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Dealing with North Korea



Of course, the new president of South Korea will warn, threaten, beg, try to make deals to get North Korea to stop developing and testing its nuclear weapons program.
In the Korea Times (maybe today's paper, maybe yesterday's or maybe she said this last week or 15 years ago):
* Of course, North Korea will continue developing its nuclear weapons program. ROK president Park knows it. DPRK dictator Kim knows it. US president Barack Obama knows it. Bill Clinton knew it. George W. Bush knew it. And you know it.

Still, everyone outside of North Korea will continue to say it even though they know North Korea won't do it. The leaders don't believe it when they say it and the NK leaders don't believe it when they hear it. I guess that is what diplomacy is about.

* I don't mean to criticize President Park, but I'm sure she must know that asking North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons is like politely asking the mafia to give up crime or expecting politicians to stop doing the various crooked things they do when they have access to power and money. None of them stop doing what they do until it becomes more painful than continuing what they are doing.

* And I don't mean to criticize President Park by pointing out that she couldn't even convince the various ministers she has selected to tell her the truth about their lives.

* And she hasn't been able to convince the opposition parties about anything yet.

* The leftists in South Korea are already condemning her as strongly as they did after she won, so I doubt that the folks in NK will be convinced.

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