Securing Korea in the Asian century: Australia, the DPRK and middle - PDF document

Securing Korea in the Asian century: Australia, the DPRK and middle power diplomacy D.L. Chubb, Lecturer in International Relations, Deakin University. Introduction When tackling the question of security on the Korean peninsula – and the ramifications that any breakdown in security may have for the Asia Pacific in general, including Australia and NZ – the nuclear ambitions of the DPRK immediately presents itself. It is perhaps surprising, then, that when it comes to the issue of ROK-Australian bilateral relations, the question of ‘how to deal with North Korea ’ does not top the list. While an ability to deal better with strategic contingencies on the Peninsula does inform elements of the diplomatic relationship, Australia has in practice proven itself unwilling to deviate from the dominant approaches taken by the pair’s shared ally ; the United States. In this paper, I will argue that this approach is contrary to Australia’s stated goals of developing in dependent security ties with the ROK, preventing Australia from taking real advantage of the middle power status that the two countries share. This limits the potentially creative policy making options that such a role promises. In order to make this argument, I will explore the dominant conceptual lens that forms the basis of policy rationale towards North Korea: the DPRK as a norm deviator, a rogue state and argue that such an approach to policy is a constructed one that c onstrains Australia’s policy options towards the Korean peninsula Australia and the debate over ‘what to do about North Korea?’ Before turning to my discussion of ‘North Korea as rogue state , ’ it is first worthwhile rehearsing some of the debates taking place inside Australia about the changing nature of international order, and its place inside it, as an Asia Pacific ‘middle power’. In this way, an argument for a more creative diplomacy vis-à-vis North Korea is an argument about how Australia sees itself and its role in what is increasingly being called the coming ‘ Asian century ’ . The debate over the future of the US-Australia alliance is animated by questions regarding the future of US power in Asia. For Australia, whose economic future lies increasingly with

Asia in general and China in particular, questions have been raised regarding whether Australia needs to start taking more responsibility for its own security, particularly in the Asian region. The debate, then, is rarely one over the value of the US alliance per se , but rather the degree to which Australia should be reliant upon the US security guarantee. At the end of the day, then, this is not a debate over whether or not Australia should continue to conduct alliance relations with the United States, but rather an argument about taking a more independent position within it. This, it is important to note, is a choice also faced by South Korea, whose own existential security is arguably even more closely tied with the US alliance system, and whose own identity is also brought into question by the challenges brought about by the Asian century. It is also important to note that its allies’ quests for a more independent strategic capability is one that is supported by the United States, who is actively encouraging the development of bilateral ties between its allies. As US capacity is increasingly strained, in the Asia-Pacific as elsewhere, strategists turn to well- worn phrases such as ‘burden - sharing’ to describe the future of the US alliance system in Asia, and the increasingly independent role it expects of its allies. There is, then, great scope for a country like Australia. Not only are we facing an era in which greater regionalism has led to a greater acceptance of where Australia’s greatest security opportunities and challenges lie, there are a number of new developments to take advantage of: stronger relations with the ROK and the dynamism of an alliance system that is looking for new and innovative ways to exploit the institutions and diplomatic relationships that decades of the US alliance system in Asia has forged. And yet, for all Australia’s talk of creative diplomacy – which was most clearly evident in recent discourse regarding Australia’s successful bid for a non -permanent seat on the UN Security Council – I argue that its approach to North Korea has in fact regressed and displays a tendency to fall in quick-step with an approach that is framed around the understanding of North Korea as a ‘rogue state’. How did we get here? In 2012 the international community has been remarkably silent on the question of North Korea – taking a wait and see approach, largely brought about by the death of Kim Jong Il

and the rise to power of his son, Kim Jong Eun. It is only now (as things appear relatively stable north of the 38 th parallel) that we are starting to sense that the mood for engagement may be returning. We are still, however, a long way from that. Up until the death of Kim Jong Il, discourse had become increasingly hardline and North Korea was increasingly seen as a security threat in the true realist sense – mistrust has dominated public and policy discourses. This, however, has not always been the case and it is worth remembering that at least twice in recent history, there have been more rigorous conversations taking place over the pros and cons of greater engagement with North Korea. In the mid-1990s – in the context of the debate over the Agreed Framework – and the early 2000s – in the context of the constant to and fro-ing of the Bush White House – academic and policy journals deliberated a range of new possible responses to the North Korean nuclear conundrum. During this time, of course, democracy came to South Korea and, with the inauguration of the Kim Dae Jung government, a whole new approach to North Korea in the form of the Sunshine policy. Since this time, however, in the light of the breakdown of the Agreed Framework, the subsequent establishment and failure of the six-party talks, the Bush administration’s changed response to international outli ers following the September 11 terrorist attacks and, most recently, provocations against South Korea and revelations regarding North Korea’s nuclear capacity, efforts to negotiate with North Korea have been deemed a failure. With the stalling of diplomatic efforts, so too has the academic and policy discourse petered out. Dramatic headlines have once again led to an essentialising rhetoric that depicts North Korea as either irrational or evil (or both) and, above all, unknowable. North Korea the rogue Most ‘North Korea watchers’ begin their analysis of North Korea with the caveat that, in the end, there is very little that is certain about North Korea. This caution stems from a series of bold – and ultimately dramatically erroneous – predictions by esteemed academics and policy pundits about the imminent collapse of the DPRK in the 1990s. Indeed, a measure of caution is necessary – it is, I think, irresponsible to claim to speak authoritatively about the motives of a regime that has so shrouded itself in secrecy. However, speculations about the motives of most countries are just that – speculation. And yet, it is only in the case of North Korea that analysts so consistently feel beholden to

remind their audiences that, after all, no one knows anything about North Korea – not even people who have dedicated their careers to understanding this enigmatic country better. It has become common practice to begin an educated and sophisticated discussion of North Korea with an outright denial regarding the country’ s knowability. We need to think carefully about this and ask the question: Is our lack of understanding of North Korea due to its inherently mysterious and unknowable – irrational and unpredictable perhaps – nature or is it due to the narrow confines of the conceptual frameworks through which we view it? It is not the intention of this paper to delve into a discussion of scholarship dedicated to understanding the roles that ‘paradigms’ play in shaping our thinking and the conditions that must be in place for a paradigm to be challenged. Suffice it to note that an identification of our conceptual frameworks is helpful, if for no other reason than it uncovers the fundamental assumptions guiding our thinking. By its nature, a ‘rogue’ regime is one dedicated to breaking down established structures and institutions. An unknowable regime is one with whom no meaningful diplomatic relations can be forged. And an irrational regime is one whose own policy agenda cannot be understood – by either itself or an outsider – as it is not based on any type of reasoned or rational assumptions. Understanding North Korea through any or all of these lenses narrows policy options to the degree that change is not seen as a variable and the only options available to the international community are coercion or isolation. This leads us rather to a dead end, and constrains the imagination of policy alternatives and security futures. It rebukes any suggestion that track 2 dialogues may help with overcoming impasses, and rules out engagement as a form of appeasement to a bad or mad (or both) regime. It is clear that North Korea’s policies are based on a rationale that is evident, perhaps, only to policy makers in Pyongyang. Arguments by the rest of the world community, that the regime is irrational, seems only an admission that we do not understand their rationale. If North Korea is indeed capable of change, understanding their rationality is a step towards understanding how this might come about.