US sanctions against Kim bullying, ridiculous

Source:Global Times Published: 2016/7/7 23:58:00

The US Treasury Department on Wednesday slapped sanctions on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, 10 other officials and five government ministries and departments. The fresh sanctions came in conjunction with a report on human rights abuses in North Korea issued by the State Department on Wednesday. This is the first time that Washington has sanctioned Pyongyang's top leader for human rights issues rather than nuclear moves. The measures can be naturally lauded by the West as if justice is upheld and human rights will be protected in North Korea. But it is not the case in reality.

Kim is unlikely to have deposits or other assets in the US, nor will he visit the country. Blacklisting Kim is more like a symbolic move to step up pressure on Pyongyang. Given North Korea's isolation from the US, punishing the leadership via dwindling exchanges has no practical meaning.

But undeniably with the sanctions the US has humiliated North Korea's top leader in front of international society and threatened Kim and other North Korean officials. This will be considered by Pyongyang as the most provocative move by the US. It won't help solve the nuclear issue. The blatant hostility will kill any possibility of relaxing the standoff in the Korean Peninsula and solving the North Korean nuclear issue, and could herald an upcoming confrontation.

North Korea no doubt has a problem with human rights, however Washington and Pyongyang have polarizing opinions over politics and history. Sanctions against the top leaders of North Korea will only escalate tensions as human rights issues can be made into a new flashpoint besides the long-existing geopolitical contradictions.

South Korean authorities welcomed the sanctions soon after the US announcement, which is inconsiderate. Pushing inter-Korean conflicts and the North Korea nuclear issue toward antagonism against Pyongyang's top leaders will result in the latter taking a more confrontational posture, intensifying hatred between the North and South.

Washington and Seoul should grant Pyongyang the space to make changes if the US truly wants to see it happen. But Washington is sending the signal that it is pushing the current North regime to a dead end of collapse, and Seoul seems to believe Pyongyang would collapse soon and this can benefit South Korea.

But under such political and military pressure, how can Pyongyang have the incentive to give up its nuclear program? Keeping the peninsula a hotspot issue is in the interest of Washington. But it is inconceivable that Seoul follows Washington's thinking. South Korea must distinguish what its ultimate goal is. Is it peace, unification with the North, or regime change? Different goals entail different risks. South Koreans shouldn't let Americans do the thinking for them.



Posted in: Observer

blog comments powered by Disqus