Libya paid the price for
" having ignored direct warnings from both Tehran and Pyongyang not to pursue such a course [of unilaterally disarming], Libya's leadership would later admit that disarmament, neglected military modernisation, and trust in Western good will proved to be their greatest mistake-leaving their country near defenceless when Western powers launched their offensive in 2011. (p 296)
Has South Korea Not Also Paid a Price for Trusting Western Goodwill?
Abrams examines how the ROK has fared as an independent and sovereign state. Is South Korea independent and sovereign?6 Asked Abrams, "Could America claim to 'liberate' southern Korea while at the same time occupying it, forcefully dismantling its existing government and threatening those Koreans who did not abide by its will with death?" (p 310)
Abrams describes the "apparently sadistic pleasure [American] personnel took in tormenting the [South] Korean people"," (p 312) the objectification of "servile Korean women," (p 313) and the massive expansion of the Japanese system of comfort stations. (p 314) "Methods used to recruit comfort women to serve American soldiers involved rape and violence to disorient and break women in. They would afterwards have little choice but to 'consent' to sex work for the U.S. Military." (p 327)
In contrast,
Pyongyang not only abolished the comfort women system from 1945, but strictly enforced the outlawing of prostitution entirely and establishing formal legal equality for women". [Thus] the nation's dignity, pride and right to self-determination were never violated-neither were its women. (p 330)
DPRK Resilience
In the 1990s, the North Koreans were hit hard by weather calamities, crop failures, while the western sanctions continued to be applied, but the DPRK pulled through what they call the Arduous March.
How did the North Koreans resist? Early on, the war-ravaged homefront on the Korean peninsula ably put up a staunch defense, abetted by a Chinese peasant fighting force. North Koreans practice Juche (self-reliance) and Songun, a military first posture that "is firmly rooted in resistance to external pressure as a means of safeguarding Korea independence." (p 553) To this end, the DPRK has emphasized modernization, advanced technologies, and providing for economic needs.
Pyongyang Photo: kim
The DPRK has a no first use of nukes policy, but any strike against the DPRK will result in a lethal counter attack. It must be emphasized that the DPRK military's orientation is: "among the most defensively oriented in the world, with its power projection capabilities negligible to non-existent-in stark contrast to the U.S. Military which is heavily oriented towards overseas power projection." (p 437) Along with having achieved a self-sustaining economy that provides the basics for the people, it would appear that the DPRK has withstood, and some would say triumphed, against US machinations aimed at the country and its system of governance.
To be fair, it is not just US warring against the DPRK. Every country that participates in the warring and sanctions against the DPRK, arguably, has sullied itself. Take Canada, for example; Canadian peace activist James Endicott was harassed by his government for verifying American biological weapon use in the war, in which Canada was also a belligerent against the DPRK. (p 141) Reporter George Barrett wrote that Canadian troops along with US troops committed "widespread and regular rapes." (p 168, 184) Egregiously, Canada was also a destination for human trafficking of young girls and women from South Korea. (p 330)
It must also be pointed out that in stark contrast to western forces committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Korea, the Chinese and North Korean troops were highly disciplined in their conduct toward civilians and adversaries. (p 152)
A Highly Recommended Read
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