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Don't let North Korea exploit 'comfort women' issue
Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
July 2014: North Korea threatens to hit the White House and Pentagon with nuclear weapons. American "imperialists threaten our sovereignty and survival," North Korean officials reportedly said after the country accused the U.S. of increasing hostilities on the border with South Korea. "Our troops will fire our nuclear-armed rockets at the White House and the Pentagon -- the sources of all evil," North Korean Gen. Hwang Pyong-So said, according to The Telegraph.
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Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
March 2013: Angered by tougher U.N. sanctions and joint military exercises by the United States and South Korea, the Supreme Command of North Korea's military vowed to put "on highest alert" the country's "rocket units" that are assigned to strike "U.S. imperialist aggressor troops in the U.S. mainland and on Hawaii and Guam and other operational zone in the Pacific." Whether Pyongyang has the will to back up such doomsday talk is a perplexing question, but there is evidence that its know-how -- in terms of uranium enrichment, nuclear testing and missile technology -- is progressing.
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Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
February 2013: In a message to the United States and South Korea, North Korea vowed "miserable destruction" if "your side ignites a war of aggression by staging reckless joint military exercises."
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Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
June 2012: Once again, North Korea vowed to be "merciless" in its promised attack on the United States, this time threatening a "sacred war" as it aimed artillery at South Korean media groups. North Korea was mad that South Korean journalists had criticized Pyongyang children's festivals meant to foster allegiance to the Kim family.
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Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
April 2012: North Korea's state-run news agency reported that "the moment of explosion is approaching fast" and promised "merciless" strikes against the United States. "The U.S. had better ponder over the prevailing grave situation," it said. Later that month, Pyongyang launched a long-range rocket that broke apart and fell into the sea. The launch came during preparations for a grand party that celebrated the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea.
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Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
November 2011: North Korea's military threatened to turn the capital of South Korea into a "sea of fire," according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.
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Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
2009: After the U.S. pledge to give nuclear defense to South Korea, Pyongyang threatened a "fire shower of nuclear retaliation."
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Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
2002: U.S. President George W. Bush includes North Korea in an "axis of evil" with Iran and Iraq, which North Korea brushes off as a "little short of a declaration of war." North Korea reportedly threatened to "wipe out the aggressors." That year, North Korea also threatened to kick out international inspectors who were in the country to monitor its compliance with global nuclear nonproliferation agreements.
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Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
North Korea has a history of using creative language to express loathing for its enemies. Here are some of the regime's more colorful threats against the West.
March 2016: North Korea warned it would make a "preemptive and offensive nuclear strike" in response to joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises. Pyongyang issued a long statement promising that "time will prove how the crime-woven history of the U.S. imperialists who have grown corpulent through aggression and war will come to an end and how the Park Geun Hye group's disgraceful remaining days will meet a miserable doom as it is keen on the confrontation with the fellow countrymen in the north."
March 2016: North Korea warned it would make a "preemptive and offensive nuclear strike" in response to joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises. Pyongyang issued a long statement promising that "time will prove how the crime-woven history of the U.S. imperialists who have grown corpulent through aggression and war will come to an end and how the Park Geun Hye group's disgraceful remaining days will meet a miserable doom as it is keen on the confrontation with the fellow countrymen in the north."
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Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
March 2016: Following the imposition of strict U.N. sanctions, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the country's "nuclear warheads need to be ready for use at any time," the North Korean state news agency KCNA reported.
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Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
January 2016: North Korea claimed to have successfully tested a thermonuclear weapon, justifying its right to have an H-bomb on the grounds of "self defense."
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Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
September 2015: In a statement, North Korea said its nuclear arsenal was ready for use "at any time."
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Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
August 2015: As forces from the U.S. and South Korea took part in joint military drills. North Korea's state media referred to the exercises, which started on August 17, as "madcap" and issued a stern warning to America: "If the U.S. ignites a war in the end, far from drawing a lesson taught by its bitter defeat in the history, the DPRK will bring an irrevocable disaster and disgrace to it."
Hide Caption
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Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
August 2015: On August 23, as North Korean negotiators were meeting with their South Korean counterparts over current tensions, a KCTV presenter appeared on air repeating North Korea's ambitions to "destroy the warmongering South Korean puppet military."
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Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
December 2014: The FBI said it suspected North Korea was behind a hack of Sony Entertainment, which led executives to initially cancel the theatrical release of "The Interview." The film was a comedy about an American television personality who the CIA asks to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. North Korea threatened "merciless" action against the U.S. if the film was released, accusing the U.S. of retaliating for the hack by shutting down North Korea's Internet access. North Korea's National Defense Commission also called U.S. President Barack Obama "reckless" and a "monkey."
