By Kim Suk-mi, Director, Department of the Political Affairs of the Editorial Office of “The Choson Sinbo”
In the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), International Women’s Day is a national holiday. Women also play a leading role on the day and do no household chores. People give words of appreciation and gifts to women, and various events and activities are held to thank women.
The position and strategy of the DPRK in head-on confrontation with U.S. imperialism
It is said that the fall of U.S. unipolar dominance has begun and the trend toward multipolarity is accelerating. A dynamic tectonic shift is now taking place in the world. In the midst of these developments, the military demarcation line between the DPRK, which has been engaged in a frontal struggle against the United States, adhering to an anti-imperialist and independent line, and South Korea, which has been complicit in the U.S. global strategy as a U.S. ally, has become the frontline where the existing order and the new order are struggling against each other.
We need to consider that the current course of the DPRK is thus formulated in light of this world-historical turning point. Japan, the United States, and South Korea have institutionalized military integration since the trilateral summit at Camp David last year. Now, military cooperation among these three countries has entered a new phase that did not exist before. In recent years, the DPRK has consistently pursued a policy of “the principle of force against force,” “the principle of a frontal fight,” and the strengthening of its own deterrence capabilities against these hostile movements.
The North-South summit meeting took place in April 2018, followed two months later by the historic summit meeting between the leaders of the DPRK and the U.S. For the DPRK, the goal was to improve the international environment through diplomacy and to achieve economic growth in cooperation with the international community, including the United States. However, after the summit, there was no change in the U.S. policy of viewing the DPRK as an enemy. To this end, the DPRK launched a new strategy at the end of 2019, for the time being it stopped working through “diplomacy.”
I spent most of 2018 in Pyongyang. During that year, the citizens of Pyongyang were proud that the DPRK was making progress toward peace and reunification of the Korean Peninsula, and the situation on the Korean peninsula toward that end. Their joy was also extraordinary. Their expectations were high, and I think their disappointment was enormous because those expectations were lost after only one year. I could also easily imagine that they painfully learned a hard lesson from that.
In shifting the country’s policy, Kim Jong Un, General Secretary said, “The real intention of the United States is to maintain sanctions against our country while holding up signs of dialogue and negotiation, to sap and weaken our power.” He added, “It goes without saying that creating a favorable international environment for the further development of our economy is of vital importance. But we cannot sell out our dignity, which we have guarded like our own lives, in the hope of some fleeting dream that the U.S. will turn into a glamorous entity.” The position of the DPRK is condensed in his words.
Last year was a year of success in strengthening the defense capabilities of the DPRK. I know that there are people around us who voice the following concern: “We understand the position of the DPRK. But it is focusing too much on the military buildup aspect, isn’t it?” “We are afraid that the current policy of the DPRK will further strain the situation in East Asia.”
However, the DPRK is strengthening its defense capabilities in order to ensure its own security by achieving a balance of power with the United States.
The DPRK seeks to have nuclear weapons and long-range missile technology to prevent the U.S. from attacking the country. In doing so, the DPRK can achieve a practical balance of power with the U.S. It was the establishment of this antagonistic relationship that led to the 2018 DPRK-U.S. summit.
In recent years, military cooperation among the three countries – the U.S., South Korea, and Japan – has advanced to a new phase. Under these circumstances, if the DPRK does not improve its defense capabilities in response to these developments, the balance of power between the two sides will be upset and the Korean Peninsula will be destabilized. The logic of power still prevails in international relations today. Under these circumstances, the DPRK must manage the stability of the situation on the Korean Peninsula by maintaining the balance of power.
The role of the DPRK in the turbulent times
The media of the DPRK report daily on the situation in the Middle East and the Gaza Strip. And they repeatedly emphasize that the dire situation in the Gaza Strip is not a fire on the other side of the river for the DPRK.
Last year, the DPRK invited delegations from China and Russia to Pyongyang for ceremonies marking the ceasefire in the Korean War and the 70th anniversary of victory in the war. Since the summit meeting between Secretary Kim Jong Un and President Vladimir Putin, multilateral and high-level delegations have been actively engaged in exchanges between the DPRK and Russia. The DPRK has noted that relations between the two countries have developed to a new high strategic stage in response to the requirements of the new era. The Russian side, in its statement, Foreign Minister Lavrov assessed that relations between the two countries have developed into a qualitatively new strategic relationship. Both countries have exactly the same assessment of the development of mutual relations. Until now, Russia has only identified China and India as countries with which it has strategic relations in its Foreign Policy Concept document. Now, the DPRK has been added to that document. This marks a major change in Russia’s foreign policy.
The DPRK believes that the change in strategic diplomatic relations is not between the DPRK and Russia, but a fundamental shift is taking place in the global political situation. While Russia now confronts the United States and NATO, the DPRK confronts the United States in Northeast Asia. The strengthening of strategic relations between the two countries means that Russia and the DPRK will be on a joint front. This is a more multilayered and broader axis of opposition to the United States.
This strengthening of the unity of the DPRK, China, and Russia has created an axis of opposition to the unreasonable world order led by the United States. I believe that the relationship that has developed between the DPRK and Russia, especially in the wake of last year’s summit meeting between the two countries, has become a powerful fortress for building a multipolar world.
The position of China and Russia on the situation on the Korean Peninsula is that in order to resolve the issue, the security concerns held by the DPRK should be dispelled. In other words, both countries agree that the United States should withdraw its hostile policy toward the DPRK. The strength of this view has been demonstrated at the United Nations Security Council. The last time a draft resolution on the DPRK was passed at that session was in 2017. Since the following year, it has never been voted on, with China and Russia exercising their veto rights. However, such a move did not occur prior to 2017. Previously, China and Russia were also complicit in the U.S.-led U.N. resolution.
