North Korea and China: a strange union. US secret weapon against Korea: the background of Pyongyang's nuclear tests is revealed
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China will intervene if the US attacks North Korea
If North Korea strikes the US first and the Americans retaliate, China will remain neutral. If the US hits North Korea first and tries to change Kim Jong Un's regime, China will intervene. This is reported by the Chinese newspaper The Global Times.
The newspaper points out that Beijing is not in a position to influence Washington and Pyongyang and force them to abandon their militaristic rhetoric. Pyongyang, by its actions, wants to force the Americans to negotiate with it; The United States, in turn, is trying to subjugate North Korea to its influence.
After Pyongyang announced its intention to test new medium-range missiles capable of hitting targets 30-40 km from the American island of Guam, the situation came close to a military scenario.
In Beijing, they cautiously express themselves in the sense that both countries, having no experience of long-term brinkmanship, may unwittingly provoke an armed conflict.
Pyongyang is no less interested than Beijing in a peaceful dialogue with the United States. At the same time, the North Koreans have learned from the sad example of Libya, which abandoned nuclear weapons and fell victim to the Western coalition. For the DPRK, renunciation of nuclear weapons is tantamount to suicide. The US will immediately take advantage of Pyongyang's weakness and unleash a war. Along with testing missile weapons, the DPRK several times came up with peace initiatives, including a proposal to continue negotiations with Washington. However, Washington needs war, not dialogue. Pyongyang's peace initiatives went unheeded.
Earlier, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said that his country would support the United States in the event of an attack by the DPRK. Turnbull specified that Australia was within range of North Korean missiles.
Australia, the United States and New Zealand are part of the ANZUS bloc, whose main mission is to prevent the rise of China in the Asia-Pacific region.
Washington and Canberra want to turn the Korean Peninsula into a springboard for pressure on China and Russia. A war with Pyongyang would not only deprive Beijing of one of the main trading partners on the peninsula (China and North Korea actively trade with each other), but would also allow the United States and its allies to settle at the very borders of China and Russia.
The United States can take such a step without taking into account the opinion of its South Korean ally, who, like Beijing, is categorically against a military solution to the North Korean issue. It turns out that no one needs a war in Korea, except for Washington and its ANZUS allies.
US secret weapon against Korea: the background of Pyongyang's nuclear tests is revealed
A new round of escalation around North Korea has once again confirmed a regularity, imperceptible to the world press, but extremely important in the US strategy. Each time, according to Klagenwand TV, the escalation occurs in the same season - from April to September, when the harvest takes place in Southeast Asia. The fact that the stable chronology of exacerbations is not accidental is confirmed by more than half a century of military confrontation on the Korean Peninsula.
The current conflict also arose in April, when the US first became suspicious of nuclear missile tests in North Korea. On April 16, the South Korean military reported that Pyongyang attempted to "test the type of an unknown missile" in South Hamgyong Province. Seoul identified the aborted launch as a ballistic missile test. This was also confirmed by the foreign policy adviser to the US government, defining it as a medium-range missile.
However, Reuters, citing US government circles, questioned these estimates, saying that it was not even a long-range missile, but something more powerful. Despite the lack of evidence of nuclear tests, the information stuffing caused a strong reaction. The South Korean government called a meeting of the National Security Council and warned that the missile test threatened peace. And the United States switched to the tactics of open threats.
Recall that then US Vice President Mike Pence said that the "era of strategic deterrence" of North Korea is over and Washington is considering "military options" to stop the danger, including a preemptive strike against Pyongyang. After the re-launch of a ballistic missile in late April, the White House carried out its threats by sending an aircraft carrier escorted by several warships to the shores of the peninsula.
This is the external outline of the growing military escalation in relations between the US and North Korea. However, it became clear only after China intervened in the situation. True, the Western media are silent about this fact, preferring to present Pyongyang as an "unpredictable regime." Nevertheless, even before the start of the April launches, Beijing warned the United States against intervening on the Korean Peninsula, foreseeing a negative development of events.
The PRC's proposal was to exchange for a "mutual cessation" of the escalation. Beijing has acted as a guarantor that North Korea will stop its nuclear and missile development. However, in exchange for this, the United States had to abandon joint exercises with South Korea. It's not just that Beijing sees them as a starting point for an attack on North Korea.
The main reason for China's concern is that the American military maneuvers each time begin when most of the population of North Korea is busy sowing in the rice fields. Therefore, US military exercises directly threaten the food security of the entire region. In the 1990s, they were one of the causes of severe famine in this country.
