At a forum hosted by the National Unification Advisory Council, Dr. Han S. Park of the University of Georgia said U.N. sanctions on North Korea were a complete failure and that North Korea would eventually give up its nuclear weapons. Why would they give ‘em up, you might ask?
“First is that even if it dismantles all nuclear facilities and nuclear bombs, they would still have scientists and materials. So in their calculation, it is not a definitive sacrifice,” Park said.
Secondly, he said, the North considers this to be the best time to give up their nuclear program as their nuclear test could prompt an arms race with Japan and Taiwan, both of whom can eventually surpass North Korea’s minuscule nuclear power.
“Thirdly, it is a well-acknowledged policy in the North to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula under the teachings of late leader Kim Il-sung.”
I’ll let you ponder that reasoning for a second.
Alright, moving on now, Han would like to put to rest the concerns of one worried commentator here at the Marmot’s Hole concerning rumors of an impending North Korean collapse:
Park said, “Kim Jung-il is a very competent politician and has already completely wiped out conflict within the military and therefore eliminated the possibility of collapse. The North Korean military believes it will not crumble in the face of any attack, including from China.”
Oh, and he also said North Koreans told him that their recent nuclear test was much more successful that outside observers give them credit for:
“(Outside observers say) the test was a failure but these people (North Koreans) say that the test was successful as they succeeded in blasting off a small nuclear device, which can be installed onto a warhead.”
He later identified his sources as North Korean scholars and added that they believed in their success “theoretically.”
Well, the North Koreans also say they won’t give up their nukes. And they also said they might.
What would Herschel Walker say?
9 Comments
A typo in the first paragraph: U.N. sanctions on the United States?
My bad. Corrected.
Another success story from Western education and academia…
If you had such a retarded neighbour what would you do?
Just want to add a few more links:
Han S. Park’s faculty web page: http://hanpark.myweb.uga.edu/
He’s at the School of Public and International Affairs: http://www.uga.edu/spia/home/index.htm
Between seeing Jimmy Carter’s mug on the School’s web site and reading Professor Park’s “Thoughts & Comments”, I had to suppress my regurgitative reflex. Geez.
-Tony
“If you had such a retarded neighbour what would you do?” Do you mean North Korea, or the professor? In either case I would keep the hedge clippers away from them–they could hurt themselves.
Is Park just parroting the nork rhetoric here or is he a true believer? When somebody calls KJI “a very competent politician” it makes you wonder about their sanity.
michael, I recommend that you read “Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader”. You’d understand that he is indeed a shrewd politician, albeit one who’s more skilled at eliminating support for the opposition (mainly his uncle and his step-brother) in order keep ultimate power over every facet of government than managing his country.
Yeah, haven’t read that yet. I know he’s shrewd–maybe “ruthless” is even better–but “competent,” like some middle manager at the post office? That made me laugh. Park is trying to downplay that KJI is a coldblooded dictator.
Sigh…what a big surprise. Korean man counsels that to resolve the conflict, the non-Korean must concede everything and give in and submit utterly.
I notice he has no words of ‘failure’ or even a comment on a Sunshine policy in which trillions of SKorean taxpayer won have been sent North, but yet last week President Roh was forced into the international clown role again - asking the leader of Cambodia - Cambodia!- if he would please, please use any influence he had to ask the North to let Roh visit.
Trillions of won, and he can’t get an invitation, let alone a phone call, let alone any acknowledgement of his existence. Now THAT is pathetic failure.