North Korea Gives Me Indigestion and a headache

"China is gravely concerned about the current situation in North Korea".... so am I

Of course, my humble worries and position don't matter in the least to Kim JongIl, the beloved leader of North Korea, the DEMOCRATIC People's Republic of Korea DPRK. When millions of his people are starving, beloved leader Kim JongIl still spends about US$650,000 annually just on fine wines. He spends a huge budget on military rather than economic development. Why would he care about me and my thoughts?

However my worries are important to me, at any rate. I spend a lot of time in the neighboring countries of South Korea, Japan, and China. I worry about the safety of me, my friends, and loved ones. Also, I enjoy trying to understand how the people of our different countries think and view this situation.

Do we have a REAL threat here? Certainly there is a a threat of stupid actions or words coming from one or more countries involved in this situation. But stupidity, or seemingly stupid actions, are a hallmark of many government leaders through history. Why would that be surprising? But as for real threat? I'm not sure. North Korea loves to use threatening words.

Usually I try to stay away from political discussions when I travel to other countries. I just wonder why America must be the world's policeman?

But let's get back to North Korea. I can't understand them, but then also I can understand. North Korea's actions are all based on achieving one strategy: keeping Kim JongIl and his family in power for as long as possible. They are not "President" or "Prime Minister." This is a royal family in the tradition of Emperors of China, Korea, and Japan for many thousands of years. They have only one real goal: stay in power as long as possible. Repress the average people. Punish, threaten, or kill anyone who disagrees.

The DPRK economy is a total failure. They cannot feed their people. People are so desperately poor that they are escaping to the relative paradise of Northeast China, which is a desperately poor part of China. North Korea's leaders really only have one currency for making money: weapons and war. Build weapons that outher countries will purchase. AND threaten to go right to the brink of warfare hoping to convince someone to pay them to walk back from the edge of the cliff.

South Korea seems to have a sensible policy that says, "OK, we will help you. If you North Koreans screw us, no problem. We'll send more money and assistance. " North Korea might be bad, but at least they're not Japanese. South Koreans know that Korea has a 5,000 year history. Korea has been separated for only 50 or 60 years: a brief moment in time. North Koreans are their family, even if their crazy little brothers. Sooner or later they will reunite. War MUST NOT happen. They must help their crazy little brothers. They cannot reunite until North Korea's economy can raise to a higher standard. Otherwise, a collapse of North Korea's economy might cause a chain reaction collapse of South Korea's economy. Patience is the name of the game in South Korea.

If a fight broke out between USA and North Korea, most South Koreans would support North Korea. Thinking of family, that makes sense. Brothers might fight and argue their whole lives, but they will unite against outsiders.

China has its own sensible strategy that is similar to South Korea's: "OK, we will help you. If you screw us, we will find a quiet way to get even." China treats North Korea as the crazy little brothers. China worries that a collapse of North Korea's economy would spark a mass exodus of refugees into one of China's poorest regions. North Korea demands and receives a lot of economic assistance from China and South Korea. However, their patience is running thin. Right now China seems to be playing the game of "talk softly in public but carry a big stick when meeting in private."

Japan, not America, is the biggest wild card. North Korea hates Japan, but they love Japanese money. Unfortunately for North Korea, Japan has shut off most of their economic assistance. Japan is upset that North Korea abducted many innocent young Japanese people to live in North Korea. Until this issue is resolved, no money from Japan. North Korea hopes military exercises will bring Japan back to giving out free money.

Many Chinese and Koreans don't mind if North Korea threatens Japan. However, nobody wants Japan to have a strong military. A nuclear armed North Korea will result in a nuclear-armed and much more heavily armed Japan. Therefore, I suspect South Koreans and Chinese prefer if Japan feels a little threatened and uncomfortable, but not to the point where Japan increases its military.

And America? Where do we stand? That's a good question. The Bush administration talks tough and acts tough in some ways. Fortunately they are using patience and diplomacy. The truth is something we've known for many years: war CANNOT start. If war starts on the Korean peninsula, most of the 15 million people in Seoul will be killed within the first day.

Our Ambassador to South Korea causes big headaches when he says, truthfully, that North Korea is a huge violator of human rights. Millions of people are starving, the elite people do well, many people are killed or thrown in prison for small or imagined crimes, and many innocent South Korean and Japanese people have been abducted and forced to work in North Korea against their will. Also, North Korea depends on criminal activities for a lot of their revenue: making counterfeit money, drug sales, and other bad stuff. OK, all of this is true. But diplomats aren't supposed to say the truth. Diplomats are supposed to say complimentary things. The South Korean government and newspapers are really irritated when American diplomats point out unfortunate truths about North Korea.

The Bush administration sees no reason to pay North Korea to move back from the cliff of war. The previous Clinton administration thought it was good thing to pay North Korea to act like nice guys. Who was correct? Pay someone when you know they will cheat on any agreement? Why pay? Why is it America's responsibility to give DPRK a lot of money?

Inside America we have a big political debate. George Bush's critics dislike anything he does. In Iraq, he should have used multi-national diplomacy and patience. Then they say, in North Korea he should forget other nations and deal with DPRK alone. George Bush can't win with Democrats. Everything is wrong. If he walked on water, they would say, "George Bush is so stupid he cannot swim." Some people want us to think there is an easy solution to the North Korean problem. However, they say, George Bush is unable to find the simple solution.

In the meantime I still spend a lot of time in that part of the world. I realize how limited is my ability to comprehend anything. I really like to worry about a simple thing: millions of North Koreans are starving and dying from lack of food. Is there a solution? Someday I hope the answer is yes.