The Nukings Will Continue Until Morale Improves

It must not be easy being the tyrannical overlord of a country you’ve single-handed transformed into a famished, backward prison yard while trying to persuade your subjects that they’re still the envy of the world. There’s always soul-crushing brainwashing, smothering isolation human civilization, extra meat rations for people who rat their your neighbors, the timeless dark arts of racism and xenophobia, and the fear of public execution or a prolonged death in the gulags. Did I mention isolation and brainwashing?

North Korea’s leaders have assured stability in the communist country by instilling a sense of paranoid nationalism and carrying out massive human rights abuses, experts say.  Moreover, they say, the North Korean system could easily survive after leader Kim Jong-il, 67, leaves the scene because the hermit state has so successfully isolated itself that change is nearly impossible for most North Koreans to fathom.

“The people of North Korea live their lives subject to messages from the government of pride, paranoia and fear,” said Kay Seok, a Seoul-based researcher for the international group Human Rights Watch.  [….]   “What is remarkable about North Korea is that they have successfully brainwashed people into thinking that this is the only way by not giving them any alternatives or letting them know there are alternatives,” Seok said.  [Reuters, Jon Herskovitz]

But what is a dictator to do when the old standbys aren’t enough anymore?  Well, there is this:

A North Korean inside source has relayed news that the North Korean authorities, as the June 25th commemoration of the Korean War approached, used a secret recorded lecture to emphasize to frontline military units that they would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons against anti-regime forces inside North Korea. [Daily NK]

According to the Daily NK, the threat came in a secret recorded message distributed to border patrol and military units, which then herded the soldiers together and played them a pre-recorded CD. You know, to lift their morale:

“In this lecture, the soldiers were most surprised by the indication that nuclear weapons are a shield which can resolutely and swiftly punish the ‘maneuvers of enemies trying to destroy our Communist state from the inside.’ [….]

He added, “Until now, the authorities have educated the soldiers countless times to become bombs for the safety of the General, but it is the first time that the idea of using nuclear weapons against anti-regime forces has been heard. Most of the soldiers listened to the warning half-heartedly, but some of them have been talking apprehensively among themselves.”

Then, he assessed, “The implication is that were a coup d’etat to be attempted, the North Korean authorities would resort to nuclear weapons. It seems to be proclaiming that our nuclear weapons, which were supposedly developed to enable the North to become a match for the U.S., could ultimately be used domestically.”

This certainly adjusts our paradigms about how North Korea sees the strategic value of nuclear weapons.  Recall that in the 1990’s, there were reports of at least two abortive mutinies in military units outside Pyongyang.  North Korea’s short-range missiles are fairly accurate, and if they’re nuclear capable, they could be used to stop any rebellious columns from marching on the capital.  But would North Korea really nuke itself into oblivion to keep things together?  Why not?  They’ve already starved millions of people and murdered (at a minimum) hundreds of thousands to retain control.   Why wouldn’t it nuke them?

One reason would be the likely intervention of China.  If the Chinese have as much influence over the North Korean officer corps as I suspect they do, the use of nuclear weapons inside North Korea is the point at which Chinese and North Korean interests really would diverge.  If China believes there’s any truth to this report — and China probably has sources who are in a position to confirm or deny it — they’d likely try to discourage North Korean officers from turning the launch keys.  Of course, North Korea probably restricts access to its nuclear forces to only the most loyal.  So failing that, if radioactive clouds and floods of radiation-sick refugees start crossing China’s borders, that might be the point at which China would intervene.