North Korean lives matter?

By David Tizzard

Warmongers can exploit peace lovers by threatening to destroy the peace unless their wishes are granted.

That seems to be what has played out in inter-Korean relations this week. And many of the field’s more season observers are rather worried about what might unfold as a consequence.

Recent events have centered on statements from Kim Jong-un’s sister, Kim Yo-jong. She has been taking charge of inter-Korean affairs and is becoming increasingly visible leading some to suggest she is being positioned as the country’s next ruler.

And, as advocates of Machiavelli will profess, in order to succeed in politics, one is required to carry a knife behind the velvet curtain. Morality and ethics are little more than window-dressing for what really matters: power and survival.

Game of Thrones stuff, sure. But there are no dragons here. Just the constant and very real threat of North Korean military action.

Despite the detente which has been encouraged by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, the North has a long history of attacks against the South. These have not always been unprovoked. The South has also in the past sent soldiers across the border to carry out military actions and take North Korean lives. But more recently the North has committed actions which would surely give pause to even the most peace-loving of doves.

In 1983 it carried out an assassination attempt against ROK President Chun Doo-hwan in Rangoon, Burma. North Korean military officials were captured and held responsible for the deaths of 21 people injuring 46. In 1987, in the lead up to the Seoul 1988 Olympics, North Koreans brought down Korean Air Flight 858 by exploding a bomb onboard. A total of 104 passengers and 11 crew members all died. The majority of those on the plane were South Koreans.

In March 2010, the ROKS Cheonan – a South Korean military boat – was sunk in the Yellow Sea. Most analysts attribute the sinking to North Korea. A total of 46 seamen died in the incident. In November 2010, the North then fired around 170 artillery rockets and shells at Yeonpyeong Island. This killed four South Koreans and injured 19.

The last two attacks in 2010 were carried out a time when Chairman Kim Jong-il’s health was failing and current leader Chairman Kim Jong-un was being positioned to take over. It was a show of strength to the world amidst its own internal changes.

Perhaps we are going to witness the same again?

The hotline between the two Koreas has been cut. The door has been slammed. Pyongyang often uses this tactic of brinkmanship with other states. It escalates tensions, takes them to the brink, and then promises to back down if it is paid money or granted sanctions relief.

It’s not too dissimilar to tactics one might see gangsters or mobsters carry out in a movie, to be honest. It’s bullying: “Give us what we want or we’ll punch (bomb) you!”

What does one do when the bully has nukes and you are out walking with your children? Particularly when there are 51 million people here in South Korea trying to live, for the most part, a peaceful, democratic life filled with Netflix, cat memes, and existentialism.

Of course, the wider international community has a role to play in all of this. The Koreans suffered colonization and then had their land and people divided despite being victims in the conflict. The Cold War also brought with it propaganda against the North – often dehumanizing them. Political and economic sanctions also made the lives of the citizens harder than ever.

It’s a lot more difficult than saying, “They’re the bad guys and everything they have done is wrong. And we’re the good guys and everything we have done is correct.” Of course that’s the attitude of most Twitter users on any subject, but the North Korean situation is far more complex and there have been missteps by all along the way.

To explain the situation would require a deep analysis of history going to back to 1948, if not before. But as it’s Sunday morning and there seems to be some urgency to the situation, let’s get up to speed.

After loudly demanding that South Korea stop activists from sending balloons filled with bibles and rice to the North, the current administration quickly moved to appease Kim Yo-jong. They had police up at the border stop people sending them and are seeking to make such activities illegal through a series of newly-proposed laws.

The sending of such balloons is a difficult one and there are reasonable arguments on both sides about whether they help or worsen the situation: Whether they are for the benefit of North Korean citizens or merely to satiate the consciences of those that send them. This conversation aside, however, the South moved quickly to do as the North requested.

Kim Yo-jong’s response?

“By exercising my power authorized by the supreme leader, our party and the state, I gave an instruction to the arms of the department in charge of the affairs with enemy to decisively carry out the next action.”

“If I drop a hint of our next plan the (South Korean) authorities are anxious about, the right to taking the next action against the enemy will be entrusted to the General Staff of our army. Our army, too, will determine something for cooling down our people’s resentment and surely carry out it, I believe.”

Doesn’t sound like the peace-loving, misunderstood, intent on denuclearization, stanned figure that a lot of Twitter says she is, does it?

Her words spell it out quite clearly: The South is the “enemy”. There is a “next action”. And it will be carried out by “the military.”

While the western world is having to come to grips with its own ugly reality and the systemic problems of racism and inequality, issues that have long been swept under the covers in favor of economic development and globalization, there are real dangers out there.

There be dragons. And these are fully-grown. They have fire in their belly.

What should South Korea do? Essentially it’s a land of band options.

You appease them and they take everything from you and give nothing in return. You ignore them and they develop a nuclear arsenal and series of ballistic missiles capable of flying further around the world and endangering more and more people.

I’m sure the North Koreans have very real grievances about the way they have been treated. Their history and past is a tragic one. But does that give them freedom to act with impunity?

Certainly not.

I feel somewhat for President Moon who has given so much to the North only to be labelled an “enemy”.

Despite all that he has done for the North here in South Korea, in inter-Korean relations, and on the international scene, much of which has been noble and supported by large swathes of the population, Pyongyang has turned its back on him and threatened military action.

This must be galling for a leader who has tried so hard to bring the Koreas closer together. Relative to many Western states, President Moon has done an excellent job in managing the country’s reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic. He has also earned large support from the public and at the polls giving him and his party a deserved victory in the recent national election.

But has the North Korean policy failed?

Saying “I told you so!” doesn’t help anyone. Humans are not all Machiavellians. Some are filled with hope and an ultimate faith in man. They are Kantians. To dream of better days despite what dark clouds gather is an important thing.

So what next?

I don’t have a solution to the current conundrum. And I worry about the safety of family, friends, and all the citizens here in South Korea.

Can we get the K-pop fans to hack Pyongyang’s servers or something? Can we get BTS and BLACKPINK to start a revolution?

Can we all just go outside and walk slowly up to the North Korean border and then just not stop? Just keep walking? A peaceful march of 50-odd million?

How do you deal with bullies and gangsters when there’s no police?

Answers on a postcard, please.

David Tizzard (datizzard@swu.ac.kr) is an assistant professor at Seoul Women's University, where he teaches Korean Studies, and he is an adjunct professor at Hanyang University lecturing in World History and Political Science. He discusses the week's hottest issues on TBS eFM (101.3FM) on "Life Abroad" live every Thursday from 9:35-10 a.m.