Such sophisticated food blackmail forced Pyongyang to rely on the development of nuclear weapons in order to minimize the involvement of human resources for the country's defense. After all, every time American aircraft carriers cruise along the coast of the Korean Peninsula during the planting and harvest season. If the US were to commit to halting its annual maneuvers, it would allow North Korea to reduce its conventional defense resources without nuclear insurance.
Instead of slandering North Korea at the slightest suspicion of nuclear testing, the Western media would do well to expose threats to US military policy itself. After all, the Koreans themselves remember very well the extraordinary cruelty with which the American armed forces broke into their country more than half a century ago.
North Korea: Exposing a colossal hoax
Christopher Black is an international criminal law attorney based in Toronto.
He is known for a number of high-profile war crimes cases and recently published Under the Clouds. He writes essays on international law, politics and world events, especially for the online magazine New Eastern Outlook.
In 2003, I was lucky, along with other American lawyers from the National Guild of Lawyers, to visit North Korea, that is, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, to see the country, the socialist system and its people with my own eyes. Upon our return, we released a report titled "Exposing the Colossal Fraud."
At one of our first dinners in Pyongyang, our hospitable host, lawyer Lee Myung Kook, said on behalf of the government and very passionately that the DPRK nuclear deterrence force is necessary in light of US actions in the world and the threat against the DPRK.
He argued, and this was repeated to me at a high-level meeting with officials later, that if the Americans signed a peace treaty and a non-aggression pact with the DPRK, this would delegitimize the American occupation and lead to the unification of Korea. Therefore, there will be no need for atomic weapons.
The vote at the UN for a "police operation" in 1950 was illegal because the USSR was not present at the vote in the Security Council. The quorum required by the Security Council according to the rules is the presence of all delegations, or the session cannot be held. The Americans used the boycott of the USSR Security Council for their own purposes. The Russian boycott was in support of the position of the People's Republic of China that the seat in the Security Council should belong to them, and not to the Kuomintang government. The Americans refused to do so, so Russia refused to sit on the Security Council until there is a legitimate Chinese government there.
The Americans used this opportunity to carry out such a putsch at the UN in order to seize its mechanism for their own interests, agreeing with Britain, France and the Kuomintang to support their actions in Korea by voting in the absence of Russia. The Allies did what was required of them and voted for war against Korea, but the vote was invalid and the "police operation" was not peacekeeping, and is not legal under Part 7 of the UN Charter, since chapter 51 requires that all countries have the right to self-defense against armed attack, and that's what happened to North Korea and that's what they responded to.
But the Americans never cared too much about the rule of law, and at that time, too, because the plan from the very beginning was to conquer and occupy North Korea as a step towards invading Manchuria and Siberia, and were not going to let the law get in the way.
Many in the West have no idea of the extent of the destruction that the Americans and their allies have unleashed on Korea, that Pyongyang has been bombed to dust, that civilians fleeing the slaughter have been shot down by American planes. The New York Times claimed at the time that 17,000,000 pounds of napalm had been used in Korea in the first twenty months of the war alone.
The United States dropped more bombs by tonnage on Korea than on Japan in World War II.
The American military poisoned and killed not only the communists, but also their families. At Sinchon, we saw evidence that American soldiers drove 500 civilians into a ditch, doused them with gasoline and set them on fire. We were in a bomb shelter whose walls were still black from the burnt bodies of at least 900 civilians, including women and children, who had tried to hide there during the American raid. American soldiers poured gasoline into the vents and burned them alive. This is the reality of the American occupation of Korea. This is what they are still afraid of and do not want a repetition of this ever, and who can reproach them for this?
But even with such a history, Koreans are ready to open their hearts to former enemies. Major Kim Myung-hwan, who was the senior negotiator in Panmunjeong for the Korean Demilitarized Zone, told us that he dreamed of being a writer, poet, journalist, but, he said sadly, he and his 5 brothers are guarding the Korean Demilitarized Zone because of what happened. with his family. He longs for his family that died in Sinchon - his grandfather was tortured, his grandmother was bayoneted and left for dead. He said, “You see, we have to do this. We must defend ourselves. We are not against the American people. We are against American hostile policy and its attempts to control the whole world and bring misfortune to people.
The view of our delegation is that by maintaining instability in Asia, the US can maintain a massive military presence in the region, isolate China from South and North Korea and Japan, and use it as a weapon against China and Russia. In Japan, the movement to withdraw US military bases from Okinawa continues, and Korean military operations and military maneuvers remain key to US attempts to dominate the region.
The question is not whether the DPRK has nuclear weapons, which they have a legal right to, but whether the United States, which has the ability to deploy nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula and deploys a THADD system there that threatens the security of Russia and China, is ready to cooperate. with the DPRK for a peace treaty.
We have seen that the North Koreans want peace and that they do not need nuclear weapons per se if peace is to be made. But the American stance remains bold, aggressive and threatening.
