Recent reports that North Korea has increased its nuclear capability by testing a Hydrogen Bomb is a source of worry not just for its neighbouring rival South Korea or its sworn enemy America but also for the entire human population because of the destructive potential it has.
South Korean envoy to Uganda Park Jong Dae has urged Uganda, one of North Korea’s traditional allies to offer sincere and genuine advice to their friends in Pyongyang to abandon the nuclear arms programme because it threatens the security of the entire world.
Unlike Iran which insists that it needs nuclear technology for civilian purposes, North Korea proudly says it invests in nuclear weapons of mass destruction for defensive purposes, a claim that is increasingly infuriating evens its close allies China.
North Korea’s news agency KCNA reported last week that their military government had succeeded in testing the H-Bomb which they said could wipe out the United States ‘all at once’.
Although some security experts have raised doubts about the North’s capability to build an H-Bomb and have called it propaganda to raise tensions as a way of controlling its population, South Korea’s president Park Geun-hye described it as a serious act of provocation.
Geun-Hye’s envoy to Kampala Ambassador Park Jong Dae adds that the administration in Pyongyang is showing signs that it is distancing itself from the aspirations of peace and development espoused by the international community.
“Whether or not North Korea has developed a hydrogen bomb is a different matter but what they are showing is that they are going their own way. This is a weapon of mass destruction.
Although they cite the purpose of defence against the US, but when you see China, Russia criticising them, it shows that it is a problem of the international community.” Amb. Park added: “So it is very disheartening to see that whatever goodwill shown by the international community, they are going in the opposite direction.”
President Geun-Hye vowed to accelerate diplomatic efforts to force North Korea to change its course.She said: “We will make all-out diplomatic efforts to adopt new sanctions and resolution against the North, powerful enough to make it change its course. In that process, China’s role is crucial,” she added.
Reliable science publications show that a Hydrogen Bomb is the most destructive weapon ever invented and that it is thousands of times more powerful compared to atomic bombs such as the ones used by the US against Japan in the 2nd World war.
Although a Hydrogen bomb has never been used in any conventional war, the US and Russian governments have allegedly successfully tested hydrogen bombs and have shown potential to cause radiation burns more than 62 miles away and shatter glass windows more than 500 miles away.
Asked how the international community should respond to the North’s new stance, Ambassador Park says: “We have to be more united, not to isolate North Korea but to help them. I hope that countries like Uganda that have traditional ties with Pyongyang, convey their positions as a friend and provide genuine advice.
North Korea think African countries are behind them which is not the case. They used to be during the time of colonialism but times have changed,” adds ambassador. Park.
Park argues that it is high time African countries abandoned their apparent double standards of ignoring seemingly distant global challenges such as the suffering caused by the dictatorship in North Korea but instead joint the international community in addressing them.
“When you see children starving in Syria, it hurts you. Unfortunately many African countries tend to ignore these problems saying they are domestic problems. We are living in a global village where you don’t say this is your problem and this is mine. So I hope that countries come together to help North Korea.
I think that Uganda and other African countries should engage the North Koreans more genuinely so that they know that even our traditional allies are concerned. Then they will have second thoughts before they do anything.”
