By Jack Hands
Pyongyang’s bellicose language is very carefully calculated.
The carefully timed speech by North Korea’s ambassador in London, Hang Hak-bong at Chatham House, a rare outing from a public North Korea official, offered an interesting window into North Korea’s current take on foreign affairs. Justifying North Korea’s right to launch its planned ballistic test, Hang also outlined how reunification was still its overall aim, and offered some predictably strong criticism of U.S. military drills along with some blunt threats as to the consequences of outside interference in North Korea’s domestic affairs: “We are prepared to launch at any time or any place.”
It is a point that should be emphasized: North Korea’s foreign policy is guided by domestic politics to an extent greater than many outside observers still care to understand. Hang went to lengths to outline how North Korea only seeks peace, referring to its planned satellite launch, and would much rather develop its economy than its military but cannot do so because of the enemies at its door. Of course, perpetual war benefits the Kim family and allows it to project itself as the bulwark against the constant threat of invasion. The “us against the world” mentality, citing North Korea as a victimized nation that resolutely defends its independence at any cost, is key to the regime’s political survival.
The overriding aim of North Korean foreign policy has been to keep the Kim family in power. In this, it has obviously been successful. From Kim Il-sung to Kim Jong-il and now Kim Jong-un, draconian political control has been a central hallmark of governance. However, no state can remain in power via these means indefinitely, especially after a period of 70 years and now into the third generation of a dynasty, as the fate of countless authoritarian governments leaders over the past century can testify. Yet while it is hard for outside observers to imagine, the Kim’s including Kim Jong-un himself have remained largely popular.
Read the full story at The Diplomat