Eccentric Accusation of North Korea

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a speech to the audience of world leaders in General Debate of United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday. To stress Japan’s frustration with consecutive missile launch over its territory, or to justify his political agenda of reinforcing military posture, Abe focused his speech on denouncing North Korea. He looked proud of himself being an eccentric frontrunner of containment policy against Pyongyang.

The first thing he raised in the debate was Japan’s sincere effort to implement Sustainable Development Goals, which UN had been devoting itself. That was followed by the reference to Woman Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative, universal health coverage, Japan’s contribution to rule of law or reform of UN Security Council. Having said that, he argued that he had no choice but to focus his remarks on a single issue, that of North Korea.

Against general recognition that nuclear and missile issue of North Korea would need dialogue by related parties, Abe insisted that discussion did not make sense. “Again and again, attempts to resolve issues through dialogue have all come to naught,” he concluded after raising failure of International Atomic Energy Agency in inspection on the North’s nuclear program in early 1990s and Six-Party Talks in 2000s.

Abe’s argument sounded like an accusation on international community, which looked like taking appeasement in his eyes. “For North Korea, dialogue was instead the best means of deceiving us and buying time,” said Abe. He did not hesitate to agitate the audience with words of “We must.” “We must prevent the goods, funds, people, and technology necessary for nuclear and missile development from heading to North Korea,” he reiterated. “We must make North Korea comply with the repeated resolutions. We must ensure the strict and full implementation of the series of Security Council resolutions by all UN member nations.”

While United States President Donald Trump mocks Kim as a rocket man, an isolated astronaut on a space rocket who wanted to go back the Earth soon in a song by Elton John, Washington has still not abandoned an option of dialogue. UN announced on the same day that signatures on Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons reached 50 nations. Abe administration defied to the treaty, in spite of being the only government that had suffered from nuclear bomb.

It might not be North Korea but Japan that is really isolated from international community. Abe’s speech in UN sounded like willing to reach a war, reminding of former Minister for Foreign Affairs of pre-war Japan, Yosuke Matsuoka, who walked out of General Meeting of League of Nations with frustration about Lytton Report on Manchuria.