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Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
July 2014: North Korea threatens to hit the White House and Pentagon with nuclear weapons. American "imperialists threaten our sovereignty and survival," North Korean officials reportedly said after the country accused the U.S. of increasing hostilities on the border with South Korea. "Our troops will fire our nuclear-armed rockets at the White House and the Pentagon -- the sources of all evil," North Korean Gen. Hwang Pyong-So said, according to The Telegraph.
Hide Caption
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Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
March 2013: Angered by tougher U.N. sanctions and joint military exercises by the United States and South Korea, the Supreme Command of North Korea's military vowed to put "on highest alert" the country's "rocket units" that are assigned to strike "U.S. imperialist aggressor troops in the U.S. mainland and on Hawaii and Guam and other operational zone in the Pacific." Whether Pyongyang has the will to back up such doomsday talk is a perplexing question, but there is evidence that its know-how -- in terms of uranium enrichment, nuclear testing and missile technology -- is progressing.
Hide Caption
9 of 15
Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
February 2013: In a message to the United States and South Korea, North Korea vowed "miserable destruction" if "your side ignites a war of aggression by staging reckless joint military exercises."
Hide Caption
10 of 15
Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
June 2012: Once again, North Korea vowed to be "merciless" in its promised attack on the United States, this time threatening a "sacred war" as it aimed artillery at South Korean media groups. North Korea was mad that South Korean journalists had criticized Pyongyang children's festivals meant to foster allegiance to the Kim family.
Hide Caption
11 of 15
Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
April 2012: North Korea's state-run news agency reported that "the moment of explosion is approaching fast" and promised "merciless" strikes against the United States. "The U.S. had better ponder over the prevailing grave situation," it said. Later that month, Pyongyang launched a long-range rocket that broke apart and fell into the sea. The launch came during preparations for a grand party that celebrated the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea.
Hide Caption
12 of 15
Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
November 2011: North Korea's military threatened to turn the capital of South Korea into a "sea of fire," according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.
Hide Caption
13 of 15
Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
2009: After the U.S. pledge to give nuclear defense to South Korea, Pyongyang threatened a "fire shower of nuclear retaliation."
Hide Caption
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Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
2002: U.S. President George W. Bush includes North Korea in an "axis of evil" with Iran and Iraq, which North Korea brushes off as a "little short of a declaration of war." North Korea reportedly threatened to "wipe out the aggressors." That year, North Korea also threatened to kick out international inspectors who were in the country to monitor its compliance with global nuclear nonproliferation agreements.
Hide Caption
15 of 15
Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
North Korea has a history of using creative language to express loathing for its enemies. Here are some of the regime's more colorful threats against the West.
March 2016: North Korea warned it would make a "preemptive and offensive nuclear strike" in response to joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises. Pyongyang issued a long statement promising that "time will prove how the crime-woven history of the U.S. imperialists who have grown corpulent through aggression and war will come to an end and how the Park Geun Hye group's disgraceful remaining days will meet a miserable doom as it is keen on the confrontation with the fellow countrymen in the north."
March 2016: North Korea warned it would make a "preemptive and offensive nuclear strike" in response to joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises. Pyongyang issued a long statement promising that "time will prove how the crime-woven history of the U.S. imperialists who have grown corpulent through aggression and war will come to an end and how the Park Geun Hye group's disgraceful remaining days will meet a miserable doom as it is keen on the confrontation with the fellow countrymen in the north."
Hide Caption
1 of 15
Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
March 2016: Following the imposition of strict U.N. sanctions, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the country's "nuclear warheads need to be ready for use at any time," the North Korean state news agency KCNA reported.
Hide Caption
2 of 15
Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
January 2016: North Korea claimed to have successfully tested a thermonuclear weapon, justifying its right to have an H-bomb on the grounds of "self defense."
Hide Caption
3 of 15
Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
September 2015: In a statement, North Korea said its nuclear arsenal was ready for use "at any time."
Hide Caption
4 of 15
Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
August 2015: As forces from the U.S. and South Korea took part in joint military drills. North Korea's state media referred to the exercises, which started on August 17, as "madcap" and issued a stern warning to America: "If the U.S. ignites a war in the end, far from drawing a lesson taught by its bitter defeat in the history, the DPRK will bring an irrevocable disaster and disgrace to it."
