U.S. North Korean policy misses target

Early Friday, North Korea celebrated the 100th birthday of deceased former leader Kim Il-Sung (the country’s founder), and new leader Kim Jong-un started things off with a real bang.

Specifically, a rocket was launched.

It carried a satellite called “Kwangmyongsong,” or “Bright Shining Star,” and within two minutes of flight, it spectacularly exploded, falling into the ocean below it.

The rocket’s launch, combined with its construction, cost the country about $450 million and was supposedly meant to only carry the “Shining Star” into orbit in honor of Il-Sung. However, many are calling it a flimsy cover for a more sinister purpose: testing out technology almost identical to that of long-range missiles. 

In February, North Korea agreed to freeze developments in its nuclear and long-range missile programs in exchange for food aid from the United States. Although State Department officials insisted in March that food assistance did not depend on the deal, it seems they’ve now changed their minds.

An Obama administration official confirmed late Friday that as punishment for North Korea’s breach of contract, the U.S. would indeed be withdrawing the food assistance they’d formerly promised.

The deal was originally suspended when the rocket launch was announced last month, but it seems North Korea’s continued disregard of the agreement put the final nail in the short-lived plan’s coffin.

North Korea’s actions or “propaganda displays,” according to White House Spokesman Jay Carney, are certainly foolhardy.

Spending hundreds of millions of dollars on missile technology is thoughtless and economically unwise for the struggling country that cannot even feed its own people.

It’s unfortunate that the people of North Korea continue to be the victims of their totalitarian leaders’ actions.

Withdrawing food from a starving country doesn’t punish Jong-un and those making the major military decisions from their cushy positions of power.

It’s the North Korean people that need our humanitarian aid, and unfortunately, due to the maneuvers of international politics, they’re not going to get it.

We agree that North Korea must face consequences for its breach of contract and that the “satellite” is definitely an attempt at testing intercontinental ballistic missile technology, which is an alarming prospect. 

Although we writers of the Editorial Board cannot think of a better or more viable solution, we cannot help but lament the fact that more than 24 million people are held helpless in the crosshairs of high-level negotiations.

Frighteningly enough, many military analysts believe this enormous failure will only motivate North Korean leaders to work even harder on testing their nuclear capability, if only to avoid international embarrassment.

The country just finished work on a $400-million launch site near its northwestern border with China, and only hours after the rocket explosion, Jong-un was formally sworn in as the head of the National Defense Commission, which is considered North Korea’s highest state agency. 

North Korea is run by crazy dictators with an unshakable urge to launch some nukes, and we need to keep a leash on them.

We get it. These are the leaders that continued their festivities without a hitch after a failed rocket launch and threats from multiple world powers. They’re a little disconnected from reality.

We understand that North Korea has demonstrated that they “cannot be trusted to keep their commitments” or “make sure the assistance gets to those who need it,” as U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes said.

However, we urge the U.S. and the United Nations to put their heads together and come up with a real solution.

We have the best military, economic and political strategists in the world. Surely we can do better than letting 24 million lives slowly waste away.

Starve the tyrants, not the people. Kim Jong-un could stand to lose a few pounds, anyway.