Is There Room for Denuclearization in 2019?
Last Wednesday, I had the pleasure of attending a Los Angeles World Affairs Council (LAWAC) event featuring David Kang, an expert on Korea and professor at USC, focusing on the history of Korea and the events leading up to our current state of affairs with the totalitarian government of North Korea. The event began with a Q&A session where the high schoolers at the event were able to converse with Mr. Kang personally about the affairs in Korea. Here, he told us about the ongoing nuclear weapons experiments in North Korea that have been slow but steady, and have brought alarm to nations in its proximity. Now with intelligence revealing North Korea's interest in chemical weapons and bio-weapons, we understand that North Korea has changed its agenda in the world. The way Mr. Kang described it Korea is "climbing up the hill with its nuclear weapons and asking "Who is going to disarm me and bring me back down?"" to concisely describe its desire to be a nation superpower in the world. Later on, Mr. Kang described the literal divide between North Korea and South Korea as symbol of both nations attempting to disarm the age-old conflict. He mentioned how both nations surround both sides of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) with their best weapon arsenals, ready to engage should they detect a threat; over time however, each nation has made an effort to demilitarize their side of the DMZ by either digging up mines that were placed there long ago or by gradually moving military forces elsewhere. He believes that while these efforts seem insignificant at first, they symbolize both countries' desire to disarm the conflict created by their predecessors.
Mr. Kang also made an effort to debunk the misconception that North Korea is a place of inhuman totalitarianism that mistreats its citizens at the most unimaginable extent. He began by claiming that there are two ways we think of North Korea: 1. it is a horrific place filed with inhumane leadership that seeks to torture its people. 2. It is a place where the people adore their country and exhibit their devout nationalism. He claimed that both these visions of North Korea contradicted each other and that our misunderstanding also has to do with our own biases as Americans; to them (and most likely to the rest of the world), we are the exceptions and the outcasts.
In the end, one the parents in the room asked Mr. Kang if he believed the US could stabilize its relationship with North Korea. He optimistically said that part of Kim Jong Un's agenda in 2019 is to create a relationship in which both nations do not have to agree with each other on every facet of government and culture, but both nations have to acknowledge each other as legitimate countries with some sort of say in the international conversation. There are many countries in the world like China and Vietnam that impose some form of totalitarianism governing over their people whether that be through customs or through regulating the internet; even so, the United States still does business with these countries and still acknowledges them as valid parts of our world. There are many other countries who violate the human rights of their people and yet we do not share the same sort of unpredictable relationship with them as we do with Korea. This is not to say that we should turn a blind eye to inhumane governments from around the world, but rather to first establish a non-volatile relationship with these countries so that they can learn to trust us.
Mr. Kang also made an effort to debunk the misconception that North Korea is a place of inhuman totalitarianism that mistreats its citizens at the most unimaginable extent. He began by claiming that there are two ways we think of North Korea: 1. it is a horrific place filed with inhumane leadership that seeks to torture its people. 2. It is a place where the people adore their country and exhibit their devout nationalism. He claimed that both these visions of North Korea contradicted each other and that our misunderstanding also has to do with our own biases as Americans; to them (and most likely to the rest of the world), we are the exceptions and the outcasts.
In the end, one the parents in the room asked Mr. Kang if he believed the US could stabilize its relationship with North Korea. He optimistically said that part of Kim Jong Un's agenda in 2019 is to create a relationship in which both nations do not have to agree with each other on every facet of government and culture, but both nations have to acknowledge each other as legitimate countries with some sort of say in the international conversation. There are many countries in the world like China and Vietnam that impose some form of totalitarianism governing over their people whether that be through customs or through regulating the internet; even so, the United States still does business with these countries and still acknowledges them as valid parts of our world. There are many other countries who violate the human rights of their people and yet we do not share the same sort of unpredictable relationship with them as we do with Korea. This is not to say that we should turn a blind eye to inhumane governments from around the world, but rather to first establish a non-volatile relationship with these countries so that they can learn to trust us.
WOW, Diego you really captured the main points of Dr. Kang's talk with the students (and later with those over 18). Good use of his illustrations, anecdotes, and key points (such as we are the abnormal and the role bias plays in each country's understanding of the other). What is your outlook on this crisis and the potential for a new and different chapter to be written in 2019 about the DPRK-USA relations?
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