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The Political is Personal: North Korea Can Affect You

You may have been hearing buzz about North Korea on the news, but how does the situation affect you? How does foreign policy affect our personal lives? And how can we make a difference?

Foreign policy is personal because the United States’ relationship with the world affects our economy, which shapes our jobs, incomes, and benefits. Foreign policy is personal because our relations abroad concern our taxes; for example, the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost over $400 billion taxpayer dollars so far. Foreign policy affects our safety, both traveling abroad and living at home. Foreign policy involves our environment - how do we want to relate with nations that don’t have environmental controls? And perhaps most importantly, foreign policy engages our humanity -- through foreign policy we decide how human beings should treat one another. So as you can see, foreign policy is deeply personal.

North Korea - a foreign policy challenge

North Korea has violated its own moratorium on missile testing. Beginning in mid-June 2006, it began fueling some of its long-range Taepodgong-2 missiles, which, in theory, could reach the United States.

On July 4, 2006, North Korea launched six test missiles, which landed in the Sea of Japan. Five of them were short-range missiles, and one was a Taepodgong-2 missile, which failed 40 seconds after launch. One day later, North Korea tested another short-range missile.

On July 6, 2006, North Korea announced that it will continue missile tests, insisting that such tests are a "sovereign right."

President Bush has responded by encouraging multi-national but not two-nation or bilateral talks, saying he remains committed to United Nations’ diplomatic efforts. Many are frustrated with this response, saying that Bush’s pre-emptive strike on Iraq would have been better suited for North Korea, since it has weapons of mass destruction. Others are pleased with the return to diplomacy, after years of refusing to build on the two-nation talks that were ongoing during the Clinton administration. Still others argue that Bush has no choice but diplomacy, since U.S. forces and resources are already overextended.

Negotiating with North Korea is a unique challenge, since its leader, Kim Jong II, has absolute power and a god-like status there. He uses the media to create a larger-than-life hero image of himself that the people of North Korea have no choice but to accept. This propaganda machine, known as a cult of personality, encourages complete submission to him, making him the sole spokesman for North Korea at the negotiating table.

North Korea - a history

The United States has been involved militarily with Korea for over fifty years. The Korean War began in 1950, when the communist North invaded the South. President Truman sent American troops as "peacekeepers" without asking Congress - and they have been there ever since. A cease-fire was declared three years later, but technically, this war has not ended since the two sides have never come to a peace agreement.

American forces have remained on the Korean peninsula and in the Korean Demilitarized Zone between the north and the south since the 1950s, and North Korea considers the American military an occupying force.

In 1993, North Korea announced its plans to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and began to process plutonium, which is used in both nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons. A year later, during the Clinton administration, North Korea signed an "Agreed Framework" to stop its plutonium production program in exchange for fuel oil and the construction of two modern light-water nuclear power plants. These plants create less nuclear waste and therefore the nuclear materials are easier to track. However, the United States never built the promised reactors, and in 2002 the Bush administration stopped oil shipments to North Korea because the country was continuing to enrich uranium.

North Korea claimed the uranium was needed for nuclear power and in 2003, withdrew form the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as promised. Since then, talks among the U.S., China, North Korea, South Korea, Russia, and Japan have taken place, and in 2005 North Korea agreed to abandon its nuclear weapons program for economic assistance. North Korea insisted on its right to develop nuclear energy and the U.S. renewed its promise to build a nuclear light-water reactor.

The U.S. and North Korea disagreed about when the reactor should be built, and in 2006, the missile tests began. North Korea’s missiles may not be capable of accurately delivering nuclear weapons, but the technology is probably being developed.

Ways of seeing North Korea

In light of North Korea’s missile testing and probable nuclear capability, some say that the United States should focus on developing its missile defense system, known as the Star Wars program.

Others worry about North Korea’s ties to the founder of Pakistan’s nuclear program, Abdul Qadeer Khan. Khan has confessed to his participation in a secret international network that has established nuclear programs in Pakistan, Libya, Iran, and, of course, North Korea. Nuclear material could be made easily into small dirty bombs that could be sold to individual terrorists.

Due to its proximity to North Korea, Japan is deeply concerned about the missile testing, and is considering its own preemptive strike. The issue is complicated for Japan since its constitution forbids the use of military force in settling international disputes and prohibits the maintenance of a military for warfare. Tokyo, however, has interpreted that to mean it can have armed troops to protect itself.

What do you think?

How do you see this issue? How should the U.S. respond to North Korea? Is diplomacy the answer? Force? Some combination of the two? How concerned are you about nuclear weapons proliferation? How do the missile tests in North Korea affect your sense of security?

Your input matters

Your representatives DO care what you think. Especially now -- 2006 is an election year and many representatives will be looking to reconnect with their constituents. Let your congressmen and women know what you think! Give your senators a piece of your mind! To find your reps, click here.

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Update Posted on: 7/14/2006