President Bush's recent statements about North Korea, Iraq and Iran have some world powers concerned with the United States' unilateralism and the administration's policy to combat the war on terrorism.
In his State of the Union address last week, Bush referred to the three countries as constituting an \axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world.""
Bush accused North Korea of being armed with missiles and other weapons of mass destruction that he said they it may use to aid terrorists. He warned the United States will ""develop and deploy effective missile defenses to protect America and our allies from sudden attack,"" leading the North Korean government to declare itself ready for a war with the United States.
""We are watching the disturbing moves of the U.S. that have pushed the situation to the brink of war,"" a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson told the Korean Central News Agency.
Though the tension may be higher than ever, military brinkmanship between the United States. and North Korea is nothing new.
During the Korean War, which began in 1950, American troops defended the noncommunist forces of South Korea after the country was invaded by President Kim Il Sung's communist North Korea, who were soon joined by the People's Republic of China.
An armistice agreement was signed in 1953, after more than 54,000 American casualties and hundreds of thousands of North Korean and Chinese casualties. Since then, an estimated 36,000 U.S. military have been stationed in and around South Korea.
The U.S, policy toward North Korea stems from American allegations that the communist country develops weapons of mass destruction and sells its military technology to other countries who are also antagonistic toward the United States, according to Edward Reed, associate director of the Center for East Asian Studies at UW-Madison.
Tensions between North Korea and the United States have been escalating since Bush took office. Despite President Clinton's attempts to negotiate with North Korea, Bush has made it clear that his administration will not be as diplomatic as his predecessor's.
The United States and North Korea signed an agreement in October of 1994 to freeze and ultimately dismantle North Korea's nuclear program.
Reed, who used to be the head of World Vision International's emergency relief program for North Korea, said that Bush's threat to North Korea may also threaten that agreement.
In addition, Reed said, the U.S. government will probably push for more inspections of the North Korean nuclear industry, which he characterized as ""primitive.""
Reed said he believes Bush is targeting North Korea to justify spending millions of dollars on the missile defense system.
""Even if this is not his explicit purpose, it certainly will serve this purpose,"" he said.
Although the North Korean government was upset after Bush's remarks last week, Secretary of State Colin Powell met with South Korean Foreign Minister Han Seung-soo in New York Friday where the two addressed the United States' policy toward North Korea.
""Powell made it clear that the speech was just intended to express the international community's concerns [about terrorism] and did not target the North,"" said South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Yim Sung-joon in a news briefing, according to The Korea Herald.
UW-Madison graduate student and South Korea native Pilho Park said he thought it unlikely that the United States would engage in a war with North Korea, partially because of the country's close proximity'both geographic and historical'to China.
""If North Korea is attacked China will feel very uncomfortable and take certain actions against the U.S.,"" he said.
