Big Stick, Soft Speech
The NKs, seeing as they just flipped off Obama and the West in a big way, are surprisingly restrained in their expressions of joy in announcing this latest triumph of the Juche Idea. For once, actions speak louder than words. DPRK News:
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea successfully conducted one more underground nuclear test on May 25 as part of the measures to bolster up its nuclear deterrent for self-defence in every way as requested by its scientists and technicians.
The current nuclear test was safely conducted on a new higher level in terms of its explosive power and technology of its control and the results of the test helped satisfactorily settle the scientific and technological problems arising in further increasing the power of nuclear weapons and steadily developing nuclear technology.
Well, they couldn’t quite resist a little exuberance.
The successful nuclear test is greatly inspiring the army and people of the DPRK all out in the 150-day campaign, intensifying the drive for effecting a new revolutionary surge to open the gate to a thriving nation.
The test will contribute to defending the sovereignty of the country and the nation and socialism and ensuring peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and the region around it with the might of Songun.
That revolutionary surge of thriving gate-opening sounds like the shakedown. The “might of Songun” sounds like the or-else. It’s a carrot-and-stick approach. See this big stick? More carrots please.
Hang on, here we go. This item, aimed at Kim’s capitalist-imperialist running dog cousins to the south, is a little more old-school:
Lee Myung Bak Group Accused of Dancing to Tune of U.S.
Pyongyang, May 25 (KCNA) — The presidential secretary for foreign strategy of Chongwadae of south Korea at a recent “seminar on board” of a warship of the puppet navy talked nonsense that the north “could not defend the security of its system with nukes and missiles”. The south Korean minister of “Unification” at a “forum on the policy toward the north” urged the north to “withdraw the stand of rejecting the six-party talks” and “stop posing the threat of nuclear test and launching intercontinental ballistic missiles”.
Rodong Sinmun Monday observes this in a signed commentary:This is nothing but jargons made by the pitiful cat’s paws dancing to the tune of the U.S., unaware of how the peace and security of the Korean Peninsula are protected.
But for the DPRK’s powerful war deterrent for self-defence built up with Songun, a war would have broken out on the Korean Peninsula more than ten times.
It is disgusting, indeed, for the group of traitors to dare slander the DPRK defending the peace on the peninsula.
It was quite natural for the DPRK to have decided not to participate in the six-party talks now being used as a platform for undisguisedly pursuing the confrontation with it as it regards sovereignty and dignity as its life and soul.
The nuclear test and the launch of intercontinental ballistic missiles are the options taken by the DPRK to defend itself from the military threat increased by the imperialist forces for aggression and firmly defend the peace on the peninsula and the security of the nation.
Kim, meanwhile, wants you to know he’s chilling:
Pyongyang, May 25 (KCNA) — General Secretary Kim Jong Il enjoyed an art performance given by soldiers of the Kamnamu (persimmon tree) company of the KPA honored with the title of the thrice three-revolution red flag together with servicepersons of the KPA.
The soldiers of the company known to the whole country as a symbol of Kim Jong Il’s loving care for the soldiers put on the stage chorus “Our General Is the Best”, story-telling and song “General and Our Kamnamu Company”, quartet and chorus “May Soldiers’ Song of Happiness Reverberate Far and Wide”, poem and song “The Blue Sky over My Country”, instrumental music and song “Our Days as Soldiers”, solo and chorus “Who Ever Taught Me?”, chorus and dance “Song of Coastal Artillery Women”, chorus “Footstep” and other colorful numbers of various genres.
But here’s an odd item I don’t quite get. “Advice to an Old Man” is a touching parable about how Kim’s dad helped the peasants with great works of modernization and sage advice, filling the rice baskets. Looks more like the kind of thing they’d peddle to a domestic audience, though seeing as it’s all about growing food, it would seem to be ill-advised, given North Korea’s utter failure in that department. Maybe it’s a bit of nostalgia-mongering. Kim Il Sung’s dam = crops, Kim Jong Il’s nukes = grain shipments, same same. That must be it.
Speaking of soft speech, HotAir thinks Kim must be loving Obama’s:
Barack Obama issued a cautious reaction, one that Kim will find much to his liking:
Today, North Korea said that it has conducted a nuclear test in violation of international law. It appears to also have attempted a short range missile launch. These actions, while not a surprise given its statements and actions to date, are a matter of grave concern to all nations. North Korea’s attempts to develop nuclear weapons, as well as its ballistic missile program, constitute a threat to international peace and security.
By acting in blatant defiance of the United Nations Security Council, North Korea is directly and recklessly challenging the international community. North Korea’s behavior increases tensions and undermines stability in Northeast Asia. Such provocations will only serve to deepen North Korea’s isolation. It will not find international acceptance unless it abandons its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.
The danger posed by North Korea’s threatening activities warrants action by the international community. We have been and will continue working with our allies and partners in the Six-Party Talks as well as other members of the U.N. Security Council in the days ahead.
“Warrants action”? Well, I’d guess that Obama wants another strongly-worded memo from the UN Security Council.
It’s a “speak softly and carry a limp carrot” approach. Maybe that’s “Speak softly and carry a big carrot.” Bear with me. Formulating foreign policy in the Age of Obama isn’t easy, especially when he doesn’t even know what he’s doing. Here’s a clue. Copying Bush has worked so far, but this time, I wouldn’t advise it.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 8:16 am on Tuesday, May 26, 2009
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