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Permalink Reply by John C. Turley on December 1, 2010 at 10:04pm

North Korea is seek­ing inter­na­tional atten­tion by engag­ing in aggres­sive behav­ior. Their needs are to feed their pop­u­la­tion by avoiding famine while keep­ing their army under con­trol. North Korea wishes to play a more impor­tant role on the world stage and to be rec­og­nized by the global com­mu­nity as a sig­nif­i­cant player. Fur­ther, there are suc­ces­sion issues to weigh. Right now, the world community is concerned about that country's nuclear weapons;however, North Korea is largely ignored by the world powers as a serious nation and is regarded as China's problem child.

All of this country’s provoca­tive moves are intended to estab­lish their posi­tions and ulti­mately their inter­ests when and if it comes time to bar­gain with the con­cerned pow­ers. With­out pro­vok­ing con­flict, the world will not pay atten­tion to this volatile nation and their wacky ruler. This is North Korea’s way of acquiring and stack­ing their chips in the upcom­ing nego­ti­a­tions with China, Japan and the USA. With­out this aggres­sive behav­ior, North Korea will face famine and a revolt of their mil­lions of sol­diers and a power strug­gle and threat to the rul­ing dynasty. As a nuclear power, the coun­try is a major con­cern. By remain­ing peace­ful and quiet, North Korea must deal with global indif­fer­ence and dis­missal as an impor­tant actor in the face of their loom­ing cat­a­stro­phes. This is how they cre­ate a negotiation posi­tion from nothingness.
It is a form of bullying indeed;however, I regard their actions as a way to use force to define their positions and ultimately their needs. No party wants a new Korean War. Since North Korea has very little to offer the world community aside from nuclear expertise to rogue nations, what is its value? It is not so much the prospect of war as the absence of peace which impacts the commerce and trade in this region. This is why North Korea craves atention and will continue to provoke the global powers that may ease their tensions. What about a peaceful and non aggressive approach to solving their problems in a collaborative global atmosphere to include their perceived enemies? This approach would probably work better than firing cannons and launching threatening missiles. From North Korea's point of view, a sensible and peaceful approach might make the regime appear to be weak which is one of their basic needs to avoid in order to guarantee the succession of the regime.
JCT

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