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SPEAKING
FREELY
North Korean impasse: Solve it inside
Asia
By Nimrod Bayer
Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online
feature that allows guest writers to have their say.
Please click here if you are interested in
contributing.
The
nuclear crisis in Northeast Asia has not yet been
solved, and it stands now in as similar a state as it
stood several months ago. The result of this crisis
might be a holocaust that would deflect the course of
development of mankind forever. The six-party talks that
took place in Beijing August 27-29 have constituted the
most significant effort so far toward ending the crisis,
but the solution has not been accomplished, and there
arises the question why. This author maintains that the
crisis is rooted in a deep system of antagonisms, for
which the cure is reconciliation and rapprochement in
Asia, and an inside-Asia treatment. This approach was
presented in an article published in Asia Times Online
on June 20 (Reconciliation and
rapprochement in Asia). The aim
of the present article is to clarify and elaborate on
this approach, in view of the new developments.
With all their differences and contrasts, the
countries of East Asia - China (the mainland and Hong
Kong), Korea (Republic, or ROK, and Democratic People's
Republic, or DPRK) and Japan - are in some respects one
unit. What makes them capable of solving the crisis is
their ability to show tolerance toward difference and to
sustain plurality.
While it is not possible to
tolerate aggression or genocidal inclinations, it is
quite possible, and indeed essential, to show tolerance
toward differences in economic, social and political
models. The West is different from Asia in that it is
not capable of showing any tolerance whatsoever: The
Western powers are guided by a consciousness of owning
and patronizing the rest of the world, a consciousness
that was formed in ancient Rome, transferred to the
empires of Spain and Portugal, and eventually inherited
mainly by the English-speaking powers.
The
principle of tolerance, and the strength of the East
Asian countries, enables them to solve the crisis on the
basis of an intra-Asian deal that does not depend on the
West. Such a deal may include the following
elements:
The nuclear-armament infrastructure of
the DPRK will be dismantled completely, under the
supervision of the other members of the deal.
In return, the security of the DPRK
will be guaranteed by China: China will extend help in
any event of aggression against the DPRK, and will
guarantee free trade via their mutual border and via
China's international borders.
The signatories of the deal will help
the DPRK overcome its food crisis.
The DPRK will return all the abducted
Japanese citizens and their children to Japan, and will
provide full and detailed account about all those who
have been abducted.
Mutual apologies will take place: Japan
will emphasize its repentance about its deeds against
China and Korea in the first half of the 20th century.
The DPRK will apologize for abducting the Japanese
citizens, and for the traumatic event of firing a
Taepodong rocket over the heads of the Japanese people
in 1998.
The ongoing economic, technological and
cultural cooperation among the members of the deal will
continue and accelerate. This includes the reunification
processes between the ROK and the DPRK, as well as the
cooperation among China, the ROK and Japan that is
currently gaining momentum.
Diplomatic relations between the DPRK
and Japan will be established. (Currently the only sign
of normality in their mutual relations is the maritime
link. No wonder such a heavy pressure to close this link
is being exerted by entities that oppose a peaceful
solution of the crisis.)
A deal of this kind is
viable and would provide full and stable security to
all. No external entity can upset it: The countries
involved form a bloc of mighty strength, and if they
find a solution for their regional problems they can
implement this solution easily, without being dependent
on other entities. Moreover, solving the crisis
internally within the East Asian bloc will in no way
hamper the commerce and cultural ties between its
members and the United States; these ties are of
particular importance for Japan.
Unlike other
regions of the world, East Asia emerged strong and rich
from the historical era of Western colonialism. The gaps
separating the countries of the region are closing, and
the region is marching toward becoming the leading and
the most advanced in the world. There is no necessity on
Earth for a holocaust to occur in this region in the
21st century.
Speaking Freely is an Asia
Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have
their say. Please click here if you are interested in
contributing.
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