Although many American politicians use North Korea’s communist government to label it as infamous, it is a country the United States needs to negotiate with, according to one historian.
Bruce Cumings, University of Chicago Department of History chair and Korean history specialist, spoke Tuesday at the University. Cumings’ presentation “Exiting the Axis of Evil? Clinton, Bush and North Korea,” focused on the nature of North Korea and its relations to the United States.
Cumings, who spoke in the Art and Design Building, described North Korea as a “garrison state” with more than four million people in its military. With most of the country’s able population fighting in the military, Cumings said it is a country nearly impossible to deal with forcefully.
“It would make [the occupation of] Iraq look like a picnic,” Cumings said.
Cumings said the country’s massive army has kept it from falling. He said the country’s military and mountainous terrain make it a state the United States can not infiltrate by land.
Cumings said although some politicians refer to the frightening “unknowns” about North Korea, the United States is very aware of its military power.
“In fact, we know a great deal [about North Korea] because we’ve been surveilling them for 63 years,” Cumings said.
Cumings said North Korea knows about U.S. surveillance and responded by building numerous military structures underground. He also said what the United States can see in North Korea is meant to be seen.
“If North Korea hides one nuclear weapon, we would never know,” he said.
Cumings said Korea’s potential power is a cause for concern to the United States. He also said past U.S. military occupations abroad indicate that we may not have the best methods of dealing with foreign powers.
“We stalemated in Korea, lost in Vietnam and are not winning in Iraq,” Cumings said. Because of this U.S. military history, Cumings said “we need to rethink” how to deal with major military powers.
Cumings said another issue the United States needs to “rethink” is its labeling of its leader Kim Jong-il. Cumings specifically said President Bush’s open “loathing” of Jong-il is simply propaganda.
“These are idiotic remarks,” Cumings said.
Cumings said although Jong-il is often underestimated and misrepresented by politicians and the media alike, the leader is a man he is very interested in.
“I’ve always had an interest in dictators – even Huey Long,” Cumings joked.
—-Contact Ben Bourgeois at [email protected].