by PHILIPPE PONS
Once again the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has the world on tenterhooks: it has threatened a nuclear attack on the US, revoked the 1953 armistice (1), called a second Korean war “inevitable” and pointed missile batteries at Japan and the US base on Guam. North Korea’s propaganda went out of control in March, and the international media, by relaying its bellicose threats without considering their credibility, has given them disproportionate importance, to Pyongyang’s delight.
The US, having tried confrontation under George W Bush, switched to a wait-and-see policy under Barack Obama. Both policies failed, as did those of Lee Myung-bak, president of South Korea until February, who tried to take a tough stance against Pyongyang. The situation is now far more complex than it was 15 years ago.
North Korea’s objectives remain as they were in 1998 when it launched a rocket carrying a satellite, using the same technology as long-range ballistic missiles, which passed over Japan. The Clinton administration softened its stance, and in October 2000 US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright travelled to Pyongyang. There was even talk of Clinton himself visiting the North. Bush scrapped these gains.
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