There are two major points of dispute between North Korea and the US:

1. North Korea's Political Framework - Socialism has always been a thorn at the US backside as it does not support US's economic interests.

2. Nuclear Capability - US has conventionally opposed the nuclear capability development attempts of all countries and believes that only US has the authority to have a nuclear arsenal.

North Korea has always accused the US of perpetrating a negative propaganda war related to it's internal affairs. I have always supported US on most of the issues but this issue looks like a different ball game altogether. I was always sceptical of NKorea's accusations till I started looking at the approach adopted by US towards NKorea more closely. US does not miss a single opportunity to tarnish NKorea's image in any forum or communication. Looks like US is on a mission to isolate the already isolated NKorea in the global community and destroy the already semi-destroyed country completely. If go by the history,united Korea has already paid a very heavy price for the imperialistic designs of the so called superpoers - US and USSR through loss of millions of it's people to wars,starvation and disease. Not to mention the partition into two warring countries. North and South Korea appear more like two enstranged brothers more than anything else. The fact that South Korea has opposed US military action on economicaly desperate North Korea only goes on to prove that there is still a feeling of mutual sympathy amongst the two alienated countries and the matter will improve if both of them are left to themselves without any 'foreign' interference and propaganda. US,in this case,is playing the role of a spoil sport to say the least. Below is how I look at the two major issues of differences between the US and North Korea which I have mentioned earlier:

1.NKorea's Political Framework - Socialism has always been a thorn at the US backside as it does not support US's economic interests. After the Korean War,which as per general knowledge,was externally orchestrated and left millions of Korean's dead and injured and the countries economy in shambles; the Communist government of North Korea used the region's rich mineral and power resources as the basis for an ambitious program of industrialization and rehabilitation which it hoped would improve the already disastrous situation of the country. With Chinese and Soviet aid, railroads, industrial plants, and power facilities were rebuilt. Farms were collectivized, and industries were nationalized. In a series of multiyear economic development plans, the coal, iron, and steel industries were greatly expanded, new industries were introduced, and the mechanization and modernization of agriculture was pushed. By the mid-1990s more than 90% of the economy was socialized and astonishingly 95% of the country's manufactured products were made by state-owned enterprises,which is a feat rarely surpassed by any other nation of the world. The concept of 'self-reliance' has always been at the heart of North Korea's socialist regime.A serious postwar population loss, resulting from the death of millions and the exodus of several million people to the South, was somewhat offset by the immigration of Chinese colonists and Koreans from Manchuria and Japan who continue to form a major part of North Korea's ethnicity. North Korea has seen a deterioration in its country's state of affairs in the late 20th century primarily due to the collapse of USSR which left only China as it's closest ally. Multiple sanctions on North Korea has led to a systematic collapse of it's economic framework and has led North Korea isolated. I'am in no way trying to justify everything North Korea did in the past 50 years. My point is simply this - Why should we not treat North Korea in the same way as other countries with severe economic issues are treated? Why is North Korea Branded as a 'rogue state' in media and different forums? Agreed that many countries are providing financial aid mostly in terms of food and medical supplies to North Korea,but if you look at the economic support it's almost absent. Most of the countries which would have normally not taken a strong stance against North Korea are doing it just because they don't intend to antagonize US.

2. Nuclear Capability - US has conventionally opposed the nuclear capability development attempts of all countries and believes that only US has the authority to have a nuclear arsenal.North Korea's Nuclear ambition is rooted in it's strong national awareness of the fact that it's isolated and needs to fend for itself b by being one up. It makes me see North Korea more as a corned kitten which flashes it's teeht and unsheaths it's claws more because of fear than any agression. North Korea is a cornered kitten and it needs help rather than a constant threat of war. Nuclear tests are a show of claw and teeth more than anything else. North Koreans have suffered decades of hell and they need to be taken into account before any decision is made regarding North Korea's future.

US is leadinfg the global resistance against North Korea and has been successful in turning the attention of other countries of the world towards North Korea's socialism and nuclear ambition by using negative propaganda as it's instrument. As mentioned earlier,US is on an all out mission to established the already established fact that North Korea is a villain state,a rogue state and will annihilate the planet with it's nuclear arsenal anyday. Looks a bit exaggerrated to me.


[edit on 14-7-2009 by AryanWatch]

Main problem on N. Korea is not US. Main problem of N.Korea is its own political system that crippled its economy despite having relatively friendly Chinese/Russian border. Its president is a dead man!!! This alone is enough for understanding what is going on there.
So US and N. Korea are rivals. They both mess with each other, and US is much more capable in this department. Big deal. US also messes up with Cuba, that does not have China/Russia near by. And Cuba is an economical heaven compared to N. Korea.
There always two sides to the story, nobody is perfectly right and nobody is perfectly wrong. But if i had to choose sides, juche ideals are not my cup of tea.

Not only NK but other countries have suffered the same fate more or less (Cuba and Venezuela come to mind). It is not a good idea to be communist/socialist and not comply with the US.

North Korea is definitely the target of a negative propaganda campaign.

They were doing well, until crippled by sanctions - China tries to help, but it being restricted by its relationship with the US - it simply can't afford to help North Korea properly.

What people need to understand are the reasons that the US are attacking and harassing them - its simple, the ruling scum want to control every country in the world - North Korea demonstrated its ability to move quickly forward and become relatively affluent when it was able to compete internationally on a fair basis - so the US applied sanctions, and coerced basically everyone else into the same policy. This lead to the deaths of millions of people inside North Korea from starvation and disease.

It is complete hypocrisy to use an argument that a regime is harming its citizens as a basis for applying sanctions that kill millions.

The US wants North Korea to become another vassal state - where policy is dictated to it from Washington - they don't care about social policy - kill as many people as you like, so long as the ruling scum can install banks, multinational corporations and have a large degree of control over natural resources.

North Korea watched what happened to Iraq when it was put on that list of "axis of evil' nations. It was sanctioned, bombed, bombed and sanctioned more - had its internal politics meddled with - bombed again. It disarmed - tried to follow all the rules - but it was finally invaded.

The North Korea looked around the world and realized that the US has never done that to any state that is nuclear armed. North Korean leadership see the writing on the wall - get nuclear armed, or suffer the same fate as Iraq.

The US should get the hell out of North Korea - how it runs its own state and people is up to them - if they want to be communists - good luck to them.

I agree with the propaganda and such against them, but Jong-Il there is not the most sound leader. Hes accustomed to deification and the good life and meals with each ingredient from a different country and paying bands to fly in and play when hes bored... he's the element that needs to be removed before concession...
I think a good trade-off would be economic trade in exchange for him stepping down and loosening control over everything... and then it could change into a healthy country. But I cant see his ego doing that.

Originally posted by AryanWatch
- US has conventionally opposed the nuclear capability development attempts of all countries and believes that only US has the authority to have a nuclear arsenal.

I don't think that's true. The US hasn't told China, France, Israel, Pakistan, etc to get rid of their nukes and that only we could have them. I'm wondering why you think that it has??

Sorry I don't buy it. The leader of North Korea has entertained himself by watching the skulls of christian dissidents get crushed by bulldozers. Apparently the socialist paradise has a problem with evil dictators. Gee that's never happened before.

Until they stop killing innocents in their gulags I will have no sympathy for the North Korean government.

North Korea is a small, broken nation that only wants nukes so people will pay attention to that backward dump of a country