- Dreams of unification of the two Koreas shattered
By Sangeeta Saxena
New Delhi. 14 June 2020. The week gone by has been one of watershed for Korea watchers as North Korea snapped all communication with South Korea and that too with a vengeance. “We have reached a conclusion that there is no need to sit face to face with the south Korean authorities and there is no issue to discuss with them, as they have only aroused our dismay,” stated a Korean Central News Agency release, shattering all hopes of a reunification.
From 12:00 noon of 09 June 2020 Pyongyang has completely cut off and shut down the liaison line between the authorities of the north and the south, which has been maintained through the north-south joint liaison office, the East and West Seas communication lines between the militaries of the north and the south, the inter-Korean trial communication line and the hotline between the office building of the Central Committee of the WPK and the Chongwadae .
Surprisingly the official statement has not been able to point out to any concrete examples of South Korea’s anti North Korea activity but has made a bemusing statement like, “All the people of the DPRK have been angered by the treacherous and cunning behaviour of the South Korean authorities with whom we still have lots of accounts to settle. The disgusting riff-raff have committed hostile acts against the DPRK by taking advantage of the South Korean authorities’ irresponsible stance and with their connivance. They dared to hurt the dignity of our supreme leadership and mock the sacred mental core of all our people. This was a sign of hostility to all our people. As far as the issue of the dignity of our supreme leadership is concerned, there can neither be a pardon nor an opportunity. They should be forced to pay dearly for this. We will never barter the dignity of our supreme leadership for anything, but defend it at the cost of our lives.” It is the worship of the dictator which seems to have been left wanting by the southerners which seems to have hurt the northerners.
Pyongyang seems to have got instigated by the U.S. Department of State’s statement that USA supports the improvement of the inter-Korean relations but was disappointed at the recent behavior of the DPRK, and urged the DPRK to return to diplomacy and cooperation, saying that the U.S. is keeping close coordination with South Korea, an ally of the U.S.
“ This is, indeed, ridiculous. No one is entitled to say this or that about the inter-Korean relations as the relations pertain to the internal affairs of the Korean nation from A to Z. Disgusting is the double-dealing attitudes of the U.S. that feels uneasy over any sign of the improvement in the inter-Korean relations and pretends to get very anxious if the relations get worse. If the U.S. pokes its nose into others’ affairs with careless remarks, far from minding its internal affairs, at a time when its political situation is in the worst-ever confusion, it may encounter an unpleasant thing hard to deal with, ” it exhorted in a statement.
And as if it was not enough , a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea also had a score to settle with the Secretary General United Nations and said, “on June 10, the UN Secretary-General, borrowing the mouth of his spokesperson, made nonsensical expression of “regret”, claiming that communication channels are necessary to avoid misunderstandings and miscalculations, while taking an issue of our measures for completely cutting off inter-Korean communication channels. It is the shabby and double-dealing behaviour of the UN Secretary-General that he does not say a word when the sovereignty of the DPRK, a full-fledged member of the UN, is severely infringed. yet he never misses opportunity to raise his subservient expression of “regret” whenever the U.S. and its vassal forces are picking on our self-defensive measures. No matter how eager he is to speak and clap his hands to side with the U.S. and its vassal forces, he will have to bear at least a slice of his duty as the UN Secretary-General.”
On the second anniversary of the US-North Korea summit at Vietnam, Ri Son Gwon, Minister of Foreign Affairs of DPRK said in a statement, “a total shutdown of the northern nuclear test site, repatriation of scores of American POW/MIA remains, special pardon for the convicted felons of U.S. nationality who were held in detention – all these measures taken by our Supreme Leadership are indisputably significant ones of epoch-making resolve.Especially, we made a strategic determination whereby we took an initiative for suspending nuclear test and test launch of ICBMs in order to build confidence between the DPRK and the US.”
He added, “the U.S. professes to be an advocate for improved relations with the DPRK, but in fact, it is hell-bent on only exacerbating the situation. As a result, the Korean peninsula has now turned into the world’s most dangerous hotspot haunted uninterruptedly by the ghost of nuclear war, streaming completely against a durable and lasting peace which has been committed to by both sides. The DPRK is still on the U.S. list of targets for pre-emptive nuclear strike, and all kinds of nuclear strike tools held by the U.S. are aimed directly at the DPRK. Typical evidences are nuclear strategic bombers, which fly any time into the South Korean airspace for nuclear strike drills, and aircraft carrier strike groups which bustle around the seas surrounding South Korea.”
Pyongyang is also upset that the U.S. is introducing a large number of modern, cutting-edge hardware like stealth fighters and reconnaissance drones worth tens of billions of U.S. dollars in order to transform the South Korean army into the one with offensive posture, and the south Korean authorities are burdened with payment of an astronomical amount of money.
North Korea vehemently said that never again will it provide the U.S. chief executive with another package to be used for achievements without receiving any returns and added that nothing is more hypocritical than an empty promise.
“Our Supreme Leadership, in the historic Fourth Enlarged Meeting of the Seventh Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea, discussed the national strategy for nuclear development in conformity with the prevailing internal and external situation and solemnly declared on further bolstering the national nuclear war deterrent to cope with the U.S. unabated threats of nuclear war. Whenever Pompeo and other U.S. statesmen open their mouths, they make nonsensical remarks that the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula is still a secure goal of the United States.The secure strategic goal of the DPRK is to build up more reliable force to cope with the long-term military threats from the US,” said the statement.
So the truth emanating from these North Korean diplomatic statements is that the handshake between US and DPRK at Singapore has lost its grip and the two new found friends have gone back to becoming foes, making the Korean peninsula once again a hotspot with the world’s eyes on it. One fact never ceases to amaze is that a country which is so minuscule is holding the world peace to ransom and the powers that be despite of all effort, cannot befriend the 36 years old dictator. And Kim Jong-un still remains an enigma to the world of 21st century and a mystery which probably will never be solved.
