North Korea

Check out the spin in this article

Firstly, it's about the current North Korea problem. Here's the first thing you read, directly under the AP photo:

South Korea is trying to reduce tension in the region

...giving you the impression South Korea is acting like a mediator between the two aggressors, the US and the NK. I believe this is misleading, for North Korea is the nation creating the difficulty and it's the US who is telling them to chill out. Sure, the US has mentioned various ways it could respond to NK's actions and they aren't pleasant to Pyongyang's ears, but they've all been reasonable while Pyongyang hasn't.

The BBC puts this diplomatic middle-fingering next:

North Korea has said that economic sanctions by the United States would represent a declaration of war, as diplomatic efforts to resolve its nuclear weapons crisis intensify.

It condemned the recent interception of a ship exporting Scud missiles to Yemen as an act of piracy and said the US would pay a "very high price for such reckless acts".

Is this any way to solve a crisis NK brought upon itself? Threatening the US with war? Bush has made it a point to repeat how he wants a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the NK situation...but NK doesn't wqnt to deal on his terms, those being terms which would loosen their grip on power.

If North Korea does not readmit UN inspectors and halt its weapons programme, the IAEA would turn the matter over to the UN Security Council, which could impose sanctions or other measures.

IAEA Director General Mohammed El Baradei said that, although no deadline had been set, North Korea had "clearly a matter of weeks" in which to act.

"There are two options for North Korea: Comply with your international obligations... or continue defiance that will escalate into a crisis situation and go to the Security Council," he said.

Even though many commentators have openly accused the US of hypocrisy regarding seperate ways of dealing with Iraq and North Korea, if NK continues to piss in everyone's direction and then get pissy with us for telling them to stop, I can see this going the same way as the UNSC Iraqi resolution, but this time pushed by the international community.

Maybe.

Posted by Drizzten at January 07, 2003 08:55 AM