Saturday, May 9, 2009

Pyongyang won't talk, Mr. Obama!

It should come as no surprise to anyone that the DPRK [the Democratic People's Republic of Korea aka North Korea] says what it means. George Bush, jr. got his comeinuppannce when he thought Pyongyang was bluffing about exploding a nuclear device. It wasn't he soon found at to his great chagrin. Now it's Mr. Obama turn to eat crow. His badly advised move to armtwist the UN Security Council to call for sanctions against the DPRK after it launched a satellite on a long range rocket in early April 2009, and on a faulty interpretation of UN resolution 1817, got a firm 'non recevoir' from Pyongyang. Not only that, North Korea immediately riposted with a start up of its nuclear programme which it had shut down and add insult to Obama's injury, it slammed the door on the six party talks in Beijing.
Washington now learns that true to its word, Pyongyang sees little use in restarting talks owing to the US' hard line which isn't from yesterday. Rocket science is not necessary to understand Pyongyang's standpoint. Guamdiary, an observer of things Asian, from the Mediterrean to the Pacific, has consistently argued that as long as the US treats the DPRK as a stepchild in matters of diplomacy, trade, and technology, so on and on, it cannot expect less than what it tries to do. Which amounts to creating tempests in teapots, and ends up drinking large bowls of bitter tea for not well thought policies.
Consider today's demarche from the DPRK. It absolutely sees no value in talking with the US. Now, US special envoy Stephen Botsworth had come to Seoul the other day after what he described as good talks with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing on getting the six party talks moving again. Well Pyongyang has poured cold water on that cheery assessment. Here we see a splinter in the finger of US policy towards the DPRK. It is relying on China to do its own dirty work. Washington has directly to engage the DPRK which it steadfastly refuses to do. And as long as the US treats contemptously the DPRK and considers not an equal partner in negotiations, matters will remain at 'point mort'! It does take much thought to come to that conclusion. Mention the DPRK and Washington goes gaga. It reacts in the same manner when you mention Tibet to Beijing. Atomic explosions of rage occur...rational thinking is thrown out the window, and what you get is scenes of madness. A tripwire sprung which lets all the repressed hostile feelings emerge like a windstorm.
Well, Pyongyang won't talk until Washington calms down and recognises it in a manner it expects any member of the UN does towards a fellow member. And that a cultural revolution of sort takes place among Obama's hardline advisers on the National Security Council and in the corridors of the department of state.
Pyongyang is willing to brave a loss of face to China by refusing to come back to the conference table. China as we know, foots the food and basic needs of the DPRK. So if the six party talks look as though they're dead in the water, Mr. Obama if he's as fine a politician as the newspapers say he is, he would seize the opportunity by calling for the reconvening of a Geneva Conference which once and for all would deal on a 2-, 4-, and 6-nation agenda the settling of differences with the DPRK which remain as open sores from the Korean war. Yet we cannot help wondering if the Washington crowd doesn't favour exercises in self flagellation in dealing with the DPRK. The record, despite snail steps of progress over more than a half century, bears this out.
As long as the US persists in its 'irrational abuse' of matters with the DPRK, it is simply pouring more salt on wounds of its making!

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