Handling North Korea

I quite agree with D.J. McGuire, that North Korea must be liberated. But as for how to handle it, were I George W. Bush, I might now be enunciating five words for Kim Jong Il: "Treachery will get you nowhere." If any offers were on the table for North Korea, it is time to take those offers off the table.

Three years ago in April'03, I authored, with Majer Zhou, our article, "Just say 'no' to North Korea." The idea was that there should be no reward for nuclear blackmail -- taxpayers in the free world should not be tapped to give Kim Jong Il a bonus for bad behavior. As a result, "treachery will get you nowhere" is rooted in the same idea. This article is consistent with the earlier one.

The earlier article advised against military action against North Korea, and in part that was said in order to buy time for National Missile Defense (NMD) to become operational. If the U.S. is able to shoot down North Korean missiles, then a military action becomes viable, while such action should be out of the question if NMD is not ready.

At this time, I still would not reach for military action as a first resort. Now is a good time to reinforce Japan, reinforce South Korea, and reinforce Taiwan. Now is a good time to increase support for North Korean political dissidents, their programs, and anti-communist efforts globally (yes, including the China Support Network). Also, now is a good time to prioritize North Korean refugees, putting more attention on their issues, efforting solutions in the international community, and even spending a little more for refugee camps (to save them from the dangers of starvation and ill health). Attention in the mass media on this would be good. Why are these refugees there? --The answers to that question would be the deprivations of the Kim Jong Il regime. The answers to that question are the major points that political dissidents attempt to make. (And above, I also suggested more for dissidents, and yes that means attention in the mass media as well as funding.)

And of course, under good policy that I would follow, Kim Jong Il would hear a large crashing sound from outside his window: The collapse of the Communist Party in China. When that goes down, then it will be possible to *completely* pull the plug on the North Korean regime (unless bleeding hearts in South Korea move in the reverse direction, plugging in the regime).

It's a shame that George W. Bush doesn't take suggestions coming from here. Policies towards North Korea, China, and Vietnam all need adjustment. Above, you've read my North Korea suggestions, which are consistent and compatible with my China and Vietnam suggestions. Would that all three policies became adjusted! --The Bush foreign policy of the 'Bush Doctrine' that was announced in Inaugural II is a good one in its words (freedom for all), but it is not followed up by way of deeds. That makes the Bush Doctrine into a toothless piece of convenient lip service, expedient for the purposes of good White House PR, and yet a false and hollow promise for the world's people. Asia is the region that still has the tyranny, but has lacked the attention from policy makers while they all focused on the Middle East. Asian people are people too! The imperative for freedom knows no exceptions. Efforts for freedom in Asia need to be more than just speeches and lip service.

We need a consistent policy about Asian dictatorships. Asian dictatorships are a bad thing, and we should oppose them!