General Pierre St-Amand, a top Canadian officer, declared that the United States has no obligation to protect Canada from North Korea, or any other nation. According to a report by The Independent, it has been supposed for a long time that the US has to protect its northern neighbor, but this is not part of the official American policy. The Canadian general, who works at the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), surprised many people in Canada because his comment demolished an assumption that had existed for a long time. The relationship between Ottawa and North Korea is not negative, however, one Canadian official believes that the Pyongyang regime has to make more effort to achieve peace in East Asia.
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The NORAD is a Canadian and US organization that has been created to detect, validate, and warn of an attack against these countries by missiles, aircraft, or another type of attack. Although the US has no obligation to protect Canada, this could change depending on the context. Mark Gwozdecky, an official related to the Canadian security, stated that there has been no threat from the North Korean government. The Pyongyang regime is seen as aggressive by many countries because it has been testing nuclear weapons and it has behaved aggressively against Japan and South Korea. The Pyongyang regime has been firing missiles over Japan.
Relations between North Korea and Canada
According to a report by The Independent, Mark Gwozdecky stated that lately there have been contacts with the Pyongyang regime.
The Canadian security adviser was in Pyongyang in August and saw no signs of danger in the relationship with the Asian country. North Korea believes that Canada is a friendly and peaceful nation, so, the relationship is much better than with the US or Japan. The government of Kim Jong Un has been threatening many countries.
Not all is perfect
Mark Gwozdecky also made comments on the negative side of the North Korean foreign policy, which involve the development of nuclear weapons and firing missiles over Japanese territory. Canada has good relationships with South Korea and Japan, so, Ottawa wants the North Korean regime to be more peaceful with them.
Gwozdecky believes that the Pyongyang policy is a threat to the regional security in East Asia. There are Canadian politicians who have wanted to join the American Missile Shield program for some years, but the Canadian government has never done this.