Hide Caption
5 of 15
Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
August 2015: On August 23, as North Korean negotiators were meeting with their South Korean counterparts over current tensions, a KCTV presenter appeared on air repeating North Korea's ambitions to "destroy the warmongering South Korean puppet military."
Hide Caption
6 of 15
Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
December 2014: The FBI said it suspected North Korea was behind a hack of Sony Entertainment, which led executives to initially cancel the theatrical release of "The Interview." The film was a comedy about an American television personality who the CIA asks to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. North Korea threatened "merciless" action against the U.S. if the film was released, accusing the U.S. of retaliating for the hack by shutting down North Korea's Internet access. North Korea's National Defense Commission also called U.S. President Barack Obama "reckless" and a "monkey."
Hide Caption
7 of 15
Photos: North Korea's verbal volleys
July 2014: North Korea threatens to hit the White House and Pentagon with nuclear weapons. American "imperialists threaten our sovereignty and survival," North Korean officials reportedly said after the country accused the U.S. of increasing hostilities on the border with South Korea. "Our troops will fire our nuclear-armed rockets at the White House and the Pentagon -- the sources of all evil," North Korean Gen. Hwang Pyong-So said, according to The Telegraph.
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Story highlights
- Norm Coleman: The United States depends on South Korea and Japan to safeguard its interests in East Asia
- North Korea has demonstrated willingness to exploit emotions of the "comfort women" issue, he says
Republican Norm Coleman represented Minnesota in the U.S. Senate from 2003 to 2009. He serves as a board member of the National Endowment for Democracy and on the advisory council for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition. The views expressed are his own.
(CNN)After many failed attempts, the success of North Korea's recent rocket test should be a clarifying moment for the United States and its allies in Asia. When combined with North Korea's recent underground nuclear weapons test, last month's missile launch underscores how the precarious state of affairs in Northeast Asia threatens American national security.
The reality is that while the Cold War may have ended in Europe 25 years ago, it persists in Asia today. In addition to the North Korean threat, America and its regional allies must also confront escalating territorial disputes and challenges to regional stability in the South China Sea.
Yet, at a time when the United States must look to its allies in the region for support, these very same allies remain engaged in a Cold War of their own, but this time over issues that are more than 70 years old.
Norm Coleman
The United States depends on South Korea and Japan to safeguard its interests in East Asia. Unfortunately, both countries are still embroiled in a long-simmering conflict over the use of South Korean women in Japanese "comfort stations" during World War II. And because South Korea stands in lockstep with China and North Korea on this issue, the conflict presents new challenges to American policy in the region.
In recognition of the broader implications of this issue, the United States successfully brokered a bilateral agreement between Japan and South Korea to ultimately resolve the "comfort women" issue.
Reached late last year, the agreement codified a final Japanese apology for the use of comfort women and the establishment of an $8 million fund to provide additional reparations for the surviving women. And while this agreement certainly cannot erase the resentment this issue has engendered for many decades among South Koreans, both governments intended it to be the final political word on this issue.
Unfortunately, North Korea appears intent on using this issue to drive a wedge between America's two most important allies in Asia.
In the wake of the agreement, the North Korean government described the deal as "humiliating." Meanwhile, Chong Dae Hyup, a prominent organization believed to have ties to North Korea, has used the agreement to rally nationalist sentiment in South Korea against Japan.
It is hardly a surprise that North Korea has been perhaps the loudest voice opposing the bilateral agreement. The North Korean regime has long been desperate to deflect attention away from its own abysmal record on human rights.
However, it was deeply concerning to see some prominent Korean-American organizations articulating a similar message as the North Korean propaganda machine when they called on President Barack Obama to fire Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a Change.org petition protesting the agreement. (Most Korean-American organizations actually strongly support the agreement).
North Korea has demonstrated its willingness to exploit the emotions of the comfort women issue to undermine the historic agreement that the United States brokered with its regional allies in Asia.
The considerable political capital the United States invested in reaching this critical agreement should be evidence enough of the importance of reconciling differences between our allies in East Asia. So it is important that the United States remain vigilant to ensure our allies uphold these understandings in order to maintain a united front against North Korea.
No one understands the power of how historical grievances can complicate geopolitics better than the United States. At a time when the challenges we face in Northeast Asia are intensifying, we need to call upon the united strength of our regional allies to ensure the security of American interests in Asia.
Japan and South Korea must not let North Korea reignite a passionate historical argument that could drive a wedge between America and its key allies in Asia.
