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The last thing that the conflict in the Middle East needs is another nation trying to insert itself, on its own or at the nudging of others in the region or from elsewhere. It is not as if Chairman Kim Jong Un of North Korea needs permission to rant or keep firing missiles into the Sea of Japan. But now he has used the attacks on Iran to justify his pursuit of nuclear weapons and in hammering away at the United States being a state sponsor of terrorism.
The point that some analysts are making is that even without the usual bombast, Chairman Kim is very much a part of the ongoing war in the Middle East, supplying key components for Iran’s missiles and perhaps even a physical presence of its engineers at missile production and launch sites. Why else would there be a warning against harming North Korean citizens is something that readily comes to mind.
The Iran-North Korea connection in the present war has not reached the same level as that of Pyongyang’s involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war where Chairman Kim aside from military supplies like shells and rockets has sent thousands of North Korean troops as human fodder to the Russian frontlines. But it has not been a one-way street as North Korea is paid back in fuel, food and military technology that helps Pyongyang fine tune its weapons system. Iran is a close ally without a doubt but so far there have been no indications of any offer in battalions making their way to the front lines of the Middle East.
The argument has been that even though North Korean soldiers are not on the ground and that Chairman Kim’s technicians may have left in the face of bombardments, it did not mean the end of the connection. Leaning on Bruce Bechtol and Antony Celso’s Rogue Allies: The Strategic Partnership Between Iran and North Korea, Robert Billard says, “… the rogue strategic pipeline is not history. It is the reason Iranian missiles keep flying at U.S. forces. Let there be no doubt: Pyongyang has been a center of gravity behind Tehran’s fight and American troops and allies have paid the price.”
No one for sure knows the annual price tag that keeps Pyongyang going for its services to Tehran or Moscow, estimated at US$ 3 billion and US$ 20 billion respectively. But in the case of Iran, it is generally assumed it is for North Korea’s assistance for missiles/ nuclear programs as well as sending military hardware to proxies like the Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. The thing that Chairman Kim would have to worry about is a complete change of guard at Tehran. But if the Mullahs are able to squeeze themselves back into the power structure, North Korea would be back in business.
It is surprising that North Korea has not found a way to insert itself in a war that should not have started in the first place. But does not mean that Chairman Kim is going to be restrained– all that he has to do is to make an announcement that he is re-arranging the cognates of his missiles. This would send Israel and the Gulf nations into a tizzy. Nevertheless he seems to be a source of comfort to those wanting to verbally savage the United States and the regimes that are looking for ways to start a clandestine nuclear weapons program under one pretext or another. Once again Pyongyang has reminded smaller nations the importance of nuclear weapons as a way of not being bullied by major powers.
It is not as if Chairman Kim has a huge following of admirers around the world excepting for a handful of dictators and tyrants riding roughshod on their people. Presiding over a cultist state or a hermit kingdom, Chairman Kim and his Workers Party recently won a super landslide securing 99.93 percent of the vote. While official North Korea may be basking in the extraordinary win of their Supreme Leader, the rest of the world is worried about the fate of that 0.07 percent of those who dared to vote against Chairman Kim or quietly assuming that in a sham election, numbers do not mean anything.
Two is company, three is a crowd, is a saying. In the case of the war in the Middle East, the numbers in the fray seems to be increasing by the way, latest being that of Iraq. The sad commentary is that in all the ongoing melee, the principals seem to have lost track of why this madness even started. And it is bound to get crazier if more join the fray, just for the heck of it.
Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed in this article/column are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of South Asian Herald.
