North Korea is at it again. Han Song Ryol, their chief diplomat for U.S. affairs, told The Associated Press on Thursday that North Korea was greatly displeased with the United States’ recent actions:
“The United States has crossed the red line in our showdown.”
North Korea believes that the recent pattern of U.S. behavior is tantamount to a declaration of war. They also cautioned that conflict may ensue should the U.S. and South Korea carry out planned military exercises next month. Empty threat? What led up to this?
What’s Going On With North Korea?
The U.S. recently placed North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, and 10 of his highest officials on a list of sanctioned individuals. Their American property will be frozen. Americans will not be allowed to carry out business dealings with them. Why?
U.S. officials say this as an attempt to highlight his record of human rights violations. The State Department stated that it was also intended to persuade those listed to think twice before continuing with reprehensible actions. The sanctions sound great on paper, but the actual outcome has only been a bunch of ruffled feathers.
The North Korean Response
U.S.-South Korean war games have clearly frustrated North Korea, as stated by Han Song Ryol:
“By doing these kinds of vicious and hostile acts toward the DPRK, the U.S. has already declared war against the DPRK. So it is our self defensive right and justifiable action to respond in a very hard way.”
The United States routinely holds military exercises with South Korea, and North Korea quite regularly responds with ominous threats. North Korea believes that this time, however, the situation is more dire than ever.
Conflict could ensue in the following months. Han stated that, “We are all prepared for war, and we are all prepared for peace.” Han continued by saying that:
“If the United States forces those kinds of large-scale exercises in August, then the situation caused by that will be the responsibility of the United States.”
They are of the mind that United States forced their hands in developing nuclear weapons. They are also unwilling, as usual, to cease their nuclear program. According to Han:
“We never hide the fact, and we are very proud of the fact, that we have very strong nuclear deterrent forces not only to cope with the United States’ nuclear blackmail but also to neutralize the nuclear blackmail of the United States.”
The Outlook So Far
And so relations with North Korea remain tense as always. It almost seems as if the sanctions were a last-ditch effort. Similar to a hay-maker thrown by a weary fighter who’s out of options.
Will they lead to the kind of dialogue that will mend the fences? Will they continue to agitate as they have already? One can only hope that eventually a feasible solution will present itself, and that the current playbook hasn’t made the situation completely irreparable.
Kim Jong Un does not have the greatest record when it comes to diplomacy, as evidenced by this graphic video:
Featured image courtesy of John Pavelka on Flickr, available under CC Attribution License.
