It is nice to know that President Roh can be a forgiving kind of guy.
After being treated by Kim Jong-il as a geopolitical nonnentity over the past several months years, despite billions of dollars in aid money, Roh has finally decided adjust his policy towards Pyongyang…
…by increasing the aid (Chosun Ilbo):
The government is to spend more on financial support for North Korea next year than this year despite the North’s missile tests in July and nuclear test in October.
The report says that the aid sent north in 2007 will increase to 1.16 trillion won. That includes:
- “W3 billion to give people first-hand experience of life in the North” (in other words, to supplement nonprofitable tourist traps at Geumgangsan and Pyongyang)
- “W11.5 billion to assist inter-Korean social and cultural exchanges” (bribing the Norks to visit South Korea and let some South Koreans go North)
- “W30.1 billion to support the North via international exchanges” (bribing the Norks to visit other countries and let some foreigners go North)
Those last two are important because they will help the boys at the antiUnification Ministry in pretending that all of the money flowing to Pyongyang is actually producing tangible results.
We are most likely looking at the last year of the Unrequited Love Son of Sunshine policy and it looks like Roh wants to go for double or nothing rather than letting this losing game go.
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He’s politicking to be the Dear Führer’s replacement. Higher approval ratings up there.
Per the Chosun, why would the Uridang give away so much money to the North?:
If this is indeed their reasoning, it will look good on the Uridang when they are finally buried wearing it. Regardlessly, this policy is untenable by any standard of merit.
Is it too late to revoke Ban Ki-moon’s appointment?
I wonder how good it would look in the poles if the United States did a 180 on its relations with South Korea. The fact they the US doesn’t is just shameful.
I think Roh Moo Hyun knows that this is the last stage act form Kim Jung Il. Roh must be really worried about war for him to shovel money at KJI when his popularity is sinking deeper and deeper.
The whole purpose of the Sunshine policy was to provoke reciprocity, without that it is worthless. To date there has been no meaningful reciprocation from the North nor will there be as long as Roh actually rewards not doing so. That Roh does not see this is appalling.
It looks like nobody in the Korean government took my advice…
“The whole purpose of the Sunshine policy was to provoke reciprocity, without that it is worthless. To date there has been no meaningful reciprocation from the North nor will there be as long as Roh actually rewards not doing so. That Roh does not see this is appalling.”
Last time it did reciprocate was when it sent a few North Koreans to Seoul, and that was only after Kim Dae Jung made them an ‘offer’ they couldn’t resist…and North Korea still couldn’t resist putting on a charade. They sent some of the few South Koreans who have thrived in North Korea in the hopes of appeasing the South Koreans who worry of the fate of their relatives. North Korean refugees paint a much different pictures of the treatement that is reserved for those who have relatives in the South: discrimination, expropriation, purges…And yet, the South Korean government continues to send aid, aid that doesn’t make it to those most in need…starving relatives of South Koreans.
Is the price of a Nobel Peace Prize now a billion dollars!?
Spending half that Kim Dae Jung looks like a genius.
Glad someone recognized that the Nobel was purchased.
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[...] UPDATE: OFK and the Marmot’s Hole has more on the billion dollar tribute to North Korea. [...]