Did Obama Score a Victory at Sea vs. North Korea?
A suspect cargo ship is returning home. (Also read Claudia Rosett: "Not Helpful")
At this moment, the Kang Nam, a tramp freighter, looks as if it is heading back to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. It left the North Korean port of Nampo on June 17 and, after hugging the Chinese coast, made it as far south as the waters off Vietnam. At the end of last month, the rusting ship made a U-turn on the high seas and set a course for China. According to most reports, the North Korean freighter was on its way to Burma. This saga is not over, but it’s clear the Kang Nam will not, at least on this voyage, be delivering its cargo.
And what would that cargo be? Some speculate the rust bucket is carrying missiles like the seven Scuds Pyongyang tested on July 4. Others believe the Kang Nam is transporting only automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Any shipment of weapons, even handguns, would be a violation of Security Council Resolution 1874, unanimously adopted on June 12. The United States wants to make sure that any illicit material stays on board and has had destroyers, submarines, aircraft, and satellites keep watch on the rust bucket as it meandered in Asian waters.
Even by North Korean standards, the Kang Nam’s voyage is strange. So what happened? David Ignatius reports he heard about the reversal of the vessel’s course from a White House official, who called in the early hours of the morning while the Washington Post columnist was in Moscow. The official, whom Ignatius did not name, said Washington had conducted “a behind-the-scenes pressure campaign,” convincing nations along the route to not allow the Kang Nam to dock.
And the American efforts were also directed at the Rangoon regime. “The Burmese said no, we don’t want it,” the official told Ignatius. And they said that on an open line to the North Koreans so that Washington would hear it. So the Obama administration is claiming credit for the ship’s mid-course reversal. The White House official said the president had scored a “victory.” As Ignatius’s source noted, “Obama has an open hand, but a firm handshake.”
And a cautious attitude. Despite concerns that the Kang Nam was carrying contraband, administration officials were worried the voyage was staged, that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was trying to create a confrontation over an ordinary cargo. To avoid a humiliating incident, the White House decided to avoid a search on the high seas. There is nothing inherently wrong about approaching the North Koreans warily — they are especially cunning after all — but not boarding the Kang Nam cannot be called a “victory.”
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Gordon G. Chang is the author of Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes On the World and The Coming Collapse of China.
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35 Comments
1. Libertyship46:What I always find amusing is that whenever the Democrats get back into office the first thing they want to do is find some sort of “Peace Dividend” and reduce the size of our military, especially the Navy. After all, since most of them don’t really know what our Navy does, then who needs it, right? Current projections in the Democratically controlled Congress is for the Navy to be reduced in size with more emphasis to be given to land forces (such as the Army and the Marine Corps) for the war on terror (sorry, that’s the war on “Man Made Disasters,” which is what the Director of Homeland Security is calling it these days). In any case, land is in and ships, which are expensive to build, man, and maintain, are out. Yet what are some of the very first military operations authorized by the Obama administration? Oh, that’s right, rescuing an American captain from Somali pirates and shadowing (and possibly boarding) a North Korean merchant ship suspected of carrying contraband materials. Hmmm, sounds a lot like naval operations to me. And where did we get the assets to immediately project American naval power at a moment’s notice to far-off regions of the world (in this case off the coast of Somalia and China)? Oh, that’s right, it’s the US Navy. Silly me. Now that Obama actually needs a navy to enforce a blockade on North Korea or to rescue American nationals off the coast of Africa, those expensive American warships don’t look so expensive anymore. In fact, they even come in useful from time to time, right? And there’s also a reason every President since Harry Truman asks “Where are the carriers?” whenever a global crisis occurs. President Obama, don’t do the usual Democratic dance and trash the Navy just because you are spending money like a drunken sailor. Cut the funding for a road that nobody needs in California or a boardwalk at Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. Warships have an uncanny knack for become really, really, important at the most inconvenient times. It’s a pity Democratic Presidents have to re-learn this lesson every time they get back into office.
Jul 5, 2009 - 4:45 am 2. Steve:I could be wrong but I believe that the ship was a decoy to see how the United States might react. I think they are trying to provoke a military conflict and believe just tracking the ship at this time was the right thing.
Problem is was this just the first of such with others actually having weapons on board with the thought that we will just follow the ship and not mess with it?
Jul 5, 2009 - 5:01 am 3. Letalis Maximus, Esq.:In more important news, there aren’t enough tickets for Michael Jackson’s funeral. Fans are distraught.
Jul 5, 2009 - 5:15 am 4. Bangled:Go Navy!
