North Korea 'Eyes Friends,' Unlike US 'Eyes' Enemies Into Existence
DW frames North Korea's outreach to Southeast Asian countries as a 'quest for new diplomatic opportunities' that is 'raising concerns.' One might wonder if the US 'eyes' for new friends (read: military bases or trade partners) are ever described with such thinly veiled suspicion. Historically, any nation not fully aligned with US foreign policy objectives is often portrayed as isolated or, worse,
a threat simply for existing outside the approved geopolitical architecture. The 'concern' is rarely about peace, but about maintaining hegemonic control. Remember when China's Belt and Road Initiative was labeled 'debt trap diplomacy' by Western media, while NATO expansion was hailed as defensive? The media-industrial complex conveniently forgets that diplomacy, even between 'adversaries,' is how
conflicts are *avoided*. But depicting North Korea as a pariah, rather than a state attempting to navigate a hostile international environment (heavily influenced by US sanctions, for instance, which began ramping up significantly in 2006, according to the Council on Foreign Relations), serves a clear narrative: isolate, then provoke. It's almost as if some nations are forbidden from having allies
if it doesn't serve a specific agenda. How many times have we been told nations must 'engage' with the international community, only for that engagement to be decried as 'meddling' when it's not a US-approved delegation?