U.N. sanctions threaten North Korea’s sovereignty

In response to North Korea’s second nuclear test, the United States and its allies in the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously June 12 to impose even tougher sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea).

The resolution authorizes U.N. member states to inspect cargo heading to or from North Korea, and destroy any goods suspected of being connected to nuclear and other enumerated weapons. If a member state refuses to conduct such an inspection, the Security Council may sanction that country. The resolution also calls for international financial institutions to freeze assets and not to provide grants, assistance, loans or public financial support if such funds “could contribute” to proliferation efforts. And, of course, the resolution demands that North Korea grant unlimited access to documents, equipment and facilities connected to nuclear programs upon request.

The DPRK responded by stating that it would start enriching uranium and use the plutonium for nuclear weapons.

Capitalist politicians and their media outlets would like you to believe that the culprit of this escalating situation is the North Korean government, but that is a gross rewriting of history.

As punishment for rejecting imperialist intervention and embarking on a path of national liberation through socialist construction, the people of the DPRK have been under U.S. economic sanctions for over 50 years. Nearly 30,000 U.S. troops sit on its border.

The U.S. government maintains nearly 10,000 nuclear warheads. It is the only country to have ever used nuclear weapons, and it relentlessly threatens North Korea with crippling military action. The United States has demonstrated its military might by launching wars of aggression and illegal covert actions one after another without a pause.

In this context, it is almost laughable that the United States portrays itself as the “responsible” military power while North Korea is portrayed as an aggressor for taking threats of U.S. military action seriously. If the war and occupation of Iraq has taught anything to developing countries about the Pentagon, it would be, “Arm yourselves, or be annihilated.”

Equally ludicrous is Washington’s false presentation that its ultimate goal in imposing these sanctions is to disarm North Korea to achieve “international stability.” U.S. imperialism is responsible for instability all around the world. Washington’s goal in imposing these sanctions is to create a pretext for new economic and military threats by making impossible demands that the DPRK will justifiably resist. The aim is not world peace, but imperialist domination.

While all progressive people yearn for a world without any nuclear weapons, it is important to understand the present conflict through class-conscious inquiry, not imperialist propaganda. Having defended its country from a near-genocidal assault by the United States in the 1950s, and enduring decades of sanctions that brought about famine and starvation, the North Korean government is justified in adopting a military strategy of deterrence with the goal of protecting its right to self-determination, independence and sovereignty.

Hands off North Korea!