In the last weeks, North Korean missiles pass across Japanese territory, which you as can imagine, it’s concerning, scary and alarming. In other words, we are living in fear.
Since I can remember, North Korea has always been a difficult subject in the region. It is like having a little cousin, who has an endless tantrum.
But, in my experience, South Korea see the North as the missing brother at the family table. When you meet South Korean people, you would expect them to hold a grudge against their North Korean siblings.
But to my surprise, there are always warm words from the South Koreans, as if the North were a long lost brother, as if they (South Korean people) were longing the moment they (South and North Korea) could be reunited once again.
Why is then all this missile shooting about?
I, sadly, think that Kim Jong-un has lost his mind. Just think about it, he was raised not to think but to obey and fear his father. And when he (Kim Jong-il) died, the power fell onto his (Kim Jong-un) lap and with it, his father’s legacy (Kim Jong-il), his unsolved business, and a starving nation. In other words, he (Kim Jong-un )is scared and overwhelmed. That’s why he is behaving like a trapped animal because he feels that way.
Please, do not think for a moment, I am defending him because I am not, I am trying to understand him (Kim Jong-un).
But I have to admit that Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, put a string on our, already damaged, relationship with North Korea, when he decided to change article 9, the article that prevents Japan from entering into any armed conflict. In other words, Kim Jong-un fears that Japan changed its laws so we can “legally” go and get him. He (Kim Jong-un) is paranoid. And as any paranoid person, he is just responding to his fears. No matter how unrealistic they (fears) seem to us. For him (Kim Jong-un) these concerns are real.
But Kim Jong-un probably doesn’t know that we, people who live in Japan, strongly opposed to it (the change of article, 9). We still do. We don’t agree with it. But the Japanese Government little listens to the population.
Perhaps, Shinzō Abe is not the leader Japan hoped for after all.
And to make things worse, Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, makes dangerous statement such as “North Korea is begging for war” which only helps to fuel the fire that it’s already burning.
Nikki Haley, Shinzō Abe, and Mr. Trump forget that millions of lives are at stake here, when they decide to talk big and to make changes in their international relations’ approach.
But it all depends on our perspective of the issue, so to finish, I would like to leave you with this question: Is North Korea, Japan’s nightmare or South Korean’s lost brother?
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Yoneko: Writer and consultant 