North Korea’s latest bombshell a litmus test for Asean
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Asean foreign ministers have rapped North Korea for violating United Nations Security Council resolutions with last week’s nuclear test, adding their voice to condemnation from more than 70 countries. Released two days after Pyongyang declared it had deto
Though Asean’s swift response is laudable, doubts remain over whether the ministers’ statement reflects the true gravity of the situation. Urging all parties concerned to exert a common effort towards peace and stability glosses over North Korea’s repeated past offences and the real threat they pose to East Asian security.
The latest bomb test shows that South Korea remains under a clear and present threat from its bellicose neighbour. The South is still technically at war with the North and has 25 million citizens living in Greater Seoul, just 50 kilometres from the demilitarised zone.
This is not Pyongyang’s first atomic test and is unlikely to be its last. Since its pursuit of nuclear armaments became public in the 1990s, the North has launched underground tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013. Each has emboldened Pyongyang to continue its pursuit of nuclear weapons capability.
The fourth and most recent test, claimed to be of a hydrogen bomb, is another wake-up call for the international community. Asean can no longer afford to remain on the sidelines taking an even-handed approach towards North Korea. Now is the time to step up its commitment to the rule-based international order envisioned in the Asean Political-Security Blueprint 2025.
In our increasingly inter-connected world, a threat as grave as nuclear proliferation in one region has profound repercussions elsewhere. A nuclear North Korea under economic sanctions may well resort to the desperate measure of exporting nuclear tech to other rogue nations and non-state actors, including terrorists and insurgents. It would be a mistake to think nuclear weapons on the faraway Korean peninsula have no connection to Asean’s long-term interests, let alone to global security.
No one would be so naive as to believe politics and economics are unconnected. South Korea is Asean’s fifth-largest trading and FDI partner. In 2015, we attracted 1.8 million visitors from Asean countries, the third-largest group after Chinese and Japanese. The Korean Peninsula under nuclear threat also puts the 300,000 Asean citizens residing in South Korea at risk.
Hence, a stronger stance is required from Asean. It must make clear that Pyongyang’s pursuit of nuclear arms will not be tolerated, and that the North must fall in line with international norms and standards.
Asean’s stance towards the nuclear test is crucial since Pyongyang still enjoys diplomatic ties with Asean member-countries. However, even friendship must have limits. A collective message from Asean, condemning Pyongyang for destabilising the region, would make the regime think twice before launching further provocations.
While the North’s leadership chases its dream of nuclear armament, a quarter of the country’s children are suffering malnutrition and several hundred die from starvation each year. Pyongyang’s claim that its nuclear weapons are for deterrence is not only costly but also implausible given the regime’s massive conventional military power, bolstered by the world’s third-largest standing army.
Six-party talks between global powers and Pyongyang have made no notable headway in curbing the North’s nuclear ambitions since 2008. As long as its neighbour holds the atomic Joker card, South Korea will remain a hostage.
Meanwhile China cannot continue to support its recalcitrant neighbour indefinitely in the face of international pressure. Several experts have predicted that a deepening estrangement is inevitable.
More punitive international sanctions are now expected against North Korea. While we cannot turn back the clock, we can focus on a collective response to Pyongyang. We need to send a clear message that using nuclear weapons as a convenient political tool will no longer be tolerated. The vicious cycle of tests, sanctions, talks and concessions cannot go on forever.
On Asean’s part, reaffirming its strategic partnership with South Korea and assuming a constructive role as a voice of reason safeguarding peace and stability in Asia-Pacific would be a good start.
Support from Asean member states in the push for a more stable and peaceful Korean peninsula will complement the efforts of the international community.
Suh Jeong-in is South Korea’s ambassador to Asean in Jakarta.