In this international environment, the DPRK has formulated a multilateral, medium- to long-term diplomatic strategy and has pursued diplomacy extensively. The DPRK has consistently pursued a policy of opposing the U.S. and taking an independent line, and has developed an independent diplomacy. This has played a decisive role in creating a multipolar trend in the world.
Review of DPRK’s policy to unify the Korean Peninsula
At a meeting of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) late last year, the party fundamentally revised its policy for reunifying the Korean Peninsula and proposed a new course. The party stipulated that relations between North and South Korea are to be based on a state of belligerency between two hostile countries at war. The party announced that the revision of such a provision was the most justifiable measure for the security of the country, future peace, and stability.
The military integration of Japan, the U.S., and South Korea has become institutionalized. These three countries also advocate the theory of first-strike nuclear attack. Such arguments increase the risk of armed conflict and nuclear war. Under these circumstances, the DPRK felt that regarding Korea as one of the same ethnic groups would be a stumbling block to guaranteeing its own security, and the DPRK took the momentous decision described above to remove that stumbling block.
The United States and South Korea will conduct a joint training exercise this August based on the operational plan for a nuclear first strike. DPRK’s analysis of the situation on the Korean Peninsula, where tensions are rising, is as follows: “For us, the word war is not an abstract concept. For us, it is a practical reality.”
Meanwhile, the DPRK-China-Russia alliance as a counterweight to the U.S. will be further strengthened this year. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the DPRK and China. Earlier this year, the two leaders exchanged congratulatory telegrams. In addition, the DPRK is working to strengthen its relations with Third World countries. According to press reports, in January of this year, the DPRK participated in the Non-Aligned Movement Summit. International tensions are rising, but the unity of the DPRK, China, and Russia is a deterrent against them. Solidarity between these three countries and others is also being strengthened.
Adherence to the goal of developing socialism in its entirety
At home, the DPRK adheres to its goal of developing socialism in a comprehensive manner. It is striving to radically improve the lives of its people in accordance with its roadmap for economic construction.
In Pyongyang, a five-year project is underway to build 10,000 housing units per year. This year, a new strategy for developing the countryside was announced. That strategy is to build factories for modern industrial promotion in 20 cities and counties each year, and to build them in all 200 cities and counties in the country within 10 years. By doing so, the country seeks to significantly improve the standard of living of its people throughout the country.
The government of the DPRK has promised the people that it will steadily advance this kind of economic construction and improve the lives of the people. In order to fulfill this promise, the DPRK is absolutely unwilling to go to war. It seeks to manage international affairs in a stable manner while strengthening deterrence to prevent war.
Relationship between Japan and DPRK
The situation on the Korean Peninsula and the nature of the world order are changing. However, Ja- pan continues to follow the lead of the U.S. and is pushing to further transform itself into a military power. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Stockholm Accord, the agreement between the DPRK and Japan on the normalization of diplomatic relations based on the Pyongyang Declaration. However, the agreement has not been implemented, and relations between the DPRK and Japan remain at a stalemate.
Under these circumstances, it was reported that Kim Jong Un sent a telegram to Prime Minister Kishida offering his condolences regarding the earthquake that hit the Noto Peninsula. The Korean media reported it as an unusual event. The report is accurate: no DPRK supreme leader has ever sent a telegram of comfort to the Japanese prime minister, including when the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred.
The DPRK expects a change in attitude on the part of Japan with regard to DPRK-Japan relations. Specifically, the DPRK is calling for sincere reflection on Japan’s colonial rule over Korea and for Japan to withdraw from policies hostile to the DPRK, without which the DPRK has announced that it will not engage in dialogue with Japan. This year, however, in his discourse, Kim Yo-jong, Deputy Director General of WPK, referred to a visit to the DPRK by Prime Minister Kishida. The DPRK felt that if Kishida’s comments were based on a genuine desire to advance relations between Japan and the DPRK, they should be appreciated. The DPRK has stated that there is room for dialogue with Japan if Japan changes its attitude.
In Japan, “Remembrance, Reflection and Friendship” memorial in “Gunma-no-mori Park” in Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture was removed. On the other hand, a positive development occurred last year in the plenary session of the House of Councilors.
For the first time, a member of the House of Councilors voted against a resolution on the DPRK’s reconnaissance satellite. More than a dozen resolutions against the DPRK have been adopted in the House of Representatives and the House of Councilors. All of them have passed unanimously. It was unusual that these resolutions were consistently adopted unanimously. This time, however, it was not adopted unanimously because it was voted against.
It is not easy to overturn such a resolution in Japan. The recent result was a small change. However, I believe that in the political and social climate in Japan, where hostility toward the DPRK is the norm, a single negative vote is worth more than a single vote. The legislator who cast the negative vote was Mr. TAKARA, Tetsumi, who belongs to a political party called Okinawa Whirlwind. Mr. Takara argued for the following reasons for voting against the proposal: “The claim that DPRK is a threat is to justify the act of strengthening the Japan-U.S. military alliance. It is to exclude Korean schools from the free tuition system, to discriminate against Koreans in Japan, and to incite hate speech.” These developments in the political arena are in no way unrelated to the grassroots movement that the citizens of Japan and DPRK have persistently pursued.
This event proves that our activities can influence politics. If the Japanese government reverses its hostile policy toward the DPRK, peace between Japan, the Korean Peninsula, and East Asia will be built. I hope that I can share this view with many people.
This article first appeared in Shiso-Undo News, No. 171, July 2024