Hating with a passion

"Time is up Junior. Time to disarm and join the league of civilized nations. You are now dealing with the grown-ups in the world. If you don't disarm, President Trump and his generals will disarm you. We have a plan for you, and I don't think you, and your country, are going to like it." 

Recently, I was asked by a friend why the North Koreans hate us so much. How much do they hate us? They would sacrifice everything, their lives, their country, their future - just to inflict a body blow on the United States. Or Japan. Maybe even South Korea - but that is a maybe. But for us, their hatred runs very deep. We are in their bulls-eye. And they truly hate us with a passion.

I guess from a historical standpoint, I can understand why there is some ancient hatred for Japan. Korea existed under Japanese rule from 1910 to the surrender of Japan in 1945. The Korean people were treated like second class citizens (at best) under Japanese rule. It was not a good period of Korean history. When Japan surrendered in 1945, things really got mangled up for Korea. 

Both the Russians and the Americans were anxious to shed their World War II treaty alliances and Korea was a great place to start. When it became obvious that a unified Korea would not be possible, in 1948 the newly founded United Nations declared the 38th Parallel would be the dividing line between the two new Korea's. Once the Korean Peninsula was divided, the first leader (dictator) of North Korea was Kim il-sung. He was the grandfather of the current leader (dictator) Kim- Jong-un.

Things were not fine in the beginning. There were constant border skirmishes. Then on June 25, 1950, 75,000 troops from the North Korean People's Army came across the 38th Parallel and invaded South Korea. Why? North Korea had enough. They never recognized South Korea as being legitimate. It was time to take South Korea back by force, and unify the country. Suddenly, five years after World War II ended, the newly started Cold War became instantly hot.

The United Nations stood against the North in this conflict. It was naked aggression. The United States, still recovering from World War II, was asked by the UN to stand in the gap for South Korea. And we did. We, along with a United Nations peacekeeping force, fought and died next to the South Koreans.

The fighting finally came to an end in July of 1953. Not by surrender, but by armistice. General MacArthur hated the idea. "There is no substitute for victory over Communism" he said. President Truman took that as insubordination and fired MacArthur. History has shown MacArthur to be right and Truman to be wrong. 

Grandfather, Kim il-sung, ruled until his death in 1994. His son, Kim John-il, ruled from 1994 until his death in 2011. Now we have the grandson, Kim jong un, who began his rule in 2011. It really does not matter which one was, or is, in control. They all have or had designs on a much stronger, more respected, North Korea. What happened under Japan, or an imperialist nation like the United States, will never happen again!

Why do they hate us? Through their rose colored glasses, when they see the United States, they see pre-1945 Japan. They see a threat to hold them into some kind of bondage. To be a nuclear power (with punch) would solve that problem. Every time the United States requests sanctions against North Korea at the United Nations, the "bondage" image becomes more real. Just as the Islamic State views us as the "Great Satan", North Korea views us as something equally sinister and repressive.  

As time has gone by since 1953, the story of South Korea and North Korea has become a depiction of Rich Man, Poor Man. South Korea has become an industrial powerhouse with an excellent standard of living, while North Korea has become a repressively poor and brutal police state. The differences in life style could not become more apparent than viewing a nighttime satellite picture showing a glowing South Korea and a pitch black North Korea.

What does our country think North Korea will do with a nuclear bomb? Use it for sure. Unlike Israel, Pakistan or India when they developed their own nukes, North Korea has been very public and braggadocios about theirs. "Hey world! Look what we have, and we are ready to use them!" Japan, South Korea and the United States are taking this thirty-some year old kid running North Korea as serious as a heart attack.  

I am afraid it is time for this show to end. The stakes have become much too high. It is one thing to listen to a tin horned dictator who has little to offer but bluster. But to have an existential threat to the United States getting more and more dangerous, is something else all together.

We are blessed today to have Donald Trump as our President and not Harry Truman. Even though Truman nuked the Japanese to end World War II, he did not have the stomach to end the North Korean menace. Donald Trump will take care of this issue. One way or another. Unlike Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush (41), Clinton, Bush (43) or Obama - Trump will not leave this mess for the next President. 

Time is up Junior. Time to disarm and join the league of civilized nations. You are now dealing with the grown-ups in the world. If you don't disarm, President Trump and his generals will disarm you. We have a plan for you, and I don't think you, and your country, are going to like it.