- November 8, 2017
Logic behind illogical behavior of Kim Jong———Dr Neelam Mahendra
Amongst heated statements being exchanged by Trump and Kim Jong un becoming the headlines of the newspapers, the world today is once again witnessing to be on the threshold of a nuclear war. Surely it’s not long enough for anybody to forget the consequences of the nuclear attack faced by Japan during the Second World War.
It is hard to believe that despite the unprecedented loss procured by mankind in these attacks hardly seven decades back, are two super powers once again on the verge of involving the world in another nuclear war.
Though it’s since the 80’s that US is trying to convince North Korea to stop its nuclear program, the latter has successfully succeeded to become a nuclear power today.
Despite the continuous warnings and sanctions of US, North Korea is insistent on per suing its nuclear program. The tension in the region has worsened after North Korea tested its intercontinental ballistic missile in July which eventually has enhanced the country’s deterrent capabilities.
The present tension lies in the fact that neither US is ready to accept a nuclear competent North Korea with its intercontinental ballistic missiles facing towards Newyork nor North Korea is ready to put aside it’s nuclear program.
US concern can be understood but to find a solution to the present situation it is more important to understand the worries of Kim Jong Un.
Going back in history North Korea is a small country sharing its borders with Russia, China and South Korea. After the Second World War, Korea was divided into North and South Korea. While South Korea slowly transformed itself into what is now world’s wealthiest, best educated and most technologically advanced country with US aid, North Korea limited itself.
It briefly flourished with the support of China and Soviet Union. While Things did not turn out to be so well for North Korea. Because at the same time when the Soviet union collapsed in the early 1990’s, North Korea itself also was facing mismanagement due to a series of devastating droughts and floods which finally led to a demolished economy in the country.
While South Korea has free trade agreements with 75% of the world economy, and a liberal democracy with high government transparency, North Korea under the regime of Kim Jong Un remains one of the most repressive authoritarian states in the world. It is almost solely reliant on China as a trading partner.
Though Kim Jong Un may seem irrational to the world but experts see his actions as to ensure the survival of his regime. He has seen what happened to the leaders like Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi and therefore he needs nuclear weapons as a deterrent so that no foreign country dares to attempt an attack to his regime. And in today’s pretext both are correct from their views.
But the bitter truth lies in the fact that the political aspirations of countries to become super powers either alone or with an alliance and their power games are the root cause of the present scenario.
Do the leaders of various nations in their meetings over this issue try to find an ideal “solution to the present problem” or they meet to find a solution for”Kim Jong Un”?
Well the answer to the problem lies in the answer to the above question.
Though the answer is bitter and the solution will be tough for the ego of the super powers to accept as nations, but it possibly will become easier for them to follow if they abandon even the dimmest thoughts of war and follow the path to peace humanity.
If instead of thinking like super powers, we think ourselves to be as caretakers of this beautiful planet called earth for our future generations. Surely we would not want to give them a ruined nature, polluted environment, contaminated water sources. In short, such a devastating place to live where struggle for existence will become the only and the utmost struggle for our children.
We already have come a long way where our researches in the field of weapons have become a threat to ourselves. It’s high time now that we realize that we are thinking of conquering the world with the help of those tools with the use of which there will be no one left to be ruled. It will be far better to think with a positive perspective than to think in a way which is suicidal for the society.
Hence it is utterly important for all of us to understand that the cause of the present tension is not the attitude being demonstrated by the nuclear powers but the nuclear weapons!
Of course it will be hard and also presently it seems unbelievable but as they say “nothing is impossible”; as soon as the world gets rid of these lethal nuclear weapons for the civilization the world will become a better place to live in.
Instead of focusing on becoming a nuclear power and living in the shadow of war saying “live according to me ” we should focus on becoming more human and living peacefully following the rule “lets live together” if not for ourselves at least for the future generations to come.
