Botswana and North Korea come from far
Richard Moleofe | Tuesday February 25, 2014 23:29
For many in our country, the said diplomatic relations we have been having with North Korea have been relatively immaterial in the sense that we have little or no trade relations with the entire peninsula. In this case one would have to interrogate the role we have played in the said diplomatic relations. Was it just on paper, that we had any diplomatic relations with North Korea or is it just wishful thinking on the part of Botswana? In actual fact, the only reasonable project of any significance we have done with the North Koreans was the design and construction of the monument for the Three Dikgosi in Gaborone’s new central business district.
In July of 1976, the first president of the Republic of Botswana, Sir Seretse Khama embarked on a diplomatic tour of several countries in Asia to make friends. The countries included China, India, Sri Lanka and of course North Korea. We were just 10 years into our independence as a country, poor and little known. In this regard, the government of Botswana has severed a 38 year-old relationship with the North Korea.
During Seretse’s trip, it seems he captured the attention of the Koreans amongst all the other countries he toured with his small team. This was the time when we badly needed friends as the British had left us out in the cold of economic disparity and with no relevant skills to run a country, let alone develop it.
It seems Seretse walked out of North Korea a happy man. The amount of preparations made for this official reception was staggering. Young Koreans impressed Seretse with the singing of the songs “Tautona Sir Seretse Khama” by Rieks Morake and “Ga nkabo ke na le matshwaro” by Ratsie Setlhako.
The amount of effort invested in the preparation for this reception was a clear indication that the Koreans took us as serious friends. North Korea under Kim Jong Un’s grandfather Kim Zaza, presented the brightest opportunity for a little known African country to forge everlasting relations in the Korean peninsula. There was little follow-up by Seretse’s successors to continue to nurture this extraordinary relationship. The relationship died as a natural consequence.
As the announcement came from the corridors of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, it seems many in the country and elsewhere were bewildered by the idea that we ever had an existing relationship with North Korea, a country whose capital we cannot even spell correctly without referring to a global map. And what exactly informed the decision of such drastic measurers taken by the government of Botswana? The document in question is the investigation report by a United Nations Commission of Enquiry which was released last week. The report chronicles a series of unimaginable human rights abuses. According to the team leader of the investigating commission, Judge Michael Kirby, it is time for the world to act. He is quoted saying; “too many times in this building are reports and no action.
Well, this is the time for action. We can’t say we didn’t know. We now all do know. Anyone who wants to know can read the report.” According to news reports, North Korea refused to allow investigators into the country denying that none of those violations even exist. Furthermore, the UN investigators have put North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on notice that he and others in his regime may be referred to the International Criminal Court for prosecution.
From the contents of the report, it clearly shows that North Korea will continue to lose friends except for China. It is a given that by the time this report is debated in the Security Council, China will do everything possible to protect North Korea.
However, Botswana has thrown out of the window an old relationship which could help unlock the 61 year-old impasse in the Korean peninsula. Botswana has hastily gone public in its views even before the report is tabled before the United Nations Security Council which will make decisions that will inform all its members on the appropriate course of action on this matter.
By rushing to the forefront and “jumping the gun” as is the case now, Botswana has only exposed herself to the world community that she is not diplomatically mature. As many before me have argued, the lack of a clearly defined foreign policy is the greatest undoing for this country.
Botswana’s approach to this matter should have been different.
Taking into account the relationship that our first president had cultivated with Kim’s grandfather, the government of Botswana should have used that leverage to begin courtship with the young North Korean leader. For many in Asia, just as much as in Africa, old ancestral covenants are highly respected and this is exactly what Botswana needed to exploit to the highest limits.
Who would not want to listen to people who have had ties with their grandfather who was also the founder of the country as we know it now?
The only effect that Botswana has created with the premature and immature diplomatic statement can only help to isolate North Korea further.
This will also make us vulnerable as a country because we are brave enough to make avowed statements without following laid down protocol lines by the community of nations. Clearly, North Korea will not listen to the United States for any suggestions, but would take into consideration any proposal made by an African country or individuals. It seems for now that Botswana’s position on certain international issues only serves to expose personal views by those in power and not the will of the people.
Reverend Richard Moleofe is a Political and Social commentator.