| Alexander VORONTSOV | 06.01.2015 | 11:40 |
2014 was another year of lasting conflict between the Unites States and North Korea.The tensions between the two countries will affect the decision making process in 2015. Sony Pictures Entertainment, a Hollywood old timer, is the distributor of the movie The Interview, a satirical comedy deriding the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). The movie tells a story about two journalists who killed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and paints North Korea in negative and sarcastic terms. There was an immediate sharp response from Pyongyang. Sony Pictures came under massive cyber-attack before screening. The movie incited anger in North Korea and provoked subversive actions allegedly committed by North Korean government against the distributor. It deteriorated the relations between the countries.
Heads of states, national banners and national anthems are symbols of statehood. Disrespectful attitude always entails tough official response. North Korean political culture has specific features – the national leader is treated with utmost respect as the man who enjoys a special status in the government political structure. The moral values advocated by Confucius presuppose that the supreme leader is the father of the nation and the representative of Heaven among other things. Those who are acquainted with the North Korean cultural and historic traditions are not surprised when an insult is met with a tough response. No doubt, the US is aware of the fact. The previous Republican administration wanted to slow down the bilateral negotiation process while putting the blame on Pyongyang. Former President Bush deliberately launched personal attacks against North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, for instance, calling him a “pigmy”. It immediately provoked the desired effect - an angry reaction to be followed by long pause in the contacts. The US administration and those who shot the movie had been warned about the consequences in advance. The response was not unexpected. The movie was perceived by Pyongyang as a deliberate hostile action and a deep insult to national dignity. No surprise, the diplomatic moves (formal appeals, statements and warnings) aimed at preventing the movie from hitting big screen or, at least limiting the demonstration after the premier, followed. Ja Song Nam, North Korea's Ambassadorto the U.N., wrote a letter to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on July 27, 2014 to protest the movie. The Ambassador said he wanted the paper and its annex to be circulated as a document of the General Assembly and the Security Council. The letter says, “To allow the production and distribution of such a film on the assassination on an incumbent Head of a sovereign State should be regarded as the most undisguised sponsoring of terrorism as well as an act of war.” According to the remarks by diplomats of North Korean embassy in Russia, Sony Pictures distributes a film which may entail dangerous consequences as it justifies and fosters terrorism… “The fact that it is an ordinary matter to shoot such a movie proves that the contemporary America is plunged in the quagmire of despair and insanity”. The Pyongyang’s arguments and assessments have been widely supported across the globe, including in Moscow. The commentary by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that “The very idea of the film is so aggressive and scandalous that the reaction of the North Korean side (and not only them) is quite understandable. Russia is concerned with yet another stage in escalating tensions between the United States and the DPRK due to accusations of Pyongyang of being complicit in the cyber-attack on the Sony Picture web site. The US never presented any direct evidence of these acts by Pyongyang. Moreover, let me remind you that Pyongyang suggested conducting a joint investigation of the incident which would open up additional opportunities for easing the tension. In fact, the step is evidence of the North Korean side’s sincere striving for investigating the issue in every detail. Revenge threats and calls to other countries to condemn the DPRK voiced by the US are viewed by us as absolutely counter-productive and dangerous, because they just contribute to the situation on the Korean Peninsula which is complicated enough, and can lead to the further escalation of the conflict. This runs absolutely contrary to everybody’s interests, especially to the interests of regional security.” (1) These assessments have solid foundation.
The North Korean evil-wishers in the United States, South Korea and some other countries saw the scandal as an opportunity to intensify the ideological subversion activities against North Korea. They want the scandalous film to spread around the world, even in North Korea, if there is a chance to make it get there. Fighters for a Free North Korea are planning to airlift DVDs of the comedy into North Korea via hydrogen balloons. (2) For years balloons have been launched from South Korea to cross the demilitarized zone and deliver anti-North Korean materials. The fact has become an irritant to affect the bilateral relationship. Besides, in December, 2014 a wave of cyber-attacks was launched to interrupt the Internet connection in North Korea. No wonder that under the conditions Pyongyang launched a counter information operation. The North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs blamed the United States for spreading around unsubstantiated accusations. Pyongyang offered to conduct a joint investigation of the cyber-attack together with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation to find the culprit. It said it can prove that the U.S. accusations of North Korean involvement in the cyberattack on Sony Pictures were "groundless slander”. The Korean Central News Agency of DPRK cited the sources in the National Defense Commission saying “The army and people of the DPRK are fully ready to stand in confrontation with the US in all war spaces, including cyber warfare to blow up those citadels,” the statement said. It stressed that, “Our toughest counteraction will be boldly taken against the White House, the Pentagon and the whole U.S. mainland, the cesspool of terrorism, by far surpassing the "symmetric counteraction" declared by Obama” The statement affirms that Obama is guilty of irresponsibly dissipating rumors about North Korea being the culprit behind the cyber-attack. The action was fully justified though North Korea does not know who did it. (4).