I agree with Libertyship46. They’ll cut the Navy’s budget and international waters won’t be as safe. Considering the tanker and freighter traffic on the high seas a less safe shipping corridor will increase costs of imported goods and imported energy. While it would be nice to have the international community step up and carry their share of the burden in reality they’ll never do that. The net affect will be an increase in the cost of foreign goods from Europe and Asia as well as an increase in the cost of oil.
Jul 5, 2009 - 8:18 am 5. Войска ПВО:..the only this I saw the Boy King do on the fourth was flap his lips from the White House and mumble something to one of his kids during the first third of the Marine Corps band’s playing of From teh Halls of Montezuma..
..epic do-nothing.
Meanwhile, Pajama Boy was giving new meaning to the lyrics, “..the rocket’s red glare..”
Jul 5, 2009 - 9:36 am 6. Edward A:Just think how George W. Bush would have handled this!!!!
Jul 5, 2009 - 9:38 am 7. Gordon Chang:Libertyship46, you got that right. Everyone should tell their representative in Congress.
Thanks.
Jul 5, 2009 - 10:20 am 8. Gordon Chang:Steve, it could be a decoy, but, if it is, they probably would have continued on a little longer. They would have certainly gone on longer if it was an attempt to provoke a confrontation. In this case, turning around is the last thing they would do.
Jul 5, 2009 - 10:24 am 9. Gordon Chang:Letalis Maximus, Esq., what shall we do? Is this a sign of the end of Western civilization?
Jul 5, 2009 - 10:26 am 10. Gordon Chang:Bangled, I agree they will cut the Navy’s budget, but I suspect international commerce will decline due to the global downturn. It’s hard to say what the effect this will have on the cost of goods and commodities carried by ship.
Jul 5, 2009 - 10:29 am 11. Gordon Chang:Войска ПВО, yes, you’re definitely right about the “new meaning” to “the rocket’s red glare.” Let’s see how the President responds to North Korea’s blatant violation of Security Council Resolution 1874.
Jul 5, 2009 - 10:33 am 12. Gordon Chang:Edward A, I suspect Bush would have done little better. His second-term North Korea policy was just about as bad as Bill Clinton’s.
Jul 5, 2009 - 10:34 am 13. RKV:How did GWB handle the incident when a Chinese plane interfered with the flight of one of our planes in April 2001, Edward? GWB would have not ordered the Navy to board the ship. What was done here, if I read the tea leaves correctly, is that the US managed to prevent the financial transaction which would have paid for the arms, which is why the ship turned back. Hopefully, either administration could find a way to stop arms exports contrary to the UN resolution, without a shot being fired. Unlike the situation in Pakistan, where we do have some leverage with the government, and are allowed to use drone strikes on the Taliban there, the Chinese really do try to protect their client and his assets. Let’s be very clear about the facts in the case of the Norks – 1) China is protecting them for its own political reasons 2) re-arming Japan is one thing we need to do and 3) the South Koreans aren’t that excited about what would happen to their economy should the Norks give up – think East Germany on a much more desperate scale and last 4) getting US civilian dependents out of South Korea is something else we should do.
Jul 5, 2009 - 10:43 am 14. sugga:North Korea is a child of China.. take care
Jul 5, 2009 - 10:49 am 15. Bart:“After all, since most of them don’t really know what our Navy does, then who needs it, right?”
This is essentially the Democratic Party’s take on everything. They don’t really know how the economy works, so they figure it just happens, and they can arbitrarily make up rules for it. Anything they don’t understand is simple, and they have a teenager’s impatience when the adults try to explain how it isn’t so simple.
Jul 5, 2009 - 11:29 am 16. Norman Yarvin:It is a longstanding feature of international law that a blockade is considered an act of war, on the same level as an artillery barrage or a bomber attack. An embargo, in contrast, is not an act of war; in an embargo, you only prohibit your own nationals from trading with a country, while in a blockade, you stop ships of other nationalities. Since the Security Council resolution did not authorize stopping and searching North Korean ships, it did not really authorize a blockade, no matter what the language of the resolution may have pretended in other respects. It’s hard to blame the administration much for not committing what by longstanding convention is an act of war.
And that convention is not, in general, unreasonable; interfering with the commerce of other nations can be a serious thing. Of course an occasional stop and search of a single North Korean rustbucket is not a big deal, even if it is technically an act of war. But when stopping and searching becomes more frequent and intrusive, it can become a serious cause of action, as it was in the War of 1812.
Jul 5, 2009 - 1:35 pm 17. boo2:The world should be so lucky as to be as uncomplicated as in 1812.
