Welcome to BASE21

By Dierdre Griswold

When President George W. Bush took the advice of his far-right counselors and used his State of the Union speech to slander North Korea, Iran and Iraq as an "Axis of Evil," his intent was to intimidate these countries, which are struggling to defend their sovereignty.

The reaction to the speech, not just from these three but from the whole world, was quite the opposite. Stung by Bush's extreme language and its hostile implications, governments and peoples alike condemned his words and the growing belligerence of the U.S. regime.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has lived with the threat of U.S. military attack for over half a century. It lost an estimated 3 million people when the U.S. tried to destroy socialist North Korea during the 1950-53 war on the Korean peninsula. It has many times over the years had to respond to saber rattling, military exercises on its borders, spy ships in its waters, attacks on its fishing boats, and other incidents emanating from the massive Pentagon presence surrounding this small country. The Koreans have refused to knuckle under to U.S. pressure, and they have also exercised great restraint in these trying circumstances.

However, Bush's words were so extreme, so bellicose, that they have provoked an unprecedented response from the DPRK.

"We consider Bush's State of the Union address to be a de facto declaration of war on the DPRK," Pak Gil Yon told Workers World on March 15. Ambassador Pak is the Permanent Representative of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the United Nations. Since the U.S. has no diplomatic relations with North Korea, he is the highest-ranking official from that country stationed in the United States. He visited WW's editorial offices to be interviewed.

Ever since Bush's State of the Union address, said Ambassador Pak, there have been "shocking policy statements by the president, the secretary of state and the secretary of defense on the Korean issue."

Again, when Bush embarked on an Asian tour last month that took him to Japan and South Korea, the U.S. president "openly slandered the DPRK and its Supreme Headquarters, denying our political system," he added.

U.S. nullifies agreements

The ambassador drew attention to the recently aired Nuclear Policy Review of the U.S. Department of Defense that projects plans to use nuclear weapons against seven countries, including the DPRK. "This is a very serious development," underlined the ambassador, saying that it cancels earlier agreements between the two countries.

In a joint statement on June 11, 1993, and again in an agreed-on framework for further discussion toward easing tension on the Korean peninsula signed on Oct. 21, 1994, the U.S. government under the Clinton administration had agreed not to threaten or use nuclear weapons against the DPRK. Bush's recent statements are a "nullification" of these agreements, said the ambassador.

"If this nuclear posture is confirmed, the DPRK will be forced to review the framework," he said. "This is the position of my country."

This is not just a war of words. The Pentagon has announced that the U.S. and South Korea will carry out joint military exercises on March 21-27 that will involve many U.S. forces and more than 500,000 troops from South Korea in combined exercises. "This is very, very dangerous and adventurous and will create a very serious situation on the Korean peninsula," said Pak. He added that there had not been such menacing exercises since the last "Team Spirit" war rehearsals took place in 1993.

"We consider Bush's announcement a declaration of war against my country," he reiterated, "and all counter-measures will be taken to defend the sovereignty of the country. We shall closely watch what the adventurous military brass do."

Ambassador Pak described relations between the U.S. and the DPRK as getting "worse and worse," and added that the inter-Korean dialogue between the north and south is now also very difficult. "South Korea is a close ally of the United States," said the ambassador, "and the Bush administration is making the situation worse."

Two years ago there seemed to be a great breakthrough in the hostility that has characterized relations between the north and the U.S.-occupied south. On June 14, 2000, a historic agreement was signed by DPRK leader Kim Jong Il and South Korean President Kim Dae Jung after a summit meeting in Pyongyang, capital of the DPRK.

It was followed by several highly charged trips to the opposite side by family members in both countries who had been separated from close relatives for 50 years by the division of Korea. Since Bush's intensified belligerence against the north, however, the long-awaited moves toward normalization of relations and some degree of reunification have been quashed.

Instead, the DPRK must now be "in a state of high vigilance to defend our sovereignty," said Pak.

The economy of the DPRK has been strained for a decade by weather catastrophes exacerbated by the collapse of a major economic partner, the Soviet Union. In 1994, the Korean revolutionary leader Kim Il Sung, who had organized the anti-colonial and anti-imperialist struggle since the days of Japanese rule, died. There was speculation in the imperialist media and press that the DPRK would have to abandon its socialist path and accommodate to U.S. demands in order to survive.

Instead, under the new leadership of Kim Jong Il, the Korean people and the Workers' Party of Korea rallied against their difficulties.

Referring to what Kim Jong Il has called his "army first policy," Ambassador Pak said that in light of the present threats from Washington, "We're very proud of our party policy, led by Comrade Kim Jong Il, which has given priority to defense issues so we could defend ourselves against aggression by the U.S."

These are serious but sober words from the representative of a country that knows from its own experience what war is, but also knows what it means to be a colony and is determined to resist with all its might.