North Korea Won't Be Bullied
When Vice President Mike Pence looked across the Korean peninsula's DMZ, he likely hadn't the slightest idea of who was looking back, because the sight of small, uniformed figures far off in the distance can never capture the thoughts in the minds beneath their helmets. The small, uniformed figures on the other side of the hostile divide have stood guard for decades waiting for just this moment. They've been locked and loaded and waiting for orders. Here's what you should know and why.
Americans are being told North Korea is an existential threat to U.S. interests, U.S. national security and U.S. regional allies. Americans are being told North Korea wants nuclear weapons in the worst way and will stop at nothing until they've stockpiled as many as they can. Americans are being told that North Korea will be able to strike the continental United States with a nuclear armed intercontinental ballistic missile in less than four years. Americans are being told North Korea will even starve its population to achieve this goal. But what Americans aren't being told, is why North Korea is doing these things.
The average American has little if any recollection of what went down during the first Korean war. Hopefully, the following fast facts can illuminate this issue before it's too late. Korea was under Japanese rule before and during World War II, and that could not have been fun. Click here for the Forced Laborers and Comfort Women stories. After the Japanese surrendered, Korea was divided into two parts. The Soviet Union occupied the area north of the 38th parallel and the United States occupied the area south until 1948. BTW, you should know millions of Korean civilians died in that war.
These two new diametrically opposite countries were established: The Republic of Korea (South Korea) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). The South thrived after the split, but the North struggled. How they were expected to get along remains a mystery, considering the war never officially ended. An actual peace treaty with North Korea was never signed. It was an armistice agreement that ceased hostilities, until a final peaceful settlement could be achieved. Unfortunately, that final peaceful settlement never came to fruition. Hence, the ongoing tension.
To know the Korean people's history, is to know the pain of subjugation, humiliation and separation. They are one people with two identities, living in constant fear. The South Koreans live in constant fear of the North Koreans and the North Koreans live in constant fear of the United States. And given the United States' history of regime change, nation building and empire expansion, North Korea has every reason to be afraid they'll be attacked next.
Bottom line: The North Koreans are convinced that a nuclear arsenal is the only means to defend themselves and protect the sovereignty of their nation against a global bully. They've seen how the United States has intimidated, invaded and occupied sovereign nations to impose its will and dominance. They understand what it means to live under the rule of another and they'd rather eat dirt and drink muddy water before they'll let that happen again. Podcast below.
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