Jill Stein, the perennial candidate of the Green Party, took to the airwaves to defend North Korea, saying that Kim Jong Un was “cornered” by the United States and South Korea. She argued that the North Korean government was justified and provoked into developing nuclear weapons.
During her interview on MSNBC this Sunday, Stein criticized the United States’ THAAD missile defense system, put in place over South Korea to defend against nuclear attack. Stein called the system a “boondoggle” for the weapons industry.
“It destabilizes the balance of power in that region,” Stein said. “China, understandably feels like this is a massive radar system being brought in under a trojan horse. The trojan horse is missile defense, which it doesn’t really accomplish, but the reality is that it brings in a very powerful radar system that can be used, essentially, to surveil China.”
Stein went further, stating, “this system of attempting to coerce North Korea is not working.” Essentially blaming the U.S. for provoking North Korea into developing nuclear weapons.
“And we’re having sort of a trade off now of provocations between South Korea and the United States versus North Korea. In particular, what North Korea has a problem with are these war exercises, which are basically bombing runs. They are mock nuclear attacks, first strike nuclear attacks, which are being rehearsed by South Korea and the United States,” Stein said.
“The U.S. has had a policy of first nuclear strike against North Korea so any country in their right mind is going to want to develop a nuclear weapon,” she continued.
She also expressed that it is a “good thing” that “North Korea, China and Russia have consistently put on the table the offer to suspend any further nuclear test or any further missile test in exchange for the U.S. and South Korea suspending their war games.”
“Then we can sit down and have a diplomatic solution,” Stein said.
The anchor at MSNBC asked Stein if she would blame North Korea for “provocations”?
Absolutely,” Stein replied. However, she argued “these are provocations on both sides.”
To their credit, the MSNBC’s anchor followed up this line of questioning , “it sounds as if you are supporting the positions of the North Korea-Russia-China alliance over that of the United States.”
Stein denied the accusation and countered, “Actually, I’m supporting here the position of the South Korean people.” And, added that the South Korean people are “tired of war,” and have “lived under the threat of war for decades now.”
“They don’t even have a peace treaty. The Korean War is still on. There’s an armistice but the people of the Korean peninsula, and especially in South Korea, have lived under the threat of war for decades now. They’re really tired of it. They would like to move ahead by negotiating a peace treaty. And the demonization of North Korea is part of the run-up to regime change. We saw it in Iraq. We saw it in Libya. It’s part of demonizing a government that we then want to exercise regime change on and then what do we get? Look at our track record here. It’s not so good,” Stein argued.
Stein continued to defend North Korea, “Long before their missile tests, the U.S. was conducting nuclear bombing runs against North Korea. We actually had nuclear weapons until the end of the Cold War. We actually had nuclear weapons stationed in South Korea.”
“So this is very frightening to them. They’ve been basically cornered into feeling like they have to develop a nuclear weapon,” she added.
