Blog: Russell Myrie - North Korea
Did George Bush, or at the very least, his speechwriters, get one thing right? Were the neo-cons right when they labelled North Korea ‘evil’? Even if they were, did they get it so disasterously wrong about Iraq, and handle all things Iran so badly, that the other 'evil' country was allowed to slip under the radar for a hot minute?
On the one hand all that 'axis of evil' stuff in the 2002 State Of The Union address was so cartoonishly ridiculous; but then again Kim Jong IL has always been a bit of a ticking timebomb.
It's probably only illness that's kept him quiet for this long. Kim Jong IL looks like the only world leader who would lose a fist fight with Fidel Castro. He looks so ill he seriously might have trouble actually pressing the dreaded red button.
At the weekend when North Korea's nuclear testing was getting all the headlines, it didn't seem to be overly alarming. Let's qualify that. Nuclear testing should always be a cause for alarm. If any of these weapons are actually used then obviously that's all she wrote, but this just seemed like a renowned madman flexing his diplomatic muscles a bit because he could walk unaided for the first time in however long. Similarly to Fidel, the whole question of just who is going to succeed him may also be an important concern. Who knows? But one thing is for sure. There needs to be more consistency with all these nuclear-based condemnations. There are many countries that have been quietly doing things they shouldn't without facing criticism from the U.N and the most renowned world leaders for the longest.
And of course what about the nuclear weapons possessed by China, the US and the various European countries who love to act as if they're so righteous and generally well behaved? Once again, nobody should have nuclear weapons, they can destroy the planet. But as long as these obvious double standards are allowed to continue then it’s easy for leaders like Kim Jong IL to tell his citizens words to the effect of: 'look, they're full of it, you need to stick with me 'cos I'm on your side. I'm all you've got. By the way I'm going to be succeeded by...'
Because they have a nice new president to replace Bush, America's reaction is the one that North Korea is most interested in. It has been suggested that all of this could simply be because the notoriously vain North Korean leader feels ignored by Obama. That he is famously, and dangerously, obsessed with American movies supports this view. Besides owning every single film that has ever won the best picture Oscar, he is also, allegedly, supposed to have once kidnapped around a dozen Japanese film directors and actors to boost the ailing North Korean film industry. There are also allegations that he kidnapped renowned South Korean film director Shin Sang-ok in the late seventies. Different tactics.
Obama has shown he can do the outraged politician routine by saying some very true things about the dangers North Korea poses (South Koreans have probably been dreading this moment for years: the day when he would go off on one and all but threaten to attack). But he's not likely to be as gung ho about America's military strength as Bush and Cheney were. So that’s something. Nevertheless, he hasn’t got long to decide and North Korea’s leader is far more unpredictable than even the battered world economy, his biggest problem so far.
Words: Russell Myrie.
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