It is a tough call, but I would embrace the world rather than prop up North Korea.

Ultimately, I think I’d view unification as a key item for continued prosperity well into the future despite the initial big hits taken after a NK collapse.

I would try to align myself so closely with the United States, Japan, and the global community that loves so much to talk about human rights and world government.

I would stay so close to them that when NK did collapse or explode outward in a last gasp effort - the world community would have to hide their heads under a paperbag if they didn’t do much to help South Korea absorb the North.

In short, I’d put my faith in the world community bailing us (Korea) out when the North ceased to be.

Regardless of how unification comes about, the South will not be able to handle it by itself.

So the choice is to decide against unification period or trying to set the stage for making South Korea’s trouble post-collapse the world’s problem. And since South Korea does truly want unification as a long term goal, I would hope I’d decide to have a long term outlook in my policy formulation rather than the short term benefits of avoiding collapse by strengthening Pyongyang and thus perpetuating the division of the two nations.

Yes. I think the above quote is a highly reasonable assessment. I also think it’s an opinion that many average Korean citizens hold(!) Now, if S.Korea was YOUR country and you were as Korean as much as you are an American, would you be willing to have your country piss away all of its “comparative advantages” for a highly uncertain (and potentially destabalizing) future following a collapse of NK?

…yes, I know some of you guys are idealists, but be honest with yourselves. If you still believe you would march North to fight “the good cause”, then I take my hat off to your display of integrity…

You get to close your eyes while hopelessly clicking your heels together saying, “There is no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home” desperately praying you will be miracaliously transported to Never-Never Land (if I can mix references here).

It allows blockheads to ignore the evil of the nation they want to embrace, criticize those actively protecting them and giving them a life far superior to the enemy they want to embrace, and doing nothing to change the fundamental problems except blowing out feel-good hot air.

No……in fact…..it is worse than that……As a couple of people in the expat Korea blogging community have pointed out…….the actions of the KDJ crowd actually actively work AGAINST solving the problems they use against their allies through their efforts to prop up their enemies — keeping the Pyongyang regime alive, and doing so, in my opinion, not because they belive it is the way to make NK their friend and end the problem, but instead because they have calulated in a cold blooded manner that keeping the status quo is economically and socially better for themselves. They fear the effects of a collapse in North Korea much, much more than they fear a NK invasion.

Not to mention when I think of nations that could play a major role in diffusing the North Korean nuclear crisis Italy is the first one that comes to mind followed closlely by great nations like Dijibouti and Honduras. Once we get them on board the problem will practically take care of itself.