In the era of the US doctrine of "regime change", "preventive war" and US efforts to create miniature atomic bombs, as well as their violation and manipulation of international law, it is not surprising that the DPRK is putting the atomic card on the table. What choice do the Koreans have if the United States threatens them with nuclear war every day, and 2 countries that, logically, should have supported them in the fight against American aggression - Russia and China - join the United States in condemning the Koreans for striving to obtain the only weapon that can prevent such an attack?
The reason for this is completely incomprehensible, since the Russians and the Chinese themselves have nuclear weapons, and they created them as a deterrent against a United States attack - just like North Korea is doing now. Some of their government statements indicate that they fear they are out of control and that if North Korea's defensive moves provoke a US attack, they fear they will be attacked as well.
You can understand this concern. But it begs the question why they cannot support the DPRK's right to self-defense and increase pressure on the Americans to conclude a peace treaty, a non-aggression agreement and withdraw their nuclear and military forces from the Korean Peninsula.
But the greatest tragedy is the apparent inability of the American people to think for themselves, in the midst of constant deceit, and to demand that their leaders exhaust all avenues for dialogue and peacebuilding before even considering aggression on the Korean Peninsula.
The fundamental basis of North Korean policy is the achievement of a non-aggression pact and a peace treaty with the United States. The North Koreans have repeatedly stated that they do not want to attack anyone, offend anyone, or fight anyone. But they have seen what happened in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and many other countries and they have no intention of waiting for the same to happen to them. It is clear that they will actively defend themselves against any US invasion and that this nation is capable of surviving a long, difficult struggle.
Elsewhere on the DMZ, we met a colonel who adjusted his binoculars so we could see the wall between North and South. We were able to see the concrete wall built on the south side, in violation of the armistice agreements. Major described such a permanent structure as "a disgrace to the Korean people who are of the same blood". The loudspeaker blared incessantly with propaganda and music from the speakers on the south side. The annoying noise continues for 22 hours a day, he said. Suddenly, in another surreal moment, the bunker's loudspeakers began to play the William Tell Overture, better known in America as The Theme from The Lone Ranger.
The Colonel urged us to help people see what is really going on in North Korea instead of basing their opinion on disinformation. He told us, "We know that, like us, peace-loving people in America have children, parents, and families." We told him about our mission to return with a message of peace, and that we hope someday to return and walk freely with him over these beautiful hills. He paused and then said, "I also think it's possible."
So while the people of the DPRK hope for peace and security, the United States and its puppet regime in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula are preparing for war, over the next 3 months, participating in the largest war games ever held there, using aircraft carriers armed with nuclear weapons submarines and stealth bombers, aircraft and a large number of troops, artillery and armored vehicles.
The propaganda campaign has been carried to a dangerous level in the media, with accusations that the North allegedly "killed a relative of the DPRK leader in Malaysia", although there is no evidence of this and no motive for the North to do so. The only ones who can benefit from this assassination are the Americans, and their controlled media is using it to whip up hysteria about the North, to the point of accusing the KNDA of "possessing chemical weapons of mass destruction"!
Yes, friends, they think that we were all born yesterday and that we have not yet learned anything about the nature of the American leadership and the nature of their propaganda. Is it any wonder that the North Koreans fear that any day these military "games" could turn into a real thing, that these "games" are just a front to attack while at the same time creating an atmosphere of terror for the Korean people?
You can tell a lot about the real nature of the DPRK, about its people and socio-economic system, about its culture. But there isn't enough room for that. I hope that more and more people will be able to visit this country themselves - as our group - and experience for themselves what we have experienced. Instead, I will end my article with a concluding paragraph from the joint report made upon my return from the DPRK, and I hope that people will take it in, think about it, and act in such a way as to realize his call for peace.
The people of the world need to be told the full story of Korea and the role of our government in driving imbalance and conflict. Lawyers, community groups, peace activists and everyone on the planet must take action to prevent the US government from successfully developing a propaganda campaign in support of its aggression against North Korea. The American people are being deceived tremendously. But this time too much is at stake to tolerate such deceit.
Our peaceful delegation learned from the DPRK a significant part of the truth, which is of great importance in international relations. It's about how increased contact, greater communication, negotiation followed by promises made and a deep commitment to peace can save the world - literally - from a bleak nuclear future. Experience and truth will free us from the threat of war. Our trip to North Korea, this report and our project are our efforts to free the American people from the shackles of lies.
Research by Canadian lawyer Christopher Black
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China has sharply criticized the new unilateral US sanctions against the DPRK. They also affect Chinese companies that the United States suspected of collaborating with Pyongyang, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. According to Beijing, Washington's actions undermine cooperation with China on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Experts, in turn, regarded the US sanctions policy as another attempt to put pressure on China. About the American-Asian "sanctions triangle" - in the material RT.
