North Korea will not kowtow to US imperialism: Scholar

Several decades of confrontation between the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has shown that it will not kowtow to US imperialism, says Professor Dennis Etler, an American political analyst who has a decades-long interest in international affairs.

Etler, a professor of Anthropology at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California, made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Monday while commenting President Donald Trump’s statement in which he said the United States has run out of “patience” with North Korea

After a meeting with his South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday in Washington, Trump called for a “determined” response to the country over its nuclear and missile programs.

“The present cannot be understood without reference to the past. After the defeat of imperial Japan in 1945 the US imposed a collaborationist regime in South Korea artificially dividing the country in two. The US installed a puppet regime called the Republic of Korea south of the 38th parallel while the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was established to the north,” Professor Etler said.

“This situation instigated the Korean War which resulted in a negotiated armistice that has maintained the division of Korea ever since,” he stated.

“A peace treaty between the combatants was never signed and the US and the DPRK are technically still at war. The US has occupied South Korea with tens of thousands of troops and regularly holds war games with its South Korean proxies directed against the North,” he said.  

‘North Korea has right to deter US aggression’

Professor Etler said that “North Korea has every right as a sovereign nation to develop a deterrent to US aggression. History has also shown that every nation that has stood against US imperialism without adequate deterrence has been defeated and thrown into chaos.”

“The US has demonstrated that any country without adequate defense has only two options available: become a subservient lackey of US imperialism or face destruction,” he said.

“Through seven decades of confrontation the DPRK has shown that it will not kowtow to US imperialism. This has been a sore point for the US as it serves as an example for other countries who resist US hegemony. No matter what the US has done to penalize North Korea for its defiance of US dictates, the DPRK has stood firm. According to Trump the US has ‘lost patience.’ But that has placed the US in a dilemma. It has no recourse but to huff and puff and threaten to blow the House of Kim down,” the analyst said.

“It now has resorted to placing sanctions against China which has reluctantly tried to placate the US in the hopes of restarting negotiations between the involved parties to reach some resolution to the crisis. But the US will never end the state of war that continues to this day which North Korea deems a precondition for further negotiations,” he said.

“Only after the US ends its aggression against Korea, signs a peace treaty and withdraws from the Korean peninsula can there be any prospect for denuclearization. The US however wants to put the cart before the horse and demands that the DPRK promise to denuclearize as a precondition for further negotiations. So now Trump is faced with a conundrum,” he noted.

‘Two Koreas and China should resolve Korean issue’

“Continue to bully North Korea and its allies with more sanctions and the threat of military action or be seen as a paper tiger. If Trump continues on this path it will exacerbate tensions in the region and lead to the deterioration of US-China relations,” Professor Etler said.

“The only response to this dire situation is for the new administration in South Korea which talks peace and reconciliation with the North and reestablishing good relations with China to stand firm against continued US interference in Korean affairs and unite with the DPRK and China and demand the US withdrawal from the peninsula,” he said.

“The two Koreas and China along with other friendly countries such as Russia can resolve whatever issues divide them without the disruptive participation of the US. As far as Japan, the other major power in the region, is concerned its history of genocidal imperialist aggression and colonization of the Asian mainland precludes it from having any say in the matter,” he observed.

“It is the US that must finally realize that it is the antagonist and the source of tensions in the region,” the scholar concluded. 

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