It should be noted that many media outlets have cited the Pyongyang’s warning. Concern was expressed about a possible retaliatory action on the part of North Korea. The North Korean rhetoric should not be taken at face value. The experts on the country understand it’s a special manner of expression. They had to apply efforts to dispel the fears. There is one more thing to mention here. From the very start North Koreans distanced themselves from the hackers’ actions. They said they never planned to threaten or cause any damage to the common Americans going to cinema.
Endnotes:
1. http://www.mid.ru/brp_4.nsf/0/A3A3AB26A310CE2EC3257DBA0023CAC7
2) Sony Hack: Activists to Drop 'Interview' DVDs Over North Korea Via Balloon published byTheHollywood Reporter. 16.12. 2014, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sony-hack-activists-drop-interview-75852
3) North Korea Threatens to Target White House after Claims it was Behind Sony Hacking published by The Guardian on 22.12. 2014: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/22/north-korea-threatens-target-white-house-obama-sony-hacking
(To be continued)
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| Tags: UN North Korea US Source: http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2015/01/06/usa-north-korea-and-hollywood-i.html |
| News | 04.01.2015 | 22:14 |
German Vice-Chancellor, Economic Affairs and Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel has warned the West against toughening sanctions against Russia and causing the country to become economically weaker.
“Those who want it provoke an even more dangerous situation for all of us in Europe,” Gabriel said in an interview with the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. “Those who are seeking to even more destabilize Russia from the economic and political point of view are pursuing quite different goals.”
He said there are forces in Europe and the United States who “would like to floor their superpower rival.”
This can’t be in the interests of Germany and Europe, Gabriel said.
“Besides, if Russia is no longer a partner in resolution of conflicts, this will have very dangerous consequences for the entire world,” the German vice-chancellor said.
The goal of Western sanctions is to return Moscow to the negotiating table to peacefully settle the crisis in Ukraine, he said.
The positions of Russia and Western nations and Kiev on the Ukrainian developments differ radically. Russia has repeatedly denied any involvement in the intra-Ukrainian crisis, but the West and Kiev accuse Moscow of “annexing” Crimea and participation in clashes in Ukraine’s war-torn southeast. Western nations have subjected Russia to sanctions.
Ukraine has been in deep crisis since the end of 2013, when then-President Viktor Yanukovich suspended the signing of an association agreement with the European Union to study the deal more thoroughly. The move triggered mass riots that eventually led to a coup in February 2014.
The coup that brought chaos to Ukraine prompted the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol with a special status to refuse to recognize the legitimacy of coup-imposed authorities, hold a referendum and secede from Ukraine to reunify with Russia in mid-March 2014 after some 60 years as part of Ukraine.
After that, mass protests erupted in Ukraine’s southeast, where local residents, apparently inspired by Crimea's example, did not recognize the coup-imposed authorities either, formed militias and started fighting for their rights.
Russian officials and companies came under the first batch of Western sanctions, including visa bans and asset freezes, after Russia incorporated Crimea in mid-March 2014 after the February 2014 coup.
Despite Moscow’s repeated statements that the Crimean referendum on secession from Ukraine was in line with the international law and the UN Charter and in conformity with the precedent set by Kosovo’s secession from Serbia in 2008, the West and Kiev have refused to recognize the legality of Crimea’s reunification with Russia.
The West announced new, sectoral, restrictions against Russia in late July 2014, in particular, for what the West claimed was Moscow’s alleged involvement in protests in Ukraine’s southeast.
In response, Russia imposed on August 6, 2014 a one-year ban on imports of beef, pork, poultry, fish, cheeses, fruit, vegetables and dairy products from Australia, Canada, the European Union, the United States and Norway.
New punitive measures against Russia were imposed in September 2014.
