whenever the subject of North Korea comes up, there’s always something going on revolving around trying to get them to end their nuclear program. Talks have been in the works for the last 10 years but have so far gone nowhere. They’ve walked out on the talks previously and continue with their testing no matter what people say or do. But in the end, they always say they’re willing to get back to talking. Now, yet another attempt is being made to control the rising nuclear situation in the Far East.
A North Korean official just went to Moscow to chat with Russia about new six-party talks, which is at least a start. They also expressed their willingness to chat with the U.S., the country they consider their biggest enemy, although they have certain conditions. They want the US to ease off on the sanctions and agree to talk with them only if they stop demanding that the DPRK prove their intentions with actions.
In addition, North Korea is making moves to revive better relations all around, meaning they’ll have to be more receptive to the possibility of talks or no one is going to want to play ball with them. On the other side of the argument, China and South Korea have been getting closer together in hopes that they may prompt the DPRK to follow suit and see that alliance is better than potentially destructive conflict.
Unfortunately, the lack of a resolution concerning North Korea’s quest for nuclear weapons is causing South Korea to rethink its own no-nuke policy. Many are pushing for the government to get its own stockpile in order to make sure that they are armed and ready for this bizarre mini-Cold War. They are worried that the US won’t retaliate against North Korea if there is a threat that a nuke could cross the ocean, thus leaving South Korea out in the cold.
This escalation is very similar to the way things have panned out in the Middle East over the last decades, whereby everyone wants nukes just because Israel has them. With the presence of China and Japan, it’s less likely that the entire region will start seeking nuclear capability though, so at least there’s less chance of the Far East erupting into the sort of war that the Middle East is suffering right now. Still, if the DPRK doesn’t figure something out, the world is going to see more nuclear weapons hanging out, which is good for no one and especially not good for North Korea.
Nuclear explosions courtesy of US Dept of Energy via Wikicommons
