Working from personal experience, most people's initial reactions are ones of happiness. This is an easy conclusion at which to arrive after watching decades of persisting crimes against humanity, mounds of unequivocal evidence that North Korea has been unmistakably evil to its own, and how the country has been extremely unstable in the global arena. Feeling justified by their country's foreign policy, many Americans seem to appreciate this year's news in a specific fashion. Most auspiciously, we're making considerable gains on that axis of evil! And some of the world's most heinous leaders have perished. First it was Hussein, then this year we get 3 big ones: Bin Laden, Gaddafi, and now finally the Jonger. Happy Days!! Now, we can get down to work on that pesky Khamenei..
In my opinion, these kinds of reactions are unsettling for two major reasons - since they display: 1) an utter disregard for human life, and 2) social/political shortsightedness for the future and ignorance of potential repercussions this event may create.
First (and most simply), I believe that reveling in the aftermath of another human's expiration, regardless of that person's actions while alive, is just plain sick. One can easily, and not at all inaccurately, argue that Mr. Kim was a horrible person who carried out unspeakable wrongs against his own people and whose erratic behavior unnecessarily kept the entire world on edge. But I would respond to that person by reminding them of the terms with which they began that rant: Mr. and person.
Secondly, there's a greater issue at stake that shouldn't be neglected - and that's the significant power vacuum now presented. Undoubtedly, these events most certainly beg a wait-and-see attitude. Although, one also freely wonders if this leads to yet another "strike while the iron is hot" moment.
The hierarchy is less straightforward than ever. Increasingly, talk is made of a great successor in Jong-il's youngest son - the 28 year-old Kim Jong-un - who is arguably less crazy (but also more eager to prove himself) than his old man. Also disconcerting are formal quotes made by the official DPRK news agency, such as:
“[Jong-un stands] at the vanguard of the Korean revolution... to the revolutionary cause of juche [self reliance] and the outstanding leader of our party, military, and people. [His] leadership will guarantee the completion of the revolutionary cause of juche through the generations, after it was started by Kim Il-sung and led to victory by Kim Jong-il.”
On a brighter note, the seeming consensus among Koreans who are old enough to recall the 1994 death of Jong-il's father, Il-sung, is that the change of power this time causes less worry. Recollections of those days are commonly made of ransacking stores for all the available water and ramyun noodles. At the time, a possible outbreak of war was a very real concern, due to the historical knowledge of North Korea's unpredictable behavior, coupled with a robust military. Today, 17 years later, the military and economic power disparities are notably much different. But we all know what happens when a weakened opponent is on the ropes and starts to feel helpless..
Another very likely outcome to all of this is that now politicians around the world are provided with an excellent platform. A platform for exactly what..? Furthermore, the world is obviously scarier and a tenser place when nuclear capabilities exist. I, for one, am trying to remain optimistic.
No comments:
Post a Comment