| North Korea exposed Japanese rocket scientists While Washington explains its plans to withdraw from the ABM Treaty with references to the insidious plans of “rogue” countries, Pyongyang, classified by the Americans as a “rogue”, threatened to resume missile launches under the pretext of protecting against the Japanese nuclear missile threat. Just last week, South Korean media reported that Kim Jong Il confirmed to Chinese leader Jiang Zemin his commitment to maintain the missile moratorium until 2003. (Previously, Kim promised the same to Vladimir Putin.) But suddenly, the day before yesterday, the Pyongyang Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) issued a statement from a representative of the DPRK Foreign Ministry threatening an early exit from the moratorium.
The DPRK authorities decided to beat the enemy with his own weapons. Pyongyang interpreted the successful test of the Japanese N-2A launch vehicle on August 29 using propaganda clichés circulated by the United States and Japan when discussing the mysterious launch of a North Korean satellite in August 1998. North Korea's Foreign Ministry warned that the H-2A could easily turn into a "multi-purpose intercontinental ballistic missile." Since the Japanese authorities distort history to justify past aggression, worship war criminals at the Yasukuni Shrine (the recent appearance of Prime Minister Hashimoto at the shrine caused a nervous reaction not only in Korea, but also in other victims of imperialist Japan), the success of the Japanese rocket scientists is simply bound to cause a shudder.
“The latest missile launch comes as Japan's attempts to revive militarism and transform the country into a military power have reached their climax. “It cannot be viewed otherwise than as an attempt to shake peace and stability in Northeast Asia, as a very serious and reckless step towards military confrontation with the DPRK.” The North Korean Foreign Ministry concluded that Japanese nuclear rearmament and military conflict are imminent: since Tokyo “has a large amount of plutonium and high technology sufficient to produce tens of thousands of nuclear bombs at any time,” coupled with a powerful “long-range carrier,” “it is quite clear that that Japan will strive for militarization and overseas expansion.”
Non-trivial discussions about Tokyo’s inevitable expansion under the guise of “tens of thousands of nuclear bombs” look like a parody of Western discussions about Pyongyang’s “nuclear missile ambitions.” The statement openly emphasizes Pyongyang's resentment at the "double standards" applied to it - the Japanese considered the "peaceful Korean satellite" a "missile threat", and under the cover of the United States they themselves are "inciting military confrontation." In general, “Japan’s persistent efforts to develop missiles and missile systems aimed at the DPRK have reached a dangerous stage. These serious developments are forcing the DPRK to reconsider its moratorium on its satellite launches.”
The North Korean Foreign Ministry could not resist an ambiguous threat - although “the DPRK’s missile program is peaceful in nature,” it “will deal a merciless blow to those who dare to encroach on the dignity and sovereignty” of the country. As you know, it is precisely this “ruthlessness” of Korean satellites that the United States and Japan justify the missile defense program. But if we ignore the harshness typical of North Korean propaganda, this document helps to take a fresh look at the problem of linking US missile defense and missiles of rogue countries. Indeed, why does Korea, as a country - a victim of many years of Japanese occupation, not have the right to a missile program, but Japan, which stubbornly refuses to repent of its military past, has such a right? In fact, Washington will not lose anything if it remembers the grievances of Pearl Harbor and, for the sake of appearances, becomes concerned about the prospect of the militarization of Japan. The missile defense program has been launched, and to cover it up, you can refer to anything - be it Pyongyang, or Tehran, or Tokyo. True, yesterday's events in the United States very clearly show that the real threat does not come from there. Compared to those who carried out the attack on New York and Washington yesterday, Kim Jong Il and all the other “outcasts” together seem like nice and harmless guys. Alexander TIMOFEEV |
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