Pyongyang’s dharma is Putra Jaya’s drama

Imagine Malaysia a century from now, driven by secular values and developed into a vibrant financial centre while regarded as 'the introvert' of the region. Quiet, yet powerful.

In the backdrop of this plausible scenario, a question for those running our foreign policy. Was it worth the drama, or should we have employed discretion and avoided the faux paus, given that we are back to square one, where our nine citizens are returned in exchange for the corpse of the North Korean. But as in Altantuyaa, our 'abhorrence' for government assassins is left exposed, prosecuting two alleged killers with no apparent motive or investment in their victims?

Pyongyang's geo-political position provides a talking point for our imagined phobia, not about being attacked but about a fear of being attacked, a rape fantasy, if you will. Analogous to an extrovert, strident in the notion that she presents such an irresistible figure that she is sure to be raped; our nation presents herself as an object of desire so compelling that her antagonist in her story, North Korea, cannot resist the urge to ravage her. 

Isn't it apparent by now the nuclear moves of Pyongyang are intrinsic to the re-alignment of Washington's power in the region in that she is 'obliged to defend' Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and minions in the area, Malaysia inclusive, against the 'brute power' of the 'rogue' Korean? 

We can't connect the dots that the joint naval drills by Washington and South Korea were a pre-planned event, notwithstanding that they coincided with North Korea firing battle-ready Taepodongs into waters Japan claims as its own. We can't even imagine the exercise as a marketing ploy to ring up the Military-Industrial Complex of Thaad defence systems sales to US allies in the region. In that case, our illusion of importance on the world stage should run its course. 

Words, Tommy Peters