Korean War 2, Day 4: Gates Hints at Military Action if North Korea Proliferates Nuclear Material
Three days after North Korea repudiated the Armistice agreement it had never complied with anyway, and as North Korea was seen preparing for yet another long-range missile test, Defense Secretary Robert Gates used the occasion of a security conference in Singapore to issue a veiled threat to Kim Jong Il:
“The transfer of nuclear weapons or material by North Korea to states or non-state entities would be considered a grave threat to the United States and our allies,” Gates told officials gathered at an Asian defense summit here. “And we would hold North Korea fully accountable for the consequences of such action.” [L.A. Times]
The reporter makes this out to be an epiphany shattering a deliberate official ambiguity, but if this wasn’t already made very clear to the North Koreans long ago, that would be the most frightening part of the story. Indeed, the fact that the North Koreans have specifically threatened to sell nuclear weapons to terrorists suggests that they know how seriously we’d take that. Then again, when you look at our complete failure to react to the revelation of North Korea building the Syrians their own nuclear reactor — reportedly paid for by Iran — you have to wonder how seriously the North Koreans take our “red” lines at all.
Gates also gets credit for quote of the week, as he called for America to respond to North Korea’s provocations with tougher sanctions:
“They create a crisis and the rest of us pay the price to return to the status quo ante,” Gates told the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual meeting of defense and security officials. “As the expression goes in the U.S., I’m tired of buying the same horse twice.”
“There are other ways perhaps to get the North Koreans to change their approach,” Gates said. “I think this notion that we buy our way back to the status quo ante is an approach that I personally at least think we ought to think very hard about.” [AP]
My money is still on us doing exactly that. I don’t doubt that over in the State Department, they’re waiting out all of this resolute talk and engineering the next giveaway as we speak. The bigger question really revolves around the intentions of the North Koreans. I don’t doubt that extortion and domestic propaganda are two of them, but if Kim Jong Il thinks he’s dying, that would suggest a much more dangerous situation.
Hi,
Just wanted to say thanks for having your blog up. It’s been a great read and an eye-opener into the situation (both human rights and as well as the international concern regarding nuclear proliferation) with North Korea. I’m a 2nd generation Korean American and unfortunately, mainstream American news do not provide very much coverage (if at all) with regards to the human rights abuse that goes on.
I wonder, if there is a way to appeal to other organizations that could help to promote the awareness of the situation. Probably finding common ground with organizations that arose out of the The Holocaust of WWII might be a good starting point. If enough media exposure spills into the mainstream broadcast of American media, from MTV to SpikeTV to NBC and its affiliates, there might be more pressure put on Congress and the Administration when and where new legislation gets created that either stems from or affects policies and our relationships with North Korea and related issues.
Anyway, thanks again for your continued work on this matter and for raising awareness within the online community.
Steven
Steven,
What you’re asking is how pro-North Korean human rights organizations can Darfurize the issue?
Well, technically, the two Koreas are still at war with each other. If that being the case, then there might be a legal angle with charging the Kim regime with war crimes. If not that, then it would be capital murder on the largest scale in modern history.
My only question is, if we’re not working towards settling this matter with the ultimate goal of a peace treaty, then why are we still having this cease-fire? This cease-fire only serves to maintain the status quo in North Korea and the whole dynamics of the politics in the region. It serves to benefit the military industry, bolster the economies of both Japan and South Korea through military spending and all the while w/o the inherent risks of an active war.
I feel that either we actively work towards a peace treaty or towards active war. I do not like to see this being protracted, where millions of innocent civilians suffer for the sake of a few who are making a tremendous profit from this situation.
Steven
While I have my doubts Kim Jong Il plans to go to war if he wants the regime to survive, but since I do not have the inside track on what he is really thinking, anything could happen. The biggest thing that makes me worry is the voiding of the 1953 ceasefire agreement (which I agree has not been honored). I have not seen North Korea say they were voiding it before, but I could be wrong.
Whatever the case may be, a resumption of the Korean War could be bloody, and if Kim does not care anymore, it may indicate he does not care for regime survival either, which is a possibility.
It sounds pretty scary too.
Thank you, Steven.
As I was reading the Gates’ comments, I also wondered how building Syria a hidden nuclear reactor wasn’t the kind of red-line tripwire of proliferation he was talking about.
Somehow I get the feeling that if NK is caught transferring nuclear material to Syria, Iran, or some other similar player, we’ll hear a lot of quibbling about whether or not it was actually bomb grade material and/or whether or not the receiving nation has the technical know-how to create a weapon with it or other some such level of “doubts” that prevent a “worst case scenario” military response.
Somehow, I get the feeling the only way military action will be used against the North for proliferation is if we can’t avoid tying them to the actual use of a nuclear device after the fact…
I’m not suggesting that the military option should be used or is advisable.
I’m just saying I have no confidence the United States actually means what it says with these threats.
And I doubt Pyongyang believes it either…
Here is typical North Korean TV program:
Scene 1:
Since, at least, 1982-83 Team Spirit (joint US – South Korean military exercise) has given the communist leadership a reason to blame on the US the failure to deliver to its people by explicitly roaring an imminent invasion by the US and the right for the North Korean to defend the fatherland with their blood.
Scene 2:
The next news story would show the army training camp and then community farmers will show support to the troop by saying that they would give up all the harvested rice for that season, then every factory or farm community would follow similar line of support.
Scene 3:
The communism leadership will add, we have to save energy, food, water and pleasure for the imminent wartime.
For five years, I have seen, the US, South Korea and Japan being accused of the misery and hardship of the North Korean people.
Do they trust the message to news to be true?