North Korea unveils its nuclear 鈥榯reasured swords鈥� to the world again

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 13:31:47 +0000

North Korea鈥檚 announcement that 鈥渘ormal operation鈥� was again underway at its Yongbyon reactor complex sent a characteristic wave of anxiety through the world鈥檚 Pyongyang watchers. 探花直播country鈥檚 nuclear ambitions had, after all, been largely forgotten in what seemed like a lull in North Korea鈥檚 fractious relations with the wider world.

Even as the Korean peninsula itself endured a summer of high tension, the West鈥檚 complicated fear of North Korea has been displaced by a myopic public narrative currently fixated on the European refugee crisis, the murderous idiocy of Islamic State, and the travails of Donald Trump.

Things are clearly rather different on the inside. 探花直播regime鈥檚 primary tool of geo-political leverage can have slipped nobody鈥檚 mind 鈥� and North Korea鈥檚 recent statements speak volumes about how the Kim regime conceives of its nuclear programme.

Back to the Byungjin line

In North Korea鈥檚 worldview, nuclear capability is the only thing that can ward off the chaos and collapse that befell Iraq, Libya and Syria. As the recent statement put it, these weapons are a 鈥渕easure for self-defense in the face of the US extreme hostile policy and nuclear threats towards it鈥�.

探花直播highest echelons of North Korea鈥檚 bureaucracy have seen the footage of erstwhile ally Muammar Gaddafi being brutalised and killed in the dust and dirt. None of its institutions or leaders have the slightest intention of repeating his experience.

探花直播Kim regime thinks this should be obvious. If anything, North Korea鈥檚 statement of September 15 expresses an incredulity that Pyongyang鈥檚 position is not understood elsewhere.

North Korea鈥檚 nuclear tests of 2006, 2009 and 2013 at Pungyye-ri birthed an ideological and developmental theme known as the 鈥淏yungjin Line鈥�, best translated as 鈥減arallelism鈥�.

This concept essentially holds that North Korea鈥檚 unencumbered technical, political and social development could only be achieved under the protective umbrella of nuclear capability and research. In the supposed recent nuclear hiatus, some analysts thought the Byungjin Line had all but faded away 鈥� but now, with Yongbyon restarted, it鈥檚 suddenly returned.

探花直播restart is, the statement says, 鈥減ursuant to the line of simultaneously pushing forward the economic construction and the building of a nuclear force advanced at the historic plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea鈥� (WPK).

探花直播rest of the world generally views plenary meetings of the Central Committee of the WPK with bemusement and scorn. But by reiterating the relevance of this particular meeting, and restating the Byungjin鈥檚 parallelism, the statement should remind us that the memory of such meetings has weight 鈥� and that North Korea鈥檚 institutional outlook is far from the myopic charade observers often mistake it for.

From party foundation to nuclear capability

Pyongyang takes an extraordinarily long view when it comes to historiography; North Korea鈥檚 self-narrative is replete with commemorative moments and necessary articulations. And the reappearance of Yongbyon is perhaps much less surprising when taken as part of North Korea鈥檚 commemorative plans for 2015.

Accordingly, Kim Jong-un鈥檚 2015 New Year message laid out North Korea鈥檚 entire developmental and bureaucratic year around a moment of memorial 鈥� and not just any moment. Pyongyang has already marked the passing of Liberation Day on August 15, and the Day of Songun on August 25, but a far more important moment awaits: the 70th anniversary of the founding of the WPK, to be marked on October 10.

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探花直播Yongbyon complex nuclear facility. EPA/Digital Globe

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Just as North Korea鈥檚 governance structure does not represent a truly singular dictatorship but instead pits institutions and agendas against each other, its narrative and commemorative systems are far from monolithic. Instead, they are generated and transmitted by multiple nodes of charisma and authority.

探花直播activity at Yongbyon and its announcement by the KCNA may or may not be directly connected to the no doubt enormous celebrations that are planned, but they are just as crucial a pillar of Pyongyang鈥檚 legitimacy.

While the WPK鈥檚 soon-to-be-celebrated birthday will refresh the revolutionary political atmosphere in which North Korea鈥檚 regime and system can breathe, Pyongyang鈥檚 military and technological infrastructure, including the Korean People鈥檚 Army (KPA) and its attendant nuclear capacity, is designed to safeguard North Korea鈥檚 patch of the geo-political terrain.

Viewed in this light, North Korea鈥檚鈥�treasured swords鈥� of nuclear mastery are far from the height of geopolitical folly. They are instruments of protection and shared ownership, guaranteeing both the past and future of all both at home and abroad. So it鈥檚 only natural that a little sabre-rattling is in order now and then.

Robert Winstanley-Chesters, Post-Doctoral Fellow of the Beyond the Korean War Project, 探花直播 of Cambridge

This article was originally published on 探花直播Conversation. Read the original article.

探花直播opinions expressed in this article are those of the individual author(s) and do not represent the views of the 探花直播 of Cambridge.

Robert聽Winstanley-Chesters, Post-Doctoral Fellow of the Beyond the Korean War Project, discusses the motivations behind North Korea's relaunch of it nuclear weapons complex.

In North Korea鈥檚 worldview, nuclear capability is the only thing that can ward off the chaos and collapse that befell Iraq, Libya and Syria

Robert Winstanley-Chesters

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North Korea 鈥� Pyongyang

探花直播text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

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探花直播 of Cambridge - Beyond the Korean War Project

North Korea unveils its nuclear 鈥榯reasured swords鈥� to the world again

Back to the Byungjin line

From party foundation to nuclear capability