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Asia-Pacific North Korea's Point of View Tokyo Correspondent He joined various anti-Japanese guerrilla groups in northern China and this proved vital for two factors. Firstly, he clearly fought against the invaders of Korea and secondly, China would remain loyal to him during the Korean War. So clearly, it was Kim and not future leaders in South Korea, like Park Chung-hee, who had fought against Japanese imperialism with bravery. If we look at regional politics, then is North Korea so unique? Yes, political systems are different and economic development stages are also hugely different. The same applies to political and economic freedom. However, is the political mindset so different in parts of Asia? For example, the nations of China, Japan, Iran (1979 onwards), Laos, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Vietnam, and others, have one common thread. This applies to the same political party dominating society and the central role of consensus ideology or thinking. This does not mean that all societies are similar, of course they are not, but all the above nations have "a guiding political party" or "guiding ideology" which maintains order. Of course, we can argue that North Korea goes to the extreme, but you do have the same power-plays happening but under different systems in other parts of Asia. Focusing on past history, then is North Korea a victim of many negative forces? This applies to "old" Korea being overwhelmingly feudal and based on agriculture prior to Japanese imperialism. After all, the nation was called the "Hermit Kingdom." Korea, therefore, went from feudalism to Japanese imperialism and then the Korean peninsula became a victim of global power politics. Added to this, you had the height of the Cold War and an alien ideology, communism, adding to the equation. On top of this, millions have died and been displaced since 1905 onwards and many massacres have happened, be they by outside forces, for example by America or Japan, or because of internal massacres. After all, how can North Korea trust South Korea given the closeness of the leaders to either past imperial Japan or to modern day America, or to both outside nations? How can you forgive "your brother" when they colluded with outside nations? Obviously, the South Korean point of view will be very different, but today is about trying to understand all the competing forces which have pulled both nations apart, despite sharing the same ethnic identity and to understand the current stalemate. If we turn to current events, for example the Six-Party Talks, then it is clear that North Korea is linking military developments alongside obtaining "a genuine peace" whereby America no longer threatens the nation, and also to obtain economic aid in order to stabilize the economy. The six-party talks aim is to find a peaceful resolution to a very complex problem. For North Korea, they believe that they need a security guarantee because of a possible military attack by America or by combined American and South Korean armed forces.Also, Japanese leaders have played the nationalist card in order to bash North Korea for a very long time. Yet look at the consequences, yes, they have merely forced North Korea into a corner and this is always dangerous. So today we have a more potent leadership in North Korea which is bent on protecting its independence. The Japanese government used the nationalist card during the recent dispute over a missile test or satellite which was launched by North Korea on April 5. Other more moderate regional nations, notably the Russian Federation and China, stated that nations must remain calm otherwise the consequences may become dire. However, Japan continues to make "noisy statements" and clearly North Korea will see this to be nothing more than an historical hatred of Korea by nationalists in Japan who still pray to war criminals.Therefore, irrespective if you "love" North Korea or "hate" the government of North Korea, it is essential to try and see the world "through their eyes." Also, if you consider everything, then North Korea may have some valid points when it comes to international relations and being independent. This article is not meant to be an "apologist" article, on the contrary, it is merely meant to challenge the daily anti-North Korea mass media and to merely add a different dimension. People should remember that Koreans have suffered at the hands of others throughout the 20th century and sadly today both Korea's are divided because of this history. However, how can the Korean peninsula move on when one side is "ridiculed" or "despised?" 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