DPRK statement on missile test

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (north Korea) released a statement July 7 on the country’s test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-14, which succeeded on its very first trial.

Hailing the event as “a brilliant victory achieved by the army and people of the DPRK in their more than half-a-century-long anti-imperialist, anti-U.S. showdown,” the ministry said this heroic deed “provided a reliable guarantee of peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and the region. However, the U.S. is condemning the DPRK’s test-fire as a ‘global threat’ and is scheming to increase the international sanctions and pressure on the country to the top notch.”

The statement continues: “The DPRK makes it clear once again that its development of inter-continental ballistic rocket is an option taken to defend itself by completely terminating the hostile policy and nuclear war threat of the U.S. which have lasted for decades.

“There are several nuclear weapons states in the world today, but the U.S. is the one and only country that makes it its daily business to impose constant nuclear threat upon the DPRK.

“The issue of the DPRK’s nukes and ballistic rocket is an issue confined to the DPRK and the U.S., and the test-fire of the inter-continental ballistic rocket conducted by the DPRK this time is a ‘gift package’ addressed to none other than the U.S.

“No other ICBM state had been more transparent than the DPRK in the development and test-fire of inter-continental ballistic rocket.

“The DPRK officially announced that it would commence the development of inter-continental ballistic rocket as it was the inevitable choice for the country to cope with ever-increasing nuclear threat from the U.S. and opened to public the entire process of combustion test and static firing test of the engine and the actual test-fire of the rocket, and even sensitive information such as tactical and technical data and specifications.

“That is because the DPRK’s inter-continental ballistic rocket is an unquestionable nuclear war deterrent which is fundamentally different from the military equipment for aggressive war developed in strict confidence by the U.S. with the wild ambition to dominate the world by means of surprise attack on other nations.

“Nonetheless, the U.S. is branding the DPRK’s legitimate and righteous measure for self-defense as a ‘global threat’ and calling for ‘global action’ against it. This is an explicit illustration of Trump’s ‘America First Policy’ that seeks it own interests by sacrificing others.

“The mugger’s mentality that tries to engage the entire world in opposing a sovereign state for the reason that the state incurred its displeasure will never find acceptance among any sensible people and independent countries.

“The complete success in the test-fire of inter-continental ballistic rocket Hwasong-14 significantly enhanced the efficiency of the DPRK’s nuclear force as a war deterrent, thereby more reliably ensuring peace and security in and around the Korean peninsula.

“Now that the DPRK’s ability to strike the very heart of the U.S. at any given time has been physically proved, the U.S. would find it more difficult to dare attack the DPRK.

“Herein lies the world historical significance of the measures taken by the DPRK that has strengthened the powerful nuclear war deterrence in every dimension in pursuance of the new line of simultaneously developing the two fronts in the face of persistent pressure and sanctions by the hostile forces.

“And this is the only way to defend oneself and safeguard the dignity of the nation in the present hostile world where the law of the jungle prevails.

“It is high time the U.S. completely reoriented its strategic viewpoint on the DPRK, and it should give up its hostile policy against the latter and put a definite end to its nuclear threat and blackmail without further delay.

“As has been declared by respected Supreme Leader Comrade Kim Jong Un, the DPRK will neither put its nukes and ballistic missiles on the negotiating table in any case nor flinch even an inch from the road of bolstering its nuclear force unless the hostile policy and nuclear threat of the U.S. against the DPRK are thoroughly eradicated.

“The U.S. will receive more ‘gift packages’ of different sizes from the DPRK in endless succession, as it tries harder to destroy, by means of sanctions and pressure, the overall national power and strategic position of the DPRK which have been drastically boosted.”

So there it is. The Koreans dare to speak truth to power. They don’t use the kind of honeyed “diplomatic” language that is intended to prettify and conceal the brutal policies of a predatory imperialist power.

For this they are viciously attacked by the U.S. capitalist media and politicians of all stripes, who never say an unkind word about the 7,000 nuclear warheads stored by the Pentagon or the more than half a TRILLION dollars stolen every year from the people of the U.S. in order to feed the military-industrial-banking complex.

Thank you, Korean comrades, for your courage to tell it like it is.

— Deirdre Griswold,
Editor, Workers World