"Friendship" vs. USA
Beijing strongly condemns new unilateral US sanctions against the DPRK, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said yesterday. Answering journalists' questions, the diplomat stressed that the new restrictive measures affect, among other things, Chinese shipping and energy companies cooperating with Pyongyang.
"China strongly opposes the US side imposing unilateral sanctions and 'extraterritorial jurisdiction' under US domestic law against Chinese organizations or individuals," a spokesman said.
According to the Chinese side, the United States should "immediately stop such violations so as not to undermine bilateral cooperation in the relevant field."
- Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang
- www.fmprc.gov.cn
“Chinese companies have been under unilateral sanctions since the events on Tiananmen Square in 1989, so the Chinese know very well what American sanctions are, just like the North Koreans,” the president of the Russian-Chinese Analytical Center commented in an interview with RT on the statement of a representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Sergei Sanakoev.
According to the expert, it is China that has patronized the DPRK since the 1950s.
“Kim Jong-un, of course, moved away from China, began to pursue a more independent policy. But this does not mean that China is ready to join these US sanctions, ”the expert notes.
Earlier, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has repeatedly stated that unilateral US sanctions against North Korea, which may also apply to Chinese citizens, are unacceptable. Back in August last year, China urged the United States to lift restrictive measures against North Korea, and in December criticized the United States for a similar policy against the Chinese Bank of Dandong, which allegedly cooperated with the DPRK.
As the US Treasury explained, the reason for the new restrictions was the illegal supply of fuel to North Korea, including from China. In turn, the Chinese Customs Department on the eve published data according to which last month not a drop of fuel oil, oil or gasoline came from China to the DPRK.
The only fuel that China continues to supply to North Korea is liquefied natural gas, which is not subject to sanctions. Moreover, the Chinese have reduced grain exports to the DPRK. Thus, the supply of rice in January amounted to 180 tons, which is only 4% of the volume in January 2017. In addition, China did not import coal, iron ore and lead from North Korea last month.
"Deprive of sources of income"
The “largest ever package of sanctions against the North Korean regime,” as conceived by the United States, should deprive Pyongyang of the remaining sources of income and fuel supply routes that operate contrary to existing restrictions from the UN Security Council and the United States.
On February 23, the US Treasury Department released a new sanctions list that includes 27 organizations, 28 courts and one individual. Most of them are North Korean and Chinese companies (including Hong Kong and Taiwan). Chinese vessels flying the flags of Tanzania and Panama are also subject to restrictions.
“Individuals who violate US sanctions against North Korea will be required to pay a fine in the amount of double the price of the transaction in question or pay $289,238,” the documents accompanying the sanctions list say.
For companies, including foreign companies, the amount of the fine is traditionally determined in accordance with the internal rules of the US Department of the Treasury. For example, in 2017, Washington forced the Chinese company ZTE to pay more than $100 million for cooperation with Iran, bypassing US sanctions.
- US President Donald Trump meets with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on February 23, 2018
- Reuters
“There are certainly far-reaching plans to harm Chinese interests behind the actions of the United States in relation to North Korea,” Sanakoev notes.
On February 23, speaking at a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, United States President Donald Trump expressed hope that the new sanctions would work. Otherwise, he promised to resort to "the second phase." The American president also stressed that relations between Washington and Beijing "now are better than ever."
With an eye on stabilization
Despite such statements by Trump, experts associate this Korean-Chinese sanctions story precisely with Washington's political pressure on Beijing.
“On the North Korean crisis, I take a pretty clear line that this is not a problem with North Korea itself. This is still Sino-American relations, ”says Yevgeny Grachikov, a member of the Center for the Study of Problems of World Socialism at the Academy of Social Sciences of the PRC.
According to the expert, after Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, the PRC quite clearly outlined the zone of priority national interests, which included all border states, including the DPRK.
“Most people talk about the South China Sea. But as for the Korean problem, the Yellow Sea is of particular importance here, which for the Chinese is the same as the Black Sea for us,” notes Grachikov.
The constant presence of the US military here and the conduct of exercises that justify the North Korean threat are perceived by the Chinese as a personal challenge. According to the expert, a parallel can be drawn between how the United States uses the Ukrainian crisis to put pressure on Russia and how the North Korean crisis is used against China.
- US military exercises in the Yellow Sea
- Reuters
“If China agreed with America on more general issues, such as global governance, participation in such structures as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, there would be no such problems,” the political scientist believes.
However, now, according to him, the convergence of the positions of Washington and Beijing is unlikely.