Russia has constantly dismissed accusations of “annexing” Crimea, because Crimea reunified with Russia voluntarily after a referendum, as well as allegations that Moscow could in any way be involved in hostilities in the southeast of Ukraine.
Kiev’s military operation designed to regain control over the breakaway Donetsk and Lugansk regions in Ukraine’s southeast on the border with Russia, which call themselves the Donetsk and Lugansk People's republics, conducted since mid-April 2014, has left thousands of people dead, brought destruction and forced hundreds of thousands to flee.
Businessman and politician Pyotr Poroshenko won the May 25, 2014 early presidential election in Ukraine. Poroshenko had funded anti-government protests that led to the February 2014 coup.
The parties to the intra-Ukrainian conflict agreed on a ceasefire during talks mediated by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on September 5, 2014 in Belarusian capital Minsk two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed his plan to settle the situation in the east of Ukraine.
Numerous violations of the ceasefire, which took effect the same day, have been reported since.
A memorandum was adopted on September 19, 2014 in Minsk by the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine comprising representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE. The document outlined the parameters for the implementation of commitments on the ceasefire in Ukraine laid down in the Minsk Protocol of September 5.
The nine-point memorandum in particular envisioned a ban on the use of all armaments and withdrawal of weapons with the calibers of over 100 millimeters to a distance of 15 kilometers from the contact line from each side. The OSCE was tasked with controlling the implementation of memorandum provisions.
A "day of silence" in eastern Ukraine began at 09:00 a.m. local time (0700 GMT) on December 9 last year. It is seen as another attempt by both parties to the intra-Ukrainian conflict to put an end to hostilities.
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| Tags: European Union Germany Russia Ukraine US source:http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2015/01/04/german-vice-chancellor-warns-west-against-toughening-anti-russian-sanctions.html |
From Energy War to Currency War: America’s Attack on the Russian Ruble. Mahdi Darius NAZEMROAYA |
A multi-spectrum war is being waged against Moscow by Washington. If there are any doubts about this, they should be put to rest. Geopolitics, science and technology, speculation, financial markets, information streams, large business conglomerates, intelligentsia, mass communication, social media, the internet, popular culture, news networks, international institutions, sanctions, audiences, public opinion, nationalism, different governmental bodies and agencies, identity politics, proxy wars, diplomacy, countervailing international alliances, major business agreements, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), human rights, prestige, military personnel, capital, and psychological tactics are all involved in this multi-spectrum war. On a daily basis this struggle can be seen playing out on the airwaves, in the war theaters in Ukraine and the Middle East, through the statements and accusations of diplomats, and in the economic sphere. - Additionally, the debates and questions on whether a new cold war—a post-Cold War cold war—has emerged or if the Cold War never ended should be put to rest too. The mentality of the Cold War never died in the Washington Beltway..... Strategic-Culture.org
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Nach Einschätzung des Chefs des privaten US-Geheimdienstes Stratfor, sollte das Eingreifen der US-Regierung in den politischen Kurs der Ukraine vor allem darauf abgezielt haben, die Zusammenarbeit zwischen Russland und Deutschland zu torpedieren. Technologie und Kapital aus Deutschland in Verbindung mit natürlichen und menschlichen Ressourcen aus Russland bewerten die USA als „das gefährlichste Potential“.
George Friedman, Leiter des privaten US-Geheimdienstes Stratfor, erörterte in einem Interview mit der russischen Zeitung Kommersant welche genauen Ziele die US-Regierung mit ihrer Interventionspolitik innerhalb Europas verfolge und erklärte auch, dass das Eingreifen der USA in die Angelegenheiten anderer Staaten schlicht und ergreifend zur Sicherheits-Doktrin der Amerikaner gehöre.
Friedmans Einschätzung zufolge liegt eine große Gefahr für die USA in einem Bündnis zwischen Deutschland mit Russland. Durchaus deutlich zeige sich die Angst der amerikanischen Regierung beispielsweise im geleakten Telefonat zwischen der US-Sonderbeauftragten Victoria Nuland und dem US-Botschafter in Kiew, Geoffrey Pyatt.
Die USA mussten aufgrund der drohenden Gefahr, die mit einer Allianz zwischen Russland und Deutschland entstehen könnte, an einer Strategie feilen, die solch eine Verbindung durchbricht. Laut dem Leiter von Stratfor.... ------------------------------ |
