By Choi Yearn-hong
After 10 years of liberal governments in South Korea, many Korean people have become more sympathetic to North Korea when choosing between the communist country and the United States.
Many of them think that the U.S., not North Korea, is the main enemy of South Korea. Their sympathies must be based on their ``nationalistic'' thinking, not necessarily on reasonable reasoning.
North Korea has been developing nuclear arms and missiles in the midst of extreme poverty. Its main target is South Korea, not America. The Demilitarized Zone is mostly fortified by forces from Pyongyang that have received astronomical economic assistance from Seoul.
Now, I see such ``leftist'' or nationalistic sympathizers have landed on the shores of the United States. Some Korean-American scholars who are trying to be neutral on relations between North Korea and the U.S. tend to accuse Washington more and Pyongyang less for any crisis on the Korean Peninsula.
They are trying to stand on a neutral ground for fair and objective observation and analysis. Alas! I have seen many liberal American scholars and journalists who have been sympathetic to North Korea. Their mind is not neutral at all.
Last week, I attended a seminar in Washington, D.C., in which one political scientist from a distinguished university presented his scholarly paper on North Korea and the U.S. Another learned American citizen was criticizing South Korea, saying it has been a puppet of U.S. ``imperialism.''
I expressed my disagreement: South Korea has been more of a puppet of North Korea over the past 10 years. It seems hard for the scholars to be neutral on North Korea and the United States.
It is easy to attack both sides, rather than siding with one. However, the intellectuals should bear in mind the political situation.
A fair mind should be essential to scholarship. Why should the U.S. be accused by North Korea and even by some Korean-Americans? I don't know. They are taking the liberalism and leftism of their intellectualism for granted.
In the 1980s, North and South Koreas agreed to have a nuclear-free peninsula. Nevertheless, North Korea secretly developed nuclear bombs, going against the agreement. In 1994, the U.S. was ready to hit the Yongbyon nuclear site.
Then, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter visited Pyongyang and met with the then dictator Kim Il-sung to ease the crisis. Then, the Geneva framework was signed between Pyongyang and Washington.
The U.S. supplied heavy oil and created a consortium named KEDO to construct two light water reactors inside North Korea. But North Korea secretly developed nuclear bombs. The North boasted and demonstrated its nuclear power. How many bombs were produced and stored? That was the question.
President George W. Bush finally organized six-party talks, inviting and requesting China to join to join so as to check on North Korea, being the major supporter and guardian of that country.
A Korean-American political scientist at the seminar called the U.S. accusations over North Korea earning money from drug smuggling and counterfeiting dollars an unnecessary and untimely move to deadlock the six-party talks.
After the U.S. unfroze North Korean money in the Macao bank, Pyongyang returned to the six-party talks, and later destroyed part of its Yongbyon nuclear reactor to show the world that it would halt its nuclear development.
However, all past nuclear activities were not disclosed, so, the U.S. pressured North Korea to disclose its past nuclear activities, including its Syrian connection.
As a result, North Korea kicked out inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from Yongbyon and started reassembling the reactor. Recently, the U.S. removed North Korea from a list of states sponsoring terrorism and the North promised to come back to the six-party talks.
Judging from the political developments over the past 10 or more years, the left-leaning South Korean governments, liberal American journalists and progressive Korean-American political scientists are neglecting to see North Korea as it is, and fail to distinguish cause from effect.
They show sympathy to North Korea. Sympathy is fine when directed toward the poor and disadvantaged, but directed toward the poor and disadvantaged with nuclear weapons is poisonous.
Intellectual minds should start with distinguishing the cause and the effect relationship. Who set the fire? Who are the firefighters?
North Korea sympathizers are justifying its nuclear ambition as a survival instinct. They say: ``Well, the U.S. has abundant nuclear arms, so North Korea should have its nuclear arms!''
However, America has not used or abused its nuclear power since the 1945 bombings of Japan to end World War II. North Korea has threatened South Korea and the United States with its nuclear power. North Korea may fear a U.S. attack on its land and regime.
However, if and when North Korea gives up its nuclear bombs, it does not need to worry about an attack. Why would the U.S. attack a small and poor nation in East Asia? North Korea's fear is based on war phobia.
Many South Korean people, some liberal American intellectuals and journalists and some Korean-American college professors do not distinguish the cause-effect relationship. They are lacking an intellectual mind on international affairs.
That is why they accuse North Korea and the U.S. equally for the crises over the past two decades. Intelligence starts with distinguishing the cause from the effect. North Korea has caused all kinds of crises in the past two decades. Brinkmanship has been its diplomacy. The U.S. has been just responding to the crises. The U.S. did not cause them.
Why doesn't North Korea progress to a full verification processes to be a nuclear free nation? Why doesn't it renounce its old regime of drug trafficking, production of fake U.S. dollars, and kidnapping of innocent people from Japan and South Korea?
Why doesn't it declare a new nation-building? China has changed, Russia has changed, and East European nations have changed. North Korea should take the same road.
There is no other way. At the same time, China and Russia should not protect North Korea any further, because the latter does not have any value to be protected. The dictatorship and starving people should be ousted by themselves. Human rights should be protected in North Korea, first of all.
Pluralistic values in mass democracy are inevitable, fine and acceptable. Any pluralistic Democracy cannot tolerate a dictatorial regime that has so far shown vicious nuclear ambitions in the midst of its people's poverty. Some scholars are blind to the dark side of North Korea. This is deplorable and regrettable.
Dr. Choi Yearn-hong is a political scientist, retired after a long teaching career in the United States and Korea. The views expressed in the above article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of The Korea Times.