North Korea Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

North Korea - Essay Example Either way, the result is likely designed to benefit fulfill the interests of the nation in the economic or military front. Liberalism on the other hand can be loosely defined as individual freedom; an ideology stems from the belief that humans inherently are good-natured. Its core values stress on individualism, human rights the right to equal treatment and universal protection of the law without discrimination. From this definition, it is easy to understand why the theory will be hard to inculcate into the Korean, more so, North Korean situation. Firstly, the country is a dictatorship and by virtue of that fact, it means that the ideas of freedom in the convectional democratic sense are not manifested in the governance style. In addition, the leaders have displayed extreme aggressiveness and a determination to go against nearly all the tenets of liberalism both on a local and international scale. North Korea recently threatened to launch a nuclear offensive at the United States of America South Korea and Japan after the US commenced military drills in South Korea (Jack and Louis, 2013). The drills in South were declared an act of war and consequently the North scrapped the armistice treaty that had ended the war between the two nations in the 50s (Park, 2013). It has threatened to strike in the heart of America, which it deem to be about to conduct a nuclear strike as well, that is being used to justify North Koreas irrational action. This begs the question; why is there so much friction between America and North Korea, from a realistic perspective, North Korea likely sees America as a potential threat to its sovereignty and continued independence and freedom. This is evidenced in the fact that whenever the leaders discuss their neighbors South Korea, they use the expression a puppet for the Americans. To the leaders up North, there is no difference between being â€Å"colonized† and co-operating with the American government, in this respect their aggr essiveness towards America can be viewed in terms of their wish to protect their self-interest. Herein emerges the key difference between a realist and liberal understanding of the issue, a liberal mind would assume that peace and cooperation are acceptable if it benefits ones country. Considering the current state of the North Koreas economy, it is beyond any doubt that they stand to gain a lot from co-operating with the international community, that way they can be able to trade freely without the burden of sanctions. The security of America has been continuously threatened by the North Korean, as such (Suri, 2013) their heavy presence in South Korea and is strategic in order to ensure it protects itself and its allies. These moves are interpreted by the Northern side as being potential for war and thus each side in their attempt to safeguard their interests in an environment of mutual distrust fuel the ensuing conflict. It has also been postulated that Koreas aggressiveness is a means of blackmailing the world into sympathizing and giving them the aid they so badly need especially in view of the severe sanctions imposed by the international community. According to Lankov, the North’s main reason for its belligerent statements is not an intention for war but a means of reminding the world that it exists (Lankov, 2013). They will only be able to blackmail believably