Going once, going twice

In the news...North Korea tests nuclear weapons.

On Monday, if you turned on the news, you probably felt like the end of the world was yet again a step closer. Two steps, if you were in Japan or South Korea. The weekend drowsiness blew away like a cloud with the announcement of the North Korea’s nuclear test, closely following the launch of DRNK’s first ballistic missile in April. Just when you thought you were becoming an expert on Iran’s nuclear cookery.

With the Middle East and South East Asia being prioritised in today’s political climate, it is not difficult to forget about North Korea. The last surviving communist state with a Stalinist flavour, North Korea is a small area on the world map covered in rice paddies and green hills. It is heavily overshadowed by the West’s arch-enemies from the Cold War era - Russia and China. When you expect bad news, you probably don’t immediately think it’ll be coming from the depths of the Korean marshes, on the edge of reason.

Most of the information circulating about the state of the North Korean affairs seems to be conjecture, if not high-brow mockery. Behind the iron curtain for the not-so-wealthy - the barb-wire fence - The Dear Leader and his country remain somewhat of a mystery to the rest of the world. Russian state media is sometimes allowed to film at Communist Party rallies and other social state-controlled events as a favour for its big brother status left over from the good old days. But apart from pictures of inspired youths in uniforms reciting government propaganda in flawless Russian, very little substantial knowledge is obtained. And up until October 2006, when DRNK claims to have conducted its first nuclear test, no one has been all that curious.

In 1994, the Clinton administration considered strategic strikes against North Korea, but retracted after the promises of the Eternal Dear Leader Kim Il Sung to shut down the Yongbyon reactor. When Kim Joll Il, son of the founding-father and current leader of North Korea, restarted the nuclear development, the Bush administration has cut down it’s humanitarian aid programme and was rebuked by the world community for using food as a weapon. Again, Pyongyang promised to de-nuclearise, but instead doubled its efforts in 2006. Now, President Obama cannot decide what ultimatum to present to the ‘axis of evil’. The North is probably going to offer shutting Yongbyon, again.

In 2006, when three strategic missiles hit Russian territorial waters in Nahodka Sea, not far from where President Putin was visiting a military base, Russian anti-missile systems missed them. Embarrassing? The Americans alerted them. Russia is really much closer to the potential threat than anyone would like to think. Experts claim that in the case of a nuclear explosion, the Russian port of Vladivostok, in Siberia, would be covered by fallout within two hours. And still, no one seems to be taking the situation seriously. The news of the nuclear test did not even make the news headlines on the state channel.

Russia has all the more reasons to be embarrassed. It is a well-known secret that the reason why North Korea even has a nuclear programme. There are nuclear black market reports tracing North Korean nuclear gear to Lybia. Which is not that far from Iran, whose attempts to enrich uranium have had Russia’s support, despite international condemnation.

And of course there are the personal ties with Kim. Take alone his nationally televised trip in a bulletproof train around Russia not that long ago. Moscow was so proud to have him stop by. Pictures of the waving un-smiling Dear Leader took over the networks for days.

Many experts claim that North Korea is not really a threat. Western scientists seriously doubt its resources for a nuclear weapon. And even if that was achieved, North Korea still does not have a warhead capable of carrying a nuclear bomb. Or so they think. The trick here is that no one rally knows. Maybe not even Mr. Kim. His erratic behaviour following an alleged stroke and disappearance from public life last year, suggests that a large part of the nuclear threat might be in his head. But this is probably wishful thinking on our part.

Still, with the world’s fifth largest army - 1.2 million active, oppressed, hungry soldiers and a desperation so deep that losing their lives might seem a small price to pay, North Korea is not a neighbour one would wish for. With Japan’s tragic history of nuclear power, it is probably not comforting to think that North and South Korea are still technically at war; and that Russia and Japan also do not have a World War II peace settlement.

While the North is making statements about its readiness for military action, all that the South seems to do is burn banners with the UN Security Council sanctions written across. It is indeed getting hot at the UN, where talks are held to determine the course of action. With Russia and China opposing further sanctions in fear of causing a complete collapse of the state of North Korea, Japan and South Korea would probably like, but not dare to suggest, direct military action. And in Washington, President Obama is answering these phone calls on the proverbial telephone, that may or may not ring at 3 a.m. Good luck, world.