Report: N. Koreans Will Allow Lefkowitz into Kaesong

If true, interesting. He should be prepared for an ambush before dozens of cameras, since recent visits make it apparent that North Korean guides at Kaesong are pre-loaded with approved harangues. The disadvantage of those is that the haranguer can’t adapt flexibly to questions like, “have you ever wanted to wander the streets of Rome, eat a mango, hear reggae, drive, or vote against the President?” Still, Lefkowitz will be set up as the overdog, and should not underestimate the gravity of this debate for the audience that will hear it.

Awful nonsense will be said about life in America. Lefkowitz should not try to defend perfection that doesn’t exist, but should graciously invite his guide to the United States to freely walk the streets and see for himself. He should also talk Yodok, and Haengryong, and some of the horrid things rumored to happen there. He should ask why neither Vitit Muntarbhorn nor the Red Cross are permitted to inspect it. He should talk about the famine and its disproportionate toll. He should ask why thousands of people are dying to get out of North Korea. He should ask what Kim Jong Il is hiding from the people by denying them information in which the rest of the world trafficks more or less freely.

If this is leading to an exchange of ideas, then we ought to prepare for it, and embrace it. And obviously, Lefkowitz should be as inquisitive as Ambassador Vershbow was.