Comments on: Hostile Policy Update: North Korea Kills Off Sunshine

By: Joshua

Joshua — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 19:26:02 +0000

True, But the best that will mean is that some Koreans will support some of the right policies for a lot of the wrong reasons. And if it’s all about money, why take in refugees or press for reunification? The left argues that the South can’t afford the cost of reunification, and that it actually costs less to prop the regime up. After all, Uncle Sam is paying for a lot of the cost of South Korea’s defense. What they always disregard, of course, is the cost in North Korean lives, the very real global security risks, and the steady deterioration of North Korea’s infrastructure. South Koreans tend to look at all of those costs as someone else’s problem.

But the people of Korea will never fully achieve prosperity, nationhood, security, or a humane way of life without reunification, something that’s unlikely in the extreme unless the Kim Dynasty is overthrown, and which also becomes more costly on many levels with each year it’s delayed.

What Korea desperately needs but does not have is true political leadership — someone who can help the people sacrifice short-term convenience for their long term interests. Lee may find it more “pragmatic” in the short term to play reactionary in the face of the left’s unrealistic/scary vision for reunification, but a political party can’t hold power for long without a vision of its own.

By: GI Korea

GI Korea — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 18:26:41 +0000

I think Lee’s approach to North Korea may actually gain more support from the general South Korean population because of the current economic crisis. I doubt too many South Koreans would approve of billions of dollars going to North Korea when so many South Koreans are going through a hard time economically themselves right now.

By: KCJ

KCJ — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 09:25:36 +0000

OK, in answer to my own question, NYTs (holding my nose while typing) reporter Choe Song Hun says it IS a first:

“â€œWhat we can say is that we are beefing up our readiness,â€ a South Korean military spokesman, who spoke on the customary condition of anonymity, said while declining to confirm the Yonhap report.

Since the 1970s the two Koreas have signed a series of agreements for nonaggression, which the Northâ€™s government has flouted repeatedly, rendering the pacts little more than symbolic. Still, this was the first time that North Korea said that it was officially nullifying them.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/31/world/asia/31nkorea.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

By: KCJ

KCJ — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 09:06:37 +0000

Has this ever happened before?
I’m a bit behind in Korea-watching seeing I have been completely emroiled in OIF/OEF since 2002. I was serving in Korea when the 1999 Yellow Sea skirmish went down. They locked us all down and put us on high alert.

Complete dissolution of all inter-Korean relations sounds extreme. Is this just more bluster and brinksmanship? I think conditions in NK are very, very bad. Sometimes cults see the end coming (Branch Davidians, Jim Jones, Raeliens, etc…) and commit mass suicide, which is what a war with SK would be.

I think we need to take this very, very seriously. Its winter, people are starving, droves are hazarding the cold to escape to China, the Christian evangelists’ leaflets are converting even PKA regulars, and KJI is incapacitated.

I think we need to take this very, very seriously. I wouldn’t line a bird cage with the NYTs. Worthless. But this KCNA report is clearly aimed at Seoul, not Pyongyang.

By: james

james — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 04:43:34 +0000

a little bit of irish/NK drama. KJI’s buddy sean garland is screwed:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gIygVNmjOdcmjMqDMVWOGVqeXvpQD961MS580