An agreement to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear weapons program collapsed on Thursday, leaving the same open-ended, uncertain future that has been in place for the last half century, it not the last eight years.
No Legacy but The Shame Goes On . . .
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Conventionally, that concluding sentence should read “…for the last eight years, if not the last half century.”
What’s up with Michael Green? “Those dastardly North Koreans tricked us with their lies.” I find that hard to believe when even we humble Marmot’s fleas know not to take North Korea at its word. Sounds like he has some axe to grind.
So what is North Korea up to? They have a state policy of being opaque, partly to make up for their lack of any other policies. But you can hardly call them unpredictable. I would look up the link but it should be obvious that many an armchair pundit on this very site was predicting that there would be problems with the verification.
It sounds like the other five members had agreed on a written proposal from the Chinese. If nothing else, the North Koreans are digging themselves into a hole.
a Polish guy I know is dying to visit North Korea someday.
it differs a lot from what he remembers of Communist Poland. But, something are comparable.
King Kims in Korean history were legendary, great liers.
Kim Choon Chu.
Kim Dae Jung.
Kim Il Sung.
All are worshipped as gods, to some degree.
I am beginning to think that US diplomats are just stupid when it comes to North and South Korea.
Anyone you’d like to single out in particular gbevers? Rice, Hill, Stephens…?
In light of some of your previous remarks about Bush you might also like to clarify what you mean by stupid.
My sense of retrospection is backwards as of late . . .
One possible explanation is that the North has every intention of signing the deal but wants to save the political capital it will generate for the Obama administration. Why waste it on giving Bush a bit of a glow? If explained properly I’m sure the Russians and Chinese wouldn’t mind.
If this is true then it could be a boon to Obama who will get a deal just by turning up and without being responsible for any controversial delisting.
North Korea will try to resell that horse to Obama and it will demand advance down payments as a show of goodwill. I hope Obama can maintain his vaunted cool in the face of what will likely be more obstreperous and extortionate behavior from Pyongyang in 2009.
Without a nuclear threat to keep outsiders concerned and involved, North Korea becomes merely a festering humanitarian and human rights problem — an uglier version of, say, Zimbabwe. Supremely tragic, but not as urgent as other crises around the world, unfair as that is.
North Korea problems will end only when there is no more North Korea.
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