I love the Orthodox Historical view point that pervades this column / Western view point towards relations with North korea as a whole. Though it is undeniable that the actions of North Korea in recent events have been incredibly inflammatory, this state of affairs have not come about solely through North Korean actions, with North korea in many ways being a victim.
But before all of you obviously intellectual History buffs try to beat me to death with the stereotypical 'West is Best' attitude that has dominated popular opinion towards this conflict, I ask you to look past the basics of this failiure in international relations and the simplistic view towards the Korean war to the dark underbelly of Cold war relations that spawned it and the post war hangover from World War 2.
With the defeat of Japan in World War 2, Korea, one of the victims of Japanese agression, was forcibly annexed by the Allied forces in a way similar to that of Germany, with the Capitalist forces consolidating in the South and Communism in the North. As in Germany, the sheer proximity of such two diametrically opposed ideologies again led to great tension, with each side attempting to 're-educate' their section of the korean peoples in an attempt to achieve ideological dominance, putting in place governments that in no way represented popular political opinion. This act occured in both North and South, with it from the onset that the USSR and, in this case most importantly,the USA to blame for the inability for this splinterd nation to reform.
When an attempt at reformation finally did occur, the USA again interefered. The USA had no right to interfere in the Korean war, which in reality started as little more than a long deserved Civil War, in which both North and South were willing participants, with the South itself having already drawn up plans to invade the North, but were too slow to enact them.
It was the USA's selfish policy of 'Containment' and 'Rollback' that led to the continuation of the war, with their interference only showing how the West was all to willing to wipe out another nation due to the fact it's political ideology did not follow their own.
The view that the west chose to intervene due to North Korea's credentials as a Dictatorship is also flawed. As was shown in the USA's willing partnership with the Bastista regime in Cuba, the USA was not concerned with Democracy, but only with retarding the growth of Socialism. Even North Korea's infringements of Civil or Human Rights cannot be seen as a valid reason to go to war, with South Korea's credentials towards Human Rights and democracy being almost as bad.
Fast forwarding to today and these attacks continue. The Economic and Social annexation that the West has enacted upon the North has brought the country to the brink of destruction and created a siege mentality within the Nation. the West claims this regime has gone mad and I believe it may very well have done so. But wouldn't you have lost touch with reality if for the last fifty years you had been surrounded by enemies, South Korea, Japan and the USA and that your sole Ally, China, is now hell-bent on distancing itself from you as much as possible. There is nothing left for this country other than weapons tests and parades as the nation has been rendered impotent by an uncaring world order that is stuck in the Cold War, which has mutilated an enitre nation and made it so that a once stable nation as Korea is now locked in a game of perpetual violence and hatred that has no forseeable ending. You may choose to blame one side for this state of affairs, but in my eyes the culture of threat and possible violence is one that acts in both directions.
