John M. Swomley

John M. Swomley is professor emeritus of social ethics at the St. Paul School of Theology in Missouri and the executive director of the American Committee on Korea. In the following viewpoint, he argues that U.S. government agencies, including the Defense Department and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), have misled the American people into believing that North Korea is a supremely dangerous military enemy. The extent of North Korea’s threat has been exaggerated in order to justify American military spending as well as U.S. control over South Korea, he contends. Swomley blames the United States for diplomatically isolating North Korea and staging war exercises in South Korea to prevent the two countries from improving relations with each other.

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1. Why does the Pentagon...