Want to interfer with a country’s economy???/….quit buying anything from China..This week alone I put back 123 things…Yes, I counted, and I could not find a usa counterpart for a lot of things and had to inprovise. Now that’s messing with a country’s ecomony.
There will be war..it’s inevitable..just prepare.. sounds like dooms day b.s….but it is inevitable…oh for 1812 again..and the wide open spaces to run to.
Jul 5, 2009 - 3:01 pm 18. stuart Williamson:To do nothing, and then having the opponent back off for reasons that may have nothing to do with your non-action, constitutes a “victory” in Alinskyland! Sort of like voting “absent”.
Jul 5, 2009 - 4:51 pm 19. Michael Lonie:Not long ago NorK denounced the 1953 Armistice that ended the Korean WAr. By doing so it put itself in a formal state of war with the USA, the Republic of Korea, and for that matter the UN. When at war a nation has the right to seize the ships of the hostile power. Given NorK’s own action a seizure of the ship by the USN would have been legal.
Li’l Kim is conducting a game of chicken with the rest of the world. When the thugs ruling NorK realize the place really is collapsing they will start a war to seize the wealth of ROK to keep themselves going a bit longer. If they have nukes and suitable missiles at that time it will start with nuke strikes on Guam, Okinawa, Oahu, and Japan, to cripple the immediate reinforcing capabilities of the US as ROK’s ally. If the NorK regime is not overthrown and replaced before then there will be a war.
Jul 5, 2009 - 4:57 pm 20. fear obama:Congratulations to the United States Navy for protection and service.
Jul 5, 2009 - 5:17 pm 21. RKV:Michael, One SSGN would, in the event of open war, end the Norks. Permanently. One. If they nuked US bases or territory, they would be done in under an hour. More likely less than a half hour.
Jul 5, 2009 - 8:51 pm 22. Marc Malone:#19 Michael Lonie – Uh, no, he REnounced it. He didn’t DEnounce it.
Yes, we are back at war with them, but Obama will do nothing. That’s why Kim did it, to demonstrate that nothing would happen. It is so clear how castrated our nation has become.
Jul 6, 2009 - 12:16 am 23. Gordon Chang:RKV, regarding your comment about evacuating civilians from South Korea, I hope you don’t also think we should end our alliance with South Korea. Do you?
Jul 6, 2009 - 9:42 am 24. Gordon Chang:sugga, yes, we don’t have a North Korean problem, we have a China problem.
Jul 6, 2009 - 9:43 am 25. Gordon Chang:Michael Lonie, Kim Jong Il and his dad used violence to upset status quos they found to be unacceptable. I don’t know about a full-scale war, but clear we could see incidents of some sort.
Jul 6, 2009 - 9:50 am 26. Gordon Chang:boo2, thanks for buying American. It’s one thing each of us can do.
Jul 6, 2009 - 9:51 am 27. Gordon Chang:Norman Yarvin, we need to stop and search to stop North Korean proliferation, even if we have to stop and search frequently. As a practical matter, we have no choice.
Jul 6, 2009 - 9:53 am 28. Gordon Chang:stuart Williamson, whether or not we had something to do with the Kang Nam’s reversal, it is no victory. It’s just, for the meantime, avoiding defeat. Thanks for your comment.
Jul 6, 2009 - 9:54 am 29. Gordon Chang:fear obama, we all join you in extending congratulations. But this is only one incident. Many more to come.
Jul 6, 2009 - 9:56 am 30. Gordon Chang:marc Malone, you wrote: “That’s why Kim did it, to demonstrate that nothing would happen.” Something happened, but the pushback from Washington was not nearly strong enough.
Jul 6, 2009 - 9:58 am 31. NavyMom:Did Obama score a victory? If he did, nobody noticed because they’re all too busy sobbing over Michael Jackson.
Jul 6, 2009 - 5:20 pm 32. RKV:Gordon, No, I don’t suggest we break faith with the South Koreans. I merely recommend we get civilian dependents out of the line of fire. Bad things can happen and can happen quickly. Let’s not let them be held hostage. Yes it makes a tour harder. Better that than some other scenarios.
Jul 6, 2009 - 5:25 pm 33. lefty:there is a one word anwswer…if you watched the whole hting…you can only come up with a NO NONONONO
Jul 6, 2009 - 6:58 pm 34. Gordon Chang:RKV, thanks for the clarification. I agree, because, at this moment, the situation is more dangerous than we realize.
Jul 7, 2009 - 9:34 am 35. Gordon Chang:lefty, thanks for the answer. What is the question? Did Obama score a victory? Or something else?
Jul 7, 2009 - 9:37 am