HOME	Your Most Trusted Source of Foreign News and Views About the United States

September 21, 2005

Original Article (English)

—BBC VIDEO NEWS: North Koreans Demand U.S. Deliver Reactors Before They Disarm, Sept. 20, 00:01:30

Pyongyang: A draft of the Doctrine for Joint Nuclear Operations was made public by the U.S. Department of Defense on Sept. 10. According to the document, Army field commanders may request that the U.S. president allow the use of nuclear weapons in "emergency situations" to mount a preemptive attack on "an enemy's" weapons of mass destruction, to counter dangerous conventional weapons, to put an early end to a war, and so on. The Rodong Sinmun [the Communist Party mouthpiece] said this on Wednesday in a signed commentary.

Washington's intention to amend its nuclear operations doctrine for situations it calls "emergency" is a dangerous attempt to dramatically loosen the constraints limiting the potential use of nuclear weapons, and to justify its preemptive use of nuclear weapons anyplace it considers necessary, the commentary goes on:

This is intended to allow Washington to use nuclear weapons to trample on independent, anti-U.S. countries, which stand firmly against its pressure and threats. It is a stereotypical U.S. trick to accuse these countries of “maintaining weapons of mass destruction and "developing biological and chemical weapons" to allow it to mount military attacks at random. What is all the more serious is that the first target of this doctrine is none other than the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The U.S. clearly has an ulterior motive for holding a dialogue on the nuclear issue at the six-party talks. Put simply, it is to disarm North Korea and stifle it with a nuclear weapon. The U.S. attempt to amend the doctrine is the climax of its unashamed nuclear threat and attempt to stifle North Korea.

But North Korea stands squarely against any U.S. nuclear threat. It is fully prepared to decisively respond to any preemptive nuclear attack with a strong retaliatory blow, even if the attack comes with a moment's notice. North Korea is proud to see how wise it has been to have strengthened its deterrent force. This was done in line with the Songun policy of coping with U.S. moves for a nuclear preemptive attack.
North Korea cannot remain indifferent toward U.S. attempts at preemptive nuclear attack and will steadily strengthen its military deterrent to defend the nation's sovereignty and security with supreme vigilance.

[Editor's Note: The "Songon Line" or the Songun Ideal are said to have been introduced by Kim Jong-il in 1995 as an offshoot of the "Juche" Ideal, which means, essentially, "Self Reliance." The Songun Line is like Stalinist Communism on steroids. Like the former Soviets, it emphasizes the military over the quality of life of its people as a necessary stage in the nation's development. This is how the regime explains why the "Worker's Paradise" is more like a living hell. Here is an excerpt from a Korean News article that seeks to explain the Songun Ideal:

Songun means regarding military affairs as the greatest of State affairs ... Some people ask: "Why do north Koreans pay priority to military affairs while going hungry?" and "Can the gun feed people?" As they say, the gun cannot give people food. But the essence of the Songun idea is that Even though the gun of the revolutionary army cannot make a meal, it can create something even more valuable. Those with the guns of revolution have it within their power to create ideological and political life].