If the Hankyoreh and the Chosun Ilbo agree on something. I would call that a consensus.
Even if the Democrats take over Congress, it would be far too much to expect automatic changes in North Korea policy, which was never an campaign issue. There will, of course, be greater calls for dialogue, but not for talking to North Korea while recognizing that it gets to possess nuclear arms.
Nor will the Democrats automatically support Seoul’s engagement policy with North Korea. Prof. Kim Tae-hyo of Sungkyunkwan University, said the Democrats “think they cannot apply the same North Korea policy that the Clinton administration adopted.” Nam Sung-wook, a North Korea specialist at Korea University, says it is a mistake to think that the Democrats’ North Korean policy is much the same as ours. “Their policy is surely different from the unconditional engagement that we adopt here toward the North.” Ko Yu-hwan, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University, believes North Korea announced its return to six-party talks on its nuclear program right before the off-year election in the U.S. because it has the Democrats in mind. “Pyongyang can convey the message that it can negotiate with the U.S. if the U.S. lifts its financial sanctions on it rather than threatening a second nuclear test.” Prof. Kim Tae-hyo said the Democrats agree that the Proliferation Security Initiative or financial sanctions against Pyongyang are necessary in principle, so there will be no significant change in how strong the U.S. sanctions against the North become even when the Democrats control both houses.”
There you have it. I would be surprised to find anyone who knows that much about the US to really expect American policy towards North Korea to change much with the Democrats in charge of Congress.
After all, the closest the USA has come to attacking North Korea in recent memory was during the Clinton administration (Note: Before anyone jumps on my case about it; that is not a criticism of Clinton.).
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The Chosun might want a link, Andy.
Doh! Fixed. Thanks.
It’s true, and it’s a bit funny to see that North Korean leaders seem to be expecting a serious change of policy from the next US administration. They have been demonizing Bush for so long, and finally became victims of their own propaganda, as usual.
Still, a case could be made for the situation turning to N.K.’s favor if a Dem gets elected–first, there would almost undoubtedly be direct talks between the norks and U.S., which would drag on and on, and the main issue for the new prez would of course be Iraq, opening the way for either quick concessions to N.K. or a sort of benign neglect if the norks lay low for a while.
Foreign policy remains a presidential bailiwick in America, regardless of the posturing of a few individual congress people.
Anyway, the overwhelming center of focus for the executive and congress will be Iraq and Islamism. Do the norks have any clue as to their acclerating irrelevance? That nuke fizzle suggests they do. Do South Korean policy makers have any clue about how irrelevant North Korea is becoming to the United States?
Will the nork/KJI cretins just follow the money and make noises about nukes to get money, or are they going to slowly and reluctantly come to realize their position as international cockroaches…and about to be squashed if they are a little too visible? In the final analysis, the incompetence of totalitarians knows no limits, even compared to the most pathetic of American naivety about the prospects for rational governance in the islamist world.
We all care a little bit less about NK, with each passing day. KJI and the nork internal struggle is more of a South Korean and Chinese problem. America will disentangle, regardless of who wins tomorrow.
In the pathetic relationship that is DPRK and the USA, one wonders which nation painted themselves further into a corner vis-a-vis the other. Between the nuclear power and the criminal regime, neither has left themselves much room to move