[Column] Do you want N.K. to become another Iraq?

Kim Ji-seok, Editorial Writer

The proton and neutron in a nucleus are combined in a strong atomic blast. But if an even stronger force is added and fusion is released, many nuclei collapse in a chain reaction. It is something like a submarine collapsing because of water pressure. The phenomenon is called an implosion. A particularly heavy degree of gravity can implode a star the size of the planet earth into something the size of Gyeonggi Province in 10 seconds and create a massive amount of energy. Hydrogen bombs work by the same principle.

U.S. Congressman Ed Royce, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism and Nonproliferation, told NBC news regarding North Korea that he thinks, "the time has come to implode the regime. And I think over the next few months..." he said, not finishing his sentence. He noted the U.S. has "frozen all [of North Korea’s] bank accounts." What he said was an expression of the thinking of U.S. neoconservatives.

The "implosion" school is a subcategory of the "regime change" school. Instead of using direct military force, as was done with the invasion of Iraq, the North, members of this school claim, could be made to collapse on its own because of outside pressure.

This premise represents the arrogance of a powerful nation, since the current U.S. administration seems to say that something as ’petty’ as the Kim Jong-il regime could be so easily done away with. You hear the same kind of talk from China, too, where certain voices have suggested Kim be detained in China so that the North Korean government can be restructured. It is reminiscent of the way Ch’ing China 120 years ago kidnapped Heungseon, the powerful father of the Korean king. Some suggest this is why Kim is not visiting China right now.

Implosion and regime change are not the official U.S. government position, but in actuality they are gradually becoming just that. The fundamental reason the U.S. is on the one hand deliberately ignoring Pyongyang’s repeated provocations while enacting financial sanctions and strengthening the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) on the other is ultimately because America thinks the North Korean government will not be able to endure.

North Korea does not pose a direct threat to the U.S. Its missiles have so far failed to get very far from the peninsula, and even if the nuclear test of October 9 can be called a success, there is no one who thinks the North would use a nuclear device on the U.S. The reason U.S. president George W. Bush stresses that he is not going to permit the transfer of North Korea’s nuclear technology or material is because of the realistic conclusion that insofar as the North is a threat, it is one that the U.S. can keep on top of. Furthermore, the U.S. is far enough way that the implosion of North Korea would not threaten the U.S. mainland.

The U.S. has tried to reconstruct Iraq after invading it, but that country "imploded." Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis are dead. Its land is divided, its people fighting one other, and everyone there feels his life is threatened, regardless of religion and status. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says some 1.6 million out of a population of 26 million have fled the country and another 1.5 million have fled from their homes to elsewhere in Iraq. The energy produced by the implosion has turned into hate and made the world a far less stable place.

Similarly, should North Korea implode, the countries concerned will find themselves in greater danger than they are today. It would be the "Iraqization of North Korea." Even if North Korea does not implode, as many experts claim it would, a similarly dangerous situation will unfold if the current confrontation continues unchecked for long.

There always alternatives. The "Vietnamization of North Korea," for example. The U.S. and Vietnam reconciled a generation after they had fought a war of several decades, but the U.S. and North Korea continue to be enemies two generations after their last battle. North Korea could be a postwar Vietnam: Pyongyang wants to open up and move on with reform, and South Korea and other neighboring countries are ready to help it. The problem is that U.S. hard-liners refuse to recognize even the possibility the North could change, and many fear that the disappearance of North Korea would lead to reduced U.S. influence in Asia. The result is the current nuclear crisis.

When stars implode, they become black holes and suck in everything around them. Those who hope to see North Korea implode are under the illusion that they are safe and out of danger. They need to see the reality of the situation before it is too late.