Korean Crisis.

Stalinist leader Kim Jong Il and his generals.

The attack of the Northern Korean state on Southern Korea threatens deepens the crisis in the area. At this point there are a lot of things not clear. It appears the Northern Stalinist regime is close to getting nuclear weapons. There is also a change in leadership taking place. It is possible that the attack on the South is to whip up nationalist support for the Northern leadership as it makes these changes. Whatever the reason the attacks create more tension in the area. US Imperialism has been stepping up its presence in the entire region in the past years as the rising Chinese regime flexes its muscles. Other regimes in the area, Japan and others, are also wary of the rising strength of China but at the same time increasingly integrated into the Chinese economy. No simple solutions exist. Contradictory pressures and tensions worsen.

It appears that US Imperialism will not be able to prevent North Korea now achieving nuclear weapons. This will strengthen this regime in the area. US Imperialism and its ally South Korea cannot go to war against the North. The US is already bogged down in the Middle East, its occupation goes from bad to worse in Afghanistan. North Korea is much more equipped with weapons than the South, The Southern capital Seoul is only thirty miles from the border with the North and the North has hundreds of artillery rockets lined up which could reach the city in minutes, and has several hundred short and medium range missiles that could strike any point in the South. And if this was not deterrent enough for the US to stay out of war, what would happen if the US attacked an ally of China in the area. The giant China would be drawn into the conflict.

Capitalism is in an increasingly deepening economic crisis world wide. See the crisis of the euro and exchange rates and recession. It is also in an increasingly deepening political crisis with its political representatives unable to solve its problems. And it is of course in an increasingly deepening military crisis as demonstrated by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere. To be drawn into another war in Korea would not be helpful to say the least for US Imperialism and world capitalism in general. The Stalinist leader of the North, Kim Jong Il is portrayed as a nut case. But probably this attack on the South has nothing to do with his mental state. But more to do with the crisis in which capitalism finds itself and him taking the opportunity to make changes in the leadership in the North and flex his muscles some more on the international stage.

For democratic socialists like the organizers of this blog it is very unfortunate that the Stalinist regime in the north claims to be socialist, and that it has such crises of famine and poverty and that its behaviour is so bizarre. For an end to capitalism on a world scale and its replacement with democratic socialism. for an end to the Stalinist regime in north Korea and its replacement with a democratic socialist society.