Sanakoev, in turn, notes that China's position on unilateral sanctions against the DPRK is largely due to the fact that Beijing has always consistently rejected this mechanism in international relations.
“This is quite in line with their main policy aimed at stabilization, which they are pursuing in relation to this region. In addition, they have long opposed such unilateral actions by the United States of America, including against Russia, ”the expert says.
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Pukuksong submarine-launched ballistic missiles were displayed for the first time at a military parade in Pyongyang. Reuters photo
Pyongyang is not yet in a position to strike at America. This is evidenced by the unsuccessful test of the rocket, conducted on Sunday. Nevertheless, Washington is stepping up political and military pressure on North Korea. To cheer up the ally, US Vice President Michael Pence arrived in Seoul. They greet him without enthusiasm. South Koreans are afraid that the unpredictable Donald Trump will repeat the Syrian option. Its results for the country would be catastrophic.
Pyongyang held a parade on Saturday, an impressive display of military might, in honor of the birthday of North Korea's founding father, Kim Il Sung. And all this in the presence of numerous foreign reporters. And the next morning there was a failure with the launch of a ballistic missile from a naval base on the east coast of the country.
The US Navy Pacific Command said the missile took off around 6 a.m. local time. It exploded almost immediately after launch. This makes it difficult to identify the range and size of the missile. Be that as it may, this failure reinforces the doubts of Western experts in Pyongyang's claims that it is capable of responding with nuclear weapons to a US attack.
The experts were amazed at the number of new missiles shown at the parade in Pyongyang. Previously, two types of intercontinental ballistic missiles, KN-08 and KN-14, were demonstrated at such parades. On Saturday, the vehicles carrying the rockets were the same as before. But they moved large, never seen before canisters. There could be old rockets, brand new ones, or there was nothing inside at all.
The rocket test took place at the moment when US Vice President Michael Pence flew from Alaska to Seoul. According to the Washington Post, there he should issue a serious warning to North Korea. Its meaning is that the DPRK will pay dearly if it does not stop its provocations.
In South Korea, the public is unlikely to ravely welcome an American visitor. The South Koreans are afraid that the unpredictable owner of the White House will repeat the Syrian option with a missile attack on the Korean Peninsula. Its results for the country would be catastrophic. Here is what priest Robert Park writes in the Korea Herald newspaper. Japan and China have already taken steps to keep their citizens safe in the event of a military confrontation. And civilians in South Korea, who will suffer incalculable damage in the event of American pre-emptive strikes against North Korea, are completely unprepared for this scenario.
At the same time, American troops in South Korea themselves will not suffer much. And the Seoul region, with its 25 million inhabitants, is within range of North Korean artillery.
And yet, is China going to intervene in a potential military conflict in Korea? In an interview with NG, Vasily Kashin, a leading researcher at the Institute of the Far East of the Russian Academy of Sciences, noted: “The Chinese doubt that someone in their right mind would come up with the idea of striking at North Korea. North Korea and Syria are different universes. Syria is being bombed by Israel year after year, nothing follows. Losses from Israel were stronger than the blows of the Tomahawks. North Korea is something else."
Kim Jong Un is hated in Beijing. They would be happy to change the format of relations with the DPRK. But Kim destroyed all the people who were familiar and sympathetic to the Chinese in North Korea; there are no communication channels, Kim is incomprehensible and unpredictable to them. According to unconfirmed rumors, there is a group of North Koreans who were not executed, but fled to China, hoping to seize power if everything goes wrong; but this is difficult to confirm.
The Chinese will not do anything radical with North Korea, given that the Americans are also unlikely to do anything radical. It is unlikely that China will defend North Korea and follow the old treaties, predicts Kashin.
Recall that in 1961 an agreement was concluded between China and the DPRK, which provided for assistance in the event of an attack on one of the participants. Chinese publicists today often speak in the spirit that the DPRK itself violated this treaty by conducting nuclear tests contrary to UN decisions. Therefore, the PRC is not obliged to comply with this treaty.
At the same time, Beijing has not abandoned the idea of reviving negotiations on Korea through joint efforts with Russia. In a telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that Beijing intends to closely coordinate its actions with Moscow, contribute to the early de-escalation of tensions and promote the resumption of dialogue between all parties.
However, the Chinese press report does not mention any joint actions in Syria. Wang Yi, however, mentioned the need to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria. But, as before, Beijing did not want to condemn the American strike on the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, preferring to take a neutral position.
