The Korean peninsula is on the boil again. South Korea and the US have stepped up military exercise in the region after North Korea fired a missile in the direction of Japan. North Korea, which calls itself DPR Korea, has put up an aggressive front against US intervention in the region. Though the tension in the region has a long history, it has taken a curious turn following a tense face-off between the US and Russia over the invasion of Ukraine by the latter. In a seemingly bipolar world, Russia is strengthening ties with all enemies of the US, with North Korea topping this list.
North Korea has been treating the US as a clear and present danger to its sovereignty and has alerted its forces to build up a nuclear deterrent against US manoeuvers in the region. It fired a ballistic missile that flew over Japan and caused panic in the entire region. A terrified Japan alerted its citizens to take shelter, and immediately halted its lifeline Bullet trains. The USA reacted aggressively to the missile fire, calling the incident dangerous and reckless.
To maintain its might and dominance in the region, the US conducted joint military exercises with South Korea and Japan. US Marine Corps fighters joined Japan Air South Defense Force fighters in a bilateral exercise over the Sea of Japan. South Korea also fired a surface-to-surface missile to warn North Korea, though it failed to take off much to the embarrassment of the South Korean government. South Korea and the US conducted multiple joint exercises with a precision bombing exercise to intimidate North Korea. But this has not at all dampened the spirit of North Korea, which is getting more belligerent against American intervention in the region. Interestingly, Russia finds strong mention in this fierce face-off between two nuclear armed states.
Russia-North Korea Camaraderie
Jo Chol Su, director general of the Department of International Organizations of the DPRK Foreign Ministry, recently made a statement that clearly indicates that North Korea is no longer an Isolated state. Commenting on the referendum in Russian occupied regions of Ukraine, Jo said: “On Sept. 30, the UNSC took a vote on the anti-Russia resolution submitted by the U.S. and it was rejected by Russia. There were referendums in the Peoples Republic of Donetsk, Lugansk and Regions of Kherson and Zaporozhye from Sept. 23 to 27. They were held in keeping with the UN Charter specifying the principles of the equality of peoples and their right to self-determination and according to legitimate methods and procedures. An overwhelming majority of the voters supported the integration into Russia. We respect the will of the residents who aspired toward the integration into Russia and support the Russian government.”
The statement gives a very clear picture of North Korea’s current stand and strategy for the future. Pyongyang has completely sided with Moscow, with the latter reciprocating the gesture. North Korea has never hesitated to espouse its nuclear cause with due justification. North Korea leader Kim Jong-un made a policy speech on September 8 on the occasion of the 7th Session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, where he emphasised the country’s nuclear option. He said: “Our nuclear weapons are a means for containment and ultimate weapon that our Republic, which from the early days of its birth had been under the nuclear threat by the United States, the first country to use nuclear weapons and the largest nuclear power in the world, possessed by waging an arduous and bloody struggle for scores of years so as to reliably defend its dignity and security and completely remove the danger of a nuclear war.”
Russia, along with China, has been backing North Korea on every international forum and seems ready to support militarily in its face-off against US interference in the region. In the changing world order, North Korea seems to be emerging as a force with strong support from a Russian-led global alliance against the US.