Gary's views

Gary's weekly views

Each week an article by Gary has appeared in the Plympton Plymstock and Ivybridge News in South West Devon. The articles are published here

North Korea

As you read these words I will be in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, shivering in temperatures of minus 10. I am taking part in a small private delegation to test out the scope for increasing dialogue with this secluded country on the other side of the world. 23 million people living in a closed communist society that has been since the 1950’s under the autocratic rule of first “Great Leader” President Kim Il Sung and now his son “Great Comrade” Kim Jong Il. 1 million of the nation’s population are soldiers, many of them massed along the border with prosperous capitalist South Korea.

What makes this country so important is that North Korea either has or is about to acquire nuclear weapons.
Some while ago a colleague and I became increasingly concerned about the way the tensions between North Korea and its neighbours were developing. When all the world’s focus was rightly on terrorism, the middle-east and Iraq it seemed to us that this tiny state so far away posed an equivalent threat to global peace and stability due to its obsession with going nuclear. There are talks going on with China and USA and others, but they have hit major problems.

So we are embarking on an initial fact finding mission to see if there is scope for more dialogue to reduce barriers and see a peaceful resolution to the nuclear tensions in the Far East. Needless to say, this is a long-term project.
What’s that got to do with me, the British Parliament and South West Devon? Whether we like it or not, the world is becoming a global village and these potential conflicts – especially where nuclear weapons are involved – are a matter for all of us. The days of splendid isolation and turning our backs on events the far side of nowhere are long gone. I also believe that the UK, much respected abroad, with our rich heritage and diplomatic experience, has a unique role in being a force for good.

There is another reason for going. If the twentieth century belonged to America, who can doubt but that the twenty-first will belong to China. We fly in via Beijing, providing a first chance for me to get a feel for the economic and cultural energy that will propel that massive nation into super-power territory before too long.
I will report back to you all in due course.

posted by Nigel on Sunday, November 02, 2003