Lankov
And now relations between China and North Korea are ambiguous. On the one hand, the existence of a North Korean state is beneficial to China, since North Korea forms a geostrategic buffer near the Chinese borders. In addition, the crisis in North Korea will have negative consequences for China, which does not want to deal with refugee flows, much less problems that could be caused by the loss of control over North Korean chemical or nuclear weapons. In addition, the unification of Korea is contrary to the interests of Beijing - no matter what Chinese diplomats say about it. Thus, China has reasons to keep North Korea afloat.
On the other hand, China has reason to be dissatisfied with many aspects of North Korean policy. Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions are particularly irritating in Beijing. It seems that in the last six months, this discontent has intensified. A whole series of recent events makes us suspect that relations between Beijing and Pyongyang have entered a period of yet another crisis.
The first sign of problems was the scandal surrounding the failed investment of the large Chinese company Xiyan. She invested about $50 million to build a mine in North Korea, after which the mine was taken over by the North Korean side. Similar situations have arisen before, but this time the affected Chinese side declared the conflict openly.
In August 2012, Chan Sung-taek, Kim Jong-un's closest adviser, arrived in China. He hoped to receive additional economic assistance, but returned empty-handed.
In January 2013, China supported UN Security Council resolutions condemning the North Korean missile launch. This Chinese decision came as a surprise to most observers.
Finally, at the end of January, the Chinese newspaper Huanqiu Shibao announced that if North Korea conducts a nuclear test, China will reduce the scale of aid to the DPRK. This statement is difficult to ignore, because this newspaper is part of the People's Daily holding, that is, it is subordinate to the official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
Of course, the North Korean government does not listen too much to the opinion of its allies, including China. However, now it is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the unequivocal warnings from Beijing - the DPRK's economic dependence on Chinese aid and trade with China is too great. Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that Chinese pressure partly achieved its goal and forced the North Korean government to either postpone or cancel nuclear tests.
This is definitely good news. However, it should be remembered that Beijing does not intend to drive North Korea into a corner, much less seek to provoke a serious crisis there. Therefore, most likely, China will continue to keep the DPRK afloat, only occasionally expressing its dissatisfaction with certain actions of Pyongyang.
Secondly, China needs to receive from North Korea some economic guarantees of its viability, which is possible only on the way of the DPRK's systemic assimilation of the experience of Chinese reforms. In this case, the PRC could hypothetically turn a blind eye to the North Korean nuclear program, organically integrating it into its own US "containment" policy.
The emerging realities are completely different. The DPRK is in no hurry to apply the Chinese experience, concentrating all the forces and resources of the nation on the development of its nuclear program. The Korean atomic bomb for many North Koreans is perhaps both a kind of "national idea", and the only defensive weapon against America and other enemies, and at the same time an explanation understandable to millions: "why we live so poorly."
At the same time, Pyongyang demands from Beijing to expand credit, food, energy and other assistance. China has always supported a regime ideologically close to it, sometimes saving it from a deadly threat (the Korean War of 1950-1953). He did not leave the DPRK even after the establishment of diplomatic relations with South Korea (August 24, 1992), although this caused a storm of indignation and accusations of betrayal in the north of the Korean Peninsula.
At the present time in Zhongnanhai (the so-called "Chinese Kremlin"), with growing irritation, Pyongyang's staunch unwillingness to build socialism according to the Chinese model is noted. Moreover, if in the late 1990s and early 2000s many Chinese scientists wrote about the "ease and speed" of the implementation of this project, pointing to the already proven experience of the open zones of the PRC, the possibility of using Chinese financial and human resources, today the tone of publications has changed dramatically . Many experts do not believe in Korean modernization according to the Chinese version at all, they believe that North Korea is "turning into a burden" on China's path "to a great regional and world power."
It is possible that one of the reasons for the unsuccessful visit to the PRC on August 13, 2012 by the Deputy Chairman of the State Defense Committee of the DPRK, the closest adviser to the young leader Kim Jong-Un, Chang Song-taek, was precisely the discontent of the Chinese leaders, caused by such "stubbornness" of the North Koreans. The envoy was unable to convince Hu Jintao of the need for the young leader to visit the PRC before the 18th Congress. Apparently, Jang Song-taek failed to get a new concessional loan of several billion dollars.
According to South Korean media reports, Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council of the People's Republic of China presented the Korean representative with some Chinese claims related to the facts of infringement by Pyongyang of Chinese business, in particular, the mining company Xiyang Group. According to sources in Seoul, five conditions were set out to the North Koreans, without which there can be no talk of further cooperation - the adoption of appropriate laws on the regulation of foreign business, the fight against corruption, the abolition of the practice of imposing new taxes on investors, the provision of assistance from the authorities , customs reorganization.
Obviously, the new leadership of China will have to meet with Kim Jong-un and "forget" temporary differences. Protocol and broader issues of regional and global security require this. If Xi Jinping eventually managed to somehow return the DPRK to the six-party negotiating table and resume the work of the "six", this would become a strong "trump card" for the new Chinese leader in his further regional and global "game" with the United States and its allies.
