Lord Alton: Building bridges of dialogue with North Korea
South Korea said today there was "very high" probability that North Korea would launch
a medium-range missile at any time as a show of strength despite diplomatic efforts
to soften its position.
North Korea has been threatening war against the South
and against the United States since new international sanctions were announced after
a nuclear weapons test in February.
“I think the psychology of North Korea
is one of the most misunderstood things in the world today,” said Lord David Alton,
an independent member of the UK’s House of Lords and Chairman of the All Party Group
on North Korea. He spoke with Emer McCarthy about the mind-set of North Korea.
Lord
Alton pointed especially to three historical experiences that influenced North Korea’s
perspective: the experience of the occupation of Korea by Japan; the Korean War and
the massive loss of life that resulted; and the imposition of a particular brand of
Stalinist communism and subsequent isolation that followed the war. “I think those
three things help to explain the mind-set of North Korea.”
He said, though,
“it is possible to have dialogue and it is possible to have discussion [with North
Korea]. And there are people in the country who want to see change.” Lord Alton said
that some of those who recognise the need for change fear the consequences of reform
for themselves and for their families. “There is fear of change but there is also
an understanding that there is a need for change and the conundrum for them is how
to get from here to there.”
He said he thinks North Korea has a choice: “North
Korea has one of two options. It can either go the reform path with all the risks
that that entails . . . Or they can carry on in the bellicose, belligerent way that
they are doing, even alienating their traditional ally China.”
“I think North
Korea is at a cross roads,” he said, “and it can go in one of those two directions.
And if it goes in the second direction there will be a terrible loss of life.”
Lord
Alton said, “The world needs to get on track and see if we can’t restore that sense,
at least of dialogue, and learn how to build some bridges and help North Korea maybe
to take the route I described . . . out of isolation, out of this dangerous predicament
and into the world.” Lord David Alton's book on the Korean question, entitled "Building
Bridges", will be published next month and is available on Amazon.com.
Listen
to the full interview of Lord David Alton with Emer McCarthy: