Link to article: https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/01/asia/north-korea-biden-speech-defector-leaflets-intl-hnk/index.html
In a series of statements released recently, North Korea warned the United States that it will face a “crisis beyond control in the near future” and accused South Korea of carrying out an “intolerable provocation” against Pyongyang.
U.S. President Joe Biden was recently ‘scolded’ by North Korea for saying that Pyongyang’s nuclear program presents a “serious threat to America’s security and world security.” North Korea also accused the U.S. of engaging in “political chicanery” for calling their nation “one of the most repressive and totalitarian states in the world.” And additionally, a statement by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister Kim Yo Jong, warned South Korea would face consequences after North Korean defectors used balloons to send leaflets into North Korean territory. These comments have the potential to precipitate a showdown between the three countries. Responding to the comments on human rights in North Korea, the North Korean Foreign Ministry said the U.S. “has no right to even discuss human rights.” The statement read, “The U.S., where innocent people lose their lives to social inequality and racism every day, where 580,000 people die of novel coronavirus, is itself a human rights wasteland.”
This article is important because the Biden administration has completed its months-long North Korea policy review. The administration’s goal is complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula “with a clear understanding that the efforts of the past four administrations have not achieved this objective.” The U.S. plans to pursue a “calibrated, practical approach” that differs from the Trump administration’s strategy of pursuing a grand bargain, or the Obama administration’s focus on “strategic patience.”
In March, North Korea carried out its first weapons test since Biden became president. Following a second launch the next week, Biden warned that there would be “responses” if North Korea continues to fire ballistic missiles. Additionally, experts say that North Korea may be attempting to drive a wedge between the U.S. and South Korea before leaders meet on May 21st by exploiting President Moon’s desire for reconciliation in the final year of his presidency. These statements combined with the recent actions taken by North Korea prove to be threatening, not only towards the U.S, but globally.
This article relates to what we’ve been learning in class, regarding conflict of ideas. This conflict between North Korea and the U.S. (and South Korea as well) can be labeled as a nationalistic conflict because of North Korea’s devotion to the interests of its own nation over the interests of another state’s. Driving this includes the dual principles of self-determination and irredentism.