FORUM ON THE KOREAN NUCLEAR ISSUE
WHO IS THREATENING PEACE?

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FRIENDS OF KOREA
FORUM ON THE KOREAN NUCLEAR ISSUE: WHO IS THREATENING PEACE?

In his State of the Union Address for 2002, US President George W Bush declared that Iraq, Iran and north Korea (the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) constituted an “axis of evil”, stating:   “States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger.”   Bush’s speech was followed by the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq and the systematic escalation of threats and pressures against both Iran and Korea.   This is the immediate background to the so-called “Korean nuclear issue” which has been much in the headlines.

But for the Korean people, the real nuclear crisis began long ago.   In 1950, five years after the atomic incineration of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, US President Truman threatened the use of atomic weapons in the Korean War.   His successor President Eisenhower repeated the threat three years later.

During the Korean War, General MacArthur ordered the US air force to turn north Korea into a wasteland by destroying “every installation, factory, city and village” and sought permission to drop some 50 atomic bombs on north Korea and in north-east China.

Since that time, every single US President, without exception, has targeted the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) with nuclear weapons.   This is the reality that led the DPRK to develop a nuclear deterrent for self-defence.

Yet, in contrast to the United States and Britain, who continue to build up their nuclear arsenals in breach of their obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the DPRK declared after its nuclear test in October 2006:   “Although the DPRK conducted the nuclear test due to the US, it still remains unchanged in its will to denuclearise the peninsula through dialogue and negotiations…The DPRK clarified more than once that it would feel no need to possess even a single nuke when it is no longer exposed to the US threat after it has dropped its hostile policy toward the DPRK and confidence has been built between the two countries.”

Any objective examination of the facts shows that it is the United States that disturbs peace and threatens war on the Korean peninsula.

Today, restrained from militarily attacking the DPRK by its nuclear deterrent, the United States is engaged in a talks process. Yet it refuses to drop its threats and its attempts to intimidate and pressurise the DPRK by means of sanctions, blockade, false and hostile propaganda, provocative military exercises, and so on. Even whilst bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is doing everything in its power to prepare for another war on the Korean peninsula and possibly for a future conflict with China, whose rapid development also presents an obstacle to US hegemonic ambitions.

The world’s number one imperialist aggressor and warmonger has made its intentions crystal clear. The anti-war movement, and all progressive people, have a clear need to respond. If the anti-war movement is to be truly effective, it cannot remain indifferent to Anglo-American warmongering in any part of the world. An injury to one is an injury to all!

We are all well aware now of how the road to war in Iraq was paved with lies and “dodgy dossiers”. Yet even within the progressive movement, lies and disinformation about the DPRK not only go unanswered, but are even spread by some who should know better.

The Friends of Korea support the right of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and its people to defend their independence and sovereignty against imperialism. As with any other country, what type of social and economic system the Korean people choose is a matter for them and for them alone. Different opinions on such questions must not be allowed to stand in the way of joint actions against war and for peace, be it in Korea, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia or elsewhere.

We invite everyone to our Forum to exchange views and debate how to advance the anti-war movement in a united and effective way.  There will also be an opportunity to hear first-hand accounts of the DPRK.

 

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Organised by Friends of Korea:

For more details contact Secretary, Michael Chant 07764 288678 or Chairman, Harpal Brar 07899 974525