And a little more Lankov to the heap
http://rus.ruvr.ru/_print/103637102.html
It's time to face the obvious: sanctions don't have much of an impact on North Korea. The problem is that very few people outside the narrow circle of experts understand this circumstance. But the introduction of new sanctions allows both diplomats and parliamentarians to demonstrate to voters that they are responding to the threat posed by the DPRK.
For the first time, the regime of international sanctions against the DPRK was introduced after the first nuclear test, which took place in 2006. During the seven years of this regime, Pyongyang tried three times to launch an artificial satellite of the Earth, and the last attempt was successful, and also conducted another nuclear test. At the same time, it cannot be said that the DPRK has achieved these successes at the cost of tightening its belts. On the contrary, the period of 2006-2012, that is, the period of sanctions, was also a time of moderate, but quite tangible growth in the DPRK economy.
An analysis of these circumstances forced experts to conclude that the sanctions do not have a noticeable impact on North Korea. There are several reasons for this.
First, in the case of North Korea, the usual mechanism for the rest of the world of sanctions does not work. As a rule, it is not the top leadership that suffers from them, but the population as a whole, including a significant part of the elite. As a result, both the population and the elite begin to demand from the government that it abandon the political decisions that caused the imposition of sanctions.
This model worked in Yugoslavia and South Africa. It can work in Iran, despite the peculiarities of its political regime. However, in North Korea, this policy has little chance of success. The people of North Korea have no means of exerting pressure on the policies of their government. North Koreans don't vote—more precisely, they vote once every five years in formal elections in which a single candidate always receives 100% of all votes. The likelihood of a rebellion or coup in Korea is also negligible.
The imposition of sanctions may lead to the fact that a significant part of the population of the DPRK will be in a really distressed situation - perhaps even starving, but this situation will not have any effect on the North Korean government. As the experience of the past 20 years has shown, no amount of suffering on the part of the population can force Pyongyang to make concessions on issues that it considers a priority.
Second, the financial sanctions regime is unlikely to receive real support from China, North Korea's main trading partner. Chinese banks will find ways to get around the restrictions. The volume of North Korean foreign trade is very small, so in many cases, settlements can be made in cash. One can imagine North Korean officials traveling to China with suitcases full of $100 bills.
The Korean crisis is already threatening Russia. As the senator said Viktor Ozerov, air defense systems in the Far East are put on high alert due to the situation around the DPRK. This information was later refuted, but judging by the statements of the US President: “The military solution is completely ready (locked and loaded) in case North Korea does not behave wisely enough. I hope Kim Jong-un finds another way!" About it Donald Trump wrote Twitter.
It all started when the UN Security Council passed a resolution on August 5 imposing crippling sanctions on North Korea for continuing to test intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in violation of previous UN resolutions.
The resolution hits North Korea's top exports, including coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ores and seafood. Other sources of income are also targeted, such as banks and joint ventures with foreign companies.
Resolution 2371 was imposed (well, by whom else?) by the United States of America - the Supreme Aggressor of the entire Universe. The supreme body of global peace, the UN Security Council, has never punished this exceptional rogue country and never imposed sanctions on it. And there was and is something to punish - over the past 70 years, this country has killed millions of people around the globe in hostilities and as a result of drone bombing in illegal wars for its hegemony.
The resolution against North Korea was passed unanimously by all 15 members of the UN Security Council, including North Korea's allies China and Russia. They may have had their own strategic and selfish reasons for not showing solidarity with North Korea, vetoing the resolution, or offering diplomatic pressure instead. These diplomatic measures could call to mind the hawks in Washington and the Pentagon and stop Trump's brutal bloodlust as he yells nuclear threats from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey: "They will be met with such fire and fury as the world has never seen before." ". Russia and China could propose an alternative resolution that would suggest seeking dialogue and force Washington to stop fueling the war.
But Russia and China did not. Which is very sad.
It is a shame to what extent the entire world has bowed to appease Washington and the masters of its dark "deep state" who are pulling the strings of puppets in the White House! Have we become a world of vassals of a dying empire?
The same Washington-led aggressors already destroyed North Korea more than 60 years ago, killing a third of its 10 million people. The United States was not allowed to sign a peace treaty. Instead, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, living under a shaky truce pact, is constantly threatened from numerous US military bases in South Korea and Japan, manned by fleets of aircraft and ships. The airspace of the DPRK is constantly violated by American bombers; military maneuvers by the armed forces of the United States, South Korea and Japan are a constant intimidation for the people of North Korea, leading a normal peaceful life. And the military demarcation line running along the 38th parallel has been maintaining the separation of ordinary Korean families for three generations or more.
Mode Kim Jong Un shows to the whole world only its readiness to defend the achievements of the DPRK in the amazing reconstruction of the country and to stand up for comprehensive social guarantees for free education and medical care for the entire people, which now number more than 25 million people. North Korea's nuclear deterrent poses no threat to anyone, not to Japan, not to its Southern brother, and certainly not to the United States. And Trump damn sure knows it. His boast of "fire and fury" is nothing more than a saber-rattling show of a multi-billionaire psychopath chasing golf balls and reveling in power over, thank God, a crumbling empire. He will not dare to touch North Korea, because then he will know the "fire and fury" of the allies of the DPRK - Russia and China - despite their unsuccessful vote in the UN Security Council.
It is believed that UN sanctions - if adhered to - will cut North Korea's annual export earnings by $1 billion. This could plunge the country, already isolated thanks to previous Western sanctions, into extreme poverty and hunger. While it is unlikely that China, which accounts for 90% of North Korea's foreign trade, will adhere to these sanctions, they are still a dishonorable threat.
Let's look at the legitimacy of UN sanctions in a broader context, one that the peoples of the world either don't know or have forgotten.
Chapter VII of the UN Charter describes the Actions with regard to threats to the peace, breaches of the peace and acts of aggression.
These actions are specifically set out in Articles 39, 40, 41 and 42 of Chapter VII:
The Security Council determines the existence of any threat to the peace, any breach of the peace or act of aggression, and makes recommendations or decides what measures should be taken in accordance with Articles 41 and 42 to maintain or restore international peace and security.
In order to prevent a worsening of the situation, the Security Council is empowered, before making recommendations or deciding to take measures under Article 39, to require the parties concerned to comply with such provisional measures as it deems necessary or desirable. Such provisional measures shall not prejudice the rights, claims or position of the parties concerned. The Security Council takes due account of the failure to comply with these interim measures.
The Security Council shall be empowered to decide what non-military measures shall be taken to give effect to its decisions, and it may require the Members to apply these measures. These measures may include a complete or partial interruption of economic relations, rail, sea, air, postal, telegraph, radio or other means of communication, as well as the severance of diplomatic relations.
If the Security Council considers that the measures provided for in Article 41 may prove insufficient, or have already proved insufficient, it shall be empowered to take such action by air, sea or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security. Such actions may include demonstrations, blockades and other operations by the air, sea or land forces of the Members.
Unilateral sanctions against another country, the main tool that the United States arbitrarily applies to any country that does not lick its boots, is completely illegal and a violation of international law.
The legitimacy of UN sanctions is highly questionable in most cases, and in particular in the case of North Korea, as these sanctions affect human rights, namely the economic, social and cultural rights of the civilian population. The cumulative negative effect of these sanctions could lead to a humanitarian catastrophe, expressed in the lack of certain goods and services essential to guarantee basic living conditions (Gebs, Robin. “Humanitarian Safeguards in Economic Sanctions Regimes: A Call for Automatic Suspension Clauses, Periodic Monitoring, and Follow-Up Assessment of Long-Term Effects.” The Harvard Human Rights Journal 18 (2005), p. 173).
In the case of North Korea, these sanctions are a complete farce, because the main aggressor is not and never has been North Korea. The aggressor is and always has been the United States.
However, it does not occur to any state on this beautiful planet to impose sanctions against the United States through the UN Supreme Peace and Security Authority. But why? Yes, because they are all afraid of retaliatory measures from the United States. Although Russia and China, together with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) bloc, which already unites half of the world's population, controls a third of the global economic product and is on the way to abandoning the hegemony of the US dollar, it seems that they should no longer be afraid of retaliatory measures. But still afraid?
It's just ridiculous, like the whole world, this League of Nations, as it used to be called, lives brainwashed to the core, so that practically without any exceptions and questions, without blinking an eye, put up with the atrocities of Washington, with its crimes against humanity, with indiscriminate killings. tens of millions of people around the world. But at the same time, this "League of Nations" in unison shows "solidarity" to willingly strangle the small brave state of North Korea, which is only testing its capabilities for self-defense in the face of illegal threats from the supreme aggressor of the whole world - the United States of America .
Author ( Peter Koenig) is an economist and geopolitical analyst, formerly of the World Bank. He lectures at universities in the USA, Europe and South America. His articles have been published in such publications as Global Research, ICH, RT, Sputnik, PressTV, The 4th Media (China), TeleSUR, The Vineyard of The Saker Blog and other resources.
Copyright Peter Koenig, Global Research, 2017
Translation by Sergei Dukhanov.