Declaration of Wolf

Wikimedia Photo by Johannes Barre using a GNU Free Documentation License

In conjunction with its recent nuclear and missile tests, North Korea amped up its bellicose rhetoric.  It has made sure to condemn the imperialist United States and “declaration of war” has become a buzz phrase to pepper throughout official statements.  Possible acctions tantamount to declarations of war in North Korea’s recent rhetoric include:

South Korea joining the PSI

“We consider this a declaration of war against us,” an unidentified North Korean military spokesman said Wednesday in a statement carried by the North’s official news agency, KCNA. “Any hostile act against our peaceful vessels, including search and seizure, will be considered an unpardonable infringement on our sovereignty and we will immediately respond with a powerful military strike.”  The North Koreans also said in the statement that they “no longer feel bound by the armistice” that ended the fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War.

And consideration of further UN sanctions

 The United Nations Security Council is in the process of crafting a response, which may include additional economic sanctions; the North has said it would consider such sanctions a declaration of war.

While many argue this rhetoric is just part of the normal ebb and flow of North Korean brinkmanship, it could also shed light on the justifications behind their recent actions.  There has been a debate between experts cited in the press about whether North Korea is undertaking these actions to appear stronger heading into negotiations or whether it is to help secure military support for a successful power transition as Kim Jung Il’s demise becomes increasingly imminent.  Frankly, it seems like both could be justifications- they aren’t really at odds with one another.  That said, beating the “declaration of war” drum, albeit a common North Korean tactic, might lend more credence to the latter explanation as opposed to the former.  The North Koreans are hoping to rile up some militaristic nationalism at home without doing anything major about it.  If the U.S. (in an understandably unlikely hypothetical scenario) called their bluff, the North Koreans might very well find themselves drawing dead, so to speak, despite their large Army.  That’s why Peter Beck’s unwarranted quote in the press today that

We’re heading for a full-blown crisis with the North

seems less likely that Voice of America’s conclusion that

Despite the tough talk from Pyongyang, several analysts on the Korean security situation say they expect a few more such clashes in the coming months, but nothing more serious. They say anything more would be too risky for Pyongyang.