Vol. 80/No. 8 February 29, 2016
Washington imposes new sanctions on N. Koreans
The North Korean government says this is the fourth satellite it has put into orbit since 1998. According to a statement by the country’s National Aerospace Development Administration, the successful launch is part of “developing the country’s science, technology, economy and defense capability by legitimately exercising the right to use space for independent and peaceful purposes.”
Only eight other governments have space programs capable of putting satellites into orbit — Washington, Moscow, Paris, Tokyo, Beijing, New Delhi, Tel Aviv and Tehran. The government of North Korea, a smaller, underdeveloped nation facing harsh economic sanctions and permanent hostility from Washington and other imperialist powers, is the ninth.
The 15-member U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution Feb. 7 charging that the orbiting of the satellite “contributes to the DPRK’s development of nuclear weapons delivery systems.” The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has limited nuclear capacity and conducted a nuclear test Jan. 6 over the objection of the Security Council. The UN body threatened further sanctions.
The Security Council fails to mention that for decades Washington deployed nuclear weapons in South Korea aimed at the North, and to this day deploys nuclear weapons on U.S. ships and warplanes in the region. Nor does it mention that Washington continues to refuse to sign a peace treaty with North Korea, 63 years after U.S.-led troops were fought to a standstill and forced to sign a cease-fire in Korea.
The effects of Washington’s 1950-53 war against Korea — during which U.S. planes dropped more than 635,000 tons of bombs and leveled vast parts of the country — are still felt today.
In a joint statement the day after the launch, Washington and South Korean officials announced that they had begun negotiations to install a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system in South Korea.
Beijing, a major trading partner for both South and North Korea, objected to the missile deployment, saying it is aimed at China as well.
The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives voted almost unanimously to expand economic sanctions against companies that are involved in the trade of arms or luxury goods with North Korea or in “human rights abuses” there. President Barack Obama says he will sign the bill.
The Japanese government also approved harsh sanctions, prohibiting money transfers for humanitarian purposes to residents of North Korea above $870 and banning North Korean and third-country ships that have visited North Korea from entering Japanese ports.
On Feb. 10 the South Korean government shut down all its operations at the Kaesong Industrial Complex, a joint factory zone located just across the border in the North. Pyongyang receives up to $100 million a year from production at the complex, while South Korean companies there produce more than $500 million worth of goods each year.
Washington and Seoul are using the latest tensions to step up their military cooperation with Tokyo, directed both at North Korea and China. This remains a work in progress, as there remains widespread resentment among the Korean people against Tokyo’s brutal occupation of the peninsula before and during World War II.
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