The Key to the Problem with North Korea: China - By Jeewong Choi

South Korea has run over rapid civilization after Korean War. Korean citizens have always thought about their lives, whether they can continue their lives for a day or not, with a hope of getting things better. South Koreans have desperately wanted to get out from the worry of livelihood. Thus, Koreans have always emphasized the word “fast” in order to get many things done as fast as possible to maintain their life. And this mind, filled with urgency without accuracy has made them to get a disease named “public apathy from danger.” Whenever bad phenomenon or accidents happened, they have always calmed their hearts by saying “it was just bad luck.” Plus, if it’s not one's own problem, they claim "it doesn’t matter any ways." For instance when people work in a construction site, they often times do not wear helmet because they are not aware of accidents. This is one of the great example of public apathy from danger and this kind of event is common in South Korea.  As a result, public apathy from danger have decreased public responsibility and increased selfishness to the citizens.

I had a debate in my English Debate class on February 22nd. The motion was “This House Should bring nukes to South Korea.” The reason why we were having this kind of debate was because South Korea is under threat from North Korea. While considering the fact that North Korea had another nuclear test, our team claimed that nukes are necessary to South Korea in order to protect our own country. I came up there on the podium, stating that, “we can no longer depend on the United States and we need something that can protect ourselves which can give equal threat to North Korea.” Furthermore, I found the fact that 64 percent of Korean citizens are worried about the attack from North Korea. Two out of three is a considerable number which allows us to know that South Korea is in urgent need to assure South Korean citizens that they are safe. At the end, besides the result of the debate, I could realize that this issue is something serious more than a debate class. Since many people are dull about the danger, there are only a few people who care about the threat from North Korea including students. As a result, people must also consider about the issue of whether China should restrain their relationship with North Korea or not.

To start with, China must restrict their partnership with North Korea in order to keep world peace. North Korea has comfortably tested a new type of nuclear bomb on February 22^nd because China shielded in front of North Korea. For instance, in 2009, when North Korea tested their nuclear power plant, China pretended to be blinded about this issue. The mistake made North Korea to grow up as a threatening country. As China’s shield gets thicker and thicker, the threat of North Korea will also increase tremendously. Thus, China must no longer act in the same way in order to prevent North Korea’s dangerous acts.

Moreover, China must restrain its connection with North Korea for the benefits that can occur to them as well as surrounding countries. China must utilize the fact that they are the last ally of North Korea who supplies them economically. When North Korea finds out that China will be against them, they will do something profitable for China in order to keep the ally. For example, China provides 80 percent of consumer goods and 45 percent of foods in North Korea. Furthermore, according to the statistics by the Korean Government, the percentage of the finance in military service comparing to GDP is 4.5 for the U.S and 2.5 for South Korea which can be lessened significantly when North Korea stops its hostile relationship with South Korea.

In my opinion, this is a serious issue not only for China but also for the entire world. North Korea was withdrawn from the NPT(Nonproliferation Treaty) signed in 1993 (NPT). This fact makes North Korea a dangerous country which has tested nuclear power three times. I believe North Korea is already a country with powerful nuclear weapons. We can consider North Korea as a child with a gun. Usually, a child cannot control her or himself, and a gun makes a child more threatening. However, I think China can be the mother of this child because China can control North Koreawith its power and relationship. According to the online news Der Spiegal, on April 8^th, Xi Jinping has claimed that “A country should never make the world into disaster for its benefits.” It was a harsh comment by the premier of China to criticize North Korea. Thus, China must act as a mother who can be harsh and nice at the same time.

In a nutshell, China is getting impatient with North Korea. North Korea is trying to make the whole world blind. However, China can be Mahatma Gandhi, the peace keeper in the world by actively participating in making North Korea calm down. South Korean government should keep paying attention on the issue with North Korea, and also make their citizens to be aware of the seriousness of the issue. South Koreans can no longer be apathy about the threat that North Korea is giving to them